Bubble Gum Kisses
CHAPTER 59

**Kapittel 59** ***Friso***

**"So..."** Friso tried to strike up a conversation with the goddess of eternal silence, but she immediately used her divine authority to shut him up. "Don't talk to me."

"What? It's awkward that we're just silent here and stuck in traffic," he grumbled, "Not to mention our little history," he added as he looked back at her, expecting to get an explosive reaction from her. At this moment, his only source of entertainment was his passenger princess' eruptive expressions and snarky remarks.

"You mean conflicted little history." Even though she wasn't looking at him, he could tell that she rolled her eyes at him by the thick sarcasm in her voice. "We're better off not speaking to each other Friso. I'm not in the mood to bicker right now."

"I'm not in the mood to bicker too," he replied. "I just wanna talk."

"I don't wanna talk."

"But I want to?"

"I'm not in the mood." "Why?"

"Because I don't feel like it!" Finally, she looked at him. "I have been trying my hardest to ignore you, Friso. To not bite into your trap. I know you're in for the attention and have all the time in the world to gain it from literally almost everyone, but no, you want to get it from me.

"What for? What are you annoying me for? Is it because of what happened back then, the little history you were saying? I know you don't like me, and you've been meaning to tell it to me with the things you've been throwing around these past couple of days. But can't you do me another favor by giving me some rest?

"Because when you're fucking tired, you're soaked wet from head to toe and sitting in a luxurious car with your shoes smiling open. The very shoes your mom bought for you, using the money she spent countless sleepless nights for. When she shouldn't have. And some asshole douses it with water for fun, and even asked his friends to deluge it more, finally ruining it. You would want nothing but to mope in guilt and shame. Think of countless excuses to your mom, and how you're sorry about it when deep inside, you feel like no words can express how you're the worst person alive!

"You know what? Come, take these shoes off my feet and talk to them, they're smiling wide open anyway. Maybe you guys can make a wonderful conversation. But stay me out of it!"

Her entire blowup surprised him. He didn't expect her sudden silence tantamount to these many muses she'd been keeping in. He fully understood why she valued that footwear and she wouldn't be over it so easily, but it looked like her fuse broke because they were finally and utterly broken.

"Look, I was only trying to help.”

She was bewildered at his words. "Oh really? Ever heard of offering help?" she then asked, raising a brow at him and began flailing her hands. "You could have given me a head's up first!"

"I didn't mean to ruin your shoes," he further explained. "You could have told me not to do it?"

Why was he being like this? He always ingrained in his mind that Vanessa should be the one coming back crawling back to him and kowtowing with her deepest apologies, confessing her regrets, but it seemed to be the opposite. He was remorseful for his actions, and he felt like doing what he always imagined she should be doing to him.

"When I did? I tried to get away from you but you kept following me, and even laughed when I slipped?" She immediately retorted through ground teeth like she had been waiting for this moment her entire life.

"What did you do when I pleaded with you to stop? What did you do? I value these shoes, Friso. My mom used the money she worked hard for just to buy me these, and you, being the cruel jerk you are, broke them! Because you never love the things you have at all!"

Their little skit back in Philosophy class already hit him hard and he never got to recover from it. He was rich and he always bought things with the pocket money his parents provided him. When broken, a better one could be bought. However, it wasn't the case for Vanessa. Unlike him who was a prince born with a golden spoon in his mouth, the girl was the typical fairy tale princess borne from a common background. Both of their parents were working, but he earned a hundred times more compared to hers. Of course, it made sense that she valued the extensions of herself more than her own. He remembered that she was quite mindful of her money back in middle school. She was an only child, she should have enjoyed the luxuries of being one, including with being spoilt with a thick wad of pocket money. But no, she didn't. She learned to be grateful at a young age and continued to do so.

The fresh wound that had never healed was ingrained with salt upon hearing those words from her. Her impression of him was far from what he thought it would be. It felt like slander, her telling him not loving the things had were a complete lie if he did say so to himself. Unfortunately for him, he would never realize that he was just a hypocrite who thought everything bad said about him was the opposite. He thought she was this remorseful woeful girl who would readily drop on her knees and apologize like she did when they first met again. But no, she didn't put up with his insults and fought back. Hurling strong with her comebacks and elaborative, personalized vendettas. Yet, that didn't stop her from hurting. It didn't mean that she was invincible to the pain inflicted to her.

"You laughed at me! You were being the insensitive jerk you are "

"I thought you enjoyed it because you were getting back at me!" he immediately cut her off, he didn't want to hear another round of her flight of insults. He wanted to deflect the fault back at her, just as he always did. "Because the damage has been done!" she replied, her voice wavering. "And you made it even worse with your women splashing on me earlier!"

He fell silent. It wasn't true that he ordered those girls to do that thing to her, they acted of their own volition. However, they were effects of the shenanigans he had been pulling out recently. He wanted to push her down to a position that she would be desperate enough to prostrate before him to protect her, to make her his woman again. But she was a tough nut to crack. Though it never pushed him to permit others to torment her as well.

No one else was allowed to harass her, only he was.

"I didn't ask those girls to do that to you. They were acting on their own."

"You think I don't know they were doing it for your sake? For your approval? Do you know what they told me before they left? That I should have myself being run over for messing with you! When the first one that brought us apart in the first place was you when you kissed another girl back then!"

Vanessa's voice was quite hoarse and shivering, but they resounded loud and clear repeatedly like broken vinyl. Silence ensued between them once again. Friso remained staring at her Valkyrie-like facade as he tried to process the sudden pang that hit his chest. Her gaze changed, seeming to realize the words she just said.

Finally, the traffic light flashed green and everyone raced to get past it. It included Friso who used his drag racing skills to swiftly get past the other cars, his focus back on the road.

"Are your shoes still fine?" he asked, amidst the cold silence. His chest was still heavy, and he was replaceing the remedy for it.

"As you can see, I can still wear them."

After that contemptuous reply, he and Vanessa never spoke after that again. The air released by the heater was warm, but the atmosphere between them was colder than the frigid rainy streets of New York City.

"You can drop me here," she said when they reached the neighborhood's entrance.

"Are you sure? It's still raining," he asked as she began stepping out.

"A little rain won't kill me," he heard her mumble to herself.

"Don't want me to give Mrs. H a greeting?" he tried to catch up. He wanted her company a little longer, albeit it was silent and ice-killing with her antagonism. There was this deep feeling in his chest screaming at him to make up to her. "It'd be rude to just drop you off and not say hi."

"You were always rude," she said, turning on her shoes and slipping the door shut. "You getting extra wouldn't change a damn thing."

He watched her petite figure walk to the entrance in minute steps when she suddenly turned around and walked over to his car, knocking on the glass shield. Of course, he rolled it down. "Changed your mind?" he tried to charm her with his smirk.

"No, I just want to extend my thanks. This is the only time I'm receiving a favor from you," she replied with an indifferent face, obviously tired of his antics. "So don't get all cocky on me the next time we meet. You're still an asshole in my eyes." With that, she turned and walked back to the entrance.

"See you tomorrow!" he bid, and he saw her shoulders got tense but she went on.

As soon as he secured that she went past the entrance, he swiftly turned the car around to where he was next headed while his one hand smoothly dialed his house's telephone number. He would apologize, just this time. "Richard."

"Yes, Young Master?"

"Get me a pair of school shoes, size 7."

"You're not a size 7, Young Master."

"I meant women's shoes."

"I don't recall you scheduling for a gender reassignment, Young Master."

"It's for someone else!"

** **

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