Chapter 26

"It's about Zach's engagement. You really think you could hide such a thing from me?" Alexa bubbled excitedly.

"Who told you?" Jack asked. He didn't remember telling Alexa about Zach's engagement.

"My niece, of course."

"Anika, that blabbermouth," Jack mumbled.

"When were you going to tell me?"

"I was going to tell..."

"Well, when am I going to meet Zach's fiancee?" Alexa's smile widened.

"Uhm..."

"You should've thrown them an engagement party."

Jack sighed. Why on Earth would Anika tell her aunt about Zach's engagement?

"I wanted to keep things quiet," Jack stated.

"I understand, but a family dinner is not so bad at all. I'll set up a date for the dinner; don't worry about it," Alexa smiled as she chewed on some snacks on the table. She was really happy for her nephew.

After her magical date with Jeff, Ariana returned to the villa. She hated living there. She just didn't fit in, and she didn't talk with Zach. She hated being Zach's fiancee. She hated everything, but because her mom was fine, she had to endure all that. She arrived at the villa and typed in the passcode for the lock; she guessed Zach wasn't home. She entered, feeling tired.

Just as she entered, she saw Zach sitting on the sofa, staring into nothing.

"You're late," He stated, still staring into nothing with an expressionless face. Ariana couldn't read his expression, and this was the first time he spoke to her.

"I didn't know I was on curfew," She stated with sarcasm as she took off her shoes.

"It's 10 pm, where were you?" He turned to look at her, still wearing an expressionless face.

"You ain't the boss of me," Ariana said.

"You are in my house, so that makes me the boss of you."

"Like I wanted to live here in the first place," She sighed. "Just because I signed an agreement with your dad doesn't make us official or in a relationship, okay? So, mind your business," She picked up her shoes and left the living room for the guest room.

She took a quick shower to cool off; she knew that Zach was going to be nasty like Casey. There was only one thing that could make her feel better—talking to her girlfriends. She quickly changed into her sleepwear and called both Annie and Anika.

"Hey, guys," She smiled.

"Gosh, I am dying of anticipation. Girl, how was your date?" Annie asked.

"Yeah, how was it? Where did he take you? Tell me everything," Anika asked.

"It was cool. We went to the movies, and we watched 'The Notebook'..." The gasp of Annie and Anika interrupted her.

"Did he kiss you? Or hug you?" Annie asked with a wide smile on her face.

"Woah, it's our first date, calm down."

"It doesn't matter."

"I envy you. Zach wouldn't let me go on a date. That control freak!" Anika sulked.

"Really?"

They talked for what seemed like forever before they finally hung up and went to sleep. The next day at school, Ariana lazily lay on her desk. She was exhausted from the math class. Math was one of the subjects she struggled with in school. She was just glad that the math class was over, and she had to rest before the next class.

She heard whispers going around, and the students left the class one after another. She didn't bother to get up; it must be Casey making an entrance again.

The whispers started getting louder, and she was forced to leave her seat to go see what was going on. She pushed through the crowd and saw a car parked at the entrance. She rolled her eyes; the person who would step out from that car must be a model or celebrity. A mean one.

But to her surprise, Anika stepped out of the car. Ariana could see the drool on the boys' faces as they stared at Anika in awe. Anika scanned through the students and spotted Ariana. She ran to hug Ariana.

"What are you doing here?" Ariana asked.

"I transferred to your school! By the way, what are they doing here?"

"They came out to see you."

"Oh. Never mind, show me around," Anika dragged Ariana with her.