Dad and I were sitting on the dining table, eating the delicious Chinese food that we had just ordered, talking about his business trip. Apparently, he had signed a deal to buy a new hotel with Uncle Alessandro after I move out for college.

"I got my acceptance letter from NYU." I told him and his hands stopped. He looked at me, surprised that I hadn't told him this as soon as he entered in the house.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked, his voice excited.

"Because I'm waiting for my acceptance in an Ivy League school." I replied.

"You'll get one dear. Let's just celebrate your acceptance in NYU for now." he said. "We'll dine out tomorrow. A fancy dinner in a nice hotel. You can invite Emily and Sophia too."

"Dad. It's no biggie." I said but he glared back at me.

"Of course it is, sweetheart." he responded.

Well, what's the harm in having a nice dinner!

I thought for a second and Adam's face appeared in front of my eyes. "Dad." I trailed off. "Can I invite Adam too?"

I gulped, noticing the weird expressions that appeared on his face.

"He has helped me a lot in Calculus so I owe him a dinner." I cleared and Dad's features relaxed.

"Sure." he said, diverting his attention back to his noodles.

I was on my last dumpling when the door bell rang. Dad excused himself to open the door while I poured a glass of water for myself and drank it.

"Alicia!" Dad's voice reached my ears. I turned around to watch Dad and the person behind him who had a sheepish expression on his face.

Adam?

"I need some help in the homework." he said, his face blank.

He need help. From me. In homework. Am I dreaming?

My eyes shifted to Dad before I finally focused them back on Adam. "Sure." I said.

I slowly marched towards my room, followed by Adam. His steps were small and silent, unlike my irregular one. As soon as I stepped inside my room, he closed the door. Before I could speak anything, he gripped my wrist, pinned me against the door and planted his lips on mine.

For a moment, I stood there shocked but then I gave in and returned his kiss with the same passion. His tongue teased the entrance of my mouth, flicking slowly until I opened my mouth and gave him entrance.

Butterflies erupted in my tummy when his tongue invaded my mouth, creating tingles that shot straight to my core. My skin itched to pull him closer so I wrapped my arms around his torso and almost glued myself to him.

I moaned lightly, breaking the kiss before trailing light kisses on his strong jaw. "I can't keep my mind off you." he admitted, groaning slightly and I smiled proudly, knowing that I have same effect on him.

Before the kiss could escalate, I pushed Adam away, observing the frown that made its way to his face.

"You do know my Dad will kill you with bare hands if he catches us making out?" I said, more like asked.

"No. He won't." he countered. "He would be happy that her daughter is with a sane person, not some crappy, hormonal teenager."

"Ha ha ha. You wish Mister." I rolled my eyes and sat down on the couch in my room.

"So what? Am I supposed to tell your Dad what's going on between us?" he asked.

"Well, now that you have talked about it. What is going on between us?" I raised my eyebrows inquired.

He looked confused for a moment. As if he himself didn't know what to say in response. Sighing deeply, he ran his fingers between his hair. "It's late. I should go back." he made an excuse.

"What about the homework?" I teased, grinning from ear to ear. "Or was it just an excuse for having a glimpse of me?"

"Ha ha ha. You wish, Mam." he imitated my previous response, plastering a fake smile on his face.

I laughed at his attempt at blatantly refusing, even though he knew that I knew what he was doing here. Liar!

He turned to left after that but I stopped him by shouting his name and invited him for dinner tomorrow night. At first, he looked at me doubtfully but then he finally agreed, contrary to my expectations.

After he left, I jumped on my bed, smiling as the memory of our kiss flashed once again inside my mind.

...

The next day, I entered the school with a huge grin on my face because Adam had dropped me to school on his bike. Everything felt great, the day felt brighter, the wind fresher, as if I was in some stupid romantic movie.

Dramatic much?

Hopping towards the locker room, I stopped in my tracks when I encountered Noah flirting with another one of the cheerleaders, the kind with perfect smile, flawless skin and pin straight hair.

"Try to stick with one Noah." I commented while passing by him.

"Well, a man gotta eat somewhere." He passed me one of his toothy grin.

"Sexist manwhore." I scoffed, walking past him towards my locker while he continued his flirting with Miss. Blue eyes.

Opening my locker, I pulled out the notebook and book necessary for my first period and made my way towards my first class.

By the lunchtime, I didn't have any encounter with Adam. And surprisingly, Emily didn't attend Biology class too although I watched her leaving her car this morning. I would have run behind her if I wasn't with Adam that time.

I made my way to the female washroom to freshen up. Entering inside, I found Emily watching her reflection in the mirror while combing her hair.

"Hey." I said and stopped when I saw the reddish tint on her face. It looked like she had overused the blush powder and Emily wasn't someone who used that much makeup.

Wait! Did someone hurt her?

"What happened to your cheek?" I asked cautiously.

"N...nothing." she stuttered, turning her back towards me.

Her hesitation strengthened my doubt. "What happened Emily?" I asked again, gripping her arm and turning her towards me slowly.

"It's nothing Alicia." she said again.

"It doesn't look like nothing." I countered and assessed the mark.

Wait! She left with Chloe yesterday. Does that mean--?

"Did Chloe hit you?" I mumbled in a really low tone. Emily's face paled at my words and she averted her eyes from me.

"Em?" I asked, more like shouted.

"She was hurt. Justin had dumped her and she-"

"What did she do Emily?" I asked again.

"She caught my mobile screen right when Justin was calling me. I didn't know what he wanted to say but-"

"Did she hit you?" I whispered.

"She turned all angry and aggressive. I didn't -"

"I am asking if she hit you or not?" I asked again, trying to control my anger.

She looked at me with blank face but her eyes told me the emotions swirling inside them. She nodded slowly and I felt like killing that bitch with my bare hands.

"But I-" she tried to say something again but instead of listening, I balled my fists at my side and made my way to the Cafeteria, hoping to find her there.

I stood corrected as she was sitting in the center of the cafeteria, her minions at her side, all three of them munching their vegetable salad and kale smoothie in such a sophisticated manner that it would put the royals to shame.

Anger swirled through me and I took some large steps towards her, all the while feeling Emily's presence behind me.

Stopping right beside her table, I picked the smoothie in my hands. She watched me with wide, angry eyes which I ignored easily and emptied the contents of the plastic cup on her head, receiving several gasps from the other students.

For a moment, she sat there with baffled expression on her face which she masked effortlessly. "You dumbass." she stood up and glowered at me. "Are you crazy?"

Smirking slightly at the green liquid trickling down her forehead, I picked the bowl of salad from the table and chucked the contents towards her face.

I could hear the pleading voice of Emily behind me, beseeching me to stop but I couldn't care less.

Chloe's jaw looked like it had dropped to the ground. She started, "Listen you whore-"

"No. You listen, you plastic bitch." I said, feeling disappointed at myself for stereotyping as my mother taught me better than this. But what could I do? I was out of my mind at that moment.

"If I see you near my friend and your sister one more time, I'm gonna pull all your fake extensions off your head and slap you so hard that even your minions would feel the effect on their cheeks." I kept my voice low so that I won't get in trouble.

A deep frown etched on Chloe's face and she looked like she wanted to suck all the blood from my body. Her glare would have scared an ordinary person but I was Hayden King's daughter, my father has raised me well and taught me how to deal with such crazy bitches.

"You, Alicia King, you have messed with the wrong person." she said through clenched teeth, wiping the cabbage away from her chin. "I am going to ruin your sweet, little life."

Saying this, she sashayed her way out of the Cafe and her friends followed her while I stood there with rage filled eyes and gritted teeth, thinking whether I should prepare myself for the worst or not.

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