Secretly Married (English)

Chapter 14

Phoebe woke up to a missed call from Kent. It was odd because instead of her usual ring tone, the tone was replaced with a recording ofKent's early morning knock. She panicked a little bit and opened the door, but when she opened it, she didn't find Kent outside. She remembered then what had transpired last night, and she felt a little disappointed that he was no longer there. She was tempted to go back to sleep but knew that she had to get moving. She looked at her phone and found that Kent texted her after making the call.

"Wake up, sleepyhead. I had to go to an early morning shoot. I'm sorry about last night."

She went through her early morning routine giddily. She knew she was supposed to be angry at him still for the way he acted last night, but who could stay angry at that face?

As she walked to school, she got another text from Kent. "Take care."

She was smiling like a fool when she arrived in school and had her head in the clouds, so she didn't notice Harley walking toward her.

"Hey! Someone woke up on the right side of the bed."

"Hey, you!" she said, tapping him on the shoulder.

She was still giddy from Kent's text and had forgotten about last night when she saw a bruise around the Band-Aid that Harley wore for the gash. Then she remembered Kent punching him.

"Oh my god, are you okay now? I'm so sorry about last night," Phoebe said as they walked toward the building. People were watching, so Phoebe kept a safe distance.

"I'm okay, of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because of this?" Phoebe reached out and touched the bruise. Harley recoiled but still managed to smile. Phoebe reminder herself to talk to Kent about the way he acted toward Harley.

"This? This is nothing!"

"You fell to the ground, Harley."

"I was caught off guard."

"I'm really sorry."

Harley smiled shyly at her, and she remembered what he said last night. Suddenly, she felt uncomfortable with him, so she said, "I have to go to class." She hurriedly walked off, not turning back.

"I'll text you!" he said.

Phoebe fought the urge to look back at him. She couldn't believe what was happening right now.

Phoebe was in class when her phone vibrated. She sneaked it out of her bag and read it from under her desk.

Kent: I'll drive there after the shoot.

Phoebe grinned to herself and hid her phone in her pocket. Jhone saw her face and nudged her. "What are you so happy about?"

She shook her head but kept on smiling anyway. Her phone vibrated again. She took it out and was dis- appointed that it wasn't from Kent. It was from Kit.

Who is Kit? she thought. Then she remembered that Henna and her assistant Jaydel had called Harley Keith, which she thought was Kit.

Harley: Let's go out this weekend.

Her phone vibrated again. This time, it was her father-in-law: The event designers are coming this weekend.

Then another text, from Kent: Why are you not answering my texts?

Phoebe to Kent: Sorry, I'm in class.
Harley: Hey, this weekend?
Phoebe to Harley: I can't. I have to prepare for my debut party.

Harley: Am I invited?
Phoebe: Sure, why not?
After the series of texts, she waited for Kent to reply, but he didn't. So she stowed her phone back into her bag and tried hard to concentrate during class.

"Kent!"

The morning shoot was done for the day, so as soon as the director said cut, Kent walked off to his own car. The shoot had gone on long enough, with Elisa acting like a prima donna.

"Kent, wait up!"

The crew were watching the two interact so Kent had to act all friendly.

~~

"I'm going back to school."

"Can I get a ride?"

"Where's your car?"

"Aw, come on, save the environment! Car pool!" Elisa laughed heartily at her bad joke. She was

trying hard to look like the happy-go-lucky sassy girl, but it didn't fit her.

"Fine. Hurry up! I need to get there by lunch."

"I'm all set."

They went to his car and drove off. Kent kept looking at his phone, waiting for Phoebe to reply.

It was during lunch break when she finally read Kent's text: Let's have lunch together.

Phoebe told Jhone all about this, even showing her the text.

"OMG, it's getting real! See, Kent can be a sweetie, right?"

"Yeah, well. He's still confusing most ofthe time, but he's making the effort."

"Okay, come on, let's wait for him near the parking lot."

They walked toward the entrance, talking about Phoebe's upcoming party and giggling.

Kent finally arrived in school, managing to ignore Elisa and her innuendos as they drove. He was taking off his seatbelt when Elisa took the key to the car.

"What are you doing? Give me that."

Elisa put the keys into her pocket and said, "Open the door for me, and I'll give you back the key." "What the hell, Elisa? What are you trying to do?"

"Just do it."

He let out an angry sigh. He saw his phone vibrate and read the text from Phoebe: Okay, I'll wait for you. He looked up at Elisa and sighed. "Fine. Don't make a big deal out of it."

Phoebe couldn't believe what she was seeing. She was giddy at the sight of Kent walking out of his car, but then she saw him walking toward the other side of the car and opening the door. Out came Elisa, and for a beat, they even held hands.

She'd had enough. Kent had no right to do this to her. She ran off to the ladies' room, with Jhone right behind her. She would not go out of the ladies' room until the end of lunch break. She felt the vibration of her phone in her pocket, but she ignored it. She wanted no part of this. Why was Kent doing this to her? He had no right punching Harley if he was going around with Elisa.

"Fibs!" Kent heard Jhone's voice from the parking lot. He watched as Jhone ran after Phoebe.

He turned to Elisa and said angrily, "Stay out of my life, you bi—"

"Don't make a scene here," she hissed. People were watching.

Kent put his head down, shaking it, as he thought about what he should do. He walked away from Elisa and started calling Phoebe, but she wouldn't answer.

*later*