Destroy Me Gently:Ex-Enemy Becomes My Lover!
Chapter 12: Innate Desires

Chapter 12: Innate Desires

Chapter Twelve

**Oliver West**

Today turned out to be horrible. Everything was getting on my nerves, from a failed test sheet to reprimands from a few teachers about my low grade scores in some subjects so far.

Aside from these, I still had to always be on the lookout for Kieran. We haven’t had a class together so far, and it was fine by me.

My next class was creative arts. William didn’t offer the subject, so it would just be friendless old me in the class. Not that I cared much, it was my favorite class ever.

I grabbed my materials from my locker. I walked quickly and turned hastily around the hallway. I barely stopped myself just in time from crashing into a body.

Amanda.

I tried to sidestep her but she blocked my path, her arms crossed, a smirk plastered on her face.

I tried in the other direction, only to be blocked once again.

I glared at her. Heaven knew I was in no mood for this.

"What the heck do you want? Move out of my way," I spoke, unable to keep the irritation out of my voice.

"Why don’t you wear something nice? Seeing you hurts my eyes each time. Even my grandfather dresses better."

Her gaze looked me up and down. At the same time, I took a moment to scan through her clothes.

Could they even be called clothes?

Her skirt, if it could even be called one, was so short. A belt—that would be the perfect word to describe it. I bet she couldn’t even bend down without her underwear showing. Her shirt exposed her pierced belly button ring, and her heels? Were those six inches?

"I like the way I dress, thanks for being so concerned," I said through gritted teeth.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Besides, why are you even trying? You know Kieran would never be interested in a gay boy like you. He’s straight, in case you haven’t noticed. Stop embarrassing yourself with this pathetic crush," she taunted with a cruel smile.

I felt my face burn with anger and embarrassment. "I don’t have a crush on anyone!"

"Please, it’s so obvious. The way you look at him, follow him around like a lost puppy. It’s disgusting. He would never lower himself to your level."

I looked around. There were only a few students around. The bell had rung about a minute ago.

Deciding that I’d had enough, I shoved past her shoulders. I didn’t get far when her next words stopped me right in my tracks.

"I saw the both of you yesterday. Did you by any chance murder someone?" she called out loud enough to gain attention.

It felt like a painful fist to my gut. For a moment I forgot how to breathe.

The few people around the hallway were beginning to stare at the both of us.

Her gaze was taunting and mocking as she looked at me with a slight look of triumph.

No, she wouldn’t know anything.

Kieran wouldn’t tell her.

As far as I know Kieran, even since when he’d been younger, he had always kept to himself. I had always been the little curious one that pulled information from him.

"Then you should watch out. Who knows, I might murder you next!" I said angrily and stormed out, leaving her to stare after me.

*

I got about five minutes late to class. Mr. Obum didn’t scold me much. He was of African descent and always had a charming friendly smile on his face.

The problem was where to sit, since the whole space was almost filled up.

My gaze scanned around and met his.

My heart twisted painfully. The power of his stare almost made me wish I could shrink into the floor and disappear for all eternity.

"Why don’t you have a seat, Oliver, so the class can continue," Mr. Obum spoke.

A small blush of embarrassment crept up my face when I realized that the whole class had been staring at me while I had watched Kieran in a dazed state.

There were just two empty seats left. One was beside him, and the other was in front of him. Either way we would be so close.

I chose the one in front of him and quickly sat down. I resisted the urge to squirm. I felt his gaze digging holes at the back of my neck.

Soon after, the class resumed at its normal pace.

"Hey shorty legs," I heard a voice speak from beside me. In my distraction I hadn’t noticed that Heath sat next to me.

A tiny smile formed on my lips as I waved a little at him.

"Hey," I greeted back in reply.

He opened his mouth as if to speak once again when Mr. Obum’s voice interrupted.

"Now it’s time for classwork. I want you all to think of an image in your mind. Think of what you desire the most. Try to bring it out from your imagination and transform it into your drawing book."

The whole class groaned except for me. It was Mr. Obum’s usual style to always give classwork, but never stay around to actually check them.

My fingers gripped tight around my paintbrush. What do I desire the most? The answer wasn’t hard to find.

The rest of the class faded out to me. The paint and brush worked out my innermost longing.

It hadn’t been even fifteen minutes, at least to me, when he told us that time was up.

I stared at my work for a moment. It was supposed to be a younger image of the three of us, but I had only finished Kieran’s.

I would say the drawing came out perfect, even better than I had ever drawn before.

I was just about to roll it into a tight ball that I would throw into the trash bin later when Mr. Obum spoke yet again.

"And to make this more exciting, I decided that this classwork will take five points of your entire grades this semester."

Wait... What the heck!

The whole class grumbled aloud.

"What the actual hell," Heath grunted from beside me. I took a glance to see he hadn’t even bothered to do the classwork in the first place.

"Also, each of you, one after the other, will come up here with your work and present it in front of the whole class. You’ll have to speak of what it means to you. This is what art is all about... Also, that’s another five points," he added when the whole class groaned in another bout of protest.

The breath left my lungs. My palms turned sweaty. My heart pounded furiously as I stared at the perfect portrait of Kieran on my desk.

Oh god! I’m doomed!

Behind me, I could hear Kieran shift in his seat. I wondered if he was trying to see what I had drawn.

The thought of standing in front of the entire class, holding up a drawing of Kieran, and having to explain what he meant to me made my stomach twist into knots.

How could I possibly explain that despite everything he’d done to me, despite all the pain and cruelty, I still missed the boy he used to be?

How could I tell them that what I desired most was to have my best friend back?

Mr. Obum started calling names alphabetically. My heart sank as I realized he was starting from the beginning of the alphabet.

I had maybe ten minutes before he got to my name.

Ten minutes to figure out how to survive the most humiliating moment of my life.