Thud!...
A pile of notes landed thud in front of Ariana as she watched them from top to bottom and gulped a mouth full of saliva. 'It will take me an eternity to cover up all these notes' Ariana cried mentally.
"Are there still any notes left which you want to give me Julianna" Ariana moved her eyes to the side and watched her new friend Julianna shake her head.
Julianna James was the only girl who offered Ariana a friendly hand on the very first day of college while the rest students only looked at her with detest. She wondered what wrong she did for them to give her glares, especially the group that sat a row next to them.
"No these are the only ones for now" Juliana's sweet voice pulled her out of her thoughts and she gave her a sweet forceful smile.
"Thank s for your kindness. I will try my best to give them back to you as soon as possible" Ariana was thankful for Julianna who didn't think twice after she asked her to provide the notes she missed since the start.
"By the way Ariana what made you join the University in the mid-semester? You know how hard it is to catch up with the syllabus. You missed so much" Julianna asked taking the seat next to Ariana as she helped her put the notes into her bag.
Ariana smiled noticing the worries in Julianna's voice which somehow comforted her. Placing the notes inside the bag, Ariana looked at her friend as she watched her waiting for an answer.
Sensing the sincerity in her eyes Ariana told her everything as she didn't feel any calm about being vocal about her identity.
"No doubt Mr. Donovan came along with you" Julianna muttered absentmindedly but quickly covered her mouth when she realized what she just said.
Arianna on the other hand wasn't feel offended by her remark because Julianna looked too cute after she realized her mistake, but what caught her by surprise on how everyone around her was familiar with Lucian.
"By the way how do you know Mr. Donovan," she asked out of curiosity.
Earlier she thought it was only the dean who was familiar with Lucian but now when she heard her friend mention him, she wondered if everyone around her already knows him.
"Don't tell me you don't know who he is?" Julianna gasped as she eyed Ariana in disbelief.
"No...I don't.. that's why I asked you" Ariana stated.
She wouldn't have asked if she had known what Lucian did for his living. It happened that apart from her, everyone around her knew what profession he carried.
It took Julianna a few seconds to grasp her thoughts. She still couldn't believe that Ariana wasn't aware of Lucian Donovan when she was reportedly living with him in his house.
Taking a deep breath, Julianna pulled out her cell phone and started typing something on it before she shoved the screen into her face.
Shocked by her actions, Ariana eyed Julianna in confusion but when she focused her eyes on the screen, it grew large as she read his info.
"Don't tell me.. he owns half of this University" Ariana almost fainted as she read the details Julianna slammed on her face.
Ariana had already guessed that Lucian must be a businessman or else who could own such a luxurious house but what took her by surprise was that he owned half of the Orchids University and was also a professor who came to tutor the students occasionally.
"Now you understood why I was surprised by your question" pulling back her phone Julianna sighed dreamily.
"You should find yourself lucky that Mr. Donovan happens to pamper you so much. There had been a rumor that he hates women" she whispered next to her ear.
Ariana snapped out of her frozen thoughts and stared at Julianna in disbelief. "Hates women" mumbling under her breath she watched Julianna bob her head.
"I wonder how come he is so considerate with you when he never once spare a glance at the bugging bees around the university who tried to grab his attention" she muttered eyeing the group of girls who had their eyes on them for god knows how long.
Julianna's lips twitched when she noticed the blonde girl in the group, who bullied her on the very first day of college.
Rolling her eyes on her, she turned her attention back on Ariana who still seemed to be lost in her thought.
"Hello... are you still there" Julianna snapped her fingers in front of Ariana and watched her break out of her trance.
Julianna's words had somewhat made her heart flutter. Since the moment she had seen Lucian, she had found him quite attractive, but his generosity toward her made her more inclined toward him.
'Does it mean I am special to him' she thought to herself suddenly feeling her heart pound inside her chest.
'But what if he is doing all this because of his responsibility towards me' she then thought otherwise.
Since Lucian was her guardian wasn't it his duty to look after her and fulfill her every wish? What if she was exaggerating everything on her own and the reality would be something else?
Ariana didn't want to raise her hopes high as she was already finding herself thinking about Lucian too much. She just wanted to pull back her reins of thoughts only to stop herself from getting disappointed in the end.
Brushing off Julianna's previous words, Ariana cleared her thoughts. She didn't want to think anything for now as she didn't know Lucian very well.
"Come on let's go to the canteen. I am very hungry" Julianna suggested and soon they picked up their bags and walked out of the classroom.
While the girls were leaving, a pair of deep browned eyes eyed their way until they disappeared from its sight. "How much did she say she would pay," Remy the blonde who was previously eyeing Julianna asked looking at the black hair girl to her right.
Stella who had been chewing the gum in her mouth blow a bubble and burst it before answering," More than we could think of" her Smokey eyes shined playfully on her friend's words.
"Don't tell me you are planning on bullying that dumb Julianna again" Natty one on the left asked. She had a feeling that Remy the leader of their group was planning on bullying Julianna once again.
"You think I would target the same girl again? It's not my style" Remy jumped on the flat surface of the table and watched the two girls head towards the canteen.
"My target is the new girl"
Natty gasped when she noticed the sinister grin on Remy's face and turn to look at Stella.
"I don't think it's the right choice, Remy. Don't you know who that girl is" Natty had never objected to her friend and always had an equal share in bullying the students around but with this new target, she didn't want them to pick her.
"Don't be a coward Natty, it will be fun to watch her obey us after all.. she happens to snatch out the muse from us" Stella playfully winked at her as she chewed the gum in her mouth and eyed their next target.
Remy, Stella, and Natty had their eyes on Lucian since the very beginning, but he never once spared a glance at them. He was the man whom every girl wanted in their life but Lucian was too cold and indifferent toward them.
He hated women but how come he came to pamper this particular girl unless she wasn't special to him?
Darting her eyes away, Remy pulled out her phone and typed something before she pressed the send button. "Get ready girls we have a new task" With a cunning smile she jumped down the bench and started to walk away.
Stella silently followed Remy but Natty who was a little hesitant this time found it hard to take a step ahead but in the end, she dropped all her worries aside and silently followed her friends.
Entering the huge canteen, Julianna guided Ariana towards the vacant seat and they both settled down. The hall was filled with students who time by time glanced at them.
"Now I understood why everyone is staring at me the entire time" Ariana shook her head recalling Julianna's words and tried to ignore their gaze.
The girls were busy looking into the menu book when some pulled the vacant chair around their table and sat down.
"Would you mind if I join your both?" a boy with curls asked them out of nowhere as he caught their attention.
Ariana eyed the boy surprisingly while Julianna who sat next to her blushed. "Why not. You are always welcome, Griffin"
Snapping her head in Julianna's direction she watched her blush. 'Don't tell me she has a crush on him' thinking Ariana turned to look at the boy who had his eyes fixed on them.