TAMING THE PLAYBOY ALPHA - Chapter 112: Chapter 112

: LIBRARY GRUMP
FREYA'S POV:
Working with the group had been surprisingly stress free through the rest of the week with not that much drama as I had expected.
Just occasional glares from Elena and Silas, of course mostly keeping to himself and the best part is; we are more than halfway done.
For the reason to get over with it once and for all, I stood right before the full length mirror in the room, getting dressed on a Saturday.
I settle for an off white long sleeved crop top with a simple sunflower design on the front, light blue shorts and a pair of white converse. I look simple enough...
Or is the crop top too much?
I fiddle with the ends, feeling a little bit unsure to let part of my belly show because of my weight.
Compared to weeks ago, I had gained a considerable amount of flesh. Though I'm still nowhere close to how I was before the incident, and my bruises had long faded.
I have reached a level in this journey with my body where I can stare at it for hours and not hate it anymore, feeling more comfortable to let more of my skin shine through...
But maybe a crop top is too big a step.
"Just incase you're second guessing wearing that out, Freya... you should, it's cute on you." Xena yells from her bed with a mouth full of potato chips she's been munching on since morning.
"You sure? I feel like it makes me look like a skeleton."
"A lot of girls would kill to look that skinny."
"I know it's a trend, but I'd rather look like a person than a skeleton wearing skin like a fur coat." I say.
"I'm serious though... it's nice. You look cute... too bad you're wasting it on some group project involving Silas and Elena." She pouts now, becoming physically angst on the idea.
Over the past few days, she doesn't hold back in sharing just how much she hates the arrangement between us. If I could change it, I would.
My eyes move back to the mirror and where I feel the most insecure, I tell myself I am beautiful. A vain chant that does the trick most times. I do it till I start to see it...
I really do look sort of cute.
I wonder what Silas would do once he sees me in this
Fuck...
I'm doing it again.
We don't care about what Silas thinks again, Freya.
That's right. His opinion of me doesn't matter anymore, and I've given up on that matter for a while now.
"Hair up or down?" I ask Xena now.
She looks up at me again, assessing my face for a while.
"Hair up, it brings out your pretty face."
I look at the said pretty face in the mirror with bony cheeks and dark circles from lack of sleep. Maybe it's the face I want to hide.
Hair down it is, but I tuck in the hair tie in my pocket just in case.
Satisfied with how I look, I grab my backpack and sling it over my shoulder.
"I'm off now." I announce, wanting to get going.
"Now? Isn't the group meeting two hours from now?"
"It is... I just want to head in early and get some reading done before we get started. Already told Adam to meet me there."
"You know, normal people read in their rooms on the weekend. You like school a bit too much, Freya."
I chuckle from her words, walking up to her and just frizzing up her silky hair with my hands as an endearing gesture.
"Whatever. See you later, sweetheart." I say before walking towards the door
"Don't forget the milk." She yells back to me, playing along with the young couple scene we're acting out right now before I leave.
While I step out of the girl's dorm building, I quickly text Adam, letting him know I'm heading towards the library.
He's not there yet and won't be till two hours from now 'cause apparently, today is a lazy Saturday for him, but he asked to know when I'm leaving. once I turn into the corner, I m sorely mistaken.
Just when I thought I could have a stress-free morning before working on the project, Silas just decides to act out of character and show up earlier than I did.
He sits very comfortably at our spot, leaning back against the chair and casually flipping through a book I am a hundred percent sure isn't educational.
He knows I'm there because he looks up from the pages up to me suddenly, without me having to approach him.
The emptiness of it makes me excited suddenly. I really needed an empty space to just drown myself in assignments and text books, and this is the perfect place. Iwer the asynchscrarns vakrolne pook withroat another word or acknowledgement that I am here.
I scoff, not surprised, feeling stupid for panicking for a second and annoyed that he hadn't even offered a simple good morning after seeing me.
So much for a truce.
He isn't even trying.
Regardless of his hostility, I walk up to the table, dropping my bag and sitting down on the other side of the rectangular table, not directly in front but on the adjacent end.
I make as much noise as possible while settling in, slamming my text book on the table and dropping my pens so they clatter against each other, just to annoy him and set him off since he ignored me.
But he doesn't even flinch or seem bothered by the noise I'm making.
Just what is his problem?
No, I'm not going to let him rile me up...
Not today.
I take a deep breath to calm myself, remind myself why I'm here, and that regardless of him, I would achieve my objectives.
I take a few more deep breaths before I feel more at ease in my center and pull open the book to get some studying done.
I settle into the peaceful silence, going through each word and it's meaning carefully while taking down notes with my pen.
It goes on for a while.
After about thirty minutes of silent reading passes, my eyes just move up to Silas on their own, out of pure curiosity to see what he's doing.
He remains in the same position, staring intently into his book before casually flipping a page. My curiosity on what exactly has his attention all wrapped up like this peaks, and I want to ask.
My phone right next to me on the table suddenly dings, reeling me out of my thoughts and curiosity.
I reach out for it, seeing that Adam has finally replied to the last message I had sent.
'You there yet?' He asks.
I hold the phone with both hands to type a response.
'Yeah, for a while now.' I text back.
'Nice. At least you can get a head start before Elena shows up and kills the mood.'
Then he sends a short video sticker of Godzilla tearing down buildings and roaring out fire.
I chuckle at the joke behind it, sending a quick 'lol' as a response.
Before I drop the phone, I watch the sticker a few more times, imagining Elena spitting out fire from her mouth every time she talks bullshit, and I laugh even more.
It's so accurate.
I feel his eyes on me instantly and look up from my phone, meeting angry cold silver eyes, glaring at me furiously.
And so, I raise a brow.
"What?" I ask.
"I'm trying to concentrate here, and you're being a nuisance." He says harshly while his eyes look down at my phone.
With the way looks at it, it's as though if he could shoot beams from his eyes, he'd melt it in an instant. "Oh, I didn't realize that you noticed I was here. You acted like I wasn't from the beginning." I respond back dryly, acting as though I do not care if he is pissed or not.
"It's hard not to notice. You've been making so much noise since you got here, and the texting just made it unbearable." He says. Now, I'm even more confused by what his issue is.
"So, lemme get this straight; banging my books on the table hadn't ticked you off but texting on my phone did?"
"The giggling as well, Freya. Next time, laugh with your inside voice."
"I wasn't giggling, it was a light chuckle." I defend.
I'm very sure the chuckle was almost inaudible. "Whatever... and what exactly is it that's making you all giddy, huh?" He glares even harder than before.
"None of your business." I say.
"Yeah, of course. Then make it not my business by not laughing so loud. This is a library."
I'm ticked off by his unwarranted reaction now. He's taking out unnecessary anger on me for no reason and just being so rude and uncaring, like it's a crime to find something funny on my own phone. I jump to my feet, slamming the table with my fist and causing my pen to roll off the table and fall to the ground.
I'm making a scene right now, but I don't really care much for it again.
"You're being so fucking rude right now and I haven't done anything to you. What's your problem?" I yell out, grabbing my books and bag in my hand. "If you want me to leave so badly, then I will-"
I take a step right on the neglected pen that had fallen onto the floor.
It rolls from the pressure under my feet, tipping off my balance quickly and suddenly, I'm falling backward with just as much force before my brain can even process what's happening.
I close my eyes and brace for the impact, but my hand is quickly pulled forward and large strong hands grab onto my waist, holding me up. I never make contact with the hard floor. I slowly open my eyes now, realizing this. The first thing I see is sparking silver eyes that reflect the light around us perfectly. Shining orbs that stare back at me, into my soul, without blinking. Suddenly, everything around us fades into nothing more than an afterthought and I let myself be immersed in the world I see in his eyes.
His chuckle pulls me out of the trance, and I blink three times in a row, reminding myself where I am and also second guessing if he had really just laughed.
And he had.
He chuckles despite his rushed breathing, probably from getting to my side before I could fall.
The smile reaches his eyes and gives it a warm hue. The laughter vibrates deeply in his chest all the while we remain in this very indecent position.
He takes his time, and I don't feel the need to rush him before he speaks again in a sultry voice. "You know, for someone who's all about being independent and not wanting anyone's help... you seem to get yourself in the most troubling situations ... or, are you just clumsy, Freya?"