02 - His Chase

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"You just can't beat the person who won't give up."

- Babe Ruth

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CHAPTER-02-Who he is

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My other phase of life is far as dramatic as it shouldn't be.

My Dad, John Rivera is a simple kind of man, having a pretty descent reasonable hours job. I probably know that when he is at home he spends a number of hours in front of his laptop typing something but still keeps on getting scoldings from mom for not doing anything.

My mom, Marina Rivera, she used to have a job in past but currently she is just another unique housewife. (She left her job after I was born. Though she helps dad a lot and I guess that is why she keeps shouting at him for not doing something perfectly.)

I do not have any sibling but a mental guy lives with me under the same roof as my house. Ryan Rivera, my dear same age cousin.

I clearly remember those middle school summer vacations when I used to go Florida to my Uncle Fred's and Aunt Lucia's house. For me 'Family Reunion' was never beautiful.

Although I loved Florida, my two stupid cousins, Ryan and Felix made that place hell for me. They were the devilish pranksters, they always tested their brand new cruel experiments on me. They took care of me so well and made sure that they never let me return to California, to my home without a broken hand or a broken leg.

Felix is two years older than me and he probably didn't torture me that bad but my dear same age cousin Ryan used to transform my summer days into misery and I became scared even to step into Florida in further vacations. The word "Florida!" haunted me and gave those all highly volts chills throughout my body. Their cruel laughs became my nightmare.

But since the time changed I stopped going to Florida and finally, I started having fun with my few Californian friends (who is probably only Zoe) and started living alive until one day Ryan, himself stepped in my house during my summer break after my junior year ended.

He has returned in my life once again but this time I was shrewd of his doubled cruel deeds as he is now a lot grown up. His brawny body, structured jawline, those same hazel eyes look now more deadliest. He has those same shiny blonde hair but now they are quite lengthy because whenever I catch a glimpse of him, his half of the forehead is covered under his messy hair.

The day Ryan arrived was the day when my heart forgot to beat normally and my reflexes turned very active. The atmosphere of the living room where my family was talking about him being transferred was the death zone. I gulped watching my cousin as I stepped into that dead zone. As soon his eyes caught my presence, he stood in front of me and I swear to god, his height has climbed feet over me.

"Hey! Kin!" His voice sounded totally different from the last time. This time it was lot manly and cracked then he enclosed me into a bone-crushing hug which left me choking. My body already started dis-functioning. He added slowly, "We gonna rock high school together!" And he tousled my hair just as he did that today in the school hallway.

My Aunt Lucia smiled at me and I got to know that her son was going to spend the last high school year with me, in California. Because I knew Aunt and Uncle are entrepreneurs and they hardly have time to spend it with their family. Felix has already moved to college so how could my aunt and uncle have left their small son alone (Even they know he is a disaster himself) and the decision was made. No more objection.

Lately, Ryan cunningly captured my bedroom which was highly decorated by me and it was on-going for the last ten years. He said that he liked the view from my bedroom window. My mom said to him that I won't have any issue if he takes my room. She didn't even ask me once nor did I budge about it but deep inside my mind, I killed my cousin more than ten times. I'm really good at it.

As soon as his parents left for Florida, he came into his natural habitat, he tried to push me from stairs. Well... I was walking downstairs and as I came across the fifth step, he came running towards me from the upstairs and just yelled in my ears and due to a sudden invasion I lost my balance and my butt received ever pain full massage, He made those all five stairs, my ride to hell. Still, I decided to be strong, I picked my bag, my guitar and left to stay in the room which was at the corner of the passage and opposite to my previous bedroom but it was going to become my all happy area.

I hid my emotions inside me even from my mom and dad because they looked happy and normal. My mom had stopped yelling at dad because she thinks Ryan may be in any corner around the house and it would create a bad influence on our family. They love Ryan as if he's their own son.

Meanwhile, in the school hallway, I shot one more slap on his arm, "Why don't you understand you douche!! Never touch my hair!"

"Sorry kin!" Ryan says and turns his attention to my best-friend Zoe, "Hey Zoe!" He sounds totally flirtatious. I cringe my nose and glare at Carlos who's grinning widely at me.

"Hey, Bonito!!" Carlos smirks at me.

"It's Mabel!!" I hiss at him as usual. I don't understand why Carlos calls me with those pretty Spanish words if he only knows to torture me just like my cousin, Ryan Rivera.

Carlos Lopez is a guy next door.

The arrival day of my cousin got over and the next following morning, I opened my bedroom window to see beautiful sunshine but I forgot that I have already shifted towards a new direction, All I could have seen was a locked window of my neighbor's house but a few minutes later...

I saw him (Carlos Lopez) opening his closed bedroom window which was opposite to mine and he was shirtless. That Mexican spicy hot body, perfect jawline with a charming smile made me gape (I didn't know that he was another monster of my life.) I internally screamed, 'The guy next door!' As I was obsessed with Teen-movies, I thought finally I was too going to get a good life by living next to a hot guy.

Albeit reality again slapped me when Ryan and Carlos became 'Buddy for their whole life!' And Carlos got replaced to Felix's place from my life and these both Ryan and Carlos created me each single summer days an adventure to Amazon jungle. They STAINED my favorite shirt. They RUINED my make-up kit which I kept for my senior year. They SCREAMED in my ears, purposely while I watched horror movies with them actually they always interrupted in my movie but I was unaffected because it became a DAILY ROUTINE.

At the end of the day, I always used to return to my bedroom with a blank expression and wished to the lord for the next thousands of time in a single week, "Please... I want to live my life peacefully... At least for a little!!" And then the final drama used to get begin, Carlos's mamá and papá used to begin exploding their fight in Spanish so there was no fun to eavesdrop too.

So that's how these two annoying guy came into my peaceful life.

"RYAN!! Get the hell away!!" I hit him on his back but he's still partially busy admiring Zoe. He is mad for Zoe since the day he saw her when she came for a sleepover at my house. Obviously, She has cuteness, boldness plus she is hot.

"Kin!" He says tilting his face towards me.

"I have a name!" I say sternly.

"This name suits you... it is cute!" He laughs.

"Shut the fuck up... it reminds me of KIM!"

"Is she hot!" Carlos interrupts, laughing although Ryan gives him a glare. (Ryan acts like my big brother sometimes!)

"Ryan! Will you please leave us alone we are tryin' to talk about something which is called important!!" Zoe demands him.

"Alright, I'm leaving!" Ryan smirks at me and then he adds in his flirtatious voice looking at Zoe, "See you in History class!"

Zoe opens her mouth to speak again after they leave but a voice gushes from behind her, "Why did you run babe?"

I see Dylan Rodriguez standing behind her with his group of bad-boys.

This is the first time ever the bad boys themselves together in a group are standing in front of me with the cockiest smirks plastered on their ugly faces.

I reckon someone from their group is missing, the idiotic and also Dylan's best friend, Skyler Foster is missing. Though it is hard to believe because Dylan and Skyler never leave each other's side meanwhile I sense someone's close presence behind me and it gives me chills. My mind hesitates even to think a bit further.

His cologne perfume is strong and a weird feeling gets a strike that guy standing behind me might be trailing his eyes on my back.

A tall hunk with athlete figure walks in front from behind me and adds smugly in his strong masculine voice, "I guess Zoe thought, she was competing with Usain Bolt!"

He is Gray Morgan, another popular guy of these bad-boys group.

Even though Gray is one of those bad boys, I find him the most attractive one. His brunette hair is always messed but looks perfectly styled. He has that chiseled jawline. His lips look more like it's painted. This guy is definitely similar to a sculpture which is surely created artistically.

Gray can never get skipped from anyone's sight. A group of girls just passed beside him with all giggles quavering from their mouths. I blink twice and recollect the current situation before someone would have noticed my mental absence.

Zoe's face has turned into a huge question mark mainly thinking about Gray's previous remark then she says with a sassy tone laced in her words, "I was just running away from my fans!"

Gray replies, spontaneously, "That's your loyalty towards your fans."

Before Zoe could have responded by attacking them, I interrupt, "So you guys agree that you are fangirling my best friend!" I internally felt a jerk as Gray's deadliest honey brown eyes correctly darts in my blue eyes and I also notice the other bad-boys are too trailing their eyes on me as if I proved the hardest theory of physics but no, this isn't the real reason, they aren't staring at me but the guy who has just held my hand and I don't wanna even think about who he is.

"And here my Mabel Rivera speaks..." His familiar voice echos in my brain and my gaze lands into those electric pair of eyes and I reckon Gray wasn't the only person standing behind me but there was also him, Skyler Foster.