The Bully's Hated Mate
The Bully’s Hated Mate – Chapter 33

CASSIA’S POV:

I peered out the window and onto the school grounds. The weather was great.

Indeed, it was a beautiful day to be going camping. Except, that I wasn’t feeling so hyped up.

I would have to be stuck with Lucius throughout since I was his partner, and the fact that we had to travel in the same car wasn’t helping matters.

I would give anything to go with the other students, really. If only wishes were horses…

As much as Lucius’ new behavior tired me out and annoyed me, I was irritated with myself the most.

I was angry with him but at the same time, I worried about him. I didn’t want to see him but when he disappeared from the room, I resented him for that.

It was all just so confusing and annoying. Do I like him or not?

I drew the curtains aside to let daylight in and picked up my bag to make sure I had packed my history textbook and jotter for the trip.

By the way, where was Lucius?

We were set to leave school for the trip in roughly over an hour’, and I had still not set my eyes on him since last night.

Maybe it was a good thing that he wasn’t here yet. I could dress up and finish with my packing before he came in. The last thing I wanted to do was be stuck in the same room as he was.

As if in acknowledgment of my thoughts, our door creaked open and Lucius walked in still wearing his shirt from last night. His eyes met mine, and he turned away silently.

I wondered if it was okay to speak to him. What would I even say? Was it okay to bring up his nightmares?

Every day for the past few nights, he had been groaning and crying in his sleep and everytime I shook him awake, he would push my hands off and leave the room.

Those were the few times I had seen him since that day in the teacher’s office.

After he stomped out, he had not returned to the room until late that night and when he did, he had ignored every attempt by me to strike up a conversation.

This was our new normal now.

He would return to the room very late at night to sleep and then, leave in the wee hours of the morning usually after awaking from his tormenting nightmare.

He seemed like he was suffering pretty much, and I wanted to help him but there was also something holding me back, a small part of me that wished him hell.

I walked to my dressing table with a small makeup bag in hand to pack the necessary cosmetics I would be needing.

At the same time that Lucius straightened up from the bag, he was packing and attempted to cross the room to get his backpack.

I bumped into him and immediately recoiled. He looked just as taken aback as I felt and stepped aside to give me room to maneuver my way to the table.

He muttered something that sounded roughly like, “be careful” but I couldn’t really be sure.

I shoved the bottles of lotion and other product into my bag while making sure not to breathe too loudly. I hated how sweaty and awkward I felt but I did not know how to break the ice.

I zipped my bag locked and turned towards his direction. He was bent over his luggage trying to get it to lock even though the thing seemed about to burst. What exactly did he pack?

As if sensing that I was staring at him, he turned to look at me and I flushed. My makeup bag slipped from my hand hit the floor with a low thud. Why was I being so clumsy in front of Lucius? How embarrassing.

I crouched down to pick the bag and by some unfortunate coincidence, Lucius crouched at the same time to continue his struggle with his unyielding luggage. Our butts collided with each other and we jumped apart gingerly with an involuntary yelp from me.

Goddamn, this was so f*****g awkward and Lucius felt it too because he gave an embarrassed cough and pulled his luggage to the side. I wished the floor would open up and swallow me fast.

It was finally time to leave for the trip, thank goodness. I wheeled my luggage out of the room and into the hall where majority of the other students were bunched up in groups talking excitedly about what could only be the fun they expected to have on this trip. Unlike me, they were really geared up and ready to have fun. Meanwhile, there was me hoping that a certain dickhead would not make me regret ever leaving the school premises.

I imagined how much fun it would be traveling with all the peeps from our class. There would be plenty of jokes and stories and well, noise.

Instead, I was to travel in a small enclosed space with prince knucklehead who did not want to be caught dead within five meters of me. Great, just great!

“What are you doing?”

I jumped before I realized that it was Lucius’ voice and that I was in his way.

I shuffled to the side and watched him wheel out his luggage from the room and lock the door. He wore a serious expression on his face and I could not tell if he was angry or just not in the mood to joke around. It was probably both.

I walked ahead of him, slugging my luggage behind me until I got to where the black car that would transport us was parked.

Our appointed driver got out from behind the steering wheel when he saw me and helped me lift my luggage into the back of the car. He did the same for Lucius who sashayed towards us without a care in the world a good five minutes later and we got strapped into the back seat of the car.

I wondered unreasonably if the tiny distance between us was anywhere near five meters. Or did that rule not apply to cars and other enclosed spaces like the tent we would have to share?

I stared out the window as our driver started the car and followed after the bus that conveyed the rest of our classmates. From inside this black car with the black tinted windows, the school grounds looked even more beautiful. I hoped I wouldn’t have to cut short this trip and return earlier than planned after killing off a certain annoying brat, assuming that was even realistic.

As we exited the school grounds and the forest path grew visible and the trees thicker, my eyelids began to droop. I did not even realize how tired I was until now.

I had been up for the greater part of last night finishing up all pending homework and packing my bag and then, I couldn’t go back to sleep after Lucius woke me with his cries and m***s.

I leaned against the window to get some shut eye but it was just too difficult to feel rested in that position. Instead, I leaned back on my seat and positioned my head on the headrest hoping I could get some comfortable sleep without embarrassing myself.

When I opened my eyes much later, we were in open field and the sun had come up in the center of the sky. I let out a low sigh and closed my eyes again. This was comfortable.

It was then it dawned on me that my head was on Lucius’shoulder. I shut my eyes even more tightly and bit back the embarrassed whimper that threatened to escape my lips. Did my head fall on his shoulder while I slept, and why was he not pushing me away?

If I sat up now, how would I face him? I decided there and then to pretend that I was still asleep and wait until we got to the camping site so that I could dash out of the car and save face at least.

But when the car slowed to a stop, he did not wake me or push my head away.

Instead, he gently sat me up and placed my head back on the headrest. I almost let out a gasp of surprise before I realized that that would blow my cover.

“I’ll get our bags out of the back. Let her sleep until she wakes up” I heard him say to the driver and a few seconds later, I heard a click from the side of his car and felt him leave.

Later, after we had been assigned our space and set up our tent, we joined the other of our classmates who stood in a circle around the history teacher who looked like he would rather be anywhere else.

“No gadgets are allowed, you can’t leave the camp grounds without permission and lazing about will not be tolerated. I repeat…”

I zoned out when he started to rattle off the rules for a third time. I glimpsed Lucius standing a few feets away from me looking just as uninterested in what the teacher was saying and I thought of what had transpired in the car.

He was sending me mixed signals and I’d never been more confused in my life.