Chapter 50

STACEY'S POV
Don't get me wrong here, I was really happy for Frankie, I really was, honestly. Luke Clinton had been a pain in everyone's asses, Frankie's especially and Jay Harley had given the kids of Oxford Oaks middle school, a chance to breathe by confronting the bully for them.
Amidst the altercation, Frankie had oddly looked like the very same thing he was fighting against and I wasn't sure if I liked it at all. Power gives you this strange touch, it's like Midas's touch, you become an entirely different person and your old ways are abandoned, picking up new habits that may or may not have adverse effects on your surrounding and you.
I told myself to not be a spoil sport, today was a big day for Frankie. Knowing how he idolized Jay Harley, the man standing up for me was everything to him and I didn't want to be the reason he wouldn't celebrate his W. The stairway was empty as usual, I decided to leave an entry in my journal.
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Monday 16/08/09
Dear diary,
Don't you find it strange that I have to keep writing, 'dear diary" every time I leave an entry? You don't? Well, I sometimes feel it's strange when I do it though. Anyways, I shouldn't be writing in you anymore, my privacy had been violated by Maddie. I would most definitely confront her about it but was there a need to do so?
I somehow felt she had gone to such lengths cause she was worried about me. Well, everyone was but that didn't mean they would be able to help me through what I was facing. My mum had her own issues with dad, the divorce was something they hadn't talked about again after that night but I knew would eventually come up again.
Parenting is the hardest thing humans had had to face, no doubt, but it would be easier if they try to acknowledge the fact that their children aren't weak vessels just because they're young and inexperienced. Parents tend to forget they were once kids themselves too.
Anyways, I think I'm going to open up to Mum about the harassments, they were going to get a divorce eventually, it was best we just resolved everything completely.
'Where's your knight in shining armor, little miss weird princess?" I lifted my head and my eyes clicked with Luke's. I knew he wasn't going to relent in bullying us but I had thought he would take some time to recover from the encounter with Jay Harley, I was wrong.
I closed the journal with a snap and moved to place it in my bag but Luke was faster than me and he snatched the book out of my hands. I started panicking, my journal held way too much information about me and even Frankie, I had to get it back.
'Please, can you give me back my book?" I made an attempt to persuade Luke but the smile on his face told me otherwise. He knew the book meant a lot to me and it most probably held my secrets.
Luke waved the journal in front of me, 'Is this what I think it is?" He asked wearing the most sadistic smile I had ever seen on his face. My heart was racing so fast I was scared I would eventually have a panic attack but firstly, I needed to get my journal back.
I tried to grab the book but he pulled it back and flipped it open, 'Dear, diary..." He read the first line on the first page and i cringed massively. Why was this happening to me?
'I think I'm in love with a certain pair of blue eyes, the way it follows mine when I talk, the way it..." He stopped reading and cooed at me, 'Who's this special pair of blue eyes? Swift?" I kept on silently praying the earth would open up like it had in the bible and swallow me whole but it seemed God wasn't that pissed with me.
Luke took my silence for yes, anyone would have, I was struggling to form words but my brain wasn't sending any signal to my mouth and i was sweating profusely. Anyone would have been able to see I wasn't fine but trust the bully to ignore it, 'So, you and Swift are a thing now?" I heard different sounds from behind us as people gasped and giggled, some even went as far as whooping.
I kept my eyes low as tears started gathering in them, how was I going to get out such a situation without any help? I had been skeptical about Jay Harley's visit to the school but now I wished more than anything that he had stayed back long enough to save me too.
'When you're asked a question, you answer it" one of the bullies said as he gave me a small smack across the head. That was exactly the trigger I needed for the tears to force their way out.
Luke laughed out loud, 'Don't act like we're bullying you, Duke. We just want to know what your relationship with Swift is. Are you guys an item or not?" He asked again but I was too preoccupied with trying to catch my breath I couldn't give him a response.
The other boy stroke my head again, hard this time around, 'I said, if you're asked a question, you answer it!" His voice went an octave higher and I flinched. Tears were pouring down my face at this point and I was struggling to breath.
A familiar voice floated through the crowd, 'If you hit her again, You'd live to regret it, Damian" Through the heavy stream of tears, I saw my knight in shining armor approach our little gathering with so much determination, King Arthur would have sworn him in as one of the knights of Camelot.
Luke's face lit up immediately, 'It's great to see you, Swift. Maybe you'd be the one to answer this question for us" He said as he threw the journal at me. I wiped my eyes with the handkerchief Frankie had tossed towards me as I chucked the journal deep into my backpack.
Frankie waited till I was stable and then turned to Luke, 'What is your question?" He asked with a smile I had seen so much but still gave me butterflies.
'Are you an Duke an item?" Luke's voice sounded clearly over all the chattering the crowd was making. As much as I wanted the whole conversation to end, I knew it would shatter me if Frankie denied me in public. Was I ready for the answer he would give? Most definitely not, but was I also anxiously waiting? You bet.
With a twinkle in his eyes as he turned away from Luke's glare to meet my eyes, my knight in shining armor gave a response that changed the entire course of things.