Chapter 5
Mark waited every afternoon by Toni’s locker just to talk to her. But she would often pretend that no one was there, or at times when she was with Patrick she’d just keep talking to him and deliberately ignoring Mark, hurting him more.
On the day of Kian’s party, Mark was still at Toni’s locker, waiting for her. Patrick was with Toni, and he himself had asked her to talk to Mark. “You can’t just keep on ignoring him you know.” “Ignoring who?” Toni answered casually, closing her locker. She looked straight at Mark, as if he were translucent, as if he wasn’t there. Mark bit his lip. There was no use. Toni saw the sadness in his eyes and she pretended not to care. She walked off with Patrick, leaving him standing there, heartbroken and frustrated. She wanted to teach him a lesson, even if her heart ached and longed to be with him every time she saw him. She thought of no one else but him and talked of no one else but him. Yes, even if she was with Patrick. Being a good sport, Patrick had already given up on pursuing Toni. He was just there for her as a really good friend. He once kidded Toni that she might have feelings for Mark that she just didn’t know about but she denied it. There was no way she could fall for her best friend. It was impossible! He was just like a brother to her. But why can’t she just push him out of her mind? Why does she just want to be with him more than anything else? You don’t think about your best friend all day long and wish that you were with him. And most especially, you don’t lose sleep and you don’t feel heart broken when you have a fight with your best friend. Don’t you?
“Hey Mark!” Kian shouted. “Why the long face?” he asked. He saw Mark walking along the corridor with his head hanging down so he decided to approach him. “You look terrible mate! Tell me what’s wrong.” Mark told him all about what happened between him and Toni and his ‘little discovery’ an evening a week ago. “I tried everything! I called her, wrote her letters, sent her flowers, talked to her… but still, nothing! She won’t hear me out… and I give up!” Mark said. Kian was silent. “So you won’t be going to the party huh?” Kian finally asked. “No… geez! Is that all you have to say?” Mark said, looking rather annoyed. “Too bad you won’t be going… coz I have a plan.” Kian said as his eyes twinkled rather mischievously.
“Wow! You look great!” Patrick said. “Thanks.” Toni said, smiling shyly. They were about to go to Kian’s party, and Sandra, Helen, Patricia, Alessia, Shane, Bryan and Nicky were going with them. They all just decided to walk because Kian’s house was just a few blocks away, and they all wanted to enjoy the cool night breeze.
Toni was wearing a simple black dress with sandals, and for the first time, they saw her wearing make up. She wasn’t much into that whole make up thing. It made her feel uneasy and her face kind of itched when she put some on her face. But that night, she looked stunning. Sandra wore a light blue dress that had spaghetti straps that complimented her really well and her brown hair with blond highlights was done up perfectly and they seemed to frame her beautiful blue eyes. Shane was totally blown away. “Wow…” he whispered. And for the first time, she smiled at him. “You look like an angel. A vision from heaven.” he managed to say. Sandra blushed. “You look great as well.” He took her hand and placed it on his arm. She took it away. “Hey! That doesn’t mean you can get all chummy with me Mr. Filan!” she smiled. She was still annoyed with him after all this time but tonight she found him gorgeous. Of course she didn’t admit it, even to herself.
Helen on the other hand had Bryan in her spell. She looked bewitchingly beautiful in a short black skirt with a tank top and a black cardigan. He was so smitten over her and he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.
Patricia was wearing a blue blouse that looked great on her with sexy black jeans. Kian constantly kept calling her on her mobile phone, asking where they were already. He couldn’t wait to see her. He would even stick his head out the front door once every 5 to 10 minutes looking if they were near already.
Meanwhile, Nicky couldn’t take his eyes off Alessia. She looked totally hip and pretty, not to mention sexy, in tight fitting leather pants and a baby blue tank top. Nicky kept kissing her on the cheek and telling her how gorgeous she looked. “Do you know how much I love you?” he whispered in her ear as he put an arm around her.
Toni was having the time of her life. She was partying the night away. She knew that Mark wasn’t going to be there. She was torn into feeling sad that he won’t be there and rejoicing that he wouldn’t be there. She practically had forgotten about him by then but he suddenly appeared. He had his arm around another girl, and much to Toni’s surprise she felt a piercing ache in her heart. The girl was very beautiful. She wore a green dress with her long hair loose around her shoulders. She was so gorgeous that all eyes were on her when they entered the room. “Who is she?” Nicky whispered. “I don’t know.” Toni said, obviously annoyed. She didn’t know why but she felt annoyed at Mark for bringing her along. Patrick seemed to notice it. “Hey, why are you angry? Relax.” he whispered. “I’m not angry.” “Yes you are. You’re jealous aren’t ya?” “Me? Jealous? Why would I be jealous?” “I dunno. Maybe its ‘coz Mark brought along a date… and you feel hurt ‘coz you love him.” “I do not!” Toni’s voice began to grow louder. “Don’t get defensive. I was just asking.” Patrick said as he and Kian exchanged a knowing glance. The party went on, and the ‘cold war’ Mark and Toni were having went on as well. Much to Patrick’s surprise, Toni began talking sweetly to him. It’s not that she didn’t talk nicely to him but this time the way she talked to him was a little bit too sweet. But he smiled contently as he saw Toni constantly glancing across the room at Mark to see if he was looking at her. Mark was dancing along to a slow song with his date and indeed, he was looking at them. Toni would constantly lean over and whisper something to Patrick or she would touch his arm. She was trying to make Mark jealous but she didn’t know she was doing so. Patrick smiled to himself. He looked around for Kian and gave him a thumbs-up sign. “Listen Toni, why don’t you go wait for me at the terrace while I go and get us something to drink.” “Okay.” She said, as she went over to the veranda. She leaned on the marble edges, breathing in the fresh night air and gazing at the stars with her sad eyes. She closed her eyes and sighed softly, losing herself in her thoughts, imagining what a nice night it would be if she were with Mark. “Toni.” The voice was so soft, so familiar, and so real. A bit too real that is. She opened her eyes. She couldn’t have imagined that. A pair of strong yet gentle hands held her arms and she turned around, finding herself gazing at the most gorgeous pair of light blue eyes she so longed to look deeply into.