Lemon and Kale went to school earlier than usual as they needed to find Roj. They have to inform him that Lemon won’t be able to make it to their gig this coming weekend.
Victoria Juarez is attending a black-and-white party, and she has to be there with her. Since it’s just Lemon and her mom, she always makes sure that she accompanies her to her events.
So even though she wants to make it to the gig, as it is her first outside school as the new vocalist, she won’t be able to make it. She can just wait for the next event.
They quickly spotted them at the cafeteria. But even before they reached the group’s table, someone tripped Lemon.
“Ouch!” she exclaimed as her hand hit the nearby table, and she almost fell.
“Oops! Sorry…” then Tanya walked away. She had only taken a few steps when Kale pulled the strap of her shoulder bag.
“Why?” Kale asked, but Tanya just raised a brow at him. Lemon’s forehead creased as she looked at Tanya and Kale back and forth.
“What do you mean why?” she sneered.
“You tripped her on purpose! I saw it. Why?” Kale clarified.
“Tripped her on purpose? Why would I even do that? It’s not my fault she isn’t looking at where she’s going!” Tanya mocked. She even smiled viciously at her. “So, if you’ll excuse us, we still have a class to attend,” she turned her back on them.
Kale was about to reach out to Tanya again, but Lemon grabbed his arm. “Let her go! Our whole day will be a mess if you give in to her,” and thankfully, he listened.
They headed to the table where Roj and Homme were sitting. Without wasting time, she told them why she was looking for them.
“Really? Bad news indeed!” Roj blurted out before facing Homme as if asking for help.
“We can probably find someone to replace her,” Kale suggested.
“What about Nico?” Homme chimed, and Roj’s face suddenly brightened.
If Lemon remembered correctly, Nico is his crush. According to the group, she hasn’t paid attention to him until now. Well, not literally. The girl just doesn’t want him to court her.
“Exactly! Why didn’t I think of that?” he asked himself as he scratched his nape. “I’ll talk to her later and see if she can replace you,” Lemon sighed, relieved.
They bid them farewell as they headed to the classroom. They’re still waiting for Kevz and Drew while Kip’s already upstairs.
When Lemon and Kale reached the second floor, a commotion greeted them along the corridor. There are students everywhere as if watching some film shooting.
“Are you dating that girl?” A kind of familiar voice asked. Lemon inched closer to peek, and she was right. It was Tanya, and she was talking to Rawbin.
Lemon can’t tell how she looked. Meanwhile, Rawbin was just standing straight, looking down at her with his face that was void of emotions. It’s as if he’s listening to some total nonsense.
“Why aren’t you answering? Are you replacing me with her?” she yelled.
‘Was she his ex?’
It would be weird if she’s making such a scene if they weren’t together in the past. Lemon saw Rawbin leaning forward with just a few inches between their faces.
“Tanya… I didn’t replace you with anyone,” Rawbin’s voice was rather sweet. She somehow felt annoyed. ‘What does he mean by that?!’ “Because you were never my girlfriend in the first place,” Then he smiled at her. It was insulting.
Something heavy left Lemon’s chest after hearing what he said. Then again, blood rushed to her head when Tanya slapped Rawbin hard.
His face turned red immediately, and a hand mark was clearly visible on his cheek. Lemon could hear some girls behind her cursing at Tanya, but she wanted to do more than that.
“You asshole! After everything, you just lead me on?” she hissed as tears streamed down her face.
She saw Rawbin’s reaction change several times. From uninterested to mocking, hurt, and Lemon’s pretty sure he’s now angry.
“No one gave you false hopes,” his voice was louder this time. “You lead yourself on your own.”
Tanya slapped him for the second time. Lemon saw Rawbin lift his hand, and she felt the need to intervene. She’s scared that he might hit her.
“Babe!” Lemon yelled, and thankfully, that caught his attention. Who knows if he would really slap her back?
Rawbin only started courting Lemon two weeks ago, but who cares? There’s no reason to drag this courtship stage longer since they get along anyway.
They’re enjoying each other’s company, and Lemon believes that’s all that should matter. Otherwise, we’ll run out of things to learn about each other.
Lemon quickly grabbed the hand he raised at Tanya, “Let’s go!” Then she pulls him away from their heartbreaking scene.
She looked at Kale and Kellen, who nodded at her in return, so she pulled Rawbin downstairs. When they reached the ground floor, she realized she had nowhere to take him, so they stopped near the girls’ restroom.
“Are you ok?” she asked, but when she turned to him, Lemon was shocked, and her forehead automatically creased.
She was expecting he’d look annoyed or in pain after what happened. But he looked like he won the jackpot at the lottery. “Hey!” Lemon called, and it seemed he only heard her then.
“What did you call me back there?” he asked, a smile still painted on his handsome face.
“God, Rob, you’ve been slapped! Twice! And you’re still thinking about what I called you?” she asked, irritated. He held both her shoulders to make her face him properly.
“I don’t really care how many times I get slapped. All I care about right now is that you called me ‘babe’ in front of those students back there.”
Lemon creased her forehead as an idea came to her. “I did?” feigning ignorance, she pretended she had no idea what he was talking about, and his smile slowly faded away. “Sorry, I can’t remember calling you ‘babe.’ I yelled, but I said, ‘behave,’ because I thought you’ll hit her. You must have misheard it.”
His hands slowly let go of her shoulders, and without saying a word, he walked past her. Lemon tried calling after him, but he didn’t even look back.
She knows she’s guilty of something. But instead of regretting what she did, she wanted to laugh because of Rawbin’s reaction.
Lemon shook her head and turned on her heel to go upstairs and back to their classroom. Everyone settled down when she got in. “How is he?” Kale asked as soon as she sat down.
“He’s fine, I guess.”
After a couple of minutes, their adviser arrived. Everyone remained quiet for the entire period, but it suddenly turned into chaos after class.
“So it’s true? You’re the one Rawbin replaced me with!” Tanya yelled as she approached Lemon’s seat.
She glanced at Kevz and saw him creasing his forehead at the vicious girl. The same goes for Drew, who’s sitting in front of them.
Lemon paid no attention to Tanya. She didn’t look at her. Even if she knew the veins on her neck were about to pop out of anger.
Someone then pinched her shoulder, but she didn’t bother looking. That could be Kellen or Kale, but Lemon was too lazy to check.
Tanya kept spouting nasty things, but she focused on picking her nails. But then she said something that made Lemon mind her. “You’re a bitch!”
She looked around before facing Tanya. “There’s no bitch here. You should face a mirror and say that again,” she told her sarcastically.
It’s fun teasing furious people. They’re like rotten tomatoes. The more you squeeze, the more disgusting they become.
“Don’t go sarcastic on me!” she yelled and charged. If Lemon was slower, she could have grabbed her hair. But she’s no idiot to let Tanya touch her.
Lemon quickly grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm backward. Tanya screamed in pain as Lemon pulled her arm further back. She was begging her to let go, but Lemon was too pissed to do so.
“Next time, before you charge onto someone, make sure you can handle yourself, okay?” Then she pushed her away.
Tanya’s face turned crimson as she massaged her arm. She then grabbed her bag and marched out of the room.
Kale and Kellen approached Lemon, asking if she was okay though they knew she wasn’t hurt. Still, she smiled and nodded at her friend and cousin.
“What happened?” Kevz asked. From the look on his face, he doesn’t know how it all started. Then again, Kale was generous enough to tell him everything.
“By the way, why did you call him babe earlier?” Kale asked after narrating everything to Kevz.
She creased her forehead before facing the pink, still firm on trying to play ignorant. “I didn’t call him ‘babe!’ I said behave to stop him from slapping Tanya.”
‘Phew, that was close. Really close!’