CHAPTER 41

"I think my name only sounds good when it rolls out of your pretty lips..."

He just loved the way she called his name, it made his heart leap and beat faster. Seeing as Rachel was silent, he took her hand and said;

"Would you..." Mark hesitated for a moment but after thinking, he realised there was nothing to loose anyways.

"Would you say my name again?" He asked.

Rachel didn't reply him, so Mark decided to plead with her.

"Please."

Rachel was beyond flustered, it felt really awkward when he said that, but at the same time he looked really cute right now. Could she bear to not do as he ask? No, she couldn't.

"Mark!" She said softly.

He smiled immediately, he really loved it, he loved the way she called his name. He loved her.

"Beautiful." He commented.

"What?" She asked.

"Everything..." he smiled again.

"Everything about you is beautiful...I just don't know how you managed to capture my heart this way."

"I..." no words could come out of her lips. Mark had done it again. He said that she had captured his heart. How? Even she herself didn't understand. They never spoke often, they just used to meet at the club a couple of times. So how?

"Awkward much?" He said seeing that she couldn't say anything. Rachel nodded her head to reply him.

"It's fine. You don't need to say anything, I am not asking you to be my girlfriend." He said and she felt relieved.

"YET!" He added emphasizing on his words. "I am not asking you to be my girlfriend yet. But time will tell."

'Oh Gawd! This guy is just so...'She sighed. He had just made her feel relief but he didn't even let it last for long.

"Relax. It's not like I would force you to say yes." He bursted out laughing causing people to look at him, Rachel noticed but Mark didn't care. Her facial expressions were really funny to him and he couldn't hold in his laughter.

"What's so funny now?" She finally spoke.

"You." He replied immediately.

She wondered what she could have done to make him laugh this much. Not wanting to create any avenue that would render her speechless again, she decided to not ask him anything related to that topic and chose to change the topic.

"What game are we going to play next?"

"I don't know. Let's just go out and whatever attracts you, we'll play it." Mark answered logically.

Not waiting for her to say more, he got up, took her hand and they both walked out of the bowling alley. Rachel on the other hand didn't bother to say anything and just left him to do whatever he wanted.

When they got out the arena, Rachel saw a familiar person, she wasn't quite sure she wasn't imagining things, but why would be imagining seeing him anyways?

'Oh damn! It's really Oliver.' She finally saw him clearly when he turned to their direction, but he didn't see her. Oliver was coming out of the gaming center opposite the bowling area, but he wasn't paying attention to the people around him.

'But who's the girl with him? Wait...OH MY GOSH!!! That's Alice!' She exclaimed in her mind. As usual they looked good together...but Veronica would not like it.

'Should i tell her?'

"Hey! What's on your mind?" Mark asked when she had stopped moving.

"Umm...nothing. I just saw one of my classmates." Mark looked in the direction she had been looking and he saw Oliver and Alice.

"Ohh, Oliver and that girl huh?" Mark spoke.

"Yeah, Oliver and her." Rachel replied with her eyes still glued to them.

'Could she have a crush on him?" Mark shuddered at the thought. He wouldn't be able to handle that. He had just began wooing her.

'Hold on, I thought that's the guy Veronica is crazy about. Rachel couldn't possibly like the guy her friend likes, how stupid of me.' But he was greatly relieved at the thought.

"Veronica likes him right?" He asked just to be sure she was staring at them because of her friend.

"Yeah. Practically, the whole school should be aware." She laughed.

"Hmm. That's because she isn't trying to hide it." Mark replied her. "But this girl. The one that tops your class, what's her name?"

"Oh! You mean Alice, she's nothing. I don't know why Oliver seems to fancy her." She replied bitterly.

"Hey! Don't call her that. How could you bear to call such a sweet girl nothing?" Mark did not like the way she had referred to Alice. That was harsh and hurtful.

When Rachel heard him call her sweet girl, she felt as if a circuit in her head had sparked. An unknown anger was building up inside her. Before she knew it, she spouted some words in anger and left Mark standing there in shock.

"Well if you are interested in her so much, why don't you hang out with her instead."

Mark looked at her as she was walking away in anger before he decided to chase after her.

In no time he caught up to her and grabbed her hand, stopping her.

"Do you hate her that much?" He asked immediately.

"I..." she paused not knowing what to say, she was surprised by her own behavior. Why did she even run? Now she acted all immature over a little thing. She now felt really embarrassed and wished she could just bury a hole around her and hide herself.

"I don't really like her, so I just got upset when you started talking about her, I am..." Rachel was about to apologize for her behavior, but Mark didn't let her finish.

"No! I should be the one apologizing. I should have realized you weren't comfortable with the topic." Mark didn't want er to apologize cause he felt he was the one at fault. Though he still didn't agree with Rachel's criticism of Alice, she was the one he loved and she mattered most. So he decided to set aside the issue and focus solely on her.

"Thanks Mark. You should be angry with me, but you aren't. I wonder why."

"Oh! I am. But it's just you baby girl. I just can't get mad at you. "