Lunch break finally came and enthusiastic Jeffrey Campbell had to drag Arian and Ricky to the general cafeteria where there was a spot for VIPs and regulars.
Deep down, Jeffrey felt it was all silly because human beings were all equals. And should be treated the same. But the notoriously bratty, rich kids at school had voted the arrangement because their parents had a couple million dollars to spare as investment to the school.
And as expected, their figure head parents agreed.
Ricky wanted the gang to order their meal up at their private penthouse as usual, but Jeffrey disagreed. They’d had it that way since resumption and he wanted a change.
The moment they stepped in, flying kisses and flirty giggles blasted them. The typical snobbish Arian walked straight on with a cold look while Ricky who loved being the ladies man returned a few winks to the lucky ones.
Then another dramatic noise followed.
Jeffrey had never had the stomach to be sassy so he gave a few bro hugs to the guys he knew and politely smiled at the girls on their way.
Being popular was a blessing, and also a curse.
The gang chose their private table at the VIP’s spot and placed their orders. From their table, they could see everything and everyone coming into or leaving the cafeteria.
“Guys, it’s been ages since we last gamed!” Jeffrey said.
“Oui (Yes).” Arian concurred in French, which was quite habitual during monosyllables. “Ricky still owes me that re-match” He added.
Ricky wickedly snorted.
“You wish! Yo, I won fair and square. Maybe if you were concentrating more instead of being hypertensive about how many loud kids would be present at Tommy’s party, you’d have won.”
“You’d have won.” Arian childishly mimicked, earning a scowl from the sexy strawberry blonde.
Jeffrey chuckled at their silliness. Unlike Ricky, that side of Arian only came once in a blue moon.
Their orders came in as soon as a bulk text beeped on their phones. Sorry, all the phones in the cafeteria beeped. It was most likely a thread from the school blog.
How could about five hundred people be so eager to give out the same silly news at the same time? Arian scoffed and dropped his phone without bothering.
Meanwhile, Ricky was grossly interested as he kept on scrolling. The pictures of the new students weren’t clear, but he was clearly charged because they were girls!
Jeffrey rolled his eyes at his rotten enthusiasm while the rest of the cafeteria scrolled as fast as the sultry playboy.
~ New heiresses in sight!
~ Glamour × Vogue!!
~ Xtreme money in the freaking bank!!!
***
“Oh, shut up!” Allison Mendez hooted in disbelief.
Bianca was telling the B. R. A. T. S what happened between her and Arian that morning at the parking lot. Sincerely, the girls weren’t really shocked because everyone was familiar with the young master’s personality.
There had never ever been a girl in school, or in the entire world so to say, who Arian De’ Argent had shown interest in!
Well, this was according to the student top stalkers who tagged themselves paparazzi.
There was once a rumour about the unsuspecting French being gay since his little social circle were dudes. Everyone heatedly talked about it for months until it got to the school management.
They stopped the rumour and expelled students who kept talking about it both openly, and behind closed doors. Obviously, no one wanted to upset the top boss.
Till date, every rumour about Arian De’ Argent’s sexual preference was silenced.
“I’m darn serious! He didn’t look impressed. And no boy has ever turned me down!” Bianca huffed out angrily.
They were also at the VIP section but at a corner of the left wing. It also had a spectacular view of the cafeteria.
“Bee, you must still go through with the dare. No turning back!” Steph pointed.
Stephanie had dared Bianca on her welcome sleepover to take a picture of her in a hot smooch with Arian and post it on the school blog.
“Yeah, whatever.” The redhead arrogantly puffed her chin like it was nothing.
As she picked up her cheese burger, her phone beeped as well as her girls. It was gossip about a couple of students who registered today.
According to the eye witnesses, they reeked of wealth and affluence. They even posted the picture of the car they came in but weren’t smart enough to get a clear shot of them.
‘Bunch of useless fools!’ Bianca scoffed disdainfully.”
And boy! Should she say their ride was totes dope?!
It was the limited edition of the latest Rolls Royce!
Allison scoffed, concluding they were gonna be Bianca’s twin.
“How’s this possible?” Bianca frowned. “Seniors aren’t admitted during final year. How are these dummies so sure?”
“Babe, this is B. H. A… Nothing gets past the students.” Rihanna focused on scrolling.
“Oooh! These bitches are bringing it hot!” Tiffany cooed.
“Yeah, no kidding.” Stephanie pursed her lips.
“Don’t be so sure, sweetie. Currently, I’m the girl with the highest net worth over here. I run this school.” Bianca reminded with a smug look.
“Riiiight.” Allison drawled sarcastically, holding onto her last statement.
“If these peeps are this pronounced, I don’t think submission will sink in.” She noted with a bit of scorn.
“Whatever! Y’all bitches know my rules. Once you aim my spot, bitch… mama’s coming for you!” She snapped her fingers quite aggressively to prove her point.
“If they play it cool and stay off my stuff, then our table will be open to them. But if bitches want trouble?… I’m always game.” Bianca smirked, wearing more bright red lipgloss.
Cranky Ally frowned. ‘She’s seriously gotta stop doing that!’
Another flash text popped into their phones and Tiffany read it out.
“Guys! Newbies hittin’ the cafeteria!…”
***
The moment they were within the school walls, Natalia began to feel anxiety. The academy was extraordinarily breathtaking and she wondered how it wasn’t as heart melting online!
They drove through intensive security at the three gates before they were let into the main grounds.
The scenery was amazing!
Beautiful students were scattered around the school. Natalia was completely awed. Even Elva, who was oh-so-difficult to impress, had a pleasing look on.
The moment the chauffeur helped them out, the princess suddenly became shy. Everyone was lost staring! She wasn’t used to being at the focus of attention in public, without her mask on.
However, with Elva’s silent boost, she composed herself and they walked into the administration building. Virtually every building was some stories high.
After the offline registration procedures, they got everything they needed. Their uniforms were set to be sent to their house while their books and study laptops were given to them.
A clerk took Natalia and Elva to their lockers and thankfully, they were next to each other! After setting their combination locks AND thumbprints, the girls dropped their stuff but took along their bags and school map.
Since Natalia was an heiress and future Empress, business and political classes was naturally her thing. Then the duo headed to the cafeteria as they forgot to have breakfast.
“If I wasn’t a five-star assistant, we’ld have been lost and forgotten by now!” Elva grumbled as they sighted the large automatic door ahead.
Trying to understand the map was a bit difficult especially as the princess kept whining about how hungry she was!
Seeing the door made Natalia chuckle and she almost ran in as it swung open! Elva helplessly grinned and trailed after her, tucking away her map.
They were unaware of the hundreds of pairs of eyes staring at them until the graveyard silence in the hall turned into violent whispers.
Then, their smiles froze.
Elva remained nonchalant though. She was used to being around nosy, dramatic teenagers.
But unfortunately, the princess was near panic! Natalia’s nervous heartbeat tripled in frequency seeing them staring back at her.
~ O. M . G!
~ Take a look at those bags!
~ They’re smoking it!
~ Those boots came out two weeks ago. Humph! So outdated.
~ Senior, I love your hair!
~ Wait! Are those diamonds??
~ They’re gorgeous!
~ (Sneers) Gorgeous sluts!
~ She has a cute laugh.
~ Dude, check out that body!
~ Please be my fashion tutor!
They kept on murmuring and staring their way. Natalia’s appetite vanished. More than anything, she wanted to vanish with it!
“Elva! Natalia!!” An excited voice squealed out their names. The girls turned to see Nicky Winterfield, their spontaneously fun friend from the spa, rushing over.
Nicky wore her shiny strawberry blonde hair down in large waves. Her fitted dress and ankle boots did justice to her physique. Her genuine smile suddenly made Natalia comfortable.
Natalia smiled back and Elva waved. Nicky waved back and pulled them in a simultaneous hug when she got to them.
By now, the whispers which had reduced jumped back to cloud nine!
Being the youngest Winterfield, Nicky was quite popular underground. And combined with having a reputation of being a lone wolf, their reactions were somewhat justified.
“Nicky, we didn’t know you schooled here!” Natalia glowed.
“Well, ta-da?! I guess.” She shrugged and cheerfully pulled them to her table. Not many people sat at her corner. Natalia noticed. And also the looks people gave as the group passed.
Some, which weren’t so nice.
“What would you guys like to have?” Nicky sat inside while Natalia and Elva sat outside facing each other. The tables were drafted in a semi-circle, a classic diner way.
“Anything, please! We were awfully late so we skipped breakfast.” Elva dropped her bag beside her. Natalia aggrievedly twitched her lips.
“Whose fault was it?? If a certain someone hadn’t been dreaming of kissing her lover under sunset then we….” Elva scowled and flung a napkin at Natalia who was gesticulating.
Nicky gagged and chuckled because Elva’s blushing face screamed GUILTY!
Busted!
The cafeteria found it hard not to stare. And for a record breaking moment, including the young master.
It was her laughter that allured him. Genuine, natural and entrapping.
“Woah!” Breezed from Jeffrey Campbell’s parted lips. “Where did they fall from?! Hold on. Is that… Nicky?” He breathed and squinted closer. “What happened today??”
Both Arian and Ricky ignored him.
As it wasn’t his habit to stare, Arian forced his eyes away. But Natalia’s beautiful laughter echoed again and he stared without thinking.
Again.
Everyone kept staring. It was hard not to. The princess graciously placed one leg above the other and casually fumbled with the napkin in her hands as Nicky chattered on about something.
Arian didn’t realise the pull which made him follow her gesture until he caught himself staring down at her glowing skin, which was like buttery whipped cream.
“Stop!” He snapped tearing his eyes away.
“Stop what?” Jeffrey threw him a confused look. Arian’s heart skipped. Did he say it out loud?
He cleared his throat, reigning in his emotions and mumbled a nothing. Jeffrey looked over once more before focusing on his meal and Arian did the same…
He prayed.
Then it struck! Ricky had suddenly gone mute? The young master noticed because this particular best friend never loses his tongue to girls. So it was kinda amusing.
Meanwhile, Ricky thought he was over the vulnerability. He thought he’ld never be that helpless again.
He had moved on…. in his own way.
He thought she would remain in his past, in that dark and dusty part of his heart. He thought that smile would never haunt him again.
But how wrong he was. Karma came back kicking hard a moment ago!
The young heir’s appetite was gone. He stood up and walked out of the cafeteria without a word, ignoring the weird looks from his friends…
***
“Where on earth did they fall from??” Allison whistled.
“Try heaven. ’cause they look good!” Stephanie added.
“Seriously? I don’t see anything special.” Tiffany spitefully snorted.
“What? Not everyone’s altered. Truth hurts.” Allison fought back.
“Ouch.” Rihanna hooted hypocritically and looked away. “They slay like real pros. You gotta agree on that though.”
“Okay, that’s enough! All of you!” Bianca finally snapped.
“It’s the truth.” Allison cocked a brow.
“Whatever! Now, I’m gonna tell them MY truth.” She said and threw them a devilish smile.
“How ’bout we go over and say hello?” Queen Bee stood up and sexily flipped her hair.
The B. R. A. T. S smirked and stood up too. That was like a pattern. Bianca knew everyone was staring as they waltzed over because they stopped chatting at once.
Being the first to notice the arrogant group crowd their table, Elva raised her smiling eyes and looked Bianca over.
Bianca literally turned into a peacock seeing her gaze. Obviously, the seemingly fierce bitch loved what she saw!
The B. R. A. T. S looked over at Natalia, the prime target, who shared a pretty smile. But that smile froze when a knowing look crossed the princess’s innocent face.
Nicky shot the group an arrogant glare which particularly ran in the family, making Bianca’s smirk increase for some reason.
“Hi…”
Chapter 12