Chapter 29

On the next morning, Tian and Taria woke up to her alarm, both shirtless and hugging each other. Tian muted the phone, while Taria closed her eyes again. He stretched his body, then he went to the bathroom and took a shower, leaving her sleeping peacefully as he knew her body would be hurting by now. He walked towards the bed again after he got out of the bathroom, and he leaned towards her, but after a single drop of water fell down from his hair and touched her face, she rose up with her eyes wide open shouting "SCHOOL"

"Good morning, honey", Tian said while he was hugging her from behind

"Good.. morning, Tian", Taria said while she was grabbing the blanket, yet Tian flipped her in bed, and kissed her neck softly.

"Tian… stop.. we need to go", Taria said, but Tian gave her a sharp look and said "call me as you did last night, or I won't let you go anywhere"

"Tian we…", Taria said, trying to hide her eyes, but Tian kissed her lips this time

"Call me Tai", Tian said with a deep voice

"Ta.. Tai", Taria said avoiding his eyes, then he smiled and kissed her lips again gently.

"Take a shower first, I will go buy us something to eat", Tian said while he was heading out of the room

"We don't have time for that", Taria said

"Should we stay home today then? How will you go out when your body is filled with bruises in the first place?" Tian said, smirking and pointing at her neck that was filled with bite marks

"Don't say it like you are better than me, your back is filled with scratches", Taria said, then she blushed as she got a flashback from last night. Tian smiled gently, then he got out, leaving Taria to deal with her burning feelings.

When Tian came back, Taria was getting out of the bathroom after taking a shower that made her skin brighter and her cheeks rosier. He stared at her for a while, looking at her hair that lost some of its waves as it was wet, then he put the food he bought on the table and asked her to come eat with him, trying hard to take everything slowly to not burden her. After a peaceful breakfast, Tian and Taria went to school after deciding to keep their relationship a secret from everyone.

"Stop here, I can walk the remaining distance", Taria said

"Why? I can take my childhood friend to school, can't I?" Tian said

"We already went through this, Tai", Taria said with cold eyes

"Ugh, I can't say no when you give me that look", Tian said, then he leaned towards her, and kissed her lips softly. She wanted to scold him, but her face that turned red wasn't helping her, so she got out of the car and walked to school.

At the lunch break, Taria was sitting with Mia at the rooftop as they usually do, talking about the days Taria spent with Tian, and about Mia's failed date.

"Sorry to hear that. He would regret it for sure", Taria said

"Nah, I'm too good for him", Mia said carefree, then she looked back at Taria and said "you made up with him, didn't you?", making her spit out the juice she was drinking

"Cough cough, what are you talking about?" Taria said

"You kept smiling like a fool all day, and you space out a lot. When you space out, you would seem broken and hurt, but this time you are smiling, other than that, Tian asked me about you yesterday after you went back home", Mia said with a boasting look in her eyes

"How can a smart person like you fail in two subjects? Yeah, we.. made up last night, but I'm not going to give you any further information", Taria said, and thankfully, the bell rang, saving Taria from submitting to her friend's verification.

When Taria and Mia got back to the class, everyone was gathering around their desk. Taria tried to pass through the crowded people, and when she saw what was on their desk, she tried to keep Mia away, but she was already looking at it.

The desk was covered in red color, and Mia's name was in the middle of it with her photo kissing the teacher. Taria didn't know what she should do, so she pulled Mia out of the class quickly.

"Taria, stop", Mia said

"Sorry, Mia, I'm really sorry", Taria said while hugging her

"Pffft why are you sorry. It's just a photo and some litters", Mia said, but Taria was already crying

"Hey come on, it's ok, don't cry or I would start crying too, you know I can't take seeing your tears", Mia said

"sniff, you are so strong, I wish I was strong like you", Taria said while her eyes were red

"Don't worry, I will keep you safe as the strong friend", Mia said.

Taria knew that Mia was lying, so she started investigating what happened, but no one has seen anything suspicious. There was only one way left to discover what happened: sneaking into the teachers room and looking at the camera records. She went back to school after everyone else left, wearing a mask and a cap just like a thief, then she went straight to the teachers room. She looked around the place with a flashlight in her hand, then she opened the door slowly and shakingly.

Looking around the place to find the record of the lunch break, with the sound of her heartbeats filling the silent place. Searching, searching, and searching, but the record was nowhere to be seen, and suddenly, the room lights turned on.

When Taria raised her head, her eyes met the teacher's who was standing beside the door, and she knew right away that she got into a huge trouble. The teacher didn't give Taria a chance to explain herself, and he kept yelling and yelling with words that she couldn't understand as her mind was full of thoughts.

"Stealing the exams are an unforgivable thing", the teacher said

"No, teacher, I..", Taria said

"I will make sure that a troublemaker like you would get expelled from our school. That's what a parentless child will become for sure. I don't really know why the principal agreed on letting you in", the teacher said, not leaving a way for her to say a word.

Taria felt her tears were about to fall down, not knowing what she should do. If the school expelled her now, she would be in huge trouble as she can't enter any other school until next year, which means she would repeat the grade again, and, of course, she can't afford to do that. A steps sound walking was the only thing that took her out of her thoughts, keeping her tears locked inside