You Belong To Me

The next day at school was just like the first, I was utterly ignored by everyone, and it was starting to be a little depressing.

Curtis was starting to become my beacon of hope for my entire day.

“So what did you do yesterday?” he asked. We had been partnered up to work on a project that would be due in a week before we went off for winter holiday.

“Oliver, Matt and I went out and took pictures for his clothing label…?” I asked, not sure if that was the right way to word it.

“Oh really?” Curtis said, his eyebrows raised in surprise, “Oli asked you to pose for him?”

I frowned.

“Yeah, is that bad?” I bit my lip. Curtis shook his head.

“No, it’s good. It’s flattering,” he assured me, “Oli only picks the prettiest girls to model his shirts.”

“Oh, well, they just needed a replacement. It was Matt’s idea. Oliver thinks I’m hideous.”

Curtis smirked.

“If he really thought you weren’t even the slightest bit pretty, he would have pushed back the release date,” Curtis shrugged.

I laughed.

“Thanks,” I said, starting on the project, “Now I’m just worried about how the photos will come out, I’ve never posed for anything before.”

“You’re smile is breathtaking, I bet the pictures came out great,” he nodded enthusiastically. I blushed a little, and smiled.

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When I got home from school, I nearly bolted for my laptop, Curtis’s wrods still reverberating in my head.

“You’re smile is breathtaking, I bet the pictures came out great.”

I switched it on, drumming my fingers on my leg while I waited for the computer to warm up.

As I waited, I pondered if he had messed with the pictures somehow and made me look like an alien or something.

I went to his clothing labels website as quickly as possible and found the most recent photos.

I was relieved to see that I looked completely normal, but there were no pictures of me smiling, not a single one.

I huffed and stomped down the hall to Oliver’s room where music was blaring out the door as usual.

I banged on the door and waited a minute while he turned down the music and shuffled to the door.

Instead of waiting for his usual rude remark, I pushed past him into his room.

I heard him shut the door and I turned around to face him, angry.

My anger slipped for a moment when I realized Oliver was shirtless, as usual, but it hit me differently.

Not as disgusting or repulsive, but…

“What do you want Adam?” he scowled.

I frowned.

“I went onto the site,” I began.

“Oh, yeah? I thought they came out alright, except for, of course, your face is in them.”

“Why aren’t there any photos of me smiling?” I asked.

He stopped short.

It was the first time I’d ever shut him up.

It didn’t last long.

“T-they were ugly, that’s why!” he said, I could tell he was cursing himself for stuttering. He started pushing me towards the door, “Get out, I’ve got enough to do without-.”

“What did you do with them?” I asked suspiciously.

Again, he froze for half a second or so.

“I threw them in the rubbish bin,” he growled, “Now, out!”

He pushed me out the door and slammed it behind me.

His music went on louder than before.

I didn’t know what just happened and I stood idly outside of his door wondering what the hell to do with myself.

“Are you two still fighting?”

I glanced over at my father coming up the stairs.

“Oui, il est un idiot!” I said angrily.

“Give him time,” he muttered, he turned to go down the hallway.

“Papa!” I called, he stopped, “How are things?”

He turned to look at me with a huge smile on his face.

“Never better,” he said.

I nodded with a sigh and went to my room.

At dinner, Oliver and I were silent, lacking even our usual evening banter.

It was like that for weeks.