Entangled (Entangled Trilogy #1) (10 page)

“
Angel, love, I’m not
lying to you. I’m telling you the truth. That was Lucifer, my Lord
now,” James said, his head hung.

“
Don’t ever call me love
or Angel ever again,” I yelled through gritted teeth. James was
really sweet and all but all of this was pathetic. I didn’t need
his love right now. He put me in danger and it was up to him to fix
all of this mess.

“
Rosemarie, I don’t want
you to leave me. Please don’t leave me. It took me forever to find
you. I can’t risk losing you, I just can’t,” James begged, he
literally begged. The James I knew would never do that. He would
never do that.

“
I-I am very sorry. I
really am, Rosemarie. I never intended for you to be hurt. Please
believe me. I love you. There is no way that I can stay away from
you, I can’t,” James said as his eyes really shone with unshed
tears. The James I knew would never cry, never.

“
James, I am so sorry that
I have to do this, but I can’t. I just can’t continue like this. I
need some space and time to think and I just don’t think that we
should continue with it,” I stated. I didn’t even regret a single
word I said. I really couldn’t continue like this.

Those beautiful baby-blue
eyes of his locked with mine for a long time. My face was wet with
tears, but I really couldn’t go on like this.

“
Rose, let me help you.
Let me explain all of this to you. Please, don’t leave me. Let me
make it better,” James told me once more. What could he do? Kiss
the pain away? I’m not the one who needs help; he is.

“
I’m sorry, but I can’t,
James. I just can’t,” I said, turning around to head for the
door.

“
Rose! Wait! If I were to
ask you later on, after you get everything under control, would you
do it all over again? I mean the ‘us’ thing?” James begged. He
really meant it all. He reached for my wrist and I let him pull me
closer to him one last time.

“
I definitely would, but I
just need some space,” I said as I put my head on his chest and let
him wrap his arms around me, just for this last time. I towed away
too quickly, leaving behind a very miserable James who mourned
every moment of today on the roof.

* * * * *

The next three weeks or so
went off in a daze. I returned to my regular schedule and word
spread around very quickly about our break-up. I had gotten used to
the whole “just ignore them” thing. Maddie even helped me out with
the whole thing. She was so supportive and such a good friend; she
never asked me anything. She just saw me and said, “Don’t worry,
Alice. Everything is going to be okay.”

Inside me, nothing felt
okay. I felt like someone pried out my heart and replaced it with
emptiness. Every time that I would think of all of our times
together, my heart would swell with emotions but all those emotions
would leave me in about a few seconds, laughing at me and saying
that I really had no heart.

As I walked over to my
locker, I tried to focus on everything that was going on around me.
Everyone was exhilarated about the dance coming up next week.
Maddie had wanted to drag me there but I refused to go. Maddie had
even made Elliot forced me to go and at last, I had to
agree.

Just as I opened my
locker, a note fell out of it, leaving me with so many memories.
James had written me a letter on the day of our first kiss. I
ignored that and bent down to pick up the letter. It
read:

Roza,

I heard about your
break-up. I am truly very sorry for your loss? I really don’t know
what to say at a time like this. But I am sorry for all the lies.
As you have seen, I broke up with Krystal right after our talk on
the roof. I hope you are happy. I would love for us to start over,
really. Like, all over again. Roza, will you make me the happiest
man on Earth by meeting me on the roof today after school? Any
other guy would say that my previous sentence is very stupid but
I’m still new to all these American phrases. Please, meet me on the
roof. Can’t wait to see you there.

Love,

Adrian.

* * * * *

Seriously? Another roof
meeting? I might as well just go because I have nothing else to do.
Adrian was asking for forgiveness and I guess I was the one acting
like a bitch. I need to be a civilized person and forgive him. I
never thought that I would use my name and the word “civilized” in
the same sentence. But then again, I never thought that I would
have to date a fallen angel. Maybe we all should expect the
unexpected.

* * * * *

Once I had gotten there,
Adrian was already waiting for me. When I walked up to him, he
simply embraced me for a long time while I hugged him back. The
same blue-green eyes flashed across my eyes again as I pulled away
from the hug and looked up, into his blue-green eyes.

“
I am so glad you could
make it. How have you been, Roza?” Adrian asked as he flashed me
one of his lopsided grins. If I didn’t think of him as just
friends, I would’ve really fell right then and there due to his
killer smile, but I only think of him as a friend and just a
friend.

“
I’m good. How are you? I
got your letter and I was a bit confused,” I said, tilting my head
to the side a little for emphasis.

“
Oh, I’m fine. Why were
you confused?” Adrian asked me, his brows knitting together into a
stretched letter V.

“
You said that you were
sorry for infuriating me. I’m the one who should be sorry for being
mad at you, really. And I’m sorry.”

“
No, please do not
apologize, that was really my mistake. Will you forgive
me?”

“
Of course I will,” I said
as the beginning of a new friendship took place.

The rest of the evening,
we conversed and got to know each other more and more. He really
wasn’t that bad of a person. He even escorted me home and left me
all longing for James.

The last time James had
escorted me, I had said yes to his question, I really now regret my
choice. Was that a good idea?

* * * * *

Everyone was really chatty
this whole week and I couldn’t wait until the dance. Krystal had
chastised me for not getting a date, but why does she care if I
don’t have a date? It was freakin’ Valentine’s Day. The slogan was
probably a stupid one, but I didn’t mind at all. It’s “Roses are
red, Salsa is hot. Chocolate has calories, Dancing does not!” To be
honest, it was the stupidest slogan ever. This year, everyone would
alternate their dance partners so everyone gets a chance to dance.
Again, a very stupid idea.

I had three letters in my
locker, three simple letters in my locker from the three guys in my
life. They were like a reminder of my pain I try to get rid of
every day. They were a reminder of my past, something I so badly
want to escape.

The first one
read:

Roza,

I just wanted to ask you
something really important. I would write it in the letter, but it
seems very stupid. Meet me after-school on the roof. Please. I
promise you won’t regret a thing. You can trust me; I’m your
friend. Please meet me on the roof. I’ll be waiting for you. Oh
yes, don’t bring anyone with you. Trust me and don’t bring
ANYONE.

Love,

Adrian

I slightly frowned at that
letter, but I decided to obey. I opened the second letter and it
read:

Rosemarie,

I know that you probably
don’t want anything to do with me, but I need to ask you something
really important. Meet me on the roof after-school. I promise you
I’ll keep my distance. I won’t touch you in any way that would make
you uncomfortable. Please meet me on the roof. Please.

Love,

James.

The last one
read:

Rosemarie, Rose,
Rosie,

I just love the sound of
your name in my mouth. The way the letter ‘s’ makes a ‘z’ sound.
It’s beautiful, just like you. I have something very important to
ask you. Please, meet me on the roof after-school. Don’t be afraid,
I won’t hurt you. I promise.

Love,

Lucifer.

All three of the letters
told me to go to the roof after-school. I have no idea on what I
should do. I should just go on there. I was wrong, this is a
nightmare.

* * * * *

Once I went to the roof,
all three of them were arguing while I was the only motive keeping
them from tearing each other apart. Once I entered, all three of
them turned to face me.

“
Rosemarie!” James yelled
out as he ran over to hug me tightly, burying his face in the crook
of my neck. I instantly hugged him back, longing to be held by him.
The tingles I felt around both James and Adrian had intensified,
leaving me with a feeling of being on cloud nine.

It lessened slightly when
Lucifer pried us apart, shoving James aside, literally. Then,
Lucifer hugged me tightly, burying his face in my hair.

James, unable to see that,
pulled Lucifer away from me and started arguing again. I noticed
that Adrian was the only one of them that didn’t come over to me to
hug me. He just stood where he was. I walked over to him and held
out my arms for a hug which he melted into very eagerly. Adrian had
hugged me a bit tightly, as if I would poof out of existence any
second.

“
How come you didn’t go
over to hug me like those crazies over there?” I
murmured.

“
That was very impolite of
them so I—very manly— waited for my turn,” Adrian answered as he
grinned at me lopsidedly.

“
Whoa, whoa, whoa, Prince
Charming. You are not getting to her before me,” Lucifer yelled as
he walked over to us and started the argument as James joined in.
That went on for about a minute or two until I had to tear the
three musketeers apart.

“
Hey! The questions you
were all going to ask me?” I asked.

“
We were going to . . .,”
all three of them started and got into another quarrel about why
they are all so similar.

“
Again with the fighting!
Stop it! I’m serious. One at a time, please,” I said as Lucifer,
most confident of them all, strode over to me.

“
Rosie, will you go to the
Valentine’s Day dance with me?” he asked as he held out his hand.
James and Adrian were turning red from all of this and I knew it
was from anger and not from any kind of embarrassment. I just
smiled and beckoned the next one. Adrian walked over to me and
knelt down on one knee and held out a bouquet of red roses to
me.

Lucifer sighed and walked
away from me, going off to stare at the ground and kick rocks while
a triumphant look clouded James’ face.

“
Roza, will you make me
the happiest man on Earth by going to the Valentine’s Day dance
with me?” Adrian said. Here we go again. Adrian and I just made up,
but now this? I beckoned James and he followed while Adrian
retreated back to where he was.

“
Ange—err, Rosemarie, will
you give me the honor of being your date to the dance?” James asked
as he bent down on both knees.

All three of them were now
standing in a line with Adrian on the far left, James in the middle
and Lucifer on the left. How could I say no to all of them except
for Lucifer? I really didn’t care about his feelings. I didn’t even
care about anything he did but he looked like he really wanted
me.

“
All three of you are
really great guys—even you, Lucifer—but I can’t go to the dance
with any of you. I’m really sorry. I truly am,” I announced and
turned around to leave. I saw that Adrian’s eyes were filled with
tears while James looked like he just lost everything. Lucifer, on
the other hand, looked like he just lost the most important game of
his life. I wish I could go with James or Adrian.

All three of them were
saddened, it was written across all their faces. I knew that all
three of them were very competitive and would go to extreme
measures to get me. I didn’t even know what to do. Were my lies
really beneficial towards our futures? We’ll have to wait and
see.

chapter 9

dance, dance revolution

Two days and counting. Just two
more days until the dance. I already chose my dress and mask.
That’s right; we were supposed to wear a mask since it was a
masquerade dance. My mask was a red color with two red feathers on
the top left and right corners. The mask was decorated with sparkly
golden lines vining its way around the surface. The best part was
that the mask matched the dress which was also a deep red color. It
was four to five inches above my knees and it was very . . . flowy.
It had a black ribbon like belt around its waist. It had a V-neck
with a collar on the back part. The dress was full sleeve, but the
sleeves were see-through with a long cut from the shoulder to the
wrist with red cuffs. I couldn’t wait.

* * * * *

I was suddenly very aware of all
the eyes on us as Maddie and I made our way through the crowd and
walked over to the back of the room. I could somehow sense Adrian
and James in the room, but not Lucifer. I could somehow faintly
sense Lucifer, but not as strong as Adrian or James.