Secret Diaries (Heartlake Cliche #1)

Chapter One

      Heartlake City was originally a clump of land located somewhere in the Pacific and was discovered by French wine experts in 1962, developed by American industrialists and currently inhabited by a mix of Europeans, Americans, Africans, Australians and Asians. If one had wished for the world to be united, a visit to this country, as small as Singapore (the main island), would make the idea seem real.

      The state got its name from the heart-shaped lake located at the center of the entire land. It was as if the developers decided that the lake would signify peace and love among the world’s different nationalities. Nobody argued the fact that the country attached the word ‘City’ to its name. Everybody thought it would be better than merely calling it ‘Heartlake’.

      Its current head-of-state is a French monarch, one of the wine experts who discovered the land. However, the monarchial aspect of their government was quite different to most monarchies in the world. In a way, Heartlake City shared a similar form of government to Malaysia—an elective monarchy where the Heartlake Assembly, a group composed of eleven representatives from the first families to inhabit the land, elected who would be the head-of-state. It was quite different from what people were used to when it came to monarchies but the nation sought to be different. And that was how they wanted it.

      It took Rachelle all of ten seconds to recall these facts from her History class before she stood up and launched her tirade at Nick—who seemed to have begun to relax as his jean-clad legs stretched out in front of him. “You shouldn’t have dragged me all the way here! Didn’t you see how those girls looked at you? I’m going to punch their noses and pull all the hair out of their heads if I ever see them again. See if I don’t!”

      Rachelle began to pace, unable to contain the angry energy that wanted to burst out of her body. Those girls had no right to judge her or Nick. Especially Nick. “They’re hypocrites, that’s what they are! Not to mention horribly stereotypical. They don’t even deserve to be in the same school as you!” she said, her ears red with anger.

      Nick stared at his best friend as she went on with her rant. She was angry that he stopped her from giving a piece of her mind to those foulmouthed girls but he knew she would regret whatever it was that she wanted to do to them once she calmed down. She was pacing like a caged tiger, her blue dress flowing freely around her, making her look almost ethereal. He sighed. He really shouldn’t be thinking of these things in these kinds of situation.

      “You forget they called you a slut.” When Rachelle’s face turned red as well, Nick realized too late that he should be trying to calm his best friend down instead of making her angry all the more.

      “Yes! That! And do you know? The only reason they called me a slut is because the guys they like want to date me instead of them! They know exactly how hot I am that they decided the only way I could have attracted all those guys is because I was out selling myself! Can you imagine that? Me? Sell myself for favors?” Her voice was getting louder and louder with each word that Nick felt the urgent need to make Rachelle relax or they would get the rest of Central Park staring at them.

      “Yes, yes. We both know that everything they said about the two of us isn’t true. And that’s what’s important.” He stood up and grabbed Rachelle’s shoulders. “We don’t even know who they are exactly and I would appreciate it if you’d calm down so I won’t have to cover your mouth while dragging you home later on,” he told her matter-of-factly.

      She soundlessly counted to ten then took a deep breath. “Okay. Sorry for shouting. I wasn’t angry at you.”

      “I know that. Anyway, it’s almost time for dinner. Are they expecting you home? Or would you rather we have dinner together?”