Chased

_Jace Dreice Scott's Point of View_

I woke up early so I took a bath and prepared myself earlier than usual.

I remembered that this is our last day visiting the Frostwood Academy, which I found out belongs to Lavalee's brother, Mr. Frost Hanazono.

And that fact made me wonder.

If her brother has that prestigious school then why did she choose to study at a dangerous school like Red Fire Academy?

I did a little research on the school we're currently attending and it turns out that most of the students of Red Fire Academy have a tainted record, for example, some of them were ex-convicts from rich families.

It's not the type of school that has a good reputation.

I went out and heard a noise in the kitchen making me shake my head.

Here she is at it again. I went inside and I saw Lavalee struggling with cutting a frozen chicken.

"Here," I said and took the chicken. I took it and placed it in a clean bowl

I poured hot water from the kettle to make it warm and to remove it from being frozen. I saw Lavalee looking at me so I raised my brow at her.

"Is that how it should be done?" She asked and I nodded.

After a few minutes, I poured the water into the sink and placed the chicken on the cutting board.

I watched her as she held the knife. She was able to slice it neatly and evenly.

"What are you cooking?" I asked her

"I – I'm trying to cook…" her voice faltered and I looked at the phone on the table and that's when I saw what she's trying to cook.

"Chicken cordon bleu?" I asked her and she nodded

Something seems off with her today. I held her shoulder and she looked shocked.

"What's wrong?" I asked her and she shook her head harshly

"I'll help, I just need to follow this right?" I said and showed her the note on her phone

"Okay." She said and continued cutting the ingredients.

I cut the vegetables on another chopping board because Lavalee told me that if I chop those where she chopped the chicken there will be cross-contamination.

She washed the chopping board she used earlier as I chop the vegetables.

After that, I placed it on a plate and she strictly said that it should be grouped according to which goes first and which goes last. I had no choice but to follow her.

"What temperature?" I asked her

"Medium to low heat." She replied so I held her hand and opened the stove with it.

I saw how she got a little startled when she saw the fire.

"This is medium heat," I said and showed her the difference.

She nodded and we continued cooking.

"I'll just wake them up." She said and took her phone after we finished cooking.

We're just waiting for it to cool down a bit before transferring it to the serving bowl.

"She cooked?" Chelsea asked when she arrived so I nodded

"Chicken Cordon Bleu?" she asked and I can see that she can't believe it

"Anything wrong?" I asked and she looked at me with narrow eyes

"You helped her. Didn't you?" She said with narrow eyes

"So?" I asked her and she sighed before smiling

"Thank you. You may not know why but still thank you." She said and left to go to the back door.

She's acting weird, actually, even Lavalee is acting weird because if she's astonished by fire then how come she's afraid of cooking and doing things in the kitchen?

"Jace? What are you doing here?" Irene asked when she entered the doorway.

I continued transferring the food to the serving plate and that's when Lavalee entered.

"I forgot," she said and helped me ready the table

"You cooked?" I heard Jess ask Lavalee

Why does it seem to be a big deal to them?

It's unlikely that they didn't know Lavalee can cook based on their closeness and tightly knitted friendship.

"Thank you," Jess said when she passed by.

Why are they thanking me?

My comrades are already up too when I went out, they helped me prepare the table.

I dialed my Mother's number because she might be worried and would sulk at me because I didn't contact her for long.

[Goodness! At last, you called! How are you?] she greeted me and I clicked my tongue at her greeting

"I'm fine," I replied

[So? How are you doing in your new assignment?] she asked and I glanced at the dining room where I can hear their chatters.

"Fine. It's not that hard." I replied

[How about the Hanazono Heiress? What do you think of her? I heard that she's beautiful. Is she kind?] my forehead knotted when mom bombarded me with questions

"She changed my point of view. I was wrong, you were right." I answered

[Is she beautiful? I do think she's kind,] she said

"Yeah, but there's something," I said and I saw Lavalee going out of the dining room

Her eyes are looking at me curiously, I pointed at my phone and she nodded

[Something? What something?] Mom asked

"Contradictions with what I know and what I see," I confessed

[Of course, there will be differences. Anyway, do you have updates on the owner of the necklace you found, did you find them?] She asked and that reminds me.

I have no clue apart from the fact that there's a possibility that it's connected to the underground, an illegal string of organizations that we, the Police, can't shut down.

"None, I still have no lead," I answered

[Ah, I hope you find them because that necklace may be important to whoever owns it.] Mom said

"Don't worry, I won't give up," I assured her

[All right, bye, I love you.] Mom said

"I love you too," I replied and hung up

When I faced the dining hall, I saw Lavalee walking toward there. I went in and ate too.

"It's delicious, who cooked it?" Caspian complimented while we were eating and I saw how Lavalee's head bowed slightly

"Lavalee," she looked at me her eyes asking why I called her I cleared my throat

"Lavalee cooked," I clarified and we continued eating

"Do you know how to cook?" Elijah asked the girls

"Of course, Mom taught us when we're kids. " Jess said and I saw how her eyes widened when she looked at Lavalee

"Sorry," she apologized

"It's fine," Lavalee said and we continued eating

"Anyway, will we be visiting the FA until today? " Irene asked

"No, we'll be going back to classes today," Lavalee answered

"Did you enjoy it?" she asked them

"Of course," my comrades replied

"Wait until you experience RFA's definition of fun," Irene said and shook her head

"Frostwood Academy is beautiful and you have many acquaintances there. Why didn't you study there?" Ethan asked the question I'm curious of

"Because Lavalee chose to study at RFA," Chelsea replied

After eating, Irene volunteered to do the dishes, while we prepare to go to school.

After brushing my teeth I saw that Lavalee was already in the car so I drove to school, while we were on our way, I noticed that a group of vehicles are following us so I changed my direction.

"What? Where are we going?" Lavalee asked and sat properly

"We're being chased," I answered her

I kept on glancing at her because she became uneasy when I said that.

She kept on mumbling something about revenge, danger, and issues.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm here," I assured her and removed one of my hands from the steering wheel to hold her hand.

She looked so confused so I smiled at her, she looked confused so I returned my gaze to the road ahead and removed my smile.

"Turn right." She said so I turned right and she continued giving me instructions while dialing someone on her phone