Helanie:
"Good morning," I greeted everyone as I joined them for breakfast. Only Norman and my mother were at the table.
I stayed up late last night reading Emt’s book with him. He was so talented. I didn’t know he was writing his own book about different research topics and weapons. He even ntioned the findings of Purple Rose.
Norman just scoffed while going through a file, and my mother rolled her eyes. I sat across from her awkwardly.
The silence was so intense that if Norman’s phone hadn’t rung, we would have drowned in it.
He got up, answered his call, and walked away from us. It was as if fate wanted to suffer.
Now that it was just my mom and , anxiety started to rise in my body because I could tell she was getting ready to have a word with .
"What happened to you yesterday?" she asked in a cold tone, her eyes on the door to make sure nobody saw her talking to .
"You!" I replied with a sarcastic smile.
"If you hate so much, and if this place is hurting you, why won’t you leave?" She was so smart—wanting gone so badly that she was now directly pointing out reasons why I should go.
"You think I wouldn’t if I had an option?" I grunted, not breaking eye contact with her.
She fixed her posture and then grunted, "That sick bastard hurt you, didn’t he?"
The sudden change in tone caught off guard. But I figured it was because now I was her problem after my father kicked out. Of course, she would hate him for leaving to burden her now.
"It isn’t anything new," I replied, looking down to adjust the already perfectly placed silverware.
"Helanie—you should—" She suddenly shut up when Norman returned.
He sat down, and the next people to join us were his father, Emma, and Charlotte. The two gave a disdainful look before whispering to each other and then glancing at . It was obvious they wanted to know they were talking about .
To think they had been told never to bully again, yet they were still at it, just proved how full of resentnt they were.
And then he arrived, wearing a gray shirt, his hair styled perfectly, and his eyes shining. Maximus tried to give a smile, but before he could, I had already looked away.
After a few minutes of an awkward breakfast, I had to go outside and wait for Maximus so we could head to his garage.
It was going to be so hard for to be around him and not tell him that I knew all about his ga plan.
I slid into his passenger seat, and he sat in the driver’s seat, all smiles.
Once we hit the road, he started tapping his fingers playfully on the steering wheel.
"You know, I kept rembering what you said to last night—" he spoke sweetly, but I countered imdiately.
"Which part?" I asked skeptically. Of course, he must have prepared this line in his head since morning, probably to fool so more.
"Please be careful out there," he reminded , not realizing I was testing him.
I don’t know why, but now I felt like every ti he opened his mouth, he was lying.
"I missed you so much," he continued, but I had already averted my attention to my phone when it beeped in my lap.
"Aha," I replied absentmindedly, not paying much attention to him but also trying to hold in my emotions while reading a strange text from Rudy.
Topsenior_Rudy: Okay! But then bring back my shoes.
I frowned and texted him back.
: Umm? Shoes?
Topsenior_Rudy: Sorry! That was ant for soone else.
Topsenior_Rudy: Damn, I feel so embarrassed. Trust , I wasn’t asking you to buy shoes.
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling visibly.
: Got it 🙂
Topsenior_Rudy: Well, now that I’m already in your DMs, might as well say hello!
I smiled again at how smooth he was. It made think back to my ti in school when I used to be obsessed with reading romance books about jocks.
I knew they had a certain way about them. Even when I was dating Altan, I never got to experience the flirting and perks of being a jock’s girlfriend. I never felt that excitent.
Our relationship had been a ss—I wasn’t supposed to be around him unless he wanted to pull closer and show off.
Now that I was spending more ti around other people and receiving complints, I realized I wasn’t as bad-looking as Altan had made feel. He always had so criticism ready for .
"Rudy!"
I snapped back to reality when I heard Maximus say his na.
"What?" I asked, watching him park the car as we arrived at our destination.
"Why is he texting you so much?" I heard the jealousy in his voice.
Wow, he was such a great actor. If I hadn’t overheard him talking to his mom about his plan to play last night, I would have thought he was genuinely jealous.
"He’s my senior," I reminded him, and he unbuckled his seatbelt, turning in his seat to face .
"Don’t tell what I already know. I asked you why he’s texting you and why you’re giving him ti that belongs to ," he asked more directly this ti, making bite my tongue to stop myself from saying too much.
"I’m not giving him your ti. I’m just texting him back while you’re driving," I responded, and I could tell my tone had turned much harsher.
Without waiting for him, I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of his car, slamming the door a bit harder than I intended.
"Are you okay? You sound really angry today." He got out and asked while taking weapons from the trunk.
"I’m fine," I replied, purposely checking my phone just to annoy him.
"Okay, leave your phone in the car, Helanie. I won’t tolerate disrespect," he warned, his patience already wearing thin.
Well, this was just the beginning.
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