chapter 10

Third POV

"Liza, what are you doing here?"

Kova raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms as he observed the way Liza hesitated. Her cheeks turned slightly red, and she looked anywhere but at Vanessa.

'Stalking you, maybe,' Kova thought, suppressing a smirk.

"Yeah, Liza," Kova chimed in, feigning innocence. "What are you doing here?"

Liza's eyes darted between them before she stammered, "W-what do you mean? It's a Harry Potter show, of course, I came for that."

Vanessa narrowed her eyes. "You came just for the show?"

Liza gulped. "Y-yeah. I mean… why else would I be here?"

"You should've told me," Vanessa said. "You could have come with us instead."

"Y-yeah, I mean—"

Kova exhaled loudly, unable to hold back anymore. "She was stalking you, Nessa," he blurted.

"WHAT?"

Liza's eyes widened in pure panic. "No, no, I wasn't—!"

"Wait, she was stalking her?" Aden asked, pointing at Vanessa with a perplexed expression.

Vanessa, rather than getting offended, grinned in amusement. "Damn, you were stalking me?"

Aden scoffed, shaking his head. "Wow. That's really a choice."

Vanessa turned to him. "Was that sarcasm?"

"No, I'm just judging the type of person she chooses to stalk," Aden deadpanned.

"Wait, so you're judging me?"

Aden shrugged. "Ugh, my standards aren't that low."

"Oh my God."

Kova was shaking—literally shaking—with laughter. "Oh God, I can't breathe," he wheezed.

"HEY! I'm your best friend! You shouldn't be laughing!" Vanessa huffed.

Kova wiped a tear from his eye, still struggling to contain himself. "Damn, that was brutal."

"Hehe," Aden smirked smugly.

"Shut up with your 'hehe,' blind rat."

"You again called me—"

"THERE HE IS!"

Aden froze. His entire body stiffened as he spotted two tall, broad-shouldered men in black suits marching toward them with purpose.

"Shit."

Vanessa followed his gaze, eyes widening as the men got closer. "Who are they?"

Aden didn't answer. He just ran.

"Aden?" one of the men called after him. "Stop running!"

"Aden, what the—" Kova turned to Vanessa. She blinked once before nodding.

Without another word, both of them bolted after Aden.

"RUN, LIZA!" Vanessa grabbed Liza's wrist and pulled her along.

Alleyway Escape

Aden sprinted through the narrow alleyways, his breath coming out in heavy gasps. His legs burned, but stopping wasn't an option.

He finally slowed down near a dimly lit shop, resting his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

"What now?" he thought, listening for footsteps behind him.

But instead of his pursuers…

"What the hell are you doing?"

Aden snapped his head up and nearly choked on his own breath.

Vanessa was standing in front of him, also panting heavily. Behind her, Kova and Liza staggered in, both looking like they had just run a marathon.

"What are they doing here?"

"Why are you here?" Aden asked, incredulous.

"You're an alien, aren't you?" Vanessa accused, still catching her breath.

"What?"

"And those guys in black—they're from the Men in Black, right? You ran because they're after you!"

"What—NO! I'm human!"

"That's exactly what an alien would say," Kova muttered, eyeing him suspiciously.

Aden groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "Why the hell did you all run with me?"

Vanessa crossed her arms. "Because what if you murdered someone? If those guys are cops, they'd question us too!"

"Exactly," Kova agreed, nodding sagely.

"Oh my God." Aden pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Wait," Vanessa gasped, as if a light bulb had gone off in her head. "That's why you have such an expensive car! Damn, I knew it. You stole that car from the person you murdered!"

She dramatically clung to Kova. "We were standing next to a criminal all along!"

Kova patted her shoulder. "Tragic."

Aden stared at them, deadpan. "I did not steal a car! And I did not kill anyone!"

"Then why are you running?" Liza asked.

"Because—" Aden hesitated before muttering, "They're my bodyguards."

Silence.

"...Wait. What?" Kova blinked.

"Then why did you run?" Vanessa questioned.

Aden sighed. "Because I don't want to go home with them."

"Damn," Kova whispered. "Are you secretly a prince or something?"

"Not just—" Aden started but was cut off by a loud growl.

Vanessa clutched her stomach dramatically. "Damn, I'm starving!"

"Thank you for the reminder—me too," Liza groaned.

Vanessa turned to Aden with a dazzling smile. "Come on, Aden, buy us food!"

Aden narrowed his eyes. "Why should I?"

Vanessa beamed. "Because we ran with you!"

"I didn't ask you to!"

"Think of it as a welcome party for our new friend!"

"But—"

"Gotcha!"

Out of nowhere, one of the suited men grabbed Aden's arm.

"Shit!" Aden struggled in his grip.

"Leave him!" Vanessa shouted, lunging forward—only to be pushed back against the shop wall by the other bodyguard.

"Nessa!" Kova yelled, but before he could do anything, the second man restrained him as well.

"Hey!" Aden shouted. "Max, let me go!"

The taller of the two bodyguards—Max—sighed. "I will, but only if you promise to come home with us."

Aden groaned. "I don't want to."

"Hey, you big guy!" Vanessa shouted. "If he doesn't want to go, he won't! He's not a kid!"

Max sighed. "First of all, let them go."

At his command, the other bodyguard released Kova and Liza.

"Ade," Max said, rubbing his temples. "Don't make this difficult."

Aden exhaled. "Fine. I'll go."

Max nodded.

Aden turned to his new… friends. "I gotta go. Sorry about all this."

"Are you gonna be okay?" Kova asked.

Aden nodded, then met Vanessa's gaze.

"Hey, you, Max guy!" Vanessa called.

Max turned. "Yes?"

"Will you bring him to hang out with us again?"

Max raised an eyebrow. "And you are?"

"His friends," Vanessa said confidently.

Max looked at Aden. "Are they?"

Aden exhaled. "...Yeah, they are. Well, I don't know about her." He pointed at Vanessa.

"HEY!"

Kova patted Aden's shoulder. "Glad to have you, man. Don't worry, I'll train you to tolerate Vanessa."

Aden smirked. "I'm gonna need it."

Vanessa gasped. "EXCUSE ME?"

Aden just grinned.

... ....

HEy there reader, well first of all are you doing?

and second here the chapter another chapter for 18 to 80.

I hope you like it.

thank you for sticking around.

have a good day.