CHAPTER THREE: Friends or Enemies?
I smiled as Jade and I walked into Richmond High together. Today is my fifth day attending this school and after today, I’ll finally get a break from all the drama. Over the past week, my friendship with Jade grew and everyone in the school now knew that the ‘new girl’ made friends with scholarship student, Jade. Because of that, we were both ignored. We didn’t mind being ignored, in fact, we liked it.
Anna hadn’t bothered me at all since Monday and frankly, I don’t mind not having her as a companion. So the week was pretty peaceful and uneventful, just the way I like it. Jade and I walked towards my locker and realized I spoke too soon. In black paint, the words ‘whore’, ‘slut’ and ‘gold-digger’ were sprayed on my locker. Half the student body stood there, staring at me, waiting for my reaction.
“Oh my God,” I heard Jade say beside me. I stayed silent.
“Let’s get out of here, Soph,” Jade urged.
“Lead the way,” I murmured. Jade grabbed my hand and we weaved our way through the whispering and laughing crowd around my locker. I knew those words were for my mother, and gold-digger was for the both of us. As we were walking to class, I could see Anna laughing with her plastic friends. That bitch, I thought. Because I didn’t want to cause a scene, I controlled my urge to punch her as I walked past her, but she clearly thought otherwise.
“Oh, Sophie! I can’t believe someone did that to your locker!” she said in a sickly sweet tone.
“I know it was you Anna, so cut with the crap,” I replied in a disgusted tone.
“Okay then, I’ll just get to the point. You and your mother are unwelcomed in my home. You both are just a pair of gold-diggers. And just because your father is dead doesn’t mean I’ll pity you. I think your father is happier being dead. He probably couldn’t take any more of the both of you, so he got himself killed because being dead is better than being married to a whore and having such an ugly child,” Anna said.
Right then, something snapped inside me and I no longer cared whether I caused or scene or not because I can’t stand here and listen to the way she talked about my mother and my father. My hands automatically clenched into fists and I pulled back my arm and before I knew it, my fist connected with Anna’s perfectly modified nose. Blood gushed out and a stream of ‘oh my god’s were heard.
“Don’t you ever dare talk about my family like that again, I’ll take your shit about me, but you just crossed the damned line talking about my family,” I growled as Anna tried to move away from me.
I held back the tears as I tore through the school hall, out of the entrance and ran in the pouring rain for a good 20 minutes before my legs were so tired they threatened to give out. I forced myself to walk to the closest park and take a seat on a bench. My fist was throbbing with pain. The tears that I’ve been holding in for so long gushed out and I sat there crying. Why did Anna’s words affect me so much? Was it because I was afraid it was true?
The pain I felt was definitely not physical but emotional pain. I cried there for what felt like eternity and didn’t notice someone was standing in front of me as I had my head down the whole time. I looked up to see a guy who was probably a head taller than me. His messy brown hair and sky blue eyes accentuated his prominent features. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I groaned internally. Must such a cute guy catch me at my weakest moment?
“What are you doing in my park?” he demanded.
“Your park? This is a public place, it’s for anyone!” I snapped at him, forgetting my manners and getting annoyed. He might look perfect, but his personality definitely isn’t.
“This park belongs to me, didn’t you know?” he asked, looking genuinely curious as to why I didn’t know.
“Are you kidding me?”
“Do I look like I’m kidding?”
“Are you sure?” I asked, doubting him.
“Look at that car, and look back at me again.” I did what he said and saw a Lamborghini Reventon parked not too far away. I looked back at him and noticed he was dressed in branded clothing from head to toe.
“Is that car yours?” He nodded and then I realized that if he owned that car, he might indeed own that park because that car was one of the most expensive cars made. Not only did you need to have the money to buy it, you need to have the connections to get it as well.
“Wow... I-I'm sorry,” I managed to say through my embarrassment. I took my book bag and started walking back where I came. I felt someone pull me back and I turned and found myself face-to-face with the same guy. He was holding an umbrella and put it over my head for the both of us.
“Were you crying?” he asked in a mocking tone.
“No.”
“Aww, don’t lie to me, little girl.”
“I’m not little, I’m a junior!” I snapped at him.
“Well, I’m a senior, little girl,” he said with a smirk.
“Then what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in school?”
“Are you one to ask?” he answered, amused. “What’s your name?”
“Sophie Meyers,” I answered curtly. Immediately, shock and fear showed on his face, but in the matter of seconds, he recovered and his smirk was back in place.
“Is your father David Meyers?” he asked. I nodded.
“You know him?
“No.”
“Then why do you know his name?” I pressed.
“I saw your father’s obituary on the newspaper.”
“Oh.”
“Let’s go to a café,” he suggested. Is he out of his mind or something? Who would go to a café with a total stranger? I ignored him and stalked off, but he followed me. After five minutes of walking around with him behind me, I got annoyed.
I turned to look at him. “What do you want, stranger?” I asked in a frustrated tone.
“The name’s Zac.”
“Well, what do you want, Zac?”
“I want to hang out with you.”
“No. I’m not hanging out with a stranger.”
“You know you want to, Sophie.” He tugged my wrist and pulled me towards the direction of his car. Sighing, I gave up because of his persistence and followed him to his car. Still grabbing my wrist, he opened the door and ushered me into his car. Two things hit me as I climbed into the car. One, I’m going to be riding in a Lamborghini Reventon. Two, there’s a big chance I’m getting kidnapped and shipped off to China to be a human slave which is probably the only explanation to how Zac has the money to own a Lamborghini Reventon.
After a very quiet ride, we arrived at a small cozy shop. I was still dazed I got a ride in a Lamborghini Reventon even after I got out the car. Zac pushed open the glass doors and went inside the café so I followed suit. We were immediately greeted by the delicious smell of coffee and cookies. A smile couldn’t help but appear on my lips as I saw the different types of cookies displayed.
“I take it you like cookies?” he asked, noticing my excitement.
“I love them,” I replied, the smile still on my face.
Zac walked up to the counter and said something to the plump lady there, she nodded and he smiled at her. After he handed her some cash, he ushered me into a table by the corner of the café. The plump lady who was behind the counter brought a large tray containing cookies and two cups of hot chocolate over and set it down on the table. After smiling at us, she walked away and got back to work.
“There’s one of every kind, help yourself to it,” Zac said.
“This must have cost a fortune.” Once I said it, I mentally slapped myself, forgetting this guy was very, very rich. Zac shrugged.
“So why were you crying, if you don’t mind me asking?” I thought about it for a while and decided to just tell him everything because I wouldn’t be seeing him again plus he went out of his way to be nice to a stranger he just met not too long ago. Besides, it would definitely make me feel better to tell someone about it. Zac listened to my story without interrupting even once.
“Well, if that bitch is being a bitch, then you be a bitch to her too. She deserved that punch by the way,” he said with a wink. I smiled.
“Thanks.”
“And, your father’s death was accidental, it had nothing to do with you and your mother, don’t fret over what the bitch said, alright?” he smiled.
“Thanks Zac, thank you so much for doing all of this, I feel so much better now.”
“No worries, little girl. I should probably get back to school and you should too,” he said.
“Quit calling me little girl, I have a name and it’s Sophie,” I snapped.
“Okay, Fifi then.”
“No. Sophie.”
“Alright, alright.”
“What school do you go to, Zac?” I asked, suddenly wanting to know more about him.
“Richmond High, what about you?” he asked. I inhaled a sharp intake of breath and felt the color drain from my face as realization dawned on me. Zac, the guy Jade told me about.
“Zac? The guy who has a different girl hanging with him every week?” I asked and immediately felt embarrassed at my bold question.
“The one and only,” he answered with a smirk.
“Why are you proud of it?” He shrugged.
“It’s fun. Wait, you go to Richmond High too?” I nodded. A sly smirk appeared on his face and then I realized I just spilled my guts out to my school’s biggest player. Something tells me I have just planned my fall into hell.