Easier To Hate
Astrol took a cab ride to the address Zane sent her. During the car ride, she thought about what happened at the cafe, and decided that she really just wanted to be good friends with Zane. Sure he made her feel flustered at times, but that was that. She decided she would explain things to him at the party to avoid future misunderstandings. Besides in as much as she liked his company, she still hated his kind nonetheless.
The moment she pushed open the door, she was a bit surprised to see only Zane standing in the large space. He smiled at her and she smiled back as he walked towards her. He stopped some distance from her and smiled again. This time around his smile made her feel a little uneasy as he leaned over to whisper something to her. "Gosh Astrol, you look....so stupid", he said with a wicked grin spread wide across his face.
Astrol's brow slowly creased in confusion, she didn't understand what he meant by that. "You look so ridiculous, I can't believe you actually wore that...Do you really like me that much?", he mocked as he took a few steps back. It was then that Astrol realized that he wasn't putting on the garbage costume or any costume for that matter, he was decently dressed.
Astrol remained in a daze. Her mind seemed to have momentarily shut down, until, she heard loud laughter erupting from different parts of the room. She soon realized that they were not alone. Lots of people stepped out from various places where they were hiding and were currently filming her. At that point, she realized that she might have been filmed form the moment she got there. She had been used as a joke. "As expected of a Lee, I can't believe you got her to fall for you in such a short period of time", one of Zane's classmates commented. "Yeah, you really won the bet and slapped us in our faces with this additional surprise. You actually got her to wear that?! And to think she thought so highly of herself", another remarked. "Don't act so surprised I am Zane Jae Lee after all, of course I will be able to get an ordinary girl like her. You guys were overexaggerating when she was so easy. It didn't take me anything", Zane stated proudly.
Astrol could only grit her teeth and ball her fists in rage. She could barely move as she glared fiercely at the gloating boy in front of her. And to think that she came here to nicely reject his likeness for her. But here he was making it seem like she was blind for him and kissing his feet when she was only here because of her promise to him. The longer she stood there, the angrier she got. However, she was more angry at herself. She was so excited to have him around that she missed all the obvious red flags. Zane never spoke to her in school and then suddenly he was inviting her to a party?, even Nari that kept up with all the school drama had never once spoken about the party. Normally Nari would've been talking about it non-stop. god she was so stupid! She couldn't believe she let her guard down and let him fool her so easily.
After a few more shots, Zane eventually left with his friends to hang out somewhere else. The little crowd that remained also slowly dissipated after a while, leaving her standing there and staring down at the floor with clenched jaws. Bora, Nari and Nanny Yu arrived after some time, and found Astrol standing there and staring into space when they entered. "Astrol I'm so sorry", Bora said pulling her into a hug. When Nanny Yu called them to inform them of Astrol's whereabouts, they were all shocked. Bora became very worried, and when Nari confirmed that there was indeed no party of that sort, they rushed to the address Astrol had texted Nanny Yu before she left. On their way there, Nari showed them the video of Astrol taken at that so called party before Bora received the video herself.
Nari hugged Astrol tighter. She felt devastated with the turn of events. From the moment she heard about Zane from Astrol, she saw red lights. She felt even more uncomfortable hearing how nicely he'd treated her on their first encounter. She felt that way because everyone knew how cruel Zane could be for no reason, simply because he was bored. Well of course everyone apart from Astrol knew this because she simply didn't care to know a thing related to the school's social circle. Everything was indeed suspicious, from being so mean to paying for her coffee all of a sudden? that too after she bumped into him?
Nari felt a tinge of guilt. She should have warned Astrol about Zane earlier but she didn't think much about it. She hadn't expected him to do something that cruel. "I'm sorry Astrol, I could've been a better friend", Nari muttered in a sullen voice. Astrol finally snapped back, and when she saw the look in their eyes, she frowned. "What are you sorry for and why do you all look like this. Tell me did somebody die?", Astrol asked trying to lighten the mood.
Seeing that their expressions hadn't changed, she uttered in a softer voice, "Guys, it really is okay, I'm okay. Nanny Yu you too?, come on don't tell me you all think that I'm that weak to be affected by something like this", she said with a small smile. They all seemed to relax and Astrol felt relieved. In truth, she was actually really hurt but she didn't want them getting worked up over her. Besides, she meant what she said. She wasn't that weak anymore. She had always been a pessimist since her parents death, so she always expected the worst from people. So she wasn't that stupid to let herself get too used to Zane. However, after he told her he liked her and invited her to hang out with him, she thought that maybe it was wrong for her to think that way. Just like how she was wrong about Bora and Nari in the beginning when she thought that they would get tired of her and abandon her.
There was no need crying over spilt milk, the deed had already been done and she couldn't change that. She was foolish to let her guard down in the first place and she ended up getting her pride hurt. She'd already learned her lesson and she knew she would bounce back from this....she always did. Regardless, her hatred for Zane's kind only intensified. After all, it was always easier to hate, wasn't it ?.