It was Thursday and their second day in school. This time, Natalia made sure they went to the academy early!
The girls employed a housekeeper so things would be easier. Now they had a driver, housekeeper, gardener, security…. They were slowly becoming a big family!
The princess still missed her grandmother a lot though. Their nightly, check-up video calls was still absolutely mandatory.
As they drove into B. H. A, Natalia and Elva spotted Nicky Winterfield waiting for them at a garden. She cheerfully waved to them after raising her head from the book she was glancing through and they waved back.
Then the trio held hands and continued their journey into the hallway. Thankfully, the stares had reduced. Well, a little. Nicky turned to them when they got to their lockers.
“What class are you girls having?”
“Uh… math. Right?” Natalia asked and Elva nodded.
“Great! We’re in the same class so let’s go?” Nicky chirped and breezed them over. The girls chuckled trying to keep up with her.
Unfortunately, when they got to class, the place was jammed full with only two free seats close together. The rest were scattered around the hall haphazardly. Obviously, no one messed with math class.
Even the skippers!
Elva offered to seat at the back row but Natalia stopped her.
“It’s okay, El. It’s better I get less attention after what happened yesterday.” She bit her lip, making a face. Elva wickedly winked and Nicky evilly chuckled.
“Be careful.” She worried. Natalia smiled and nodded before twirling on her heels. Elva was always such a darling!
The princess found a seat at the back row and took off her jacket. Clad in black jeans and sneakers which she matched with a tank top and jacket, she looked nothing like a Royal. But a little, badass gangster!
Natalia wore her brownish blonde hair down today. She fashioned a middle pattern and stretched it on both sides of her face.
Yeah. It made it pretty longer.
She tucked both hair behind her ears and wore a pair of headphones. The math teacher wasn’t yet in class so everyone was busy with their stuff.
After the music started playing, Natalia logged into the school group chats and went through them since Nicky had added them to the forums.
Virtually all the trending topics was about her and Elva!
‘Shocking.’ She thought dryly and snorted. The academy should’ve been a newspaper agency instead, because it was already hosting all manner of successful journalists!
Natalia logged out. She was so into her music list that she didn’t notice the maniac squeals and giggles that erupted the class…. or the hand that gently moved her jacket away and slipped in next to her…
***
Nicky and Elva were deeply occupied with their conversation when the high pitched giggles interrupted them.
How could girls be so shameless?! Elva righteously chastised and looked up to see Jeffrey and “you know who” with some other guy making an entrance.
And damn! He was smokin’! She gawked with the rest of the class without knowing until Nicky nudged her and giggled.
Elva forced her eyes away to her. “They’re the guys I told you girls about yesterday. Arian, Jeffrey and Ricky.” She said admist the noise and picked up her textbook.
“Oh. So he’s the dude the redhead witch was all about?”
“Yup.”
“He’s so hot. How unfortunate!” Elva grumbled and Nicky laughed.
Elva looked away after they’d passed by their aisle, but not after ignoring Ricky who kept staring her way…
***
“I’m darn serious! There’s something fishy about those bitches and I’m gonna find out what it is.” Bianca seethed as they strutted their way to class, late as usual.
“You sure? Aren’t you just a little bit paranoid?” Allison drawled boredly. The B. R. A. T. S knew it was the same old story.
Whenever a new female student gets enrolled at the academy and shows gestures of being more influential, their best friend/school queen go paranoid, cooking up asinine conspiracy theories to excuse her insecurity.
“Yeah, it could be! Especially after they kicked you out of the school’s ‘most trending’ in just a day.” Steph added flippantly, scrolling through her phone.
And also as usual, those two were on the same side! Bianca let out a mighty scoff.
“Nothing seems fishy to me, really. They’re just regular rich bitches wiith brains. Big deal!” Cranky Ally was back.
Bianca shot her a scalding look.
“Bee, chill! The thing is, until they’re an actual threat, you can’t lower yourself by getting all worked up over a bunch of newbies!” Tiffany oddly agreed with them. She too agreed that Bianca was being paranoid.
“Yes! And so far, she’s been a good doll.” Rihanna added making them giggle.
“I think she got your message right.” She continued and opened the door for them to walk in.
“…. Or not.” The B. R. A. T. S froze on their tracks, taking in the scene before them…
***
Natalia was about to play “Answer phone” by Ella Eyre ft Banx & Ranx when she felt a light tap behind her.
She flipped around to see Jeffrey Campbell grinning at her. She beamed back and took off her headphones. Jeffrey was seating directly behind her.
“Hi, Jeff!” She lowered her voice to a whisper not to draw attention.
“Hey, how are you?” He whispered back, scooting closer to her with his chin on his arms which were folded on his table.
“I’m pleasant, thank you. And how are you?”
“Better now that I’ve seen you.” He cooed. Natalia giggled seeing his naughty wink.
Suddenly, Jeffrey yelped and glared hard Ricky who didn’t even bother to raise his head from his phone. Natalia was confused.
“Meet my annoying friend, Ricky.” Jeffrey scowled and quickly moved away, prepared to dodge another kick. But it never came.
The princess chuckled and waved hi. Ricky briefly looked at her and shared a small smile before returning to his phone.
“And my other best friend, Arian…”
“That reminds me of yesterday at the cafeteria!” Natalia snorted recollection and continued before giving the soccer captain a chance to continue.
“You see, a group of delinquents came over to our table giving us venomous looks underneath their faux smiles! Their chief speaker, whatever her name was, kept spitting trash about some unfortunate guy with the same name or something.” Natalia disgustedly emphasized that part, ignorant of the astonished look Jeffrey had.
Ricky, whose fingers were moving swiftly on his keyboard, suddenly froze and looked over with a wickedly interested face.
“You should have seen how cheap she was!, bragging about owning him like he was some sort of god.” She paused and scoffed at the memory.
“I literally felt sick wondering what the dimwit saw in a despicable person who had no sense of basic shame! Trust me, that person needs some psychological therapy and her boyfriend must tag along, coupled with an eye check up by the way, because I saw nothing great about her, frankly.” The princess concluded with a sneer and flipped her hair behind….
***
( A Couple Of Minutes Earlier. )
The young heirs were at their zone upstairs when Ricky announced they had math class in twenty minutes.
As usual, Arian De’ Argent wanted to skip knowing it was gonna be a full class but they bundled, both him and his innocent bag pack, downstairs without a choice!
Y’all might be wondering why the infamous Casanova, Ricky Winterfield, who don’t even take his life seriously would get serious about math?
Well, Ricky had no choice because if he failed the subject, he’ld have to permanently switch over from art to business classes.
He might be rebellous and have some serious friction with his parents…. but Ricky was still very much under his dad’s control!
On the other hand, Arian hated the silliness the students tirelessly exhibited but he couldn’t convince his father to get them a special class. As it seems, Sir Argent had concluded that it was beneficial in making his heir more social.
However, Arian scoffed at the excuse. He was more than certain his mother had a hand in it!
In class, they walked to their favourite seats at the back row but the newbie with the smiley face was already there.
Arian coldly paused on his tracks.
Everyone knew he preferred sitting alone. Yet, Ricky and Jeffrey sped ahead to occupy the free seats behind…. grinning like the bloody fools they were!
Arian was certain they were enjoying the look on his face.
Those idiots! He swore again and took in a deep breath.
The young master glanced around the class for an empty seat and met some…. seemingly maniac girls…. encircling the only available one left like predators. He subconsciously cringed!
He returned his gaze to the quiet, smiley newbie and reluctantly walked over, quiet expecting the drama… But thankfully, it never came.
She was so occupied with her headphones that she didn’t notice her unwilling, new neighbour.
Arian gently moved her leather jacket which he found cool and slipped in beside her. Still, she didn’t notice him!
He finally breathed out.
But that peace vanished the moment Jeffrey tapped her with an evil smirk!
Arian panicky held his breath again and silently cussed the douche in words which should never be conceived in his heart of hearts!
Don’t go hatin’!
The young master had a deep-rooted psychological issue hanging out with people in general. And the usual, psychotic attitudes of the students he spent most of his days with didn’t help his condition either.
Seeing her distracted, the French heir relaxed and took out his phone. Jeffrey flirted and she giggled. And a malicious side of Arian snorted.
Whatever happened to Becky? He thought and rolled his eyes.
Ricky came at the right time though and kicked him! Arian knew because he felt the mighty force of the vibration from behind. He tried concentrating again but their voices became a pitch higher.
Just as he was contemplating ruining his peace early by telling them to tune it down, Natalia’s next remark caught the young French’s attention.
And that got him curious.
He slowly stopped his fingers from moving too fast to listen clearly. But guess what?
Instead of receiving the flattery he was subconsciously eager to hear from a second party for the first time in his life, abuses and condemnations followed!
Arian reflexively jerked around with a nasty glare on his face!
Jeffrey and Ricky noticed his dark look and quickly made eye contact. Then Jeffrey, the sacrificial lamb who initiated everything, uncomfortably cleared his throat.
“Yeah. Um… that Arian. The… the one sitting next to you.” He muttered and quickly looked away.
Natalia frowned in confusion and twisted around slowly.
“What are you…” The moment the Princess locked eyes with Arian Antoine De’ Argent, she choked on nothing and looked away in a flash!
‘Oh, you’re so gonna get it!’ The French icily glared at her…
Chapter 16