"I've seen you—", I say too quickly
"What—?", he questions
I try to keep a flat face while my mind struggles to come up with an excuse. Why did I have to say that?
"O-on the magazines. Yeah. How could I miss it?", I smile sweetly, " I-I mean who wouldn't know the CEO of ...uh...Nexacore Pharmaceuticals right? Right."
"I'm flattered Miss Laurent", he says smirking again, "But I am not CEO yet"
Shit. Of course. In the novel, Lucian only takes over as CEO after his father dies, and that happens only in the later chapters. Stupid, stupid Ela—Genevieve.
"Yeah", I huff, "Well, duh, it was a slip of tongue, besides even if you're not CEO yet, you will be soon, won't you?", I let out a short laugh, "You're the CEO's son"
He squints his eyes at me leaning closer, "But my identity hasn't been revealed to the media or public yet..."
I gulp
"There is something more to you isn't there?", he whispers low and intimate.
"Well, I have good intuition and my...sources", I say too sharp
This smug little—Lucien, why did he have to be so keen.
He takes a step closer
I take a step back
I need a distraction. A distraction. Now.
I swivel my head toward the ambulance and mock flinch at the gory sight, "I think we should help them..."
"They're already being taken to the hospital", he says sidestepping, straightening up
"But..there must be something more we can do, like contact their near family or something, afterall....we witnessed the scene", I say
Come on. Fall for it.
"Well, 'we' never witnessed anything Miss Laurent, only you did", he says raising an eyebrow.
"Well obviously. And that's why I should be here when their family arrives", I try to fake a sad smile
His eyes narrow. "You know their family?"
I continue deflecting, "Not deeply, but yes, the victims was my best friend's mother"
His eyes widen for a moment, but it disappears as quickly as it came.
I quickly take a step back acting tensed and hurried, "Catch you later, Mr. Ashford!", I say turning not waiting for an answer.
For a moment it seems like he'd stop me but he doesn't and I keep walking forward not turning back.
Oh, that was close.
I keep walking toward the assembled crowd who were still occupied with some muttering about the incident they just witnessed. A few others cooking up their own version of the story.
Their muffled whispers get closer and closer as I advance. I finally catch sight of the paramedics trying to frantically revive Lily's mother being loaded in to the ambulance.
I bump into something.
Not something, someone.
"Genny!, Gods, where the hell were you?", a familiar voice rings out
I lift my eyes and see Aiden standing in front of me, in his same blue school uniform I left him with this morning. He breathes out a sigh of relief
"I—I had just remembered something important", I lie swiftly
"What?", he prods
"Nothing that is of your concern", I say gaze shifting back to the ambulance at sight
"Oh please", he huffs, "Don't think I already don't know, you probably were off to another of those fancy parties of your weren't you?"
I don't answer.
His tone turns malicious, "The ones with top-notch debauchery should I say?"
Of course, that's how the real Genevieve was, wasn't she. So very viscious for a side character that dies mid-novel.
"Can't believe how self-conceited you truly are, Genny. You were out there drowning in your little world of please and bliss, while I was scared out of my mind"
"What do you mean?", I ask
"I waited for you at the school—for two hours straight, and you never came, you didn't even care to text me. I had to call Lily to pick me up"
Lily, of course her, the 'ideal' saviour for all the beings of this fantastical universe.
How unpredictable.I almost want to laugh at the thought.
He goes on, "Thank gods Lily came right when I called her, unlike you—, she actually cares, and-"
I glance at him and find him frozen as the realisation dawns upon him. He barely gets the words out, "Lily, it's her mom on that ambulance, is't it?. We found out a couple minutes ago, she didn't want to believe it..."
"Yes, Its her. That's ..unfortunate", I say blandly
His eyes burn into me, he spat with a mouth full of rage, "You knew?".
I open my mouth to retort but he beats me to it
"You knew and you didn't care to tell us, call us?"
"Aiden, calm down", I say cautiously. I barely know the boy standing in front of me, but I've never seen him this angry before, or at least, so I thought.
Aiden in the novel world was definitely known to be super loyal toward the main heroine, but I definitely wouldn't be able to predict it ran to this extent.
Guess that's a given when his own sister, Genevieve never cared the way she should have.
I place a gently hand on his shoulder trying to explain, "I'm sorry, I didn't have my ph-"
"Oh save it", he snaps, flinching away, "Lily needs support now more than ever, I'm going to her", he says already turning away, walking toward the ambulance.
I squint my eyes to barely make out lily's figure in the throng, but her flashy pink hair is hard to miss. She looks like she's sobbing as she's talking to a paramedic.
I look around at the melancholic scene around me, and frown
What have I gotten myself into?
Everyone looks shaken and shocked. Some others are engrossed in petty gossips. A few others inspect the damage. And I....I feel nothing
I might have felt something before. But now even that final shred of empathy has evaporated into thin air.
How could I? Knowing that the people around me, the paramedic's frantic panic, Lily's muffled sobs and Aiden's blazing rage are just made up reveries of someone's fantasy.
That the people around me are nothing different from stick figures with paper emotions. They are just puppets dancing for the creator who wields their minds, actions and emotions.
They are nothing on their own, and I'm stuck here between them, even their fake heartbeats clear as day echoing in my skull as if mocking me.
This was worse than fake people I used to pretend to like.
Paper people. Plastic emotions
I miss home. I wish I can go back.
As I keep walking blankly toward the accident site, I am temporarily blinded.
What the—
I barely manage to open my eyes, fighting against the bright blue luminescence of its essence. The light is everywhere, almost swallowing me whole, sloshing everywhere, drowning me.
I swivel my head down to find its source right in my tiny little pocket.
A light so bright, it could rival the suns.