Chapter unedited and not proofread. Sorry!

Chapter 5: You Dated the School Psychologist?!

I spent more time pondering over how to break up a couple than how to write in APA format for my psychology research paper. Nevertheless, I finished the paper on dissociative identity disorder (DID) and wondered if Nolan suffered from that.

He needed to have two or more different personalities to have that disorder.

He didn't suffer from DID.

He simply suffered IWTAIS Disorder aka I Want To Annoy Innocent Souls Disorder.

Nolan and I were paired to work together for a class assignment in AP Euro. Neither one of us offered to help each other out. We actually discussed the future plans of breaking Ashlyn and Connor apart.

"Basically, you're saying that one person tries to keep them away from each other. Meanwhile, the other one convinces them that they hardly have time for each other?" Nolan asked for confirmation.

I nodded. "But one has to join the swim team to keep Ashlyn away," I told him and quickly added, "Not it. I volunteer you for that." Swimming didn't sound like fun. The team had to wake up early and get to the school by five. Then, a school bus took them to a nearby school that had a pool for them to practice in.

No way was I getting up before five and then swimming for like two hours.

"Have you forgotten about the photographs already?" questioned Nolan.

"I don't have the transportation or the interest in swimming," I said frankly. "Don't ask me for something I'm not capable of. Please." I added the "please" part only to see if he would take it into consideration.

"Fine," he said. I exhaled in relief. "You take the talking and I'll try keeping them far away from each other."

"Good. I don't have transportation, so this breakup might take a while."

"No more than a week, Hel-en."

"Is it that hard to say 'Helen?'"

"Yes."

He wasn't going to change at all.

¤》¤《¤

Nolan only had to work with keeping Ashlyn away. He mentioned something about Connor being superstitious. I worked as an anonymous person who--believe it or not--left letters for Connor in his mail box. In every letter, I left an anonymous relationship advice (such as how a relationship in high school never works out, injuries during relationships divide couples, etc.) To my luck, Connor's home was on my way back home, so letter drops wasn't a difficult task.

Now, the problem with these plans was: the girl couldn't break up with the boy. It was the guy who had to call off the relationship.

And Connor seemed too happy to be with Ms. Popular.

One whole week passed with Nolan trying to keep Ashlyn away, but failing and me trying to work Connor against her and failing.

So disappointing.

Connor was coming back to school on crutches starting Monday. It was Friday and tomorrow, the community was having a thing called "Party Like It's 1999."

A fundraiser.

There was going to be a big party, dancing and many different booths for people to enjoy.

I had an idea. But it went against my own self. Hesitating to tell Nolan, I worked through it. When Nolan decided to unleash his wrath at my failure, I had but no other option than to tell him.

"Ashlyn and Connor are going to the fundraiser tomorrow. I got permission to have my own booth," I told him in Literature class.

"Booth for what?" he asked, annoyed for us getting nowhere with this couple. Feeling embarrassed for once, I shook my head. "What did you do?" Nolan looked worried now.

"You're going to be my assistant."

"But what is it?" he asked impatiently.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I blurted out, "Fortune teller."

Through clenched teeth, he said, "Explain."

I spent the next ten minutes telling him my plans and he agreed with it. We didn't have any other plans.

¤》¤《¤

"A seer is worth a--"

"Thousand laughs," finished Nolan, fixing his red fabric belt. He wore black pants with long boots. His ragged brown shirt had weirdly cut sleeves and string buttons. To top it all, he wore a turban. On his face, he wore a mask covering his eyes.

My assistant.

"Unfortunately," I agreed. I was dressed more of a gypsy outfit. A white and flower patterned dress reached my knees. A pink scarf was wrapped around my forehead. I also wore a lot of plastic jewelry. Just like Nolan, I wore a red fabric belt.

I had a lot of makeup-mixed-face paint on. I put on a masquerade mask to top it all.

No one could recognize us.

"Do you even know how to fake a fortune teller?"

"I prefer the term 'seer.'" He plopped down on the seat across from me. "Let me tell your future, Nolan," I said and put my palms out.

Eyeing my hands, he said, "Do I have to touch them?"

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Give me your hands. I brought hand sanitizer." He rolled his eyes and put his palms flat on mine. His hands were cold, almost shocking me. I closed my eyes and said, "You will break up your ex girlfriends' happy relationships. No one will ever date you. You won't find a single friend  for help. Die alone--"

He pulled his hands away, glaring at me. "Thanks for telling me about utopia." The truth hit a nerve, didn't it?

I shrugged, pulling my hands back. Our first customers came in. I was overly dramatic. If I liked the person, I told them nice things about their future. If it was someone like Nolan, I basically told them they had no reason to live.

Nolan type people were rare. Finally, our most awaited and most "favorite" people walked in. Technically, Connor was on crutches while Ashlyn helped him. They took a seat across from me. Nolan and I exchanged a look and then stared straight ahead.

"Ah, little Ms. Rosa and Mr. Winston," I said calmly, my voice dropping. They seemed surprised to hear their names. I hope they didn't recognize me. "A relationship with danger lurking around." I tried to be mysterious.

This was too stupid.

"What are you talking about?" asked Connor. Someone had told me that he read his horoscope a lot. I hope this psychic nonsense worked.

"Talking, my dear, doesn't always have a clear meaning to it," I said, leaning forward on the table. Nolan coughed. "Ah, my assistant, Parson, knows all about this. His fate brings him all the unhappiness in the world." He might kill me for saying it later. "Something that will happen in this relationship of you two's."

"What do you mean?" Ashlyn asked, not seeming happy.

I put my hands and gestured her to put her palms against mine. She slowly did as instructed. Closing my eyes, I made weird faces. As if I sensed something.

Not at all.

Then, I told Connor to do the same.

"You bring bad luck to the boy," I said finally to Ashlyn. Connor's eyes widened. She looked upset, shaking her head. "His leg broke the day after you two united. His grades dropped dramatically. His family is suffering through a crisis, am I right?" Connor nodded. Thanks to Nolan for doing research on this. "Your father faced a job loss and your mother is pregnant. Another child can't be afforded."

"But that could be coincidence," said Ashlyn. She didn't believe me, but Connor shushed her.

He was believing me, actually. What an idiot.

"Keep going," he said, "what should I do?"

I suppressed my laughter. "My dear boy, you need distance from her. That's the simplest thing to do. Otherwise, you will suffer while she prospers."

"That's nonsense. These psychics just make stuff up," said Ashlyn. Someone was smart, at least. "She probably did research on us beforehand."

"Who cares? She's still right. I've only suffered ever since we got into a relationship," retorted Connor. "You already placed first in the swimming meet that happened yesterday! My dad lost his job!"

I felt so bad for them. His family suffered. He needed someone from the outside for support rather than breaking up with them. Nolan--I wish I could kill him.

"Connor, stop it. That's just a coincidence. And I'm sorry your dad lost his job. It wasn't my fault the company was laying off workers!" Ashlyn was losing her temper but still tried to remain calm.

"My last girlfriend only brought me happiness," Connor told me sadly, ignoring his current girlfriend. So damn stupid. He needed to keep his mouth shut. Ashlyn looked pissed off.

"Why did you ask me out then?!" snapped Ashlyn.

"Humans make mistakes!" This was headed the right direction or the wrong one. I don't know. "And I'm going to fix that mistake. We're officially done, Ashlyn Rosa."

She was crying already. We watched her run out. Connor sighed, running a hand through his hair. "How much?" he asked.

"Nothing. None for you. I'm sorry--"

"Thank you for helping me, today," he said, getting up. I gestured for my "assistant" to help the boy on crutches.

Nolan walked Connor out and returned to see the "closed" sign up.

"I hate you more than you can imagine," I told him, standing up from my seat. The reality of tearing two people made me feel low. I tore off my mask and asked, "Do you not have any feelings? Emotions?" Nolan walked around the table to me.

"I don't," he said, his green eyes not leaving mine.

I looked away first, still feeling upset at breaking a couple up for no reason. "You need to go check with a medical professional. Your mental state is disturbed!"

"Hel-en, we're done for today," he said quietly, taking a step forward, "Get yourself cleaned up." He walked backwards to his bag, giving no impression of how he felt.

Why couldn't he yell back? Fight back with me? What was all this quiet, unknown behavior?

Wannabe bad boy?

No, he was a psycho lover.

We cleaned our faces from the water we brought in water bottles. I took off as much jewelry and belts as I could, and then put a coat over my horrendous dress.

People were still enjoying the huge party and all the booths outside. I was too depressed to acknowledge anything. Not that I had an interest in the nonsense anyways.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Nolan asked as he made his way out. I was still packing my things. I gave him no answer, still unhappy with what we had done. Nothing he would mind, I was sure. "Hel-en, this was the third breakup. Get used to it. Four more and you're free from the guilt."

Again, I didn't reply. Exhaling loudly, he trudged away. I finished gathering my things and waited in the front for him to return. He needed to pick up his bags, so I could lock the place. Nolan returned with two bags of popcorn. Did he bring one for me?

"Get your stuff so I can lock up," I said without looking at him.

He shrugged and got his bags. We locked up and headed out. Again, I was going to have to walk. In the freezing cold. Nolan walked next to me, eating his food. Junk food. The second bag of popcorn wasn't for me, apparently.

"Do you like partying?" he asked casually. I gave him a look. Princeton was my life not partying. "Okay, so the snob doesn't party. She doesn't like socializing. She gets angry over nothing. But she still has 'feelings.'" He stopped in his tracks. I stopped, raising an eyebrow. "Something I lack, right?"

I nodded and said, "Good night." Talking to him was useless. I needed to go home and get started on a project for Spanish. I tried to give myself off on Sundays.

"Do you want a ride home, Helen?"

I blinked rapidly, stopping in my tracks. One, he offered me a ride. Two, he said my name properly.

"Am I hearing things?" I wondered aloud.

He walked over. "Since this revenge plan is all mine and you're helping out with the planning, I can give you a ride."

"I have been doing that from the starting." We started walking towards his car. I think it was established that I was getting a ride. No way was I walking home in the dress holding a bag in the freezing weather.

"Yeah, but yesterday I saw you walking on the train tracks," he said continuing eating his popcorn. "If you die, I won't have anyone to blackmail and get help from."

He completely ruined it. Here, I thought he was being nice for once. Jerk was helping me for his selfish reasons.

"You're so nice," I said sarcastically. He pulled out his keys and unlocked the car with the remote.

We got in the car and I told him my address. My mom had wanted me to call dad for a ride, but that meant waiting an extra half an hour at the event.

Nolan's car was spotless. Did he have OCD? I knew he had some problem, but which one?

"Stop staring at me."

I wasn't bothered at being caught. What was he going to do? Strand me in the middle of the road?

"Why are you so weird?" I asked him. "Why can't you let people live in peace?" I knew I was giving spark to another argument but we needed to clear things up.

"As I mentioned before," he calmly replied, "I'm saving those guys from getting into a heartbreak like I did."

"You think breaking their relationships isn't affecting them? Both the boys and the girls?"

"Why can't you just keep your mouth shut and--"

"Why don't you keep your mouth shut and listen to what I'm saying?"

"You're starting an argument for no reason!"

"You're asking me to break up couples for no reason!"

He slammed on the breaks, stopping in the middle of the road. Because of it being the night time, the traffic was slow. Cars horns were still heard as cars moved around us. Exactly why did he stop the car?

"Get out." I stared at him, not sure whether he was serious or not. "Get the hell out of my car!"

Not knowing what else to do, I picked up my bag and got out. I slammed the car door shut and cursed at him, mentally. Nolan drove away without sparing a glance at me.

So, tragic night ended with me walking home in the freezing cold.

Again.

¤》¤《¤

Sunday flew by. Monday morning in AP Euro, Nolan gave me the next breakup. To say I was shocked would have been a huge understatement.

"Terryn Bozzo," said Nolan. For once, he looked slightly embarrassed.

I couldn't believe I had heard right.

"You dated the school psychologist?!"

¤》¤《¤

A/N

Haha how were the fortune tellers? How was the third breakup?

Whats gonna happen now? How is the fourth breakup? XD school psychologist.

Isn't Nolan the perfect gentleman? He ditched Helen in the middle of the road.

Whatya think of the chapter? Updates will be very frequent because I need to finish the story by the end of this month.

Thank you for all the support so far!

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