The three girls stood behind me-- the ones I followed to the lounge yesterday. Were these the mean girls from fiction movies? Weren't they supposed to have a platinum blonde hair and piercing blue eyes?
The one in the middle had evenly glowing tanned skin, a radiant hazel eyes with thick lashes, a slim but fit figure, and a healthy volumized brown hair. She was a goddess to be exact, and her vanilla scent smelled sophisticated. She was about my height, but a few inches taller because of her heels. I stood five foot eight, but she made me feel little.
She looked at me with her bedazzling eyes and shot me a curious stare.
"Am I getting to your way?" I asked, moving to the side. Her eyes trailed on me and the two girls beside her started whispering.
" 'you new here?" she asked. Someone from Kingsley had asked me the same question. It must've been the guy in the Harley.
Kingsley's full of treacherous people. The things he uttered whispered in my ear.
"Yeah . . . Why?" I responded, weirded by her.
She plastered a smile, glancing at the two girls beside her and nodded. We were now starting to create a horde of students as their murmurs filled the hall.
"You seem alone." She nodded to me, apathetic. "Your name is swirling around the campus and I must've heard it from someone. Lala, right?"
Why the hell was my name already swirling around Kingsley? Seriously, did I really draw that much attention? I had only been here for like five seconds.
My feet were glued to the ground, though I wanted to run away from this awkward situation. Their sudden appearance bothered me a lot.
"I'm not sure if I'm really the person who you're talking about," I nervously responded, backing away from her.
She chuckled and showed off her perfect set of white teeth. Then the other girl with an olive skin, blue-green eyes, pouty lips, and a luminous wavy brown hair folded her arms above her chest. A look of distaste drawn across her face.
"Kourt, come on. You're wasting your time," she said irritatedly, rolling her eyes. Yes, she was probably wasting her time.
She ignored her remark and scrutinized me instead as if I was a test she needed to solve.
"It might seem sudden but hey," she smiled, extending her hand for a handshake. The students began to babble louder and some were even enthusiastic to see my reaction, "Kourtney Devaraux, captain of the cheerleading team."
I shook her hand and gripped the strap of my bag. This was probably the weirdest thing that ever happened in my entire life aside from the chaos I was facing.
"These are Amanda Ramsey and Emma Miller," she introduced. It wasn't necessary though, I didn't need an introduction. I would probably have Nick babbling about them during lunch meals. By the way, where the hell was he?
I guess Amanda was the one with an olive skin and Emma was the girl on her left-- strawberry blonde hair, a blooming fair skin, and pink pouty lips that seemed to smirk a lot.
"Have a nice day," Kourtney said before strutting away.
In my honest opinion, I was literally weirded out by her. I thought she was supposed to give snide remarks about people she wasn't fond of like a typical high-school queen. Guess I made an assumption. But I couldn't deny how gorgeous they were.
I shook my head in disbelief and headed to the natatorium.
~*~
I got the schedule for the swimming tryouts, and I was hoping for the best. Currently, I was sitting with Nick at the cafeteria. He made sure to accompany me on a daily basis since I was new and had no one to talk to.
"So in Chemistry class, we were taught a basic chemical experiment and Lindsey, my partner in the project, accidentally poured the wrong substance in our work," he said, giggling in amusement. I wasn't really focusing on the story because I was studying his accent precisely. "Then, unfortunately, we got F for that. It was so embarrassing."
"Didn't you blame Lindsey for what happened?" I asked, laughing along with him.
"No one will blame a council's president, silly." He rolled his eyes and ate a spoonful of his food. "This mash could've tasted better with thicker gravy," he remarked, referring to his food.
"By the way, I ran into Kourtney on my way to Mr. Grey a while ago. She seems to act weirdly," I said, causing Nick to almost throw-up his food.
The look on his face was unreadable. His eyes widened, and his mouth gaped. He avoided my gaze, but the horrified look on his face was apparent.
"What in bloody hell does she want from you?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed.
"That's the question I don't even need to know." I shrugged before leaning against my chair.
Nick rolled his eyes and shook his head. He remained silent, as his face became stoic. What's going on?
"Is there something wrong?" I asked, leaning forward to examine his face. It was unreadable which was odd.
"Nothing," he shortly answered.
I scoffed and nodded my head.
Speaking of the goddess of royalty, Kourtney entered the cafeteria and strutted towards the counter. They were like supermodels, cat-walking down the aisle. They had this glamorous look that never failed to mesmerize anyone.
"They're really pretty," I remarked.
"Her sister is so different from her," Nick replied as he looked at them.
"Lindsey?"
Then he shot me a surprised look and uttered, "How'd you know?"
"Lindsey and Kourtney have the same surnames, of course I would know," I said and finished my food with one last bite.
Then after a few minutes of silence, someone interfered. The familiar sophisticated scent made me recognize the person standing next to our table. It was her.
"Hey, guys." She plastered a smile, arms crossed above her chest.
Here we go again. I drifted my eyes to her, wondering why she approached.
"Hey there, Kourtney, " I greeted, tugging a half-smile.
But she was facing Nick instead, while he avoided her gaze. He looked uncomfortable while Kourtney just couldn't help but smile.
"Lala . . . You know him?" she asked, pointing at Nick.
"He's a friend."
"Nicholas." She nodded. "Are you sure you know him?" She chuckled.
Kourtney took a glance at those two girls near the counter and smirked when she averted her gaze towards me.
"I'm not quite sure. It's been only two days since we first met so I'm trying to get to know him," I reasoned out.
She was rather amused by it and glanced at Nick, expecting a response from him. She lifted her brows and leaned forward to examine his face.
"Oh, won't you look at that. What happened, Nicholas? Can't even look at my face huh," she teased.
I was pretty sure there was something unlikely going on within these two. The way Kourtney was trying to push Nick's button was weird. I couldn't discern his expression. It was just unreadable.
"Kourtney, what in bloody hell brought you here?" he irritatedly asked, backing away from her.
She chuckled and flitted her gaze to me. Smirking, her hazel eyes shot me an amused stare.
"I just wanted to invite Lala. There's a party at our house on Friday, I figured you might celebrate the second semester with us." Then she gave me a wide smile and convincing eyes.
"A party?" I asked. She nodded immediately. "Me?"
"Yup," she responded, popping 'p'.
What was I supposed to do at a high school party? Get drunk? Smoke weeds? See a bunch of underaged teens fucking their life up? There were so much more worth spending time than being stuck in non-productive things.
"I'm not into parties, sorry," I declined and shook my head in disagreement. She looked taken aback and raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
"Just fantastic," she sarcastically said. She clasped her hands together and pursed her lips before speaking, "You're probably missing out. Anyway, I'll leave you guys be."
She walked away towards the counter, and we were left speechless. Nick didn't seem to like being around Kourtney. I guess something really bothered him and I couldn't exactly tell what she did that pushed his buttons. Not that I was being nosy, but he might be the reason why Kourtney was trying to talk to me. Weird.
I was finishing my food up and the awkward silence filled the gap between Nick and me. I sighed in frustration, rolling my eyes to him.
"She's nice, but why was she inviting us?" I asked, eyebrows furrowed.
"Because she's Kourtney. She invites everybody," he responded. He continued eating his meal while I just stared at him curiously.
"You know her that well?" I asked.
"Fine," he sighed. "She's just the typical queen b who loves playing around with people. Trust me, I know her more than anyone in this school."
~*~
I crouched behind the stack of crates and continued shooting at those armed men. The only audible sound in this scenario were gunshots firing in every area of the place. They were shooting beside me, as I dodged every bullet that hit the ground. I was breathing heavily, peeking through the crate that was blocking them from seeing me.My phone vibrated inside the pocket of my skirt, and I quickly pulled it out with my free hand."How's my niece doing?" William's voice on the other side of the phone seemed amused.I couldn't even fathom why he was trying to get me killed by checking on me while in the middle of a hide-n-seek with a bunch of armed men."What the fuck, William?" I said through gritted teeth in frustration, toning down my voice. "You just ordered me to steal some money to these infuriated dogs and nearly getting me killed, and you're asking me how am I doing?""Easy there, munc
Miguel was having a chat with the guy in the counter, while I was preventing myself to look at them. Finally, my clothes were done that took almost forever. After I pulled out my clothes, I quickly went to a secluded spot and changed my outfit.My uniform that was once stained with blood and dirt was now freshly cleaned up by that washer. Wasn't it just great? Now my only problem was how to get out of here without Miguel recognizing me in this fucked up state. Probably because I had a band-aid beside my right eye and a growing bruise on my cheek. I didn't want to face him in this state.Hesitating, I stepped my foot outside and left the shirt and jeans inside and tried to walk slowly towards the door. Unfortunately, my stupid knee suddenly hit a basket of an old woman, making her clothes scattered on the ground. Shit."Watch it, kid!" the old woman exclaimed, wobbling. She slowly stood up her seat and pic
I returned home after all the chaos that happened today. My body craved for a bath and rest, and the exhaustion slowly drained me, pysically and mentally. Could today get any worse? I whined to myself.I had just dealt with those armored men that were trying to kill me, a mysterious FBI agent who spared my life, and Miguel having a relationship with Amanda. Literally, everything was nothing but another burden to suffer.As I entered the house, I was greeted by Hansel who was sitting on the couch, his arms were spread wide open while he gave me a skeptical look. I stopped in my track and stared at him with my exhausted face."Why did you return home late, young lady?" he asked, his tone filled with domain.I rolled my eyes in annoyance and crossed my arms above my chest.Who gave him the right to question me? And what the hell was he trying to say? Not because we were living in the
"Kourtney is just trying to cling to the ladder of popularity by having a relationship with the captain of football team, Mason Walker," she gossiped, and I didn't feel the need to know it.First of all, it was none of my business and she shouldn't be wasting her babble talking to the wind. Actually, if this was something I needed to learn then the teachers would've told me."Mason?" I asked instead."Haven't you heard of Mason Walker? Blonde hair, blue-eyed guy with the face of a god and an athletic figure that every girl in Kingsley is dreaming for?" she explained as if it was too obvious and she was making me seem like an idiot. "Except me and my friends though," she added.Blonde hair. . . blue-eyed. . . a face of a god and an athletic figure? I might have seen him somewhere if I wasn't mistaken. Probably another Royal from their circle of friends.Or wait. . . Kingsley's full of t
I went to the company anyways and followed Hansel's demand. Though I wanted to rest for a day, there was nothing much I could do. Besides, I needed to learn more about the deal that would occur today.I was in front of the wide desk, fidgeting my foot under the table while I contemplate what to say. My mind was too focused on getting Hansel to decide to turn down Mayhem's offer. He would never believe me but I was still keeping my hopes up that he would.From my uneased mood, I went outside the office and headed to the washroom to get myself collected. My urge to tell Hansel what would happen later agitated me, and I might have a panic attack if I wouldn't bail this out.I started to breathe properly and try to think about the situation. If I told Hansel and he didn't believe me, he would gain suspicion and probably would kick me out of the house. And if he believed me-- which I highly doubt would happen-- then everything
Miguel was in the natatorium and I didn't have any idea how he knew I was here. But nevertheless, I appreciate his presence especially I wouldn't be attending English today because of the tryouts.His lips were pursed and he ran a hand at the back of his neck awkwardly. I shot him a curious stare but he just plastered an awkward smile."I'd like to invite you to a party this Friday. You know. . . just to celebrate the second semester," he sheepishly asked, giving me that angelic face that was too hard to resist. I was pretty sure it was the same party as Kourtney's but I already turned it down last time."Sorry Miguel. . . I can't," I declined and gave him an apologetic look. "I have other plans on Friday."It wasn't that I wanted them to persuade me to attend, but I just felt like being in a place packed with people made me uncomfortable and uneased. It was just too stressful for me. High school parties w
My brows were knitted together, hand rubbing my forehead, as I paced back and forth in front of my bed. My phone was attached to my ear as William spoke to the other side of the line. I was completely frustrated and agitated, at the same time, while I blurted things out to William. My mind couldn't comprehend the stupidity of Hansel. I was so worried that I could feel thin lines of wrinkles marking on my forehead. God Hansel's giving me a headache."William, what am I supposed to do?" I asked, problematically."You have to make an appearance during their meeting," he ordered."Then what am I supposed to say? The two hundred million dollars can't bring back Dad to us?" I frowned, plopping myself on the bed and not even knowing why I said that."Stop being dramatic, Lala. It's not about your father now, understand? We need to focus on the company first. I feel like Houstons were conspiring aga
Reminder: This is the flashback of the prologue to give y'all a background of what really happened after that.~*~Flashback"Lala, you don't have any idea why your mother kicked you out of your home," he said with a smirk, emphasizing the word your. "She's afraid to face the truth what power you have against them."Then he handed me a newspaper. The headline of the article was shocking. I crumpled it, like it was a piece of junk, and tossed it to William. He laughed at my sudden reaction, seemingly amused by my anger."I think that just meant we're back in business." He chuckled victoriously, smirk crept across his smug face.The news spread easily and I coul
The whole ride on the way back to the hotel was quiet. We immediately left Paola’s house after the conversation we had, and Miguel didn’t choose to persuade her more for he understood her situation. All that I could do at that moment was empathize with her for her loss and we did everything we could to not make her feel bad about not helping us. Miguel also had told her to go to their mother which Paola instantly declined since she felt hesitant to show up to him. Then we all bid her goodbye along with Xavier.
“I met up with our father yesterday,” Miguel said and it received a baffled reaction from Paola.Her eyes widened and she stiffened on her seat as she stared at Miguel.
The next day, Gwen, Miguel, and I left the hotel in the afternoon along with William’s men. We would be heading to the person Miguel was referring to yesterday and we would try to talk to him or her about Fernando. To be honest, I was full of anticipation and I was being optimistic about the outcome. I wouldn’t deny, I was still a little nervous.We were inside the car and Miguel was in the driver’s seat. Gwen was sitting at the back while I was on the shotgun.
No one knows where the golds are, only your father, I repeated Fernando’s words in my head. I was certain that I knew where my father hid them, and he entrusted those to me that’s why I became the new keeper. Why did he come up to that conclusion? Did the Houstons know that I hid the golds?“You know that my father’s dead, right?” I said, my tone was laced with resentment. “And the treasure didn’t die along with him.”
Seeing Fernando sitting in front of me was probably one of the most unsettling feelings I’d ever had. I stared at him in awe, trying to hide the anxiousness I suddenly felt at the sight of him. He plastered a stoic face, and only two guards were standing on both sides of Fernando. I was right, he looked just like an Italian mafia boss in his early thirties. But I knew he was older than that, he just appeared younger because there weren’t any apparent wrinkles that formed on his face. I knew where Miguel had inherited his features, and I could already visualize how he would look like when he got old.
I was seated in front of these men who were gawking at me as if I was prey they needed to devour. There were five of them, and Fernando sat in the middle, contemplating. Beside Fernando was Dmitri, smiling mischievously like he was planning something sketchy. They’d locked William up in a chamber, and I was left alone because we got caught. We failed to conceal the secret between Arthur and William, and we were about to escape Mexico when we got caught by Fernando.
We got out of the car and moved closer to the house that looked just like a freaking castle. It was an old-style house, a bit outdated if you would ask me. But it was gorgeous, dark, and foreboding. It was the house you would expect a beast would live in. The house was surrounded by trees that there were dried leaves that scattered all over their unkempt lawn. The grass had grown tall, maybe because no one was staying here and no one looked out for their house. The hedges that ran along the front of their house also looked dehydrated, and they weren’t the luminescent green color we’d always had at our home. This looked more like a haunted mansion that no one would ever dare to stay here for long.
I was in a deep slumber for the entire ride that I hadn’t realized that we’d landed already. Though I’d already slept, it seemed like I had just blinked my eyes and now we were here. It was quick, about an hour or two rides that I honestly didn’t expect. Gwen had woken me up when we arrived and we quickly got off the plane. William’s men, who I barely communicate with, held our luggage. When I roamed my eyes around the place, we were taken to another hangar which wasn’t expected.
I was in a deep slumber for the entire ride that I hadn’t realized that we’d landed already. Though I’d already slept, it seemed like I had just blinked my eyes and now we were here. It was quick, about an hour or two rides that I honestly didn’t expect. Gwen had woken me up when we arrived and we quickly got off the plane. William’s men, who I barely communicate with, held our luggage. When I roamed my eyes around the place, we were taken to another hangar which wasn’t expected.