Chapter Twenty Two - How To Treat A Pie

"What do you mean it looks like ass?" I argued.

Meera squinted her eyes through Facetime. "How can you not see it?"

I looked down at my t-shirt insecurely before retorting, "it's Cinderella's pumpkin ride, not ass. You just can't see it properly through the phone."

"Whatever you say. But if I were you, I'd probably go to the bathroom and wear it inside out."

I gasped. "No way. I love this t-shirt. And it doesn't look like ass."

"Sure." She nodded with feigned seriousness before looking up ahead and nodding at someone. "I gotta go, Becks. My mom's waiting to take me to the doctor."

"Let me know how it goes, okay? Bye. Take care!"

"You too. Bye."

I hung up and slid my phone into my pocket, then opened my locker and started arranging books in it while humming a random tune. A little bored, I did a quick scan of my surroundings and caught sight of a certain dark-haired musician treading down the hallway.

His eyes were fixed on me and after observing him for a few seconds, I realized he was making his way towards me. A little groan came out of me, and soon, I started recalling how he'd just acted in the music room. And that made me angry.

So, I made a quick decision to pretend to be busy and started flipping through the pages of a book as if looking for something.

He stopped right next to me, and I had to try so hard not to look at him even out of the corner of my eye.

"I need to talk to you," he announced, valiant as ever.

"About?" I asked nonchalantly while arranging my books in a random order. I prayed that he couldn't tell he had every bit of my attention when I was acting like he barely had any.

"Not here. Follow me."

I scoffed. "I'm good."

I could tell he was watching me as I tried to steady my spiral notebook against my textbook. It kept falling horizontal while I kept putting it back up vertically for some deranged reason.

He took another step towards me. Books, Rebekah. Eyes on your books.

"Are you walking or do I have to carry you?"

My eyes widened and I turned my head to him so fast, I could've made light insecure. And maybe my attention was what he'd wanted since he looked a little satisfied to have it.

"Excuse me?" I demanded.

"You heard me."

What the hell did he think of himself? Overcome with rage, I snapped my locker shut and gave him my full hostile attention.

"I must be hearing things because there's no way I just heard you threaten to carry me."

He cocked his head, baffled. "I didn't think you'd have a problem with that."

"Oh? Care to elaborate why you felt that way? Because I don't see one good reason why I wouldn't have a problem with that."

"I don't know..." Suddenly, there was a devilish gleam in his eyes. "I thought you loved being carried in my muscular arms."

My mouth went dry as I blinked up at him. Not more than an hour ago, he wanted me out of his sight and now he was teasing me over a completely unintentional compliment I'd given him when I was drunk. What was wrong with him?

"W-what makes you think you can talk to me like you did in the music room and then come here with something this absurd?"

If I didn't know him, I'd say it was remorse on his face as he looked away for a second, set his jaw as a form of regroup, exhaled and looked at me again. Then, he took another step forward with intent.

"Which one is it gonna be, Becks?" He raised an expectant brow, not a hint of levity in his tone, which made me a little nervous.

I swallowed, saying in a surprisingly firm voice, "you wouldn't dare."

His head tilted to the side as he folded his arms. A silent warning hung in the air between us and I immediately knew he wasn't messing around.

"I wouldn't?" He closed the gap between us, and I fell back a step, finding myself stuck between him and my locker. His brown eyes were adamant as they bored into mine.

"N-no."

"Okay."

I blinked in confusion. Wow! Just like th—

I gasped loudly when he doubled over and wrapped an arm around the back of my knees. I lost my balance but never fell because he'd thrown me over his shoulder as if I were nothing but a sack of potatoes. Then, he started walking down the corridor.

"Now tell me, Becks. Do you still think it's all puffed up for show and I can't lift jack shit or did I just change your mind?"

For a moment, I just stared at the floor in surprise, not even being able to register his words fully. Did he really just do that?

"Are you crazy? Put me down. What the hell!"

All I could see was his back as I attempted to kick his torso but my legs were clutched in a tight grip, so I couldn't move them. Desperate to put up some kind of fight, I started raining fists on his back.

"Matt!" I screamed. "What is wrong with you?"

"I told you I was gonna do it. You should start listening to me, Andrews."

"What the actual fuck!"

I didn't know if the blood rushing to my cheeks was from being partially inverted or I was actually blushing from embarrassment...or anger. Or a bit of both.

As we passed, I could spot students watching us and whispering amongst themselves.

"Everyone's watching," I whispered to myself but I knew he'd heard it because I felt his head move to scan the corridor but that didn't stop him. "Put me down, Matt! Now! You have some fucking nerve doing this in front of everybody, you asshole!"

"Who's gonna stop me? I'm a senior and a well-built football player."

In disbelief, I brought my hands to his shoulder and lifted myself as far up as I could manage. "You're also a conceited jerk who's got his head so far up his own—"

"Watch your head."

I ducked almost immediately and saved myself from the low doorframe as he pushed open a door and entered an empty classroom.

Right then, I decided that if I could get superpowers for a day, I would burn him to ash, put him back together, and then do it all over again for twenty four hours without wasting a second.

Finally, he put me down.

I took just one second to recover from my disoriented state. Then, I saw red.

"You..." I closed in on him dangerously and pushed him against the wall. Either he didn't resist by choice or I hadn't given him any chance to. My arm locked over his chest to keep him in place. "You ever do that to me again, I will fuck you up, Williams, I mean it."

To my utmost shock and annoyance, both his brows shot up with amusement as if to offend me even more. My threat meant nothing to him. Asshole. But I couldn't blame him. When it came to him, I was all talk, no action.

So, to make my threat appear a bit more serious, I lifted myself up on my tiptoes and narrowed my eyes, literally getting into his face. That's right! Maybe if you look directly into my eyes, you'll see how much anger and hate they hold for you.

I tightened my arm against his chest and used all my body force to push him into the wall, getting all over him to show him how seriously pissed I was this time.

That's when something shifted. His amusement slowly died down and his eyes strayed lower towards my lips. Did I just get him to break off eye contact with me?

A wave of victory washed over me as I repeated, this time sure of his attention on me, "fuck you up. Do you get it?"

His eyes met mine. Silence fell between us and with my arm so firmly against his chest, I could feel every second of his deep inhale before he said in a voice I could barely recognize, "got it."

Oh?

"Good."

See? I can be dangerous if I want to.

I let go of him and took a step back, still holding my chin up with pride as I demanded, "what do you want?"

His voice came out of his mouth, but I couldn't make out the words. One side of my mouth raised in confusion and before I could throw him a 'what', he cleared his throat and started again, "I need to talk to you about the training."

"What about it?"

"I'm ready to teach you music."

I froze, wondering if I heard that right. Then I eyed him dubiously for a few seconds. "Why?"

He opened his mouth, then shut it. His brown eyes suddenly became a window to his inner conflict and when he finally spoke up again, he did his best to appear indifferent. "Do you want it or not?"

Now that was suspicious as fuck.

My eyes narrowed. "I do but I need to know. Why the sudden change of heart?"

What usually was an action of his arrogance, seemed like one of defense all of a sudden when he folded his arms over his chest. "I didn't learn about the condition Will put forward until recently."

"The condition that I will replace Rebecca at the music event if I win?"

He nodded.

"Wait! So, you want Rebecca out of the music event?"

"If there's a chance, sure."

He wanted Rebecca out? And I thought he was into her.

"I'm so confused right now." I shook my head slightly. "I know it's none of my business to ask, but where exactly do you and Rebecca stand?"

His brows lowered. "I think you already know."

"Maybe. Maybe not. I'd still like to hear it," I pushed. I was curious.

He considered me for a moment, then said, "we fuck."

Like it meant nothing.

"Oh!"

My chest tightened for some unknown reason. It had to be his casual conduct about everything. Because despite not getting along with Rebecca, a girl always felt for another girl. That had to be the reason why I suddenly felt like somebody was squeezing the life out of my body. We fuck. I'd never heard two words more suffocating.

I swallowed before speaking again, "so you're just using her."

He looked a little offended but not surprised that I'd deduced that out of what he'd revealed.

"And she is using me," he pointed out.

"So, why are you always running away from her?"

"Because she's clingy. I thought it was obvious."

I scoffed. "Of course. Matthew Williams—the great Casanova. He's only there for a good time but God forbid if someone dares to expect some kind of emotional connection in return."

His eyes flashed with irritation. "None of this is any of your business but since you've made a habit of forming such a high opinion of me, I'll have you know that I've made it clear to her several times that sex is all there is between us and she can end things whenever she wants but..." He leaned forward, looking me right in the eyes and I could see a deluge of pride washing over his features. "...she's always coming back for more. It's not my fault if she can't get enough of me."

"Yeah, right." I swallowed again. It was getting harder each time. Why did my throat feel constricted all of a sudden? "Rebecca's never seemed the type to make the smartest decisions, anyway."

I'd started unsurely but then I'd managed to pull a smirk to compliment that insult, even though my insides felt like they were being roasted on a hot grill for some reason. A nagging feeling lurked at the back of my mind but I couldn't tell what it was exactly that was bothering me.

Shrugging at him sweetly nonetheless, I started to walk away but he grabbed my arm. Then he took one step away from the wall and flipped us so I was the one against it.

I gaped at him with wide eyes. "Matt—"

"Becks," he murmured with a click of his tongue and even before I could begin to act on my escape, he placed a hand on the wall beside my head. "Weren't you taught as a child?"

"Taught what?"

A little self-satisfied look reached his eyes. "To not make a face at the pie when you've never tasted the pie."

My stomach did a weird flip and I opened my mouth to speak, but all I did was choke out air like a fish dying from being pulled out of the water.

Dammit, Becks. Get a grip! I shut my mouth which had dropped open of its own volition and let out an exaggerated scoff. "If I didn't know better, Williams, I'd say you were flirting with me."

He angled his face down, brown eyes boring into mine and he was so close, we were almost touching. Right then, I realized he loved to corner me. Normally, I wouldn't mind fighting my way free with a kick or a shove but this time, I didn't feel the need to. I didn't even have the urge to move back, never mind there was already a wall behind me.

I was, in fact, expecting him to move just a little closer to...to what, Becks?

"You couldn't be more wrong." His eyes did a little sweep between my eyes and my lips as he spoke.

"I know."

Another stare down.

And I looked away first, averting my eyes to the door I could see over his shoulder. Why am I not counting seconds until I can walk out of it?

Maintaining eye contact with the door, I licked my lips before muttering, "is that all?"

"No."

"What else?" I glanced back at his face and felt a shiver run down my spine. He'd been watching me. And his eyes held something I couldn't decipher.

"If I'm going to train you, I'll need to get in contact with you and if I have your number, you can avoid getting thrown over my shoulder like that in future." He unlocked his phone and held it out for me.

Would I really mind that?

Yes, you would, Becks. You little...

I grabbed his phone firmly and typed in my number. "If you wanted my number, you could've just asked."

"If I wanted it for pleasure, I would have."

I placed his phone back on his palm. Without taking his eyes off me, he gave my phone a ring so I had his number too and shoved his phone back in his pocket.

Then, he took a small step back, just a small one. It wasn't enough for me to walk away but it wasn't like I couldn't push him to make my way. I just wasn't moving. I was fine there. I didn't mind.

You need help, Becks.

"So, when do we start?" I asked.

"Today. My house. After school."

"Why not here? At school. Will and I train here."

It could've been a mistake of judgement but his eyes narrowed for a split second before he crossed his arms again.

"I don't have the time at school with football and the music club. If you wanna do this, you'll have to come to my house in the evenings."

"Fine." I nodded, then said quickly, "or you can come to my house on some days."

"Fine by me, as long as you have all the necessary musical equipment."

"Do you? At your house?"

"Where else do you think the group practices all day long whenever events come up? The school music room?"

"Show off," I remarked and he raised a brow. I rolled my eyes. "Fine. We start at your house today."

"Fine." He held my eyes for a moment, nodded and finally walked out of the classroom. I watched him until he was completely out of my sight and then, I leaned against the wall and shut my eyes.

"Matthew Williams," I breathed out. "What the hell are you doing?"