Chapter 214.

“Hahaha! What the hell? That was actually pretty fun.” With her back on the ground, still sliding on the ice, she let out a carefree laugh and said that.

“What’d you follow and copy me for, you goth weirdo?”

“Who are you calling a weirdo? You’re the weirdo for jumping off the bridge first.” She sat up and shot a crooked grin my way.

I frowned and headed to the bank on the side to climb up.

“Hey, could you help me up? It’s hard to stand on the ice with how thick my boots are.”

I turned to her with one brow raised and asked, “Are you really so dumb that you didn’t think about that before you jumped?”

“Shut up, just help me out and I’ll give you a kiss on the cheek or something as thanks.”

“That just makes me want to help you even less. Why offer me a punishment for helping you? You really are an idiot after all.” I shook my head and continued up the bank.

“Come on! What will you do if I get stranded here and die?”

“Then die.” I rolled my eyes at her.

“Ugh, the ice is cold too.”

“Dress warmer!” I was about to have a nervous breakdown from wanting to retort too much.

“Fine, I’ll pay you $10 if you help me out.”

“Huh? $10… just to help you stand up? Are you serious?”

“Yeah.”

“What a bargain. Finally, you’re speaking my language. Why didn’t you offer that reward from the start?”

I walked along the side, balancing atop the snowbank toward her. When I was lined up with her and the opposite side of the bank I dropped down onto the ice and pushed off the snowbank behind me. I wrapped my left arm under her arms and used my momentum to carry us both to the opposite side of the stream.

I stepped up onto the snowbank and extended my hand out to her.

When she tried to grab onto my hand I pulled it away.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Huh? What do you mean? Aren’t you going to help me stand up and pull me up onto the snowbank?”

I scrunched up my brows and said, “The $10 comes first. I’m not about to let you scam me. If you don’t hand it over, I’ll push you back to the center and leave you.”

“Wha- are you kidding me? Do you think I’d really scam you?”

“Yeah, you definitely would. Do you really think I’m stupid enough to naively believe anything a random girl I don’t even know tells me? Admit it, you probably thought something like, ‘Heh, once this idiot helps me I’ll just leave without actually paying him. Guys are like sooooo gullible.’”

She averted her eyes to the side as if I’d hit the nail on the head.

“Well? Pay up now or I’ll push you back to the center and leave.”

“Tsk. Fine. Fine. I get it. I get it, you cheapskate.”

She stuck her hand under her tube top and pulled out a $10 bill.

I yoinked it out of her hand and stuffed it into my pocket. When I grabbed her hand, I pulled her up to her feet then helped her climb up onto the tall snowbank.

The second she stood up she raised her leg up and kicked me in the stomach.

“Hmph! Jerk.” I fell off the snowbank into the soft snow behind me. She jumped off the snowbank and landed on top of me with her boots buried in the snow to my sides.

“Give it back.”

“Isn’t snow going to get into your stupidly designed boots? Why the hell have these open slits on the side anyway? It makes no sense.”

“Yeah, the snow’s cold, so hurry up and hand it over.”

“You know, I can see up your skirt from this angle.” She had a black thong on.

“Exactly, I’m letting you look, so pay me back my money for offering you some fan service.”

“You call this fan service? I call this a scam, a ripoff.”

I tried to stand up, but she squatted down keeping my legs in place as she simultaneously pushed my chest back into the snow with one hand.

“Is $10 really that big a deal?”

“It is, I didn’t bring much money with me today.”

“So what? What do you even plan to do with a measly $10?”

“What? Uh… that is…” she looked away showing a bit of shyness for the first time.

“The hell? Are you really broke or something? Your apparel definitely doesn’t look like it though. I can only imagine maintaining such an appearance and having an outfit like yours costs quite a hefty sum every month. Makeup, clothes, accessories, piercing your ears, hair dye, tattoos, they add up to quite a bit.”

“I’m not broke, like I said, I just didn’t bring much money with me.”

“Then just withdraw some from your bank account or something.”

“All my money is in cash, I keep it at home.”

“Who the hell uses cash these days? Use your debit card.”

“I don’t like banks.”

I cupped my fist when it clicked in my head and I exclaimed, “Oh! Right, you’re goth, fuck the establishment or something like that, right? Power to the people.”

“Y-Yeah. You get it?”

“Yeah, I understand now. You’re dumber than I ever imagined. Sacrificing convenience and security for something stupid. What will you do if you get robbed because you’re carrying all that money?”

“Th-That’s also why I don’t carry a lot around with me.”

“How much are you carrying right now then?”

“Altogether… $50. I keep it under my top in case someone does try to rob me. If they search my pockets they won’t find anything.”

“Uh, with how you dress shouldn’t you be more concerned about them raping you?”

She waved her right hand from left to right in front of her chest to refute me while she explained, “I’m not worried about that at all. Most guys are scared off by my appearance and don’t even dare approach me. They think I must hang around people who do drugs and stuff.”

“I… see. I can certainly see that being the case. Are you saying you don’t hang around such people?”

“Just because I like to dress gothic doesn’t mean I hang around with such people.”

“Oh, that’s a surprise to hear. Could you please get off me though?”

“Not until you return my money, I need it.”

“For what? You should have $40 left, right?”

“I used some for breakfast back at that fast food restaurant we were at, remember?”

“Surely you have at least $30 left then, right?”

“I do.”

“Then why do you need this $10 so bad?”

“Because! I’m thinking of getting something for Valentine’s Day for the guy I like!”

“Huh? Oh, I see.”

“It’s not you if that’s what sort of conclusion you jumped to.”

“I didn’t think that for even a second.”

“What? You don’t believe me? Since you’re so curious, the guy I like is the student council president at my school. He’s such a hunk.”

“I didn’t ask. Also, could you at least listen to what I said? I said I didn’t think that for a second. Is there even a brain inside that goth head you’re wearing on your body, or is it just empty and there for decorative purposes?”

“Ugh.” I let out a groan as she punched me in the chest.

“You violent brutish woman, you’re actually just a she ape in women’s clothing, aren’t you?”

“Who are you calling a she ape?” She grabbed my collar and pulled me close to her face with an intense glare.

“Okay! Okay! You can have your stupid $10 back. Here, take it.”

I stuck my hand into my pocket and held it out to her. She pinched it between her thumb and index finger then pulled on it.

“Hey, let go.”

“Sorry, the stingy part of me is preventing my brain from letting go of it.”

“Liar, you just want to keep it because it was in direct contact with my chest.”

I immediately released it and complained, “Ugh, I forgot how dirty money was.”

“Hah! Are you calling me dirty?”

“Not at all. It’s just that there’s probably perspiration all over it which is kind of… gross.”

Her face cramped up as she fumed and grumbled out a series of complaints, “This is really the worst day ever. Instead of being with the president on Valentine’s Day, I’m with this scumbag. Why did Valentine’s Day have to fall on a Sunday this year? It’s my last year together with him too. Ahhhhh! Tomorrow’s dance is my last chance. This is all that Alicia girl’s fault. If she didn’t exist, the president would definitely look my way. Alicia is just as unpleasant as this guy.”

When I heard Alicia’s name come up my eyes shot open wide. Huh? Wait, what? Hold on a damn minute here. What the hell does Alicia have to do with this president of yours?

No, is this crazy-looking chick a student at my school in her third year? There’s no way. Even if I don’t pay attention to other students, how have I not seen someone who sticks out like a sore thumb like this? I mean, with Wisteria’s case who stuck out just as much, she only transferred in recently. But this girl stood out far too much for me to have never seen her even once in passing in the hallway during my first time through high school.

I’d definitely have taken notice of a person with such a flashy appearance. Well… I suppose it is possible I just never passed by this person even once. Even if I did, I might have just had my eyes glued to the ground when I passed by her.

Haaaaaah. I can only blame my shitty personality.

But… if I take her words at face value, it means the student council president is interested in Alicia. Could what’s bothering Alicia be related to him then? Is she having a hard time turning him down because of his position in the school? Did he maybe not give up after she turned him down the first time and continue to change after her?

There’s too little information to go off of at this point in time. Haha... just how many times have I thought that same line? If I was some sort of protagonist in a detective series, I might as well make that my signature go-to line.

The whole, ‘the culprit is you’ thing, is overrated. 

If Alicia’s troubles were related to the student council president, would hooking this crazy goth girl up with him solve the problem? It might. But I don’t even know the guy, what use would I be? It’s really not something I can help with.

“Hey, you got your money, can you get off of me now?”

Her body jolted as she snapped back to reality.

“Yeah. The sooner I’m away from a creepy guy like you, the better.”

“Good.” I’m absolutely not getting involved in this. Whenever I get caught up in anything related to women, something terrible goes wrong. I’ve learned my lesson. Stay clear of them at all costs.

She stood up and headed back to the small bridge. I didn’t follow her, rather, I slid across the ice back to the snowbank on the opposite side and walked back to the mall. She followed me from not too far behind.

“Why are you following me?” Annoyed when I noticed her, I turned around and asked her that.

“I’m not following you, I’m headed back to the mall to shop.”

It seemed our destination was the same. I picked up my pace, put a good amount of distance between us, and left her behind. 

By the time I made it to the bridge near the mall, she was a small speck in the distance.