The Break

Rosalia's P.O.V.

So what if my life is a mess right now? What does it matter that I'm confused most of the time, and can't feel normal? I don't care that my supposed mate is giving me mixed signals every time we're near each other. Last past life I checked, the guy hated me and didn't even want to acknowledge my existence along with everyone else. Now, he's being somewhat cordial along with everyone else who isn't seeing me as their enemy. I'm sort of friends with Liam's crew. Brittany hasn't even looked in my direction. Well, she didn't until we discovered we were sharing a room. To say she lost her shit was an understatement. 

Of course, being Brittany, she made a huge fit until finally, the teacher caved because he didn't want us to look disgraceful in front of the staff there. She'll switch rooms with one of the other girls by tomorrow, but that didn't stop her from stating she'll find somewhere else to sleep. Not that I mind, I'm used to being alone. I feel at peace by myself. She didn't come back when I discovered that her bed was left untouched. 

Probably slept in Liam's room. 

A sharp pang pierced my heart at the thought. Maybe she did sleep in Liam's room and slept with him. Why does that bother me so much? Who cares? I shouldn't! Liam and I aren't mates. We weren't in the past and we aren't now. Liam could never see me the way he sees Brittany. It's always been Brittany since day one. I knew that and I still held onto hope that Liam would accept me. And what did that get me? I was humiliated, rejected, broken, and then I died as if I was some sad character from one of those romance novels where the guy prefers the woman he desires instead of the one he needs. 

I always hated stories like that. Surprisingly, it's rare that the woman finds another man who treats her way better than the man she wasted so much time loving, only for him to choose a woman that wasn't meant for him. Well, not every story can have a happy ending. I groaned laying in my bed. I don't wanna think anymore. I need something to occupy my mind. My thoughts drift back to the boy from last night. Despite being so to himself, he was really helpful. I don't even know what species he was, and with this place being so big, I doubt I'll find him again. A sigh escapes my lips. You know what? I need to take my mind off this. It's the first day of testing for species A-D and I don't test until the last day. I should do something fun!

~

Ugh, why does everything have to be so difficult?

I held the map firm in my hands as I walked through the lands of Elemental Falls. Don't get me wrong, this place is beautiful. Everywhere I go, I'm amazed more and more how this place used to be home to the fairies and can only be used as a testing site for all species. I wonder where fairies live now? In homes, I'm sure. This place was made thousands of years ago and has been redesigned for the other species. At least that's what this handbook about Elemental Falls says in the history section. This would be more enjoyable if my map would work. I follow the instructions Cayden gave me, and the thing doesn't work. No floating. Talking. Nothing. Maybe the map doesn't like me, but it doesn't help to get stares from others when you're telling your map to fly. Maybe this map is broken or something.

Okay. Whatever. I'm calm. I'm not completely incapable of following a map. That's why I'm going somewhere I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Believe it or not, this place has a beach! I'm talking way bigger than any normal beach. I never would have guessed it, but I'm glad it's here! 

As I make my way, I see thousands of people having the time of their life. The population seems to be split in two. On one side, many are swimming as they dive in the water, splashing each other, and having a blast. The other half remains on land where you see some sitting in chairs to get that perfect tan, making sandcastles, burying each other under the sand, and just relaxing. If this isn't the definition of the beach, I don't know what is!

Loud cheers are heard in the distance as I peek at a crowd formed together. I follow the direction of their attention and notice someone way out in the waters. He rides the waters on his surfboard handling what the waves throw at him easily. The waves start uneasy at first, that it seems like he could wipe out at any moment, but he handles the waves well and rides the waters as if he's made peace with them and they allow him to travel with ease. I make my way to the crowd to get a better look. Close but not too close. So I stand to the side and watch more. When he comes out of the water, the crowd cheers again. 

"Malik! Malik! Malik!" 

A chuckle escaped his lips as drips of water cascade down his chiseled abs causing many of the females to bite their lips to suppress their seductive giggles. Meanwhile, the men around this Malik fellow gave him high fives and commented on his awesome surf skills which I can admit were pretty impressive. I can't even stand in the water without falling over. Kudos to the swimmers out there. Malik turned his gaze in my direction immediately. Oh no. Hot male is staring at me!

"Well, hello there" He walked over until he stood in front of me. I stared up at him as he gently grabbed my hand, "I don't think I've seen you around here before cutie." With a light kiss to the back of my palm, his flirts were quite simple, but it didn't stop the heat from my cheeks from surfacing. I guess that means I'm a sucker for pretty faces and flirty comments. I should make my standards higher. 

"How about you and I go for a swim?" I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at his deep brown eyes, "Oh, uh, I don't really...I mean-" 

"Look! Over there!" A passerby pointed out into the ocean catching everyone's attention. In the far distance, an enormous wave built up. The biggest one ever to be seen and riding that wave was another surfer. He rode the waves as the currents were harsh, wild, and uneven. Much more chaotic than when Malik surfed the waves. The surfer took on the challenge and overcame the waters with ease. When many thought he would tumble over and fall victim to the ocean, he proved those watching. 

I couldn't help but stare in awe at the scene. Malik grinned, "My pal is pretty amazing when he hits those waves. He gets in the zone and becomes a different person, but he's not cooler than me." I blinked. Then I let out a laugh at his boast. 

"Hey, I got you to laugh. I knew you were just playing shy earlier," Before I could respond, my entire body ran cold. The cheers around me had suddenly stopped and everyone looked at me. Even Malik was silent with his jaw dropped. I looked down at my form to see my entire body drenched. Drops of water fall from my hair down my face. Why am I wet? 

"Malik, either you'll settle for anything or I never realized how low your standards are." 

A tan-skinned girl with light blonde hair stood to the side of me. In her hands, a bucket that dripped the last remains of the water that it held before being chucked out. Did she really just throw water on me? Suddenly, Malik's shock turned into rage. 

"Daisy, what the fuck was that?! Why did you throw water on her?" Daisy rolled her eyes, ignoring the anger protruding from his aura, and put a hand firmly on her hip. "Relax, it's just water. She won't drown from it." Is she being serious right now? That doesn't justify her actions of throwing a bucket of water at me!

"It doesn't matter! You shouldn't have done it." 

"What? The bitch was red in the face from laughing so damn hard, I thought she was gonna pass out or something. So I did the next best thing and graciously cooled her off. I'm still waiting on a " thank you " by the way." Emerald eyes turned into stone-cold daggers as she glared at me. This girl was unbelievable! 

Malik let out an angry growl as he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Something tells me Daisy makes a habit of doing "the unnecessary". He turned his attention back to me with a look of concern, "Hey, I'm sorry about that. Let's take you somewhere to get dry and-" 

"What the hell is going on over here?" All eyes turned to the male surfer from earlier. He ran his hands through his tousled, wavy,  medium-length hair that touched his shoulders. Something about this guy made him seem different from the rest. He had a dominant aura around him. When no one else would say a word, Malik opened his mouth, but Daisy was quicker.

"We were having fun until Malik decided to be a killjoy." She put on the most innocent smile when she walked up to him. "How was your swim, Kai?" 

"You're blaming this on me? You started it!" 

Daisy shrugged, "As I said. A killjoy." The dark-skinned boy let out a sigh being done with the whole situation altogether.  "You two are killing the vibe. You can take that shit somewhere else, but don't bother me with me it." Kai's eyes gazed towards my wet appearance. My clothes began to stick to my body, and goosebumps were already forming from how cold I was. He sniffed the air and made a disgusted face.

"You smell like a wet dog." 

Silence. A few seconds later, people started to laugh. My eyes widened in shock. No, he didn't. Daisy, being one of the many who laughed freely without a care in the world agreed, "You're absolutely right. You should go fix that, hun." Malik seemed to be the only one who didn't find the situation funny and glared at his friend. 

"What the hell Kai? Don't say that!" Kai looked away from his angry friend and turned his focus back to me, "She smells like one. Are you part of the dog species?" 

My body trembled. Not because of the cold, but because of the humiliation. The girls in the group covered their mouths as they tried to hold their laughs in. They weren't trying hard enough. While the guys made faces that showed they somewhat felt bad for me, but a few of them laughed too. Of course, this whole situation involved comments as well. 

"Yikes. That's really embarrassing." 

"I wouldn't wanna be her right now." 

"She didn't even do anything to deserve that. Someone should do something."

"Do you wanna get water thrown on you? You might wanna keep quiet man."

"How can she just sit there and take that? The girl has no backbone what so ever."

Oh no. It's happening again. Once again, I'm being outcasted. Pushed to the side. Even if the attention is all me, I'm being singled out and treated like I don't belong. It's been a few weeks since the last time I was treated like this. I thought since Liam forced everyone to stop, I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. How long had the bullying stopped? 3 weeks? It honestly felt longer. Like an eternity of some sort. I thought maybe I wouldn't have to worry about being picked on. As long as I kept to myself, everything would be okay. But, isn't that what I did the first time? In my past life, the bullying only started because I interacted with Liam. I made it known that Liam was my mate. Everyone thought I was lying or trying to stake my claim on him. Everyone hated that. They thought I was being arrogant. Liam felt that I didn't know where my standing was. So Liam did what he did best. He gave the order, and his minions followed. I was quickly put in my place. I realize that I made the mistake of opening my big mouth. I own up to the fact that I still held hope for Liam to recognize me. I did so many stupid things. I was foolish. 

Even when I made the mistake, I decided the best way to fix the problem was to keep to myself and not bother anyone. Especially Liam, even though it hurt being away and not noticed. I would have been happy with just seeing Liam. At least, that's what I thought. Even when I don't do anything, I always get hurt somehow. Why? I never do anything! It's not fair! To top this whole process, I looked up to see Daisy smirking at me. She's just like Brittany. This girl may as well be Brittany. I remember so many times, that exact smirk that declared Brittany the winner whenever she knew Liam was on her side. When Liam knew Brittany was in the wrong, but because he was so smitten with her, and didn't give a damn about me, it never mattered. Brittany always stood on top, where I remained on the bottom like the loser I was. I stared at the two look-alikes. Kai and Daisy. Liam and Brittany. I don't deserve this kind of treatment. I know I don't. But, when it's everyone against you, sometimes you feel like there's no point. You feel alone. Abandoned. Hurt. Ruined. So many emotions and too many that you don't wish to show or come spilling out of you. 

What was the point of this second life? A few differences happened, and that's it. Maybe this is a sign that I'm gonna go back to my shitty life, where no one cares, everyone hates me, and I'm unwanted. Maybe Liam's gonna go back to ignoring me as he did before, and once again, I'll be pathetic, miserable, Rosalia. Tears threatened to fall from my eyes. 

"OMG! Are you seriously about to cry? It was just water." Daisy made a disappointed face as if she expected me to handle the situation better. Unfortunately, my entire past life that's all I was good at. Crying. I quickly turned around before anyone saw, but the crowd already assumed I was by doing so. 

Goddess, I hate this. 

I HATE THIS! 

"Daisy shut up! You've done enough! Leave her alone already!" Concerned, Malik reached his hand out to me, "Hey-" I slapped his hand away and walked off.

"Wait, come back!" 

"Let her go. She needs to go cry in a corner." 

I'm sick of this shit. 

Once I was a distance away, I took a long at my surroundings and walked up to a pair of girls building a sandcastle. "Excuse me? Could I borrow your bucket for a moment?" 

~

Malik's P.O.V.

"You were way out of line!" I yelled as Daisy sat in her lounge chair with an umbrella blocking her from the sun. As usual, Daisy had to ruin the vibe and make the situation all about her. It's not the first time she's done this. Sadly, I don't think it'll be the last either. I'm not the only one who suffers from this. Kai has to deal with her too, but I don't think Kai cares about girls. At least, not to the extent that Daisy does. Even though this is the norm for her, it's still unacceptable. No matter how many times I scold her, nothing gets through to her. We've grown up together, and she didn't use to be like this. She's my cousin, but if I go too far, my uncle will have my ass on a hook. Spoiled little brat. I couldn't help but feel awful for letting her hurt another girl's feelings on top of embarrassing her. She seemed shy at first glance, but I think she was really nice. Fucking Daisy.

"Stop bitching to me about that skank. She didn't want you. She just wanted to hop on your dick. That little comment about being cooler than Kai wasn't funny. You can tell she forced that one out. You should be grateful I saved you from a relationship like that. You're welcome." She went back to reading her fashion magazine. I clenched my fists, "I told you before! Mind your own business! Me being with a girl doesn't give you a pass to include yourself in the equation to fuck it all up!" 

She peered up at me, "I'm just trying to save you from making the same mistake. Like last time." This girl! I swear to-!

"That's enough you two," Kai spoke up rubbing his temples. The nerve of this guy to act as if he's done with the situation when he's the one who made it worse! "What's done is done. Let's just move on already."

"Explain to me why you thought it was necessary to call her a dog? Like seriously dude, that was out of character. Even on your worst days, you would never- well I take that back. Either way! No one made you angry today. You hit some sweet waves. Then out of the blue, you tell the poor girl she smells? Come on, dude!" 

Kai stared at me for a few seconds. "Are you done?" 

Gah! I swear! How am I the only nice one in this dysfunctional group?! "No! I'm not done! You need to go apologize! Both of you!" 

"Not happening. Hey Kai, wanna go swimming with me?" Daisy batted her eyelashes towards Kai. Leave it to her to change the subject. Kai however was too distracted by looking behind me. Suddenly I heard the intense noise of footsteps behind me. I turned my head to see the girl from earlier. She came back! Wait, she came back? I didn't get the chance to blink and she was already in front of us holding a huge green bucket. Wait, she wasn't really. 

Splash! 

Once again, my mouth fell open, and even Kai was surprised this time. Daisy sat up in her lounge chair completely soaked. Her eyes shut tight but her mouth wide open in shock. She opened her eyes and saw who the culprit was. I kid you not, she started turning a different shade. I've never seen Daisy turn so red.

"You bitch! You wanna throw water on me?!" She started to get up, so I quickly grabbed her. 

"Relax, Daisy!" 

"No! She threw water on me!" 

The girl walked towards us, lifted her hand, and smacked the shit out of Daisy. Daisy's head went back so hard, I thought her neck broke for a second there. On her right cheek, the red bruising began to form. Kai and I were speechless. Daisy couldn't believe it either. She held her cheek, but that shock quickly turned to anger as she tried to get out of my hold spewing out more curses and threats.

The girl took a big inhale and raised her hand. I thought she was gonna smack her again until she dropped four of her fingers. Yeah, that's right! She was flipping Daisy off! When she spoke, she spoke loud and clear. 

"Fuck you, bitch!" She then glared at Kai. "And for the record. You smell like fish! Go get that checked out, dickhead!" Then she turned her attention to me, "And you could do better with making friends!" With the final say, she turned around and walked off just as she did before. This time, I was sure she wasn't coming back. Kai's eyes were wide open. I've never seen Kai make such a face. Did that just happen?