Author's point of view... For a long time, Thea hadn’t gone on outings with her classmates, not since an unlucky incident that happened when she was still in junior high. Diana and Nick had worried about their daughter’s social life, not knowing if she was avoiding invitations or simply wasn’t invited. Seeing her go on this trip filled Diana with relief. She almost couldn't contain her excitement. Thea was taken aback by her mom's enthusiasm. She chuckled. "No Mom, it's all set. I won't need anything else. A friend of mine has taken care of all the preparations." "That’s so kind of them!" Diana's ears perked up and she slightly blinked, asking further, "Is it a boy or a girl? What’s your friend’s name?" Diana asked with a playful curiosity that only mothers seem to have. Thea casually walked into her room and removed the towel wrapped on her head and started drying her hair. She replied casually, "It’s a group of us going together. There are many top students in m
Author's point of view... "What the hell...!!" Kevin almost jolted from the place where he was standing and started rubbing his eyes. Aaron was annoyed. Kevin was an expert in creating a drama. "Is that really her or my eyes are playing games with me...?" Kevin mumbled in disbelief. Aaron rolled his eyes, he was sitting opposite Kevin and couldn't see what he was gawking at, but the way Kevin behaved, Aaron was sure he was exaggerating about something useless. "Will you stop this," Aaron groaned. "I am not seeing things, am I?" Kevin ignored Aaron's words. Aaron's mouth twitched. "Did you see a ghost, Kevin?" he mocked irritatingly. "No...but it's more unbelievable than seeing a ghost. Look at her..." Kevin replied, pointing at someone behind Aaron, still in shock, but Aaron had no intention on getting into his crab. He sighed, shaking his head. "A girl, right?...Are you serious, Kevin?" Aaron smacked and Kevin immediately added, "Just look at her and I am sure y
Author's point of view... They drove in silence for sometime and soon Mark, dozed off, his head soon resting on Kevin’s shoulder and on top of him lay the trouble maker's head. Finally...! Thea felt her ears were in peace. When the car was finally peaceful, Aaron turned to Thea. He had been glancing at her sneakily, his hand travelled through his hair. He wanted to talk to her but didn't know what to say. Clearing his throat, he asked, “Have you been camping before?” In his mind he sighed. What kind of idiotic question did he ask...! How could a simple girl like her go camping?? Thea was staring out of the window, looking at how beautiful this world was. She turned around and thought for a while before replying. Aaron was sure about the answer. She wouldn't have been to the places like these. It must be her first time. “Not more often but sometimes, I do,” she said with a hint of nostalgia, her mind roaming back to her memories. Aaron was shocked. Did she?? “I’ve
Author's point of view... “Don’t fall too far behind, okay? And if you need help, just call us... We will be slow to keep up with you...” Aaron said while wearing his own backpack. Thea was amused at how much Aaron underestimated her but played along. Is that because she was a girl?? she scoffed internally. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep up.” She didn't want to show off but it didn't mean she wasn't offended. Soon the school buses arrived at the first camping spot after them. Though the same mountain, there were several routes to hike. Aaron had planned a special way to go up, different from the other usual one that the school authorities had planned to take. The group began their hike. Kevin, full of energy, kept darting around and calling out, causing Thea to stifle a frustrated laugh. He had been picking up small pebbles and throwing them at Thea and Mark. He was getting on her nerves. Heaving a sigh, she stopped. She wanted to play with him. “Stop yelling, Kevin!” she
Author's point of view... "Help!" Several cries for help came from the forest, that sounded like women. What the hell...! Who is that? Could it be some animal chasing after the other students? Everyone thought except for Thea, who was busy arguing with Mike. "Did you just say cat? Then why are people shouting out there?" "You'll get to know soon"Mike replied casually. Thea rolled her eyes in irritation. He never gives a reliable explanation. But if that was a wild animal as what she thought, this would be dangerous. Thea stepped forward, ready to attack whatever was coming but Aaron rushed to her and stood right before her as if shielding her from any danger coming their way. "You all stay here, I'll go check it..." Aaron stood ahead and was about to go take a look. "Help..." "Help...!" someone cried again. Kevin immediately grabbed a stick from the ground. "Who's calling for help?" Mark tensed up as well, looking around with wide eyes. "I don't have an
Author's point of view...! "You are really something." Thea scoffed, "You actually mistook a plastic bag for a giant beast or cat or whatever?? Lily, are you so bored or really that scared, or were you just looking for an excuse to jump into Aaron's arms?" Thea taunted. Lily’s cheeks turned bright red, and she glared at Thea furiously. "What are you implying, Thea?" Thea casually threw that plastic cover aside and brushed her hands. She didn't say anything else but that look on her face gave it all. "Exactly what I said," Thea responded calmly, meeting Lily's angry gaze without flinching. Kevin started giggling. Lily’s embarrassment deepened, and she quickly tried to defend herself. "So what if I thought it was something dangerous? It was dark inside those bushes and I was genuinely frightened. Who wouldn’t be scared of a wild animal?" She threw a glance at Kevin, who was equally rattled earlier. "Didn't you see that. Kevin was scared too," she added with a smirk.
Author's point of view... Thea stood up and strolled towards the nearby stream, seemingly bored but her eyes widened as she looked down on the wet ground nearby."Oh my..." She had noticed something alarming, a set of fresh foot marks of the same beast that she saw earlier, near the water’s edge. Unlike the other one, this print was clear and fresh. It was clear that something was present in those woods and that animal was in the area, possibly even close to their planned route. She slightly bent over to take a better look. "It must be a Leopold or a Panther...! It's huge..." Thea mumbled while studying the print. "What are you looking at, Thea?" Kevin asked, coming over with his plate, still in his hands. She jolted awkwardly and frowned. "Can't you be normal just for once...!" she smacked. Kevin grinned. He couldn't...!! "Are you looking for fish? There's probably no fish in this stream, right?" he said peeking into the stream, oblivious to what Thea was truly o
Author's point of view... Lily gave her friend a look, and her friend immediately understood. Serra made a gesture with her thumb, then took the bag off another girl and walked up to Thea. She didn't need anything, Thea is always easy to bully, anyway. "Hi, I'm Serra," Serra said forging a fake smile. Thea, who was walking in the lead, turned around and looked at her from top to bottom, scrutinizing. "What do you want? Do we know each other?" Thea asked nonchalantly. Serra's smile faltered momentarily, but she kept her act going. "Yes, of course. I know you. Don't you remember me? We're all classmates, after all. We played together a month ago." Serra's eyes flickered as she collected the memory; even a playful smile tugged on her lips. "We had quite the fun back then," she mused. Thea narrowed her eyes as the flashes of her past entered her brain. During one of the sports periods, these Class A girls had forced Thea to crouch before them and howl like a dog. Ever
Author's point of view... After that meal, Cinthia never dared to mess with Thea. She even apologized to Thea privately after getting back to their school. The days in the future were simple and happy as there were no bullies in the school. Even the senior students respected Thea for both her grades and bravery. The days passed away in a blink of an eye and it was already the end of the year. Both the girls visited Thea's parents every weekend but Nick and Diana never talked about ranking before them. They knew their daughter wasn't good in studies and so they avoided the topic, not to embarass her. After the annual exams, the principal of the school invited Thea's parents to school for a meeting. Nick and Diana were so nervous when they were called. They thought that their daughter might have failed in exams. However, when they reached the school, they were stunned to see Thea's name on top of the ranking list. Unable to believe what they were seeing, they went to the princ
Author's point of view... Thea's plate was filled up instantly with two different flavours of pizza slices at a time. Both the boys sitting next to her stared at each other. Kevin was stunned for a moment but soon burst into laughter. "Looks like, Aaron wants to make you fat again, Thea, so that you won't be able to concentrate on your studies..." he said gleefully. Thea shrugged her shoulders and picked up one of the slices to eat. Aaron, however hesitatingly looked away. Everyone laughed at the joke but Cinthia felt a pang of jealousy settling in her heart. Was this just her illusion or did she noticed something between Aaron and Thea? Britney was still looking at Cinthia as if admiring a piece of art. "Cinthia, you look so good from closer. Your skin is soft and flawless just like..." Britney wanted to say Thea's name but Thea smacked her shoe beneath the table. It felt awkward being compared. Britney understood her boss's warning and stopped wisely. Cinthia smi
Author's point of view... "Class B?" Cinthia asked puzzled. She was sure that bright and handsome boys like them would never have anything to do with Class B. "Yes, it's one of our closest friends. I will introduce you to her later..." Mark said smiling as he booked a cab for them. Her...! Cinthia's mind raced. Is he talking about some girl? She had noticed that no girl from their class dared to step near these princes, so where did this girl come from? Cinthia hadn’t expected other girls to join, but it made sense—these three attractive guys naturally attracted attention. She just didn’t know who this lucky girl was and whether she was someone’s girlfriend. She just hoped that she wasn't attached to Aaron in any way. Masking her uneasiness under a sheepish smile, she nodded gracefully. "Okay, then. We’ll go reserve a table...!" she looked at Aaron again, who hadn't even bothered to grace her with his glance, and said, "Be quick, guys...we will be waiting. If you are late,
Author's point of view... Sitting in the class, Thea noticed that Amelia was behaving so weird. She had been glancing back at Thea all this while as if she was feeling uneasy about Thea's presence. Though Thea wanted to ignore her, her instinct didn't let her. Once Mr. Yates left the class briefly, Thea asked Britney to go ask if Amelia was in some kind of trouble. Britney snorted. She didn't want to go talk to an ungrateful brat like Amelia. But she had no choice when it comes to Thea's orders. Britney stood up reluctantly to go but before she could even take one step, Amelia turned around and hurried towards them. Thea raised her eyebrows as she saw her approaching. There was indeed something that was bothering her. Thea thought. Amelia walked over and stood right next to Thea desk, hesitation evident in her eyes. Before Thea could ask, Britney stood between them, protectively. She clearly thought that Amelia was here to cause trouble. "What is it now?" Amelia was
Author's point of view... As they were driving back home, Thea remembered an incident from their childhood, in which Cinthia wanted a doll from Thea's toys so badly. That memory had a mark on Thea's mind as that doll was the only expensive thing in Thea's toys collection and also it was the last gift for her birthday from her grandma and so Thea clearly refused to give it to Cinthia at that time. They were just kids, like five to six years old but still, Cinthia was so cruel. As Thea refused to give it to her, Cinthia secretly destroyed the doll and pushed Thea down the stairs, making her fall badly. Thea fell directly on her face which hurt her mouth. Her lower lip was torn so badly and was needed some stiches to recover. She also lost two of her teeth at that time. It was all a mess with blood and pain. Thea was clearly a victim at that time but before Thea could say anything about her to her parents, Cinthia played the victim. She started crying so hard as if it wasn't
Author's point of view... “What is it, Dad?” Thea saw how serious he was. It seemed important. “Here’s the thing." Nick began after glancing at his wife, "I have a friend. His name’s Donald Rogers, but you knew him as Uncle Don. Do you remember him?” Thea quickly searched her memories for anything related. There was indeed an Uncle Don. But other than some blurred flashes, she couldn't remember anything. “Okay, what’s wrong?” “Here’s the thing. Don and I grew up together and were very good friends. When we grew up, Don went to New York City to develop his business. We aren’t as close as we once were, but we still keep in touch. Last year, he had some problems with his business. I’m not sure about the specifics.” Thea shifted in her seat as she noticed Nick was a bit hesitant. “According to Don, he offended some people he shouldn’t have. Don’s daughter, Cinthia, is the same age as you, also a freshman. Don wants to send her to Virginia and have her stay here for some time
Author's point of view... The week passed away in just blink of an eye, peacefully. After watching the videos of Lily and her friends entering the dorm room with buckets of cold water and also them bullying other kids, everyone understood that Thea was never wrong. They apologised to Thea and in no time, Thea became so popular in the school. On Saturday evening, Aaron insisted on taking Thea home but Mike denied grumpily. "If you dare go with that boy, I will post some really nasty videos of yours in the school builtin website" Thea rolled her eyes, frustrated. What's wrong with this guy? Mike started acting as a possessive husband all of a sudden which infuriated Thea. "Are you blackmailing me or something?" "Try me..." Mike replied nonchalantly. Thea wanted to kick his ass right then and there but decided against it. She knows very well of how capable the man was. She reluctantly declined Aaron's help, telling him that she had someone else to drop her. Though Aa
Author's point of view... "Ray...you lost your mind..." Lily shouted at her brother but Ray ignored her and glanced one last time at Thea before forcefully dragging Lily out of the cafeteria. Everyone was so confused. Britney couldn't take it any longer. She poked Thea and asked urgently. "Boss...what did you ask Mr. Charles for? Lily was so angry just now. She didn't come to apologize! Is there something else?" Thea laughed out louder. She snapped Britney's forehead as she said, "You are always so curious, aren't you?" Britney grinned sheepishly. "Hey, but this time, I am curious too," Mark interjected. "What was that all about?" he asked seriously, "I know Ray and he is definitely not a man to give in that easily! What did you do to him?" Thea smiled and took out her phone. "Check this out!" Everyone gathered around her and peeked at the phone screen. Thea played a video in which Lily and her minions were entering a room with buckets filled with water.
Author's point of view... Soon Ray Charles arrived at the school. He had already changed his outfit, now wearing a dark blue tailored suit, he looked elegant. He walked into the school directly. The police had already left and all the authoritative Directors of the school were assembled to settle down the things at the school. Ray Charles, being one of the trustees of the school, was welcomed respectfully. Though they didn't want to let him in, no one dared to stop him either. Lily received a message from her brother and a smile tugged on her face. Her foot was sore because of the earlier running and all that pain made her grit in frustration. Despite being in pain, she was beaming with joy. "You will pay for everything, bitch...!" she said and walked towards the corridor to meet her brother. Thea and all her friends sat in the cafeteria after the class. Aaron couldn't help but admire Thea's intelligence. He asked her to explain each and every problem in the math paper