Chapter 7 - Clean up

"Oh my God, it's Asher! He intervened!"

"Is he okay?"

"Why did Asher do that?"

"Gosh, Aria really attracts trouble with the Four Princes."

"She thinks she's so special... tsk!"

I couldn't believe what Asher had done. Why did he intervene?

"Damian, let's discuss this. Not like this."

Asher said after being punched by Damian.

"Give me compensation tomorrow. For the safety of this girl. If you can't provide anything, there will be consequences." Damian said arrogantly before leaving with his group and girlfriend, Rikka.

Damian wants money as compensation. He's smart, knowing that Asher is wealthy.

"Sorry I'm late." Asher said to Aria when he faced her.

"Compensation?" Aria could only say.

"Don't worry about that." Asher replied.

"This mess is my fault, I'll handle it. Just thank you for coming." Aria said, holding Asher's hand and pulling him away.

"Let's go to the clinic; you're injured." Aria said as they left.

They didn't even notice that Hannah and I were there. Other students followed them, worried about Asher who had been punched by Damian. Hannah and I were left alone in the cafeteria.

"Cairo, what's going on? Who is that girl? Is she Asher's girlfriend?" Hannah asked, confused.

"No, she's just nobody... just a troublemaker." I replied, staring at the door where Asher and Aria had exited.

"If she's just nobody, why is Asher so protective of her?" Hannah asked again.

"I don't know. Let's not talk about them." I said irritably, and Hannah fell silent. We then ordered our food.

Later, Sade, Denzel, and Hannah met up. They were glad to see Hannah, as we hadn't seen her for years due to her studying high school in the States. Soon, Asher arrived. He was surprised to see Hannah but also clearly happy.

"Is she your girlfriend? Hmm, Cairo and I saw the commotion earlier in the cafeteria." Hannah said.

"What commotion? Why didn't anyone tell us?" Denzel asked in quick succession.

"No, she's not my girlfriend. I just felt sorry for her. She's a nice girl who doesn't deserve that kind of treatment." Asher replied.

"Hmmm, you still haven't changed, Asher. You're really so kind." Hannah said.

"Hey, answer us. What happened in the cafeteria earlier?" Sade asked.

"Aria had a fight with Damian in the cafeteria." I answered, irritated by the noise.

"What the heck, Damian? Aria really took on Damian?" Sade said.

"Oh, don't worry, Damian will be the one making things difficult for Aria now." Denzel added.

I didn't reply.

"I'll provide the compensation that Damian asked for." Asher said.

"What? Is Aria really that important to you? Do you like her?" Sade asked teasingly.

Asher just laughed.

"I just want to help her. She seems pitiful." Asher said.

"Explain it to me. Who is this Aria? Why are you all involved with her?" Hannah asked, not understanding what was happening.

"Explain it to her; I'm too lazy to do it." I said.

Sade and Denzel then explained it to Hannah.

We agreed to go to the bar owned by Hannah to celebrate her return to the Philippines.

"Let's go, guys. Forget about all the bad stuff for now. Let's have fun." Hannah said.

Denzel and the others went to their cars. I opened mine to get in, and Hannah joined me since she didn't have her car with her.

"Get in the car." I told her.

"Can you open the door for me?" she replied.

"You can do it." I said.

She frowned but opened the door. Just then, someone called my name, and we both stopped.

"Cairo!"

When I turned around, it was Luis, one of my varsity teammates.

"Hmmm, Coach is really mad." he said.

"The heck, you came here just to say that? Why should I care?" I replied.

"He said if you don't go to the gym now, you'll be kicked off the team." Luis added.

"Seriously? Is he trying to scare me... tsk." I said, irritated.

"Coach wrote to the Dean's office and requested the authority to remove troublemakers, even if your parents are stockholders here. They gave him that authority." Luis said.

It must have already reached Dad. Tsk, with all the letters and stuff.

"What does he want me to do?" I asked angrily.

"He wants you to go to the gym now and clean up." Luis said.

"Ugh, he's so annoying!" I said, punching the car window again.

"Hey Cairo! What's with you... you still haven't changed. Please just follow what he said, you'll be in trouble with Aunt if you disobey." Hannah said, referring to my mom.

"Dude, I told you earlier, you should have just stayed calm. You're underestimating Coach." Sade added, having been listening since his window was open.

"Fine, you guys go ahead. Sade, take Hannah with you. I'll follow to the bar." I said.

"Follow through, okay?" Hannah said, and I just nodded. They left.

Luis and I were left in the parking lot.

"I'm going home, Cairo." Luis said.

"Going home? Help me clean up!" I shouted at him. This is so irritating, I'm Cairo Hayes why are they doing this to me?

"But Coach said you have to clean up there by yourself, as punishment." Luis replied.

"Here's the lock. You'll need to lock up the gym after you're done cleaning." he added, handing me the padlock. I had no choice, so I went to the gym alone.

As I walked, I felt pain in my hand; the wounds were getting worse from punching the car. But I pushed through.

When I arrived, the gym was a mess. Balls were scattered everywhere. There was trash from drinks, plastic bottles and other junk. The floor was dirty, covered in mud. It looked like someone deliberately made a mess to make it harder for me.

"They can't do this to me. Just wait, Coach, you'll have your day too." I muttered while picking up the balls from the floor and putting them into the ball cart.

After filling the cart with balls, I went to the storage room to put them away.

When I arrived, I started placing the balls from the cart into the storage room one by one. Next, I had to clean the floor because it was covered in mud. It's such an insult to me; I've never had to clean up before.

I opened the cabinet, thinking that the mop might be inside. But to my shock, when I opened it, I found a student sleeping inside the large cabinet. I screamed in surprise, thinking it was a ghost. But when I looked closer, I realized...

"ARIA?!!!!" I said in shock, loudly calling her name.

She woke up, her eyes widening when she saw me.