Sparks Of Hatred

3. Former Friend

Yeah, it must be so annoying to see someone you love walking with someone you hate. That's exactly how Alice was feeling right now. She gripped the glass tightly as her eyes saw Thomas, her ex-boyfriend, laughing with Angie, her enemy.

What Alice saw was something that she had never thought about, it never even crossed her mind, but this was what was happening right now. Very real. Thomas is close to Angie, Alice doesn't know how the two of them became close, even though they previously seemed to have a fairly heavy conflict.

"I hope they don't have feelings for each other, they shouldn't fall in love with each other." Alice muttered softly, which was only heard by herself. Her gaze wouldn't move from them, especially Thomas.

Damn it, Alice still loved him so much.

Although Thomas had considered his relationship with Alice over, but not for her, she could not let go of Thomas yet. He was irreplaceable by anyone. Thomas is still in her heart.

Roughly and hurriedly, Alice gulped down the fizzy drink in her glass.

"Angie, I've marked your face. If you date Thomas, I will make you suffer." Over time, Alice got sick of seeing Angie's smile shown to Thomas. To her, Angie was trying to flirt with Thomas. And it looked very annoying.

Alice's teeth were grinding together. "I'm much prettier than her. Thomas is really blind. I'm sure he'll realize that I'm the only girl who loves him with all my heart. You will regret it and beg me to come back to you, Thomas. I'm sure that will happen."

After saying that, Alice walked away. The important thing was that she would never see Thomas and Angie again. She was fed up with everything.

"Everything is so unfair, I'm falling apart while the world is doing just fine." Alice grumbled as she sat on a chair in the corner of the hall.

The music was loud, the disco lights were dizzying, and people were passing by in fast motion, busy with their own business. Alice watched her surroundings with her arms folded in front of her chest. She took a deep breath, then let it out quietly.

Alice knew that she looked very pitiful. She was well aware of that. While everyone was happy tonight, not her. Everything seemed unfair in her eyes. Alice was stuck alone. Alone in the sense that she had no one. No friends, no boyfriend, not even family. Alice's problems with her family weren't over yet. She still didn't get along with her dad and her mom. And she doesn't know how long this will last.

When you feel there is no one who loves you anymore in this world, you won't care about anything anymore.

Yeah, that's what's happening with Alice right now. What's the point of holding on if everything is falling apart? Why hope if you don't feel hopeful? It's as if the world is slipping away from you.

Alice's eyes closed tightly as the music grew louder and louder, accompanied by the sounds of conversation and laughter. It was supposed to be a fun night for everyone. Alice included.

Then, suddenly, the music got quieter. Alice didn't know what was wrong until she opened her eyes again. That's when a huge clap of hands was heard everywhere. She then stood up to find out what was going on.

"Hello everyone, good evening!"

It was the voice of the new principal, he stood at the podium in front of all the teachers and students of Starlight High School.

Alice rolled her eyeballs as she sighed. She didn't want to hear the principal's damn annoying speech. It was completely unimportant and extremely boring.

"I better sneak out of here." Alice stood up and started to walk away. She had already guessed that the principal would definitely introduce himself and talk about the speech that made her sleepy. Alice wouldn't be able to stand that.

***

"Look, we're right on time, the show has already started. Let's join them."

Hilda did not respond when her hand was pulled by Zana.

"Don't think about anything except you having fun tonight, promise me, okay?" Zana said to Hilda.

Really, Hilda didn't know what to say. Instead, she smiled and nodded. That was all she could do.

The clapping sounded louder and more energetic when the headmaster just said something. Hilda didn't know, she wasn't listening. Her head was a mess, or rather, the contents of her head.

"It's going to be a great night for all of us. Make yourselves comfortable and happy tonight. This party is a token of appreciation and a whip of encouragement to make Starlight High School better in the future. I ask for your help and cooperation to make this school a success. Cheers to all of us!"

The cheering was so loud, it made Hilda feel uncomfortable, so she covered her ears. The music came back with a bang after that. Everyone started dancing, shaking their hips, and laughing happily while raising their glasses in the air.

This atmosphere made Hilda feel dizzy. She didn't know why. Parties were something that made her happy, but not tonight's party. It wasn't that the party was boring and lackluster. No, that wasn't the reason. This party was already more festive than Hilda had imagined. It's just that she can't focus. How could she be calm and fine? When the reality is that she's a mess?

If your life is on the line, and everything around you is fine, will you feel fine too? Oh, of course it's not that easy.

Hilda felt her head throbbing. She couldn't stand it here. She wanted to get out of this place. Hilda quietly slipped away while Zana was absorbed in the party and the music. Zana didn't realize that Hilda was gone again, out of the hall.

And that's when, a few minutes later, Hilda runs into Alice in front of a closed classroom. Alice realizes who's coming, and she's quite surprised.

Their gazes met. Alice smiled wryly, while Hilda remained silent.

Alice stood up straight. "Wow, who left the party and came to see me here? Did you miss me, Hilda?"

"Don't be overconfident and conclude things just because of your prejudice. I didn't come here to find you, I didn't even know you were here."

"Why did you leave the party?"

"Do I have to answer your question?" asked Hilda in a very cold tone of voice.

Alice gave a short laugh. "Of course not, I was just trying to make small talk and engage you in conversation."  

"I don't want to chat with you."

"Wow, how cruel." Alice smiled wryly. She saw Hilda snort and roll her eyes.

When Alice saw the signs that Hilda was about to turn around and leave, she hurriedly prevented her. She said it quickly, stopping Hilda's movement.

"Where are you going?"

"Go away from this place. I want a place where there is no you there. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, but unfortunately, I want to chat with you for a moment. Can you just stay here for a moment? I don't have to get down on my knees and beg you, do I? Oh, do I need to do that? Do you want me to do that?"

Hilda took one step closer to Alice. Her chin was held high, just wanting Alice to know that she was not afraid of her.

"Listen to this, I don't want to interact with you anymore after what happened before. You've made me sick with your behavior so far. I'm not willing to chat with a girl like you, Alice."

"Why are you so mean? Your words are so harsh, I'm offended and hurt, you know?"

Hilda smiled wryly. "And what should I do?"

Alice shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay, I'll give you two minutes. Tell me what you want to tell me before I leave here. I don't want to be caught alone with you, it's disgusting."

"You came to me, that means you have something to tell me," Alice retorted.

"I told you that if I didn't look for you, I wouldn't know if you..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, you don't have to explain anymore. I was just joking." Alice waved a hand right in front of her face. A second later, she continued. "Okay, I'm sure if there's no chance like this again. Since you're here, I just want you to know that I know what you did, okay? I'm going to make this clear. I know that you put your cell phone in my bag so that everyone would think I was a thief. You embarrassed me."

Hilda had expected this—that this was what Alice was going to talk about. She was not surprised anymore. Her face looked calm. "I was actually wondering how you knew about that."

"You don't need to know," Alice said curtly.

"I already realized that you wouldn't tell me about this. Yeah, it's not something important either. And you're right, it was my plan. Why? Are you angry about it?"

"You accused me of stealing and humiliated me so that everyone hated and shunned me. Are you satisfied that you did that?"

"Wait, wait a minute. I want to correct your words a little." Hilda took one step closer to Alice. "What did you just say? I accused you of being a thief? That's not an accusation, Alice, that's the truth. You stole my lipstick, remember that?"

Alice was so furious that her hands were already clenched. She couldn't deny it, because it was true. She stared intently at Hilda. Her eyes were blazing with rage, as if there were a fire there.

"Alice, listen. All that has gone and happened. Everyone will forget about it, and I don't care anymore either. I don't want to think about this matter. And the most important thing is that I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore. Forever, okay?"

"That's easy for you to say. It's not as easy as you say. Some people still gossip about me, they call me a thief because of you!"

"I'm getting tired of this." Hilda yawned widely. "I can't take it anymore, I think I should go. Bye, Alice."

Alice quickly grabbed Hilda's hand. Preventing her from getting away. Alice gripped Hilda's hand very firmly.

"I'm not done talking to you yet!"

"What do you want from me? It's all over."

Alice laughed softly. "Done? That's easy for you to say. Everything is not finished. The problem hasn't been solved. And I want you to tell everyone that you and Zana set me up. Tell everyone the truth. Clear my name. They have to know that I didn't steal your cell phone, okay? You can do that."

"No, I can't."

"Yeah, you can."

"Don't be silly, Alice. I'm not going to do that. It's all in the past anyway, everyone will forget about it. There's nothing to make a fuss about. It's all over. You know what? You're making too big a deal out of it."

"I don't want to know, you've messed up, I want you to fix the mess you made. I'll give you time."

"And I won't give in to your demands."

Alice was silent for a moment. Her hatred for Hilda swelled even more. "You really don't want to do it?"

"Why not? You think I'm afraid of you? No! You're just a pathetic girl. No one likes you anymore, everyone hates you. You can only threaten me, you're wrong if you think I'm afraid of you."

"Don't make my patience run out. I've tried to talk to you nicely and give you a chance. I want you to fix things, or I'll—"

"What? What are you going to do to me? Are you going to humiliate me too? Hurt me? Make me sad? Or maybe you want to kill me? Is that it? Which one is it? Come on, say it! I'm not afraid of you."

Alice had secretly taken a knife from inside her small bag. She then raised the sharp object, showing it openly to Hilda.

Alice's lopsided smile formed a very creepy one. "You can't seriously say that after this knife scratched your body."

Hilda glared widely while holding her breath.