SKY?

Tiana's POV

As I walked away from the new boy, my head filled with different thoughts, my phone rang again. I glanced at the phone screen. This was the third time he had called me, he wouldn't call again. I took a deep breath before answering the call.

"Hm", I said.

"Were you busy?", he asked.

"Yeah", I replied.

"I just wanted to ask how you are", he said.

"I'm fine, I'm better", I replied.

"Hm", he acknowledged and we went quiet.

"So are you coming back this break?", I asked him.

"I'm not sure. I have a few codes to run.... work", he said.

"Hm, ok", I responded.

"I won't be able to call you or answer your calls for a while", he continued.

"I have some work to do and I have to focus my energy, sorry"

"It's ok. Then....make sure not to overwork yourself", I told him.

"Sure", he replied and ended the call.

I sighed and walked back to the cafeteria.

I settled down on my spot from before with Grace's eyes following my every move.

"What was that about?", Steph asked.

"Oh, nothing serious. He just wanted to apologize for earlier in social studies class. He admits that he might have gone too far", I replied her.

"Oh? That's good then. It's good he at least knows how to apologize", Steph said and I nodded.

"And what he said about wanting to be friends?", Grace suddenly asked. I turned my attention to her.

"What did you say about that?", she asked.

"Nothing", I replied.

"Nothing?", she asked skeptically.

"Nothing", I reaffirmed.

"I don't understand", she said.

"What is there to understand? Isn't it obvious that I have no intention to be friends with someone like him?", I asked.

"Someone like him?", Grace reverberated.

"What exactly is your problem with him?", she asked.

"Why are you so cold toward him?"

"You mean aside from the fact that he called me a 'pretentious bitch', the very first day we me", I asked her in reply, sarcasm lacing my voice.

"Yes, aside from that. Even before that incident you showed absolutely no interest in him and don't forget you literally called him stuck up before you guys said your first words to each other", she defended.

"Yeah, and I wasn't exactly wrong, was I?"

"But still", she persisted.

"I don't know Grace. I don't think I need a very valid reason before I decide I don't want to hang out with someone. It's my decision to hang out with whoever I want to hang out with and I simply don't want to hang out with him", I stated.

"Hang out with who?", a familiar voice asked. I looked up and it was Sky walking towards us.

"No one of importance", I quickly replied.

"Where were you?", I asked him.

"Around. I had to take care of something", he replied.

"And where is Romeo?", I asked.

"He's finishing up an errand for me", he replied not looking at me. I found that suspicious.

Anthony joined us not too long after.

"Oh! Right, Tee, your dad's in the country, right?", Anthony asked me.

"Yes, he is", I replied.

"Good. My dad had plans to see him for some business related stuff, so I thought I'd ask you first to confirm", he explained. I nodded in response.

"Tee, are you aware about the event that would be happening this weekend?", Sky suddenly asked me.

"What event?", I asked.

"The Mitchelson's event", he responded.

The Mitchelson was one of the biggest and most powerful families in the country and a mutual partner of Sky's and I family businesses. I had attended an event organized by them once with my dad and had bumped into Sky.

"No, I'm afraid not", I replied.

"It's the old man's birthday so they are throwing a grand party to celebrate", Sky enlightened me.

The old man as he was usually called was the patriach of the Mitchelson family. He was known to be very strict with his children and even his grandchildren.

"And you are telling me about it because?", I asked him.

"I want you to be my escort", he said.

"Your escort?", I asked him, making sure I had heard him right.

"Yes", he nodded his head in affirmative.

"I don't know, Sky", I said.

"Why not?", he asked.

"I'm not sure my dad is attending this event and my mom certainly won't let me attend if my dad isn't attending either", I explained.

"Then you can persuade your dad", he said.

"I...don't know.....", I hesitated.

"Please?", he said.

"Alright, I'll try but I'm not promising you anything", I told him.

Lucas' POV

"Ugh", I grunted as my back hit the wall. I brushed my fingers along the corners of my mouth, I felt warm liquid. I brought my fingers up to my eyes and sure enough there was traces of blood.

I sighed as I gazed at the boy who had just hit me. He was staring at me, contempt in his eyes.

"You...just never listen, do you?", Romeo said as he punched me again.

I groaned and doubled over. The pain rocked through me but I struggled to stand upright.

"Well, with hits as lousy as the ones you've been throwing, it'd be hard for anyone to clearly make out whatever it is you are trying to say much less actually listen", I replied snarkily.

"Well, well, well, is that so?", he began.

"Looks like you still got the strength to talk shit, how about I change that for you? Huh?", he finished as he made to hit me again but this time I evaded the hit successfully and hit him instead.

He staggered backwards.

"Oh? So that's how you wanna play it?", he asked me after he regained his composure and almost immediately, the two other guys who were with him started advancing towards me.

I readied myself to take them when,

"Hey! What the hell is going on here?!", Rico's familiar voice resounded. The guys paused.

"Stay out of this, Rico, it's none of your business unless of course you want to join him?", Romeo warned him.

"Oh? It is my business", Rico said as he walked to my side.

"This guy here is my friend and a part of Ryder's crew so I suggest you back off"

Romeo paused and shifted glances between us.

"This guy? A part of Ryder's crew?", he asked as he stared long and hard at me.

"Wow new boy, I gotta hand it to you, you are good. You've been in this school for what? barely 2 weeks? And you already a part of Ryder's crew?", he commented as he looked me all over.

"Consider yourself lucky today, new boy. If I ever get wind of the fact that you went even as close as a meter to Tee, you won't be as lucky", he said before he walked away. I watched walk away before I turned to Rico.

"Thanks man"

"It's no problem. You see now why I said you don't want to mess with that Tee girl?", he asked. I didn't say anything in response and just stared into the open space.

My mind wandered, 'Looks like this was gonna be harder than I thought'

Tiana's POV

I walked down the stairs and said to mom, "Actually, Grace is picking me up this morning"

"Grace?", she said.

"Yes", I replied.

She didn't say anything for a while and she went about preparing for work. I sat on the couch and waited for Grace. I normally didn't have breakfast in the morning. Mom was against it because I'm kind of a plus size in stature. Personally, I didn't think my plumpness had anything to with what I ate. Dad naturally had a huge stature and mom wasn't exactly slim either. My mom's cousins were also plump. So it kind of ran in the blood, I guess. It was the reason I was bullied a lot in middle school but I never dared tell mom. She'd make it worse and tell me it was my fault, I was being bullied and call me a pig. And I always preferred she hitting me than her words. Her words hurt a lot more.

I sat down on the couch as I looked at the time. It was 7:01am now. I waited for Grace.

I actually have a car. Dad had gotten me a car when I turned 16. Illegitimate child or not, I was still an Almirez and it would be crazy for me not to have a car while all my friends were getting one. But mom had taken my keys from me recently as a form of punishment for getting a 'D' on two of my tests and she has given them back since. Technically, school wasn't that far away from my house, it would take about 20 minutes if I walked. But as an Almirez and Tiana of Presley High School, I didn't like the idea of walking to school. Fortunately Grace and Steph saved me from having to as they took turns in driving me to school and driving me home. They both lived in the same estate not too far away from mine so they didn't mind it.

My phone rang, I looked at it and saw the name 'Best Part❤🦋' displayed. It was Grace. I picked up my bag and said in a slightly loud voice,

"I'm off" and walked out the door.

I saw Grace's car parked in the driveway and I got into the passenger's seat.

"Hey", I greeted.

"Hey", she responded as she backed out of the driveway.

"Hungry?", she asked. I nodded. Normally I was used to not eating in the morning so I rarely felt the pangs of not eating breakfast, but I also hadn't had anything last night so I was understandably hungry.

"My mom packed some sandwiches for you", she said.

"They are in the shopping bag behind", she continued.

I reached for the bag in the back seat and took out the flask. I opened it and took out a sandwich. As I bit into eat a couple of rich flavors burst in my mouth. The sandwich had a lot of fillings and I moaned.

"Hmmm, so good. There a lot of fillings", I said to Grace.

"Of course", she replied

"My mom loves you", she finished and I smiled.

"Say thanks for me", I told her.

"Sure"

Grace and I had know each other since kindergarten. We took to each other quite easily because we had a lot of things in common. Just like mine, her dad had a lot of children from different mothers only difference was she wasn't a bastard child as her mom was legally married to her dad. Her dad was a polygamous man and her mom was the last wife. Also her mom's a lecturer, like mine. They often met a lot while doing work related stuff and she was the closest thing my mom could have to a friend. Grace had three older sisters from her mom. And they were also equally very beautiful. She was the last child and as such she was spoiled a lot. She comes off as prideful to a lot of people sometimes even to Steph. But I'm the only one who can actually tell that she isn't proud, she's just spoiled and mostly bossy. People often misread her as arrogant and proud. I remember there were times in middle school when she would ask me if she was really proud. She is actually a very sweet person. I often told her that she wasn't, she was bossy and her bossiness seemed like pride to other people.

And she had replied, "Would you tell me, when I start getting too bossy that it seems I'm proud, would you tell me so I can change?", she had asked that sincerely. Her behavior sometimes was a flaw. But the fact that I was the only one who understood her, and was completely honest with her endeared her to me even more. I had gone to her house multiple times and her mom welcomed me a lot. Since I was really intelligent and got outstanding grades, she would often ask me to look after Grace. Her mom really liked me and she saw me as one of her daughters as such she spoiled me a lot. It was same the same with my mom, which I found kinda weird. Mom is really fond of Grace. She likes her a lot, and she didn't mind having her over unlike with most of my other friends. I guess it was because Grace was the kind of daughter she wished she had; meticulous, polite, obedient. She often compared me to Grace and I hated it. I could never hate Grace though, no matter how much I tried. I saw her as a sister and we grew up as sisters. Sometimes people often wondered how we became so close, Grace and I are as different as sun and rain, as yin and yang, yet we were really close.

I took another bite into my sandwich when I remembered something.

"Oh right!", I exclaimed as I opened my bag and brought out two flasks.

"Pizza?", I asked her. She turned and glanced at the flask.

"Your dad bought?", she asked. I nodded.

"Thanks", she said. I put one flask in the shopping bag, I had taken out the sandwich from. I put the other flask in my bag, it was for Steph.

"So how was yesterday?", she asked.

"It was fine", I replied emotionlessly. She glanced at me, "Really?"

"Yeah", I responded and turned to face the window, signalling I didn't want to talk about it any longer. I heard her sigh but she didn't say anything. The rest of the ride was quiet.

Soon she pulled into the parking lot at school. We got down from the car. I texted Steph, to tell her we were already at school and she replied saying she was at her locker. I told Grace and we headed over to her. As we walked, someone running past bumped into me and I lost my balance. I closed my eyes, ready to make impact with the floor which never happened. I slowly opened my eyes and I saw a handsome face staring at me. The person staring at me had amazing features. His eyelashes were long and slightly curled, his brows were full, he had a chiseled face, his nose was sharp and his lips were plump and full and they looked really tempting. Then his eyes, he had large brown eyes and they stared at me. It was the eyes I had come to find unsettling recently.

"Are you ok?", he asked in a rich voice that sounded like melody to my ears. I was suddenly conscious of his hands that were on my waist and I could feel my heartbeat quickening.

'Wait! Why was my heartbeat quickening? What was I thinking about?' I shook the thoughts out of my head and I quickly removed myself from his embrace.

"Oh my God. Are you ok?", Grace asked me worriedly.

"I'm fine", I responded as I glanced at the boy who had just caught me. He stood there staring at me with a slight smile hanging on his face.

"Woah! Tee that was a close one", I heard a voice say.

I looked up to see Ryder and his gang walking towards us. They walked to where we were and Ryder threw his hands over his shoulders. I looked at them curiously. 'The new boy already just got here and he was already chummy with Ryder and his gang?', I thought to myself. Naturally, I knew who Ryder was. If Sky wasn't around he'd probably rule the school. He wasn't exactly openly against Sky, but there weren't exactly friends either. We didn't interact much.

"Yeah", I said and smiled at him. He smiled at me and patted Lucas before saying,

"You did well bro. We wouldn't want anything happening to Sky's favorite plaything"

I whipped up my head at him. He smirked at me. This was what I meant by not exactly friends either. He was insulting me. He just called me a plaything. I tried my best to control myself.

"Uhm, Ryder, why don't you guys go on first?", I heard the new boy say. Ryder smirked at me before leaving. I watched them go, boiling in rage.

"Won't you thank me?", he asked me.

"What?", I looked at him.

"For saving you", he said with that same slight smile.

"I'm sorry but I don't remember asking you to me help me", I said.

"Then would you rather have fallen on the floor?", he asked sarcastically. I bit my lips and said nothing. He smiled at me.

"Anyways, I'll just take it as I paid back my debt", he said.

"Your debt?", I asked confused.

"For yesterday. I'll take it as paying for hurting you and making you cry" I looked up at him shocked. 'What the hell was he doing?'

"What?", I heard Grace say.

She looked at me before asking, "What is he saying? Did you cry yesterday?"

I composed myself before saying,

"Grace why don't you go ahead and meet up with Steph, I'll join you guys later" Grace looked at me hesitantly but she left. After she left, I stared at him.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?"

"What? I thought she knew. You mean your friends didn't know about you crying yesterday? Was it meant to be a secret?", he said innocently.

"Well now I feel even worse. Not only did I hurt you but I also let your friend find out when you didn't want them to know. I'm sorry", he said somewhat pitifully.

"Hahahaha", I laughed for a long time. I walked closer to him, staring straight at him.

"Let me rephrase that. Who do hell do you think are?", I asked.

"I already told you to get rid of whatever esteemed thought you might about yourself because you are so not worth me getting hurt over", I said icily.

"It's the audacity of you to think you had the ability to make me feel hurt or cry for me. Whatever you saw yesterday, bury it in your head. Whether or not my friends know is none of your business. You have absolutely no right to go about poke nosing in my business", I said gazing into his eyes. The smile had disappeared from his face, he was now looking at me as if trying to figure something out.

"Really?", he asked.

"Yes. Thank you for earlier but I absolutely won't be needing your help or your fake apologies ever again", I continued.

"I'm not some damsel in distress that needs saving", I said.

"Indeed. After all you are my DNA", I heard a familiar voice say behind me. I turned and,

"Sky?", I said surprised.