Chapter 4 Give it a try

Jayden Park Point of view.

Staring at her my face turned red, and walked away. As I was passing through the university corridors, I heard a familiar voice calling me, but I was too nervous to talk now, so I walked straight past.

"Hey, what's up, man?" Finn's voice called out to me.

"That sausage water from hell," I muttered.

"Oh no, what happened now?" Finn asked, concerned.

I tried to calm down and recounted everything to Finn, who looked at me worriedly. He knew my father well and understood how strict he was.

"Dude, what are you going to do now?" Finn asked, concerned.

"I have no idea," I admitted despondently.

"You have to find a way to convince Rachel to help you," Finn suggested.

"But I've done everything, I've apologized, I've offered money. The bastard hates me," I replied bitterly.

Finn paused for a while, deep in thought.

"What if she doesn't hate you?" Finn proposed.

"What do you mean, Finn?" I asked, puzzled.

"What if all this hatred is just because she's actually in love with you?" Finn suggested.

"What?" I exclaimed incredulously.

"Think about it. They say that love and hate go hand in hand," Finn elaborated.

"Yes, but in our case, it's just hate, no love," I countered.

"You don't know what's going on in that freckled little head," Finn reasoned.

"Even if you're right, what are you suggesting? That I should date her, so she can help me? God, that's disgusting," I scoffed.

"I'm not saying anything like that. I'm saying that if that's the case, if you treat her well, you might end up convincing her to help you," Finn clarified.

I stopped to think, realizing that Finn might have a point. Even if she didn't like me, there was no woman who wouldn't surrender to my charms.

"Yeah, I guess it can't hurt to try, but how am I going to get through to her? When she sees me, all she has to do is put up a wall to get away from me," I pondered aloud.

"How about the party tonight? She always goes to the parties that music students go to," Finn suggested.

I looked at him, a smile creeping onto my face. Yeah, I guess I had a mission, and I'd have to use all my weapons to convince that witch to help me. I went home, took a shower, put on my best clothes, dabbed on some perfume, and waited for the party. When I arrived at the venue, I searched all over for her, but she was nowhere to be found. Could she not have arrived yet? Or did I just not see her? That's practically impossible. The girl's like a traffic light with that red hair. I spotted Finn and approached him.

"Have you seen the sausage water?" I inquired.

"Yes, the last time I saw her, she was following the guys from the music group upstairs where they're going to perform," Finn replied.

"Thanks!" I exclaimed gratefully.

I felt a hand caress my shoulder.

"Hi, you told me you were staying with me all night," a blonde girl purred.

"I'm sorry, it's not going to happen tonight," I dismissed her.

I left her and made my way to the second floor where a guy was playing the violin. Soon, I saw her leaning alone in a corner, seemingly lost in thought. I approached her from behind and put a hand on her waist, but as soon as she saw me, she slapped me.

"Are you crazy?" she snapped.

"Calm down, Rach," I said, trying to placate her.

"Don't call me that and get away from me!" she demanded.

"What if I want to stay close?" I whispered seductively in her ear.

"What? Are you insane?" she exclaimed.

"No. I just thought we could, I don't know, make out a bit," I suggested with a charming smile.

She burst out laughing, mocking me to the point where her face turned red.

"What are you laughing at?" I demanded, feeling my pride wounded.

"You must be really desperate," she chuckled.

"It's not that. I just thought that maybe all this hatred was unresolved feelings," I admitted.

"Oh my God! No! It's disgusting! It's just hate," she asserted vehemently.

Despite saying the same thing to Finn, I couldn't help but feel offended that such an insignificant girl was blowing me off. I was about to retort when I noticed a change in her demeanor. Her gaze shifted, and I saw a sparkle in her eyes as she smiled, seemingly forgetting my presence completely. I followed her gaze and saw that she was looking at Jasper, the main star of the music class. I knew Jasper; he played gigs in bars around here. I'd been to several of his gigs, and we were on friendly terms, but I couldn't understand why Rachel changed so much when she saw him on stage. I tried to engage her in conversation a couple of times, but she seemed completely engrossed in watching Jasper's every move, ignoring me entirely. She wore a broad grin, and when he finished performing, she clapped louder than anyone else in the room. As soon as he stepped off the stage, she approached him eagerly, and I moved closer to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Hi, congratulations, today's performance was incredible," Rachel complimented him.

He smiled, and she seemed to melt like a teenager.

"You think so? I was so out of tune today," Jasper admitted modestly.

"Are you kidding? It was amazing!" Rachel insisted.

"I'm glad you liked it," Jasper replied, returning her smile.

She smiled back, and they locked eyes for what felt like an eternity. When he shrugged and prepared to leave, she took something out of her bag. A CD that I didn't recognize.

"Jasper," she called out.

He turned to face her, and she showed him the CD, looking shy.

"Wow!" Jasper exclaimed.

"It was at your last concert that I heard you say you were looking for this CD, so I saw it in a little shop and decided to get it for you," Rachel explained bashfully.

"Wow, you bought this for me?"

He paused for a moment, and when the corner of his mouth curved, I braced myself for the worst possibilities. Either he would laugh at her, leaving the she-devil in an even worse mood for my purposes, or he would be charmed by her surprisingly gentle side, and at that moment, neither scenario pleased me.