Entangled (Entangled Trilogy #1)

by Anika Rahman

  “It was hard to stay away from her. Once I was about to tell her who I was, I saw a guy come up to her and kiss her, a gesture that showed that he loved her. She looked happy; the way she looked at him confirmed that she loved him too. I was happy that she had found someone who loved her and she loved him too. She was someone else’s because I was too late to get to her. So I decided to stay and be her guardian angel. I felt as if I had died once more. I still love her and I don’t think I can ever love anyone again, not as much as I love her,” Adrian finished off, wiping a tear from his cheek.

  He looked around to see that others were really saddened by this. I was, also, furiously wiping away the tears. Poor Adrian. The one person he loved the most could no longer be his. He must be dying inside. Adrian saw me and smiled a broken hearted smile, handing me a handkerchief to wipe away the tears. I denied it, turning away. So he personally wiped away my tears, each and every one of them, very cautiously. Most of the people seemed to be crying, even Mr. Moore.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss,” I said and I meant it.

  “You Americans with your apologizing for something that isn’t your fault. I guess my story really made everyone very sad, huh?” Adrian said, smiling down at me. How is he smiling at a time like this? He just lost his soul mate. He must be really good at concealing his emotions.

  “Well, class dismissed everyone,” Mr. Moore said, his voice still a bit shaky.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Rosemarie,” Adrian said, once again, picking up my hand to place a kiss on it.

  “Please call me Rose,” I said. I didn’t like my first name or any part of my name. Now that I comprehended it, my last name was Ross, just like his. Why was my last name Ross when all my ancestors and my brother’s last name was Hathaway?

  “Rose,” he frowned. “I like to be very original when I call someone by some pet name. Everyone calls you Rose so I want to be dissimilar.”

  “Most of my teachers call me Rosemarie,” I pointed out, smiling which somehow bought out a sparkle to his eyes.

  “True. I’ll call you Roza then. It’s settled,” Adrian said before turning around and leaving.

  How was he still alive after dying so many times? I would not have persisted. I congregated my books before heading off to find Maddie, beginning the whole routine again. Before I left, I saw those blue-green eyes again but I dismissed them, hopefully, for good.

  chapter 4

  a content word of honor

  The rest of the week had been very stupid and boring. Adrian was his sprightly self the whole week. He was able to memorize his schedule and officially knows the whole school and his ways around it. I guess I don’t have to show him around anymore. James had paid me a visit by my locker, but Maddie told me to talk to him some other day. James had reassured me that we will talk next week. Why did Maddie do that? Didn’t she know what I was going through?

  On top of that, Krystal had gotten a new BF. You will not believe who it is; it was kind of hard for me to believe who it is. I usually don’t care who it is, but now, I do. To make matters worse, she had started going out with Adrian. He had told her that he was flattered by the offer, but Krystal didn’t let him finish his sentence. Instead, she just kissed his cheeks. She had gone all around the school and announced that Adrian and Krystal are officially a thing. Their ship name is Krysian and some people even say Adristal. I personally don’t like either of them.

  Adrian looked cheerier than ever. I thought that he could love no one else ever again, but I was wrong. He had revamped his soul. Now, I didn’t actually like Adrian so much. I hate liars and I’m pretty sure that he’s one of them. Pretty sure? I am damn sure he’s one of them.

  Why was I assigned to deliver his homework to him? Mr. Moore had told me to give Adrian his homework and now, I had to go to him before I could go home. I felt a strong antipathy towards him.

  The boys’ locker room reeked of sweat and teenage boys. I was positively not going in there to give him the homework so I just waited outside until he could come out. From the distance, I saw Adrian starting to come over to where I was standing, his head down and looking at the floor as he walked. Before he could reach me, Krystal came out of nowhere and stood in front of him. He just smiled a sad smile and before he could do anything else, Krystal backed him up to the locker so that she was pressed against him. Then, they were kissing. Adrian seemed to be kissing her back while he enclosed his arms around her waist. They really did love each other. So Adrian really did lie to me and everyone else.

  I couldn’t believe my eyes. Adrian had lied to everyone about his true love. He made up that sad story just to get attention. I should’ve known; of course a spoiled good looking guy like him would do that for attention. I was so compelled by his personality though. I felt something on my cheeks and realized that I was crying, for him. Why should I freakin’ cry because of a jerk like him? Screw him; he could get his own homework. I dropped his homework on to the chair next to the row of lockers with such force, the couple stopped making out. Adrian looked over at me and looked as if he regretted everything that had just happened; Serves him right.

  Adrian kept shaking his head and muttered, “No, no, no, and no. What did I just do?” He tried to detangle himself from Krystal who kept pouted, but Adrian’s eyes were fixated on me, never leaving my face.

  Adrian had started to walk towards me, but I hastily turned around and bolted for the door so I could get out of this hellish place. Adrian can’t see me like this; I won’t let him see me in this broken state. He didn’t deserve to see me in my vulnerable state. Just as I turned, I sauntered into a moving wall that kept me upright when I was about to fall. It even leaned towards me and whispered in that au fait voice.

  “Let’s get out of here and have that talk we were planning,” James said. I relaxed in his arms and let him take me away from this place towards the school garden.

  The school garden was actually the roof garden. The roof consisted of benches surrounding the edge of the roof with the whole floor of the roof covered in grass. There was even a greenhouse in the school that consisted of numerous flowers. James led me to one of the benches.

  “So, how have you been, Rosemarie?” James asked me. Why was he still calling me Rosemarie? I hate it when some other student calls me that; only the teachers and the people I love has that right over me.

  “I’m fine. Let’s just talk about whatever it is that you want to talk about,” I sighed, trying to dodge all the other issues. He got up from where he was sitting, took a few steps forward and kept his back to me. I got up too and took one step forward.

  “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. But first, Rosemarie, I want you to stay away from the new guy,” James told me, still not facing me.

  “His name is Adrian,” I muttered, unintelligibly and knowingly. James doesn’t care about anyone else’s name; he doesn’t care about anything.

  “Whatever. I want you to know that you have to avoid him. He is not who you think he is. Please, just listen to me,” James pleaded with a sad voice.

  “Fine! Anything else you need to tell me?” I queried.

  “How many more of those theories do you have?” he asked, marginally entertained. I could literally feel the smile in his voice.

  “God of Death?” I muttered. He seemed fitting for the job. His visibly tensed, going rigid all over. James would usually come out right and answer me, but this theory got some hesitancy.

  “May I ask why you think that, Rosemarie?” James asked. He had a way of answering questions with questions. I hated it but at the moment, I really didn’t care. So . . . he could be one of the God of Death or something. I smiled and frowned and the same time. This could be a good thing, or a bad thing. Depends on how I look at it.

  “You seem very fitting for the job but judging by your question, you are definitely no god of death,” I said. “Anything else?”

  “Yes. Rosemarie, I know I may have frightened you in the past and you may n
ot like me or anything but I want you to listen to me first and then come to a verdict,” James said although it sounded more like a demand. Why did all these people speak in such immense and prophecy-like words?

  “Alright,” I said. Why isn’t he facing me?

  “Excellent. I know I’ve frightened you in the past. Maybe that’s why you prefer to look at me as a death deity. Do I frighten you?” James asked. I simply nodded unwisely until I comprehended that he can’t see me.

  When I didn’t answer, he sighed and his shoulders collapsed while he shook his head, feeling as if he lost the most important battle of his life.

  “I truly never meant to terrify you. I just wanted you to stay away from me. I thought that the closer you got to me, the more endangerment you’ll be in. I thought that I’ll endanger you every second of your life,” James said. I opened my mouth to protest but he cut me off.

  “Now I apprehended that I don’t need you away from me. I—,” James started just as Adrian barged in through the door of the roof. I heard James mutter a few inane words under his breath and ran his hand through that silky blonde hair of his. He turned to finally face me and shot me a remorseful look.

  “We got to talk and I have kept my promise but we are not done yet, Rosemarie. Perhaps, I shall walk you home today after school. I will meet you at your locker. Please, don’t bring you little blonde friend with you. She’ll ruin our precious moment together like Prince Charming over there,” James said, indicating Adrian who looked over at us with an unreadable expression.

  “Alright,” I sighed. One of these days, I’ll find out the truth about James. Sensing my uneasiness, James came over to where I was standing and took my smaller hand in his larger one. Then, he kissed me on the cheeks, not roughly like the other day, but gently, as if he was afraid to get near me. The kiss was enough to leave me in a tingling and confused state. I wish people would stop interposing the two of us every time he got to the good part.

  “Would you like me to stay here and help you fix things between you and him?” James asked and I shook my head.

  “Alright,” James said one last time before leaving the roof and leaving me alone with him.

  “What were you two talking about?” Adrian scowled, rather a bit too harshly.

  When he saw me recoil, his eyes softened and he treaded towards me. I took two steps back, still looking down, admiring the grass. It was like flattering what your parents thought was the coolest thing ever. Very . . . monotonous. He reached out to touch my face but I quickly took another step back, wanting nothing to do with this jerk.

  “What we were talking about is none of your business, Mr. Ross. You don’t see me following you around and poking my nose into your business now, do you?” I asked, infuriated. Now, it was his turn to flinch. I hope I didn’t hurt his feelings too badly. Wait, he doesn’t have any.

  “Roza, I-I didn’t mean that. I-I’m—,” Adrian started but I quickly cut him off.

  “Of course you’re sorry. You’re always sorry for everything. You wanna know what I’m sorry for? For ever agreeing to befriend you in the first place. I thought that I should try to be nice to you since you’ve had a tough time before. I was obviously off beam. I bet that you didn’t even love that girl. You probably planned the accident to get rid of her. You could’ve just broken up with her you know; that way, she would still have her memories and live happily. And that story you made up about ‘truly losing your soul-mate,’ you probably made that up to get attention. If I was that girl, thank god I’m not her; I would have never ever even wanted to have you back in my life. I hate you Adrian Ross. I truly hate you,” I said, panting.

  Now, I really felt bad. Hurt contorted his attractive features. Adrian looked as if he was in agony. His eyes were glassy with unshed tears but one tear had managed to escape.

  “Say you were that girl, the girl I loved. Imagine I came back just for you, after everything I’ve been through. Imagine I asked you to come back to me. Would you say yes? Just imagine that it’s all real, just for one second. I jeopardized my life for you. Would you want to be mine again? All mine?” Adrian asked in a beseeching voice although his voice splintered when he said “mine.”

  “Maybe,” I managed to say. His eyes all of a sudden lit up like a Christmas tree. “But you’re making all of these up and I’m not that girl.”

  “Wow! You’ve changed a lot, Roza. What did they do to you? You weren’t like this before,” Adrian said, hurt coloring his husky voice.

  “What are you talking about? I didn’t change at all. Did you know me before you relocated here Adrian? Please answer me. I need to know,” I asked sincerely. If he knew me before all of this, then he can help me find out more about my accident and who he was.

  “What if you were? That girl, I mean,” Adrian insisted, his eyes pleading with a dismayed look and completely disregarding my question.

  “But I’m not, Adrian. I’m just not her. Please, stay away from me, at least until I get all of this straight,” I said. Adrian just looked down at the ground at nodded, looking defeated. I quickly picked up my backpack and left. Once, I turned around to look at him and saw that he was watching me go. I hastily left without looking back again.

  * * * * *

  As I gathered my homework from my locker, abruptly, I felt someone wrap their arms around my waist from the back. I almost jumped but that pacifyingly au fait voice told me to relax, which I did. He still didn’t take his arms off me when I was done gathering my books. I turned around to face him and he finally took his arms off me. Instead, he offered me his arm and asked, “Shall we?” I nodded.

  As we walked, arm-in-arm, Maddie came up from behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. I shot James a rueful look before telling Maddie that James would be dropping me at home tonight.

  “Alice, are you sure about this?” she asked as uneasiness shaded her voice. I nodded and before leaving, she wished me luck and told me to be cautious. Maddie, normally, would never let me do this but for some reason, after Adrian had showed up at our school, she backed off and now lets me do whatever I want to. It’s always Adrian. Adrian, Adrian, Adrian. What is it with that guy?

  When I returned to James, he offered me his arm again which I took. Such a gentleman.

  “I’m really sor—,” I started, but he shushed me.

  “No need to apologize, Rosemarie. Now, where were we the last time we conversed?” James asked, smiling down at me.

  “Umm . . . You were going to tell me something about not wanting to endanger me,” I said happily.

  “Oh, right. I need to know if I terrify you. Do I?” James asked once again.

  “Kind of,” I admitted. I still didn’t know what he was so of course that would frighten me.

  “Honestly, I never meant to. I’m sorry. I just thought keeping you at a distance would help keep you safe. I was wrong. I need you near me. I— Are you cold, Rosemarie? You’re shivering,” James asked, alarmed.

  “I-I’m not c-cold,” I said. I really wasn’t that cold. It was so dark outside that I couldn’t see what it was that suddenly made me feel all warm and fuzzy. But something silky draped around me and made me feel all warm from head to toe.

  “What on earth is thi—,” I began but James silenced me again by pressing a warm finger to my lips.

  “Shhh. Are you warm now, Rosemarie?” he asked me. He really has to stop calling me Rosemarie.

  “Yes,” I said. “What is this?”

  “Anywho, as I was saying, I really don’t want to scare you. I want to make you feel like you’ve never felt before. I realized that I don’t need you away from me. I need you near me. I think of you as more than a friend,” James went on, pointedly closing his eyes to my question. James took a step towards me and I took a step back. I didn’t realize where we were until I saw that I realized that I was only inches away from him and he was backed up against a tree. An image of Adrian and Krystal in the locker room flashed across my mind but I dismissed it. James and I were in th
e same position now and this was not upright.

  “Rosemarie, you mean so much to me. You’re implausible and marvelous. You make me burn with desire and I think I’m burning for you. I’ve totally fallen for you. I can’t bear to be apart from you anymore. I need you. I yearn for you,” James started. Oh. My. God. This whole thing just took a right turn towards What-Should-I-Do-Ville. Actually, no. It’s more like What-Did-I-Do-To-Deserve-This-Ville.

  “You make me feel all young again. I care for you deeply,” James continued, pulling me closer to him by wrapping his arms around my waist so I couldn’t move back step-by-step anymore. What is he trying to say? I hate it when guys are not candid. They delay with all the sweet talk and then just drop the L-bomb. I also hate it when they ask you out for dates. All you do is just sit around, eat and talk. Why not just ask her to be your girlfriend, man?

  “I’ve felt this way about you for a while, Rosemarie. I just didn’t know when to tell you all of this. I guess now is the right time, huh?” James grinned, revealing a set of perfect white teeth. His smiles were so compelling, I wondered if my knees would give out soon. I put my hands on his muscular chest to steady myself and he took it the wrong way, his smile deepening, his hold on me tightening and the sparkle in his eyes all . . . burnished.

  “What a-are you trying to tell me, James?” I asked. He frowned a little, wondering why I couldn’t decipher his message. Maybe, he should stop speaking prophecy and start speaking English.

  “Are you scared again? Are you cold again?” James asked, flipping us both over so that I was stuck between him and the tree. Great, now there was no escape.

  “No. I’m not cold again. Please, stop trying to avoid my questions,” I requested. He really has to stop. He’s been trying to tell me something for the past few weeks and there was always some kind of distraction that would stop him when he began to say “I.”