Author's point of view... "Hello ma'am, Will you pay by card or cash?" the employee following the host stood in forward. Thea didn't know what she should do. Ray immediately stood up and gestured his manager to step forward. He took the card from him and extended it to the employee. The employee didn't take the card but was stunned for a moment, staring at someone behind. "I will pay for her" Thea felt someone hugging her from behind and was dumbfounded. She was sure that it was Ray who was trying to take advantage of her in this kind of situation until she heard that voice. "Dave..." she instantly opened her eyes and turned to look back at him. A surprised smile tugged on her flustered cheeks. "You are here!!" she exclaimed. She was genuinely terrified. It wasn't a situation that she could handle. This entire thing was like a wild ride on a roller coaster. "Sorry I am late..." he whispered into her ears with a smile while he handed over his black VIP card to the em
Author's point of view... "Yes, that's the same thing" Mike confirmed and Thea glared at the display. She clenched her fists on her dress. Despite the thin fabric of the dress, her nails dug into her palm. "That...!" she couldn't say anything more. The beautiful red crystal of the locket sparkled and Thea gritted in frustration and disbelief. She never once expected to see that thing in the human world. How could that be? The world seem to be swirling before her until the reality sank in. She slowly understood what exactly might have happened. "That bitch...!" she cursed someone in her mind. That red precious stone on the locket was a piece of her own core crystal, which she lost a long time ago. As Maria, she gave that to her only friend, Sabrina as a gift. A core crystal is as precious as someone's life in the monster land and she was clearly not allowed to give it to anyone. Giving it to someone means splitting their power to half and yet Maria gave her core cry
Author's point of view... At that moment, Ray wasn’t expecting to see the price rise so dramatically and so he was genuinely puzzled. His manager was even more flustered. "Sir, are you sure?" he asked Ray and Ray shot him a deadly glare. Backing down now will be like losing a battle. He will never do so. The host on the stage announced, "$240,000 once, $240,000 twice..." “Looks like this locket is going to fall back into Mr. Anderson’s hands.” everyone mumbled to each other. "Dave Anderson rarely attends these events. He’s not leaving empty-handed tonight.” “But it seems like even the young master of the Charles family is interested in that item. Look how pale he looks?” While the crowd whispered and speculated, Ray raised his hand confidently, "$400,000." The bid nearly doubled, and the audience gasped. The Charles family had always been known for their lavish spending, and tonight was no exception. Dave turned to Thea with a sly smile. He grasped a good show
Author's point of view... After the auction, everyone was escorted to the banquet hall on the third floor of the building. The evening went on with music, dance, and dinner. Though they both didn't want to dance, the circumstances demanded something else. As the greatest benefactor, the host insisted that Dave had to dance. He looked at Thea silently. Thea sighed as she watched the couples swirling across the grand ballroom. She shrugged her shoulders dismissively. "Don't look at me that way. I don't know how to dance. Besides, look at the heels I am wearing, your foot might get fractured if I were to step on you..." she giggled as she said those words. The music was enchanting, the ambiance elegant, and yet, all she wanted was to slip away unnoticed. She had zero interest in dancing, especially not with Dave, whose persistence was starting to test her patience. “You’re not getting out of this,” Dave had a solemn expression on his face as he said that, leaning down to her
Author's point of view... After the auction ended, Dave left with Thea. Just as they stepped out of the venue, a Bentley stopped right before them and the window scrolled down. Before they could see who it was, Ray popped his head out and said in a sophisticated tone with an dignified smile spread on his face. "Hi, Miss Rodgers, what a coincidence. We met again, so fast" Thea held back the urge to roll her eyes. Coincidence...! Is he tired of living? He is stalking her for sure. Dave however was burning with rage. He had been noticing how Ray Charles was so busy wooing his girlfriend. Oh, I mean, the only girl friend he had. "I happened to hear that officer Anderson had to go for some urgent business. How about I take you back to your place?" Thea raised her eyebrows, this man is very well informed. But before Thea could respond, Dave grabbed her hand and pulled across the Bentley. "No thanks, I am capable enough to take my woman home" Dave smacked and Thea felt goos
Author's point of view... Aaron and Mark reached the hospital and when they entered Kevin's room, they heard a blasting sound and almost jolted back. "Surprise...!" Kevin and his mother shouted joyfully. But soon as they saw it was just Aaron and Mark, their faces faltered momentarily. "Where is Thea?" Kevin asked disappointedly and walked over to check outside the door. His Mom was equally curious. "Did she not come today?" Nancy asked a bit disheartened. Aaron and Mark shared surprised glances before shrugging their shoulders and replied, still a bit confused. "She said she had something else to do and so she will visit him next time" All the excitement on Kevin's face fell. He slumped his shoulders as he walked back to his bed. "Why didn't she come?" he poured like a small disappointed kid, his Mom patted his back and tried to comfort him. Both Aaron and Mark stood there watching the drama. "What is going on?" Mark asked and slowly reached Kevin as both he an
Author's point of view... “When you were sent here for your quest, I was sent for one too and mine was a little bit different from you. As the dragon breed, my soul was split into two halves. One of the two parts was the little dragon you met and the other...” He paused and stared at her as if trying to figure out if he could say it or not. Thea frowned, curiosity overriding her shock. “What?? Split into two? What does that even mean? Where’s the other half?” Mike enjoyed her curiosity and a grin spread on his face. “It’s also on Earth,” Mike replied cryptically. “You’ll find out soon enough.” Thea’s frustration boiled over. Now she wasn't doubtful at all. No matter how he looked, his words remain the same, useless as ever. “Why are you being so cryptic?" she smacked back frustratingly, "And what’s with the mask? Are you hiding an ugly face under there?” Mike chuckled, his laughter low and deep. “Perhaps. Or maybe I’m protecting you from a sight you’re not ready for.”
Author's point of view... "Mr. Laurence, did you get that girl?" Thea was surprised to hear that familiar voice coming out of the principal's office. "Ray...!!" she muttered to herself. "Ray Charles?" He was sitting on the chair, leaning back so arrogantly with one of his legs crossed on the other. Mr. Laurence was a ln elderly middle aged man. Though he wasn't one of those prominent families in the city, he was respectable. "I thought this was a reputable School but it seems like you don't care about your reputation anymore" Ray continued and Mr. Laurence flinched uncomfortably. "Mr. Charles...that's...not the case..." he tried to explain but Ray cut him off, "You actually admit such outlaw students into your school and you are trying to explain it to me? You let me down, Mr. Laurence" Thea raised her eyebrows. Outlaw...! What are they trying to do? And what the hell is this all about? Mr. Laurence wiped the sweat on his forehead. Thea was trying to unders
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