Chapter 15 Ridiculous

My heart skipped a beat.

Was that blabbermouth Johnathan going to rat me out to Reynaldo about me going to the Dance Gala?

It wasn’t a big secret or anything, and it wouldn’t be the end of the world if Reynaldo knew. But he was moody and had it in for me. If he found out, he might try to stop me from going. This was a great chance to make some cash. I couldn’t afford any hiccups, so it was safer to keep it quiet from Reynaldo.

As Reynaldo was about to answer his phone, I tugged at his arm.

He glanced down at my hand and raised an eyebrow. “What’s up?”

“Uh…” I looked at the name flashing on his phone screen and said with a bit of a laugh. “Can you not answer his call?”

Reynaldo looked a little surprised and chuckled. “Sure, but why?”

“Well…” I thought for a second, then blurted out, “Johnathan is a total party animal. He’s probably calling to get you to go out. I don’t want you to go. I don’t want you to get corrupted by him.”

Reynaldo stared at me, his eyes deep and intense, like he was trying to figure me out.

When I started to feel all squirmy under his gaze, he suddenly asked, “Why are you worried he’ll lead me astray?”

“Because… Because I like you.”

The second I said it, I wanted to bite my tongue off. What was I even talking about? I was not good at lying when my brain was scrambled.

“Like me?” Reynaldo looked at me with a grin.

It was that same kind of smile that made my heart race. I nodded kind of awkwardly, not sure what he was thinking.

The phone had stopped ringing by now.

Reynaldo fiddled with his phone without saying anything. Just as I started to feel a bit relieved, he leaned in close to my ear and whispered with a little laugh, “Do you really think I’m gonna buy that?”

I froze, and without thinking, I turned my head. There was that cold and mocking look in his eyes.

He straightened up and said in a slow, calm voice, “Back then, you were all into Johnathan, saying I wasn’t as fun as him, that I was boring and stiff…”

“I… I didn’t!” I stammered, trying to defend myself. What kind of made-up charge was this?

Reynaldo sneered, “Seems like your memory isn’t so sharp. You’ve forgotten quite a few things you did.”

Watching him bring up the past with that stern look on his face gave me the creeps. To be honest, I had forgotten a lot of things from before. But he remembered everything, especially the times I had been mean to him. No wonder he still had it out for me.

Reynaldo twirled a strand of my hair, with a half-smile on his face. “You used to tell me to hang out with him and learn from him. So why are you suddenly worried that I’ll get corrupted by him now, huh?”

I was totally bewildered. Did I say that to him before? I didn’t remember any of it!

He twisted my hair around his finger and said with a teasing smile, “Esmeralda, you really love lying, don’t you?”

He looked all nice and gentle, but the cold gleam in his eyes was seriously creepy. I was thinking about whether to say something nice to butter him up.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed like a predator’s. “You didn’t let me answer Johnathan’s call just now. Have you got some secret thing going on with him?”

What?!

It felt like a lightning bolt had struck me right on the head, leaving me completely stunned. Reynaldo’s imagination was way too out there!

Me and Johnathan?

No way!

That was ridiculous!

Reynaldo’s narrow eyes were locked on me, and there was a cold glint in them. I shook my head and said, “No! There’s no way I’d have anything going on with him. Not a chance!”

Reynaldo chuckled, like he didn’t believe me for a second. I was seriously kicking myself. If I’d known he’d think like that, I wouldn’t have stopped him from answering Johnathan’s call.

Just then, Johnathan was calling again.

Reynaldo raised an eyebrow at me. I didn’t dare say anything now. I pointed at the phone, urging him to answer it.

He snorted, picked up the call, and turned on the speakerphone on purpose.

“Dude, it took two calls to get you to pick up. What’s the deal? Did I interrupt something good?”

Reynaldo glanced at me and grunted into the phone, “Get to the point.”

Johnathan clicked his tongue. “Don’t be so frosty. I’m not Esmeralda. I didn’t do anything to you.”

I awkwardly rubbed my nose. It seemed like everyone knew I used to treat Reynaldo pretty poorly. Reynaldo gave me a cold smirk, and I felt embarrassed. I looked away and then heard him say irritably, “What do you want? If it’s nothing, I’m hanging up.”

“Hey, wait. We’ve got the Dance Gala tomorrow night. You should come.”

“Forget it!”

When Reynaldo shut Johnathan down flatly, I felt a little bit relieved. Johnathan was such a jerk. He claimed he was worried Reynaldo would be mad that he let me join the gala, but secretly, he practically begged Reynaldo to come. It was like he was afraid Reynaldo wouldn’t find out I was in it.

“Come on.” Johnathan was still trying to coax Reynaldo. “There’s a surprise–a big one.”

“Not interested!” Reynaldo said, totally cool and indifferent.

Johnathan kept talking, but Reynaldo hung up on him.

I looked at him and ventured, “I heard that all the hottest girls are at this gala. Aren’t you gonna check it out?”

Reynaldo raised an eyebrow. “What? You wanna go?”

I shook my head.

He leaned over and said with a teasing smile, “If you wanna go, I don’t mind taking you.”

“No, no, I don’t feel like it. It’s just girls dancing. What’s the big deal? But I’m curious. Don’t guys usually like watching pretty girls? You’re actually not into it?”

Reynaldo gave a dismissive snort. “Who told you that? Speaking of which, you can’t seem to take your eyes off cute guys.”

“I didn’t!”

Reynaldo always liked to make stuff up about me.

“Didn’t you?” He smirked. “The first time you saw Johnathan, you stared at him for a full minute.”

“Y–You’re lying! That never happened!”

I couldn’t tell if it was my bad memory or if Reynaldo was too observant back then. Either way, I didn’t remember that happening. Plus, Johnathan wasn’t even as good-looking as him. Why would I stare at Johnathan for that long?

He must be making it up again!

When I was thinking this, Reynaldo suddenly grabbed my chin and warned in a cold voice, “Anyway, stay away from Johnathan. And that gala? Just leave it alone.”

I was taken aback. “Why?”

Reynaldo’s eyes narrowed coldly, looking pretty menacing.

I quickly said, “I mean, why can’t I know about the gala? I saw the flyer. It’s just a dance competition, right?”

“Dance competition?” Reynaldo snorted, but didn’t say much more. He gave me another cold warning. “Just stay out of their events and avoid them.”

“Uh, okay, sure.”

Thank goodness I didn’t tell him I was actually in that gala. With his attitude, he’d definitely try to stop me from going.

As I was feeling relieved, I suddenly felt a cold glare from above…