“It’s been a long time. You look vibrant as always,” David grinned.
“You are complimenting me?” Aaliyah raised her brows.
“No. I am talking about Ashton,” David smiled, and Aaliyah turned to Ashton, who was grinning ear to ear.
“That’s true,” Aaliyah smiled before her gaze landed on Alex laughing with some boys, and the expression on her face immediately turned sour, remembering what he talked about with Maria in that cafe.
“Aaliyah, are you there? We were asking if you could make it to the party,” David asked.
“The school is starting today, and you are already thinking about the party? I will think about it,” Aaliyah walked away.
“What happened to her? She was okay a minute ago. Is she on her cycle?” David scrunched his brows.
“I am not sure, but it has something to do with Alex,” Momo said.
“What do you mean?” David and Ashton looked at her.
“Didn’t you guys notice? She was smiling at Ashton, but suddenly the expression on her face turned murderous. It was for a moment, but I caught it. When I followed her gaze, she was looking at Alex. Did something happen between them?” Momo looked at Ashton.
“Nothing that I have heard of. Maybe it’s because Alex has been hanging around Maria a lot these days, and we all know about the Olympiad thing,” Ashton said, not liking that he had to guess something regarding Aaliyah.
“Let’s talk to her after class. She would cool down until then,” Everyone nodded at Momo’s suggestion.
Meanwhile, Aaliyah sat on her seat, practically throwing her bag on the bench, and Dominic, who entered the class, raised his brows.
Her eyes were dropped, and though she was busy doodling on her notebook, Dominic could see the invisible ‘Don’t mess with me’ sign on her forehead.
Sighing loudly, he stood on the podium before announcing his leave from school. Many students, especially girls, groaned in displeasure, and he interacted with all of them. He kept looking toward Aaliyah, who looked least bothered by everything around her.
What must’ve happened for her to be in such an ugly mood early in the morning? Dominic thought.
He wanted to stop her when she started walking towards the exit, but since he was leaving the school already, it was better to stay cautious to prevent useless suspicions from rising.
“Hey, watch where you are walking, loser,” Aaliyah heard when she bumped into someone.
“Loser?” Aaliyah asked Maria, who smirked.
“Are you sure I am the one who lost and someone didn’t cheat?” Aaliyah asked calmly, and the smirk on Maria’s face faltered for a second.
“What did you say?” Maria glared at Aaliyah.
“Aaliyah, what are you doing? Let’s go,” Henry slung his hand over her shoulder, and Aaliyah stared at Maria one last time before leaving.
Maria, on the other hand, didn’t feel comfortable with Aaliyah’s words.
What did she say? Cheating? Does that mean she has found out what happened? But if that’s the case, why has she not said anything to anyone yet?
This isn’t good.
If Aaliyah finds out the truth and causes a ruckus, her reputation will be ruined, and she can kiss goodbye to all the universities she has been eyeing. Maria thought before gritting her teeth and dialing Alex’s number.
“You dumb wit. Here I am, losing my mind, and you are playing baseball with your friends? Where the hell are you? I want to meet you now. I think Aaliyah has something on us, and I want you to deal with it before things blow out of our hands,” Maria stomped her foot before leaving.
Meanwhile, the guy appointed to watch Aaliyah was still not sure if Aaliyah saw him or if she was looking or thinking about something else.
On the terrace of the school building, he sat with his legs dangling on the other side as he leaned to see what was happening inside the canteen.
“This girl Maria is digging her grave, isn’t she? If the boss finds out that his girl is being bullied by some random chick, he will ruin her first thing,” The guy thought before hiding when he heard some students coming onto the terrace.
To his shock, it was none other than Aaliyah and that boy who pulled her away from Maria.
“What is it, Henry? You are not acting like yourself,” Aaliyah leaned near the entrance, and Henry sighed.
“I was ashamed to talk about this in front of all our friends. You know I have an elder sister. She has been struggling in the modeling industry for a couple of years. Can you -? Can you ask your sister to supervise and give her some tips on how to do things? Your sister is now becoming a big name in the market and -”
“Okay,” Aaliyah said.
“Okay?” Henry asked, surprised.
“Why? Did you expect me to deny it?” Aaliyah looked at him, amused.
“No. But I thought you would at least tell me your sister is busy or something like that. Actually, we have talked to a few more people, but everyone has bailed on us. Modeling is my sister’s passion, and I can see her sad. I know I am taking advantage of our friendship and -”
“Shut up. Send your sister to my sister’s office tomorrow with her portfolio. I will ask my sister to arrange a photoshoot for her. She knows how to do things,” Aaliyah patted his shoulders.
“Besides, my sister owes me too much to deny such small favors. And it’s not even a favor. If your sister has potential, my sister would exploit her,” Aaliyah’s words made Henry chuckle.
“All jokes aside. Thank you so much,” Henry said, and Aaliyah was about to reply when she heard some movement.
“Is someone there?” Aaliyah whispered before walking.
“It must be a cat. Let’s go, or Ashton will come here thinking I abducted you,” Henry said. Aaliyah scrunched her brows, following Henry out nonetheless.
“Phew! That was a close call,” The guy slid down the wall, biting his lips with contemplating emotions.
“Aaliyah, dad was asking about you. Do you have time this weekend? Why don’t you come over for lunch?” Ashton asked.
“Is something the case?” Aaliyah asked, and Ashton nodded before looking at their friends at the counter.
“He wants to recruit some more fighters for better bidding. Since you have fought most of the existing ones, he wanted some insight from you. Besides, you are a shareholder of the coastal ring. Your opinion matters,” Ashton said.
“As far as I remember, Mr. Dominic invested in that ring too. Are you guys sending out formal invitations, or are there just a few special people joining in?” Aaliyah asked, and Ashton shrugged.
“I don’t have that much idea. I told you what I heard,” Aaliyah nodded at Ashton’s words.
“The party is on Friday night. Does Sunday sound good? I think he wants you to come to discuss some things about your father. Is uncle Harry okay now?” Ashton asked, and Aaliyah nodded before they went quiet as soon as everyone returned.
“It’s a masquerade party. Are you guys excited?” David grinned, and Aaliyah sighed.
Honestly, she wasn’t such a party girl. And all these parties were getting too much. She would rather stay home under the duvet, drinking hot chocolate while watching some anime.
After school was over, Aaliyah walked out of the main building. Since she had a shift in an hour, she decided it was better to go straight to the cafe than home.
As she kept walking with her earphones plugged in, her pace slowed when she noticed a car moving along with her.
Pausing abruptly, she turned off her songs before looking at the car.
“Why are you following me?” She asked, trying to recognize the number.
Seeing the girl had stopped walking and was looking straight at him, Nathan opened the door before ushering her to come inside.
“Do you think I am a fool? What if you are kidnapping me to kill or shun me? You don’t like me. You have made that clear earlier,” Aaliyah crossed her hands over her chest.
“Just get inside, girl. I am not trying to kill you,” Nathan sighed at the girl’s exaggeration.
“You can talk here. I am not getting into a stranger’s car,”
“Stranger?” Nathan pointed at himself in shock.
“Have you forgotten those times when I rode on your bike, we had lunch together, and there were so many times we talked,” Nathan couldn’t believe what the girl was saying.
“Have you forgotten how you wanted to show me, my class? You turned stranger to me at that moment,” Aaliyah said.
Honestly, she had no intentions of annoying the old man, but Dominic told her to act like she didn’t care about anyone from his family, and that’s what she was doing right now.
“Dad, I think it’s Dominic’s car. We should leave,” Sandra reminded him when she saw the familiar car coming out from the school at some distance, and Nathan pressed his lips into a thin line.
He just wanted to apologize and ask her to forgive his son and not be hard on him so that he would start talking to his family again and let them meet her.
Now that Nathan knows Aaliyah is Harry’s daughter, he wanted to treat her with utmost care.
It wasn’t just because of his son, but because of what he had promised her when she was born.
However, now that he looks at her, it looks like she won’t forgive him easily. Nathan sighed before nodding at the driver to start the car, and Aaliyah looked at the back of the leaving car before plugging in her headphones again.
After some time, she noticed Dominic’s car moving alongside her, and she turned to look at him before giggling.
“Is this a family thing? Following people in cars?” She asked, and Dominic scrunched his brows, not understanding what she meant when she walked hurriedly and entered the cafe.
Throwing her bag on the table, she hugged her friend Danny from the bike racing before smiling at him.
Though she was careful most of the time, he identified her a few days ago, and she had no choice but to reveal herself. Since he was one of the decent guys, she didn’t mind it that much.
“Did you talk about pregnancy with your parents? How did they -” Aaliyah couldn’t even complete her words when she heard a screech of a chair.
“No! No! I won’t allow it!” Nathan shouted before pointing at Aaliyah and Danny, making Danny step in front of Aaliyah as he hid her behind, thinking the man wanted to hurt her.
“What is your problem, old man?” Danny asked, and Nathan seethed with anger.
“I won’t allow this relationship! Is this why you can’t forgive my son? You are in a relationship with this boy. What is wrong with my son? He is ten times better looking, wealthier, and everything. You even became pregnant in such a short time? I won’t allow it. Abort it. I don’t care,” Nathan shook his head in denial, shocking everyone.
Danny- “…”
Aaliyah -“…”
Sandra -“…”