Chapter 23

Jeffery was so worried about Ariana. The moment she hung up and approached him, he hugged her. Ariana smiled, and she hugged him back. For some reason, she felt butterflies in her stomach.

"I was so worried about you," Jeff stated, and he released her from his embrace.

"I know, and I'm fine," Ariana smiled.

"Where have you been?"

"Settle down, everyone," the Biology teacher's voice interrupted their conversation. Ariana quickly sat down at her desk.

Casey hurriedly ran to Zach's base at school. Since his father owned the school, Zach had a small building on the premises where he went for recreational purposes and conducted school affairs in his father's absence. Only students from prestigious families were allowed in that building, and Casey was no exception.

"Zach!" Casey yelled as she searched for him. Zach heard her and frowned. He was exhausted and couldn't deal with Casey's drama today. He was still pondering how to cut off the engagement between him and Ariana.

"Zach?" Casey sighed when she found him lazily sitting on the couch.

"What, Casey?" he asked lazily.

"Zach, do you remember that phone patch I wanted so badly?"

"What about it?"

"That girl, Ariana, has it. How the hell did she get one?"

"How would I know?" Zach actually remembered seeing the patch last night, and his sister was with Ariana, so Anika must have made one for Ariana.

"You should know; your sister is the only person who has it, and Ariana also has it."

"Casey, I'm a bit stressed. Can we talk about this later?" Zach begged.

"But, Zach, I wanted one of those phone patches," Casey complained and pouted.

"I'll ask my sister to get one made for you," Zach stated.

"Really? I love you so much," she rushed and hugged Zach. "So, your friend Alvin is coming to town, and he's throwing a party," Casey added.

"How do you know?" Zach asked with a raised eyebrow. He squinted his eyes; Alvin had told him about his arrival, and no one else knew. Even his family didn't know when he was coming.

"He told me, duh. Anyway, you're coming, right?"

"Sure, I wouldn't miss it," Zach smiled.

"See you later," Casey kissed him and left Zach's HQ.

During lunchtime,

"So tell me everything," Jeffery said as they sat down to eat lunch. Ariana smiled and narrated everything to Jeff except the part about her engagement. She still couldn't believe she was engaged to Zach of all people in the world.

"So how is your mom?" Jeff asked.

"She's improving," Ariana smiled.

The bell rang, signifying that school was over. Ariana got up and packed her bag.

"Are you free on Saturday?" Jeff asked as he walked to her desk.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"I'm thinking about taking you out, you know, to watch a movie or something," Jeff asked with a smile on his face.

"Like a date?"

"You can call it a date if you want."

"I'll think about it," Ariana smiled, although she was trying to stop herself from shrieking. She quickly packed her books and hurriedly left the class.

She took the bus to the hospital.

"Mom," her eyes scanned the room in search of her mom. She found her mom standing and staring out the window.

"Mom," she sighed and hugged her mom.

"Sweetheart, how was school?"

"Fine. How are you feeling?"

"Better," Helena sat down on a chair.

"Dear, you've changed..."

"Hey!" Mike exclaimed and he entered the room.

"Hey," Ariana waved, and Mike ran and hugged her. "You're full of energy today," Ariana laughed.

"Hi, Mom," he hugged Helena.

"School was so fun today," Mike stated. Ariana kept a smile on her face; she didn't know that Jack already enrolled Mike in school.

"You look like you had a lot of fun," Helena fiddled with his hair.

Mike brought out an iPad from his bag. "Where did you get that?" Helena asked. She didn't know what was going on, and Ariana was not telling her anything.

"Dad bought it for me," Mike smiled.

"Dad?" Helena raised an eyebrow and glanced at Ariana. Ariana had no other option than to talk, or her mom was going to slap the wax off her ear. Ariana sighed and narrated everything without leaving a tiny detail, but she didn't mention the bullying she had been enduring at school.

"So that's how I ended up having a fiancé," Ariana sighed.

"Are you okay? Is your fiancé treating you right?"

"Of course," she faked a smile.

"What's his name?"

"Zachary Wilson," Ariana answered. "Have you all eaten?"

Mike shook his head. "What would you like to eat?"

"Burger and some chips for me."

"What would you like to eat, Mom?"

"I'm not hungry; I've already eaten before you got here," Helena smiled.

"I'll treat you to lunch," Ariana got up and carried her bag. Mike carried his iPad, and they left for a restaurant to eat.

"Bye, Mom," they waved and left the room.

They arrived at a nearby restaurant. Ariana found an empty seat and ordered some snacks for Mike.

"So tell me the truth," Mike said, folding his hands like a detective, and he had a fierce expression on his face.