HARPER

The Almighty Kingsley Hawthorne is allergic to brown rice? Damn.


I’d expected him to have a more serious allergy, like nuts or a certain drug, but I guess he’s not as invincible as he acts. I read through the implications of the allergy and weighed if the pain he’d feel would be anywhere near the one I’d just been subjected to where I saw my life flash before my very eyes.

Not once, but twice. And I could swear that my spirit was halfway to hell the second time.

I was raised with love, sensitivity and compassion so it felt wrong to revenge even though Kingsley derived pleasure from torturing me. But, on the other hand, that bastard had threatened my life and disrespected my mother so it seemed like it’d be fitting to give him a taste of his own medicine or poison really.


Just like that it was decided, he’d bite the dust for fucking with me.

***


The next morning, I quickly checked my mail to see if my offer to volunteer in the cafeteria had been approved and I was punching the air happily when I saw that they’d accepted it on such short notice. After I got dressed for school, I gathered some brown rice from our kitchen and headed out just in time to join the school bus.

Throughout classes, I was antsy and some part of me was urging me to sink my plans and let him off the hook.

As though the universe knew I needed some convincing, he waltzed by and emptied his juice box on my biology textbook for no reason.

When I glared up at him, he mimicked a sweet smile and threw the juice box at my head.

“Really?” I frowned tightly while the smile remained glued to his devilishly handsome face.

I wish he was a sight for sore eyes so I could hate every iota of him, but unfortunately, he had to be born with irresistibly hot features that added to his foolish un-inflatable ego.

“You look like a freak of nature when you frown,” he dusted his jacket dramatically and walked by as the teacher re-entered the class.

That was it. There was no going back on my plan now, he deserved no mercy and I planned to show him none of it.

With fresh anger pulsing through me, I headed for the cafeteria during my free period and kept my eyes on the ladies who usually prepared meals for people of high calibre in Empire High. And when she wasn’t looking, I emptied a good amount of blended brown rice into the porridge mix she was making.

Kingsley and Nuella walked into the cafeteria and headed to his already set table minutes after the bell went off. I hid behind the serving counter while eating a doughnut and watched him gobble down his meal unsuspectingly.

The clueless fool was even making not-so-subtle advances at a sophomore with huge tits even though his fuckbuddy was clinging to his arm.

Just as the sophomore began to scribble her number down on his palm, I noticed him pull his hands away and start to itch the back of his neck until it turned red. He unbuttoned his shirt and loosened his tie but continued to flirt with both girls.

Disturbingly, I took notice of how nicely sculpted his chest was underneath but I quickly buried that thought when Nuella started to trace one of his pecs while staring at him like he was a piece of meat.

Despite the state of things, Kingsley made sure the huge titty chick finished scribbling her contact on his palm while ignoring Nuella’s wandering finger.

Such a manwhore.

Shortly after, the itching resumed. This time around he was itching his arms and twisting his neck uncomfortably and I could see that the girls before him had started to worry whether he was fine or not but I couldn’t make out what they were saying properly.

All I knew was that my heart was swelling with glee as I watched him slowly suffer.

Out of sheer curiosity, I moved away from the counter and sat two tables away from them so I could tune into their conversations and see at what point King would realize that he was having an allergic reaction.

Nuella was still caressing his gorg… uh—regular unimpressive chest when the skin began to turn pale.

“Baby, are you okay?” she gasped.

He looked down at his chest and panic flashed through his eyes, and then he completely took the shirt off to reveal a reddened back.

Both girls seemed freaked out and as though their realization had triggered the next stage of the allergic reaction, hives started to scatter all over his body and he began frantically itching his neck. That was a telltale sign that he was probably having short breath because he couldn’t speak even when he tried.

“Somebody get the nurse!” the other chick stood up and yelled at no one in particular.

Suddenly, everyone’s eyes turned to Kingsley’s table and all the girls who adored him like a breath of fresh air gathered around, offering their sympathies and somehow managing to show themselves off to him at the same time.

I couldn’t even see him behind the crowd anymore so I didn’t know what was going on until someone screamed.

“Oh my god! He passed out! What do we do!?”

A tinge of guilt started to swell in my chest on hearing that and I hurried out of the dining hall, only stopping when I started to hear the siren sounds of an emergency ambulance. I was frozen to a spot in the hallways when Kingsley was hurried out on the shoulders of four male students and hurled into the ambulance.

What had I done?

My mood sunk for a few moments while I relived the commotion I’d just orchestrated but I had to remind myself that he never felt a guilty or sympathetic whenever he bullied me, so there was no point feeling bad for him either.

I was still trying to convince myself that I’d done nothing wrong when my phone vibrated suddenly and jerked me back to reality. It was a call from my mom, so I immediately swiped the answer button.

“Hey sweetie, sorry to call while you’re at school,” I could hear the sombre tone in her voice and it bothered me.

“That’s okay, what’s the problem?” I clutched my phone to my ear like I could comfort her through it.

“Uh, I was having lunch with my fiancé when he got a call that his son had a crazy allergic reaction at school and had to leave, so I thought to tell you that we’ll be visiting them this evening to check on him,” I hated that she was sad because of that asshole and I had a hand in it.

But more importantly, I was dreading seeing him face to face in that house after my last experience there.

Maybe this time, he’d push me off the railing without another thought.

“Did you hear me?” my mom repeated herself again.

“Y-yeah, sure, I gotta go, mum,” I quickly ended the call and drew in a sharp breath.

God knows nothing good could come out of a visit to the Hawthorne’s. I couldn’t imagine the terror that awaited me when we eventually moved in together.