Louis's Pov
Later that day, after Shaden rushed out from the picnic, all of us lost our interest and slowly headed back home. I called Leo and apologized to him for not coming home to spend time with him. He dismissed me telling that we had a lot of time to catch up. With this in mind, I went to Sam's place. As usual Mama Bennett invited me inside with a huge smile and a motherly hug.
"I am starting to think that your Tia kicked you out from your house. Not that I don't love it, but you are here even when Sam is not around." She joked and I just laughed at that.
"I don't think he comes here for me anymore. He is mostly here when Shaden is teaching Theo." Sam said with a smirk and I shoved him hard on his back.
"Ooh... so what is up with you and Shaden?" Natasha asked wiggling her eyes.
"Nothing is up with us. We are just friends." I said frowning at them.
"Sure you are." Donn said sarcastically. "You should have looked at yourself after she did your make up, all lovey dovey."
"Oh shut up. Now you are just making up stuff." I said rolling my eyes.
"Wait, Shaden did his make up?" Ari asked, looking at me in amusement.
"Yes and Shaden said and I quote, 'You look so damn hot' with dreamy eyes." Natasha said with a faraway look. So much drama.
"Wait! Shaden too?" Ari asked surprised.
"No Mom, Nat was just exaggerating. The girl is obvious to everything. She is so damn dumb for someone with high IQ." Sam said.
"There is nothing happening for anyone to be obvious." I tried again.
"You keep telling yourself that brother." Donn said patting my shoulder with mock pity. I looked at their mother for help but she just laughed at me.
"What? It's true. You are here mostly when Shaden is around. And even if she is just sitting there without doing anything you always smile at her as if you see something which we don't." Ari said chuckling.
"That's not true. I am here now and she is not. And also, she never just sits around doing nothing. She always does something." I defended myself.
"See, that's what she was speaking about. To all our eyes, she does nothing. But to yours, she always does something. And also I am pretty sure you are here because you know that she will come here to pick up her brother." Sam said smirking again. He is doing that a lot these days.
"Whatever." I said getting tired with all this attention just when I heard two pairs of footsteps coming down to the hall. It was Theo and Naeem running down.
As soon as Naeem saw me, his eyes shone with excitement and he tumbled towards me and jumped into my arms. To think that this is the same boy who couldn't speak a word to me on the first day we met.
"I thought Didi was coming with you." he said with a frown. That's what I thought too.
"She had to leave early. She is with Cam I guess. She might come back here to pick you up." I said smiling at him. Just then Ari got a call and she smiled when she saw the caller ID.
"Speak of the devil." She muttered before picking up the call. "Hey Shaden, I am still waiting to see my favorite girl." She said with a wide smile while Natasha looked at her with a pout pointing at herself. "Yeah sure, one sec." she said giving the phone to Naeem. He looked at her confused and took the phone.
"Haan Didi?" he asked her confused and listened to his sister speak for a moment and his expression started shifting from confusion to excitement. He spoke to her again with sheer excitement and jumped in my arms. And then he gave the phone back to Mama Bennett and got down from my arms.
"Oh sure, why not. But are you fine? You don't sound that good." She asked concern washing over her features. She listened to Shaden for a while and then asked her to be careful before hanging up.
"Bad luck Louis, she isn't gonna come home today." she said teasing me but there was still hints of worry on her face.
"Wait? Does that mean that Naeem will be staying with us even today?" Theo asked his mom with wide eyes and when she confirmed it, he jumped up and down with excitement and ran around before hugging Theo. "Wow, this is one of the best two days of my life. Do you wanna play Pac Man again?" he asked rushing Naeem out of the room.
"Did she say why?" Ruby asked looking at their mom confused. When did they even come here? Sam told me few days ago that Ruby knows a lot more than us about Shaden and that's the reason they were so close to each other. When we confronted Ruby about this, they told us that they met her when they went to India while they were on their world tour. They never before mentioned going to India.
"She gave a vague answer that she is staying at a friend's place and that she couldn't leave." Ari replied to Ruby's previous question and I could already see that she wasn't very convinced. I walked into one of the rooms and called her but she declined my call and instead sent me a text.
The Simba
Can't speak to you now. But what's up?
Are you fine? I thought you would come to Sam's place
I am good. Don't worry about me.
Listen, I really can't speak to you right now.
Catch you later, bye.
Oh cool, bye. Take care.
The conversation left me more worried than before. Did something happen to Rina? I hope both of them are fine.
With these thoughts in mind I walked out of the room only to find Chris with a bruised eye and a foul mood trying to walk out of the hall struggling not to snap at his furious but concerned Aunt.
"Just tell me who did this to you." she asked holding his shoulders.
"Ari please, I asked you to drop it. It's not a big deal okay. And I probably deserved it. So please don't make a huge scene outta this." he said looking tired.
"Joshua, at least you tell me what is going on here." She asked Joshua, looking at him sternly.
"I am sorry Ari. Not my place." He said with his hands raised in surrender but he looked worried and scared too.
"Stop being a shit head and just tell us who did that to your face." Sam finally spoke looking at his younger cousin furiously. "I will smash his face and let him know that no one messes with the Bennetts."
"Oh God! I am not a kid. I can manage myself." He said with a sigh.
"Clearly." Donn said sarcastically. "Just tell us who the guy is."
"It's not even a guy." Chris said slumping his shoulders.
"Wait! So a girl sucker punched your face and gave you that bruise?" Donn asked his cousin and started laughing. Natasha hit him on his stomach with her elbow and hissed at him to shut up.
"Just drop it. I am tired. I want to sleep." He said walking towards his room with Joshua following him. Ari was about to stop him again but Sam shook his head silently asking his mom to give Chris some space. I don't know if I was the only one who noticed it, but Chris's eyes were swollen and red. He must have been crying. What the hell happened to him? Is he in some sort of trouble?
"Are you gonna speak to him?" I asked Sam after a while.
"I don't think so. I mean Chris is a dumb fucker but he knows his limits. After everything that happened with me last year, I am sure he would know where to stop before falling into trouble." He said shrugging it off but I could still see that he was concerned about his cousin. "I kinda believed him when he said that a girl punched him. He must have kissed the wrong girl at the wrong time for all we know. And Joshua wouldn't let him get into much trouble anyway. He is just like his sister."
"True that. The Williams family got it all under the control. Just like how Casey has you wrapped around her finger." I said with a smirk and he narrowed his eyes at me.
"Oh yeah? You wanna go down there?" he asked and started hurling thing my way to hurt me. Such an ass.
After a while both of us were flopped on his bed, mindlessly watching a movie. "So what did she say?" he asked after a while and I looked at him confused.
"What do you mean?" I asked him with a frown.
He rolled his eyes at me. "Don't tell me you still didn't contact Shaden after that."
"Oh." I said and he again rolled his eyes at me. I tossed him my phone and he typed in the password and opened the phone to check our conversation.
"Well, it's Shaden. She is always mysterious." He said giving my phone back to me. "Do you ever wonder why she lied to us about her age?" he asked after a while.
"Almost every other day. I don't want to ask her though. I already know that she is not gonna tell me the truth. But she seems pretty desperate to keep it hidden." I said falling back on the bed and starring at the ceiling. "And from the conversation she had with Ruby, when you were eavesdropping," I said in a teasing voice and he punched me in my stomach with his elbow. "I think she is lying to us for her own safety. So unless she wants to open up to me about the things happening in her life, I am not forcing her to speak about any of them. I just wish that she isn't carrying a lot of pain." I said still staring at the ceiling and thinking about the girl who constantly makes me look like a eager beaver.
"She trusts you man." He said after a long pause.
"You think?" I asked him skeptically.
"Yeah, though she is friendly with all of us, she doesn't look relaxed when it comes to us. But she is soo very comfortable with you. I mean Ruby is a different story, they kinda knows about her more than we do. So it wouldn't come as a surprise if she is more relaxed when she is with them. But you know what I mean right?" he asked turning his head to look at me for my confirmation.
I thought about all the times we were together. I never felt the discomfort or anything from her. She looks relaxed and almost like she doesn't have the burden of holding a secret when she is with me. She sometimes even spoke about her parents with me, which is a great accomplishment considering that she is very secretive about her parents and family. I smiled at that and nodded my head.
"I think you are right." I finally admitted.
There was silence and I felt the air shift between us. It turned serious. Sam looked worried and conflicted to speak but finally he let it out. "I have been meaning to tell this to you for a long time." he said and I looked at him with a frown. He was hesitating to speak. I got up to look at him.
"What's it Sam?" I asked. And he winced at this.
"Look man, I am not even sure if it's the truth." He said and I tried to be patient with him and tried listening to him. He sighed, "Remember Milos, the good guy from the group of bad people I was part of?" he asked and I nodded. "Well, when we were passing by he said that he's seen you around with a girl from the ring. You know the illegal boxing ring. He described her and the description matched Shaden. I am not sure if the information is correct or not. I just wanted to tell this to you once."
I thought back to all the times she came to the class with bruises on her face and body, with her hand and knuckles busted. To the time when she punched the wall in the cafeteria. It could be true that she is an illegal boxer. But the thought itself looked absurd. It made sense and at the same time it looked like nonsense. I don't know what to believe. I just stayed silent at that and that was just the beginning of an uncomfortable evening.
*****
The next day, Shaden was back to her usual smiles and happy look. The worried and furious look from yesterday, no longer foreshadowing her features. She didn't mention anything about yesterday and ignored my questioning glance whenever it was directed towards her.
"Is that a new ring?" Haru asked pointing to her little finger and she smiled at this. She nodded her head.
"Ron gave. He said that it would compliment with the ring Sam gave me." she said, holding up her little finger in display.
"It has some inscription on it." Jess pointed and Shaden looked little uncomfortable with that attention. Haru took her little finger and inspected it.
"Saam? Why does it have two As and why is the second A capital?" he asked looking at her confused and I found her other hand clench, noting that she was very tensed at that question. I moved forward to see her ring and sure enough, the inscription looked like, 'SaAm'.
"It must be an inside joke." I offered and she looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah it is." She said still looking at me with her eyebrows furrowed lightly. "How did you know?" she asked.
"Lucky guess." I said with a shrug.
But she knew it was not. The way she looked at me told me so. But then she shrugged too and I knew I was off the hook. She knows that I know more than I let it on and she for sure knows that I wouldn't ask her anything until she tells me stuff herself.
"Woah, you are wearing a bracelet?" Haru asked surprised, still holding her hand and this information made me feel giddy with pride. She was wearing my bracelet.
"Yup. It is my charm bracelet." She said smiling at it.
"Well, who gave it?" Jess asked.
"Why should anyone give it to me?" she asked with a sneaky smile.
"Because no idiot calls a bracelet a charm bracelet unless someone gives it to them?" Bell answered her with narrowed eyes. "So who gave it?" she tried again, with suspicion.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Shaden answered with a smirk and I raised my eyes at her. Why is she trying to make it a secret?
"Just tell who it is?" Jordan asked with a pout and she sighed.
"Okay, but I am not taking any other charm accessories after this." she said and that is when I understood.
She is scared that the others will start giving her stuff and expect her to wear it every day. And she can't possibly give the explanation as to why she is wearing the one I gave her, though I would be very interested in knowing the answer myself.
"Why not?" Jordan pouted at her and she gave him a look telling that 'that's why I am not telling you who' and he relented at the end. "Fine, whatever. Who is it?" he asked.
She turned around and looked at me. Like really looked at me with a huge smile on her face. Since our seats were beside each other and now that we are facing each other, it felt very close. I heard someone gasping, but I couldn't turn my face away from her face. I already told this many times, but I am telling it again. She is soo fucking beautiful.
"It's Louis?" Casey asked sounding both surprised and amused.
"Hmm." Shaden said nodding her head and still grinning at me. I think we stared at each other more than 30 seconds or something but everyone surprisingly kept quite. Not a word, not a comment. It was just us staring into each other's eyes. "I love your eye color." She said simply after a while.
"What?" I asked surprised.
"I love your eye color." She repeated, staring seriously into my eyes. I rolled my eyes at her.
"Yeah, I heard you the first time. What I meant to ask you is, why? They are the normal Brown." I said, now with a small smile creeping unto my lips. She is giving me a lot of compliments these days.
"Don't you have a mirror at home?" she asked exasperatedly. "They are not plain brown. They are a beautiful brown. I think I love that shade more than any other I have seen in my entire life. They are soo beautiful." she said as if she was transfixed by my eyes. "No actually, I like Idris Elba's eyes better. Man, he has got such beautiful eyes. Whenever I watch Thor, I watch it mostly to see him, not Chris. I love that dude's eyes, his body. I love Idris Elba." She said with dreamy eyes. I narrowed my eyes at her.
I snapped my fingers in front of her face to get her attention back to me. "Hello, you are getting distracted." I said and I did not know why I sounded jealous but felt relieved when she didn't catch up on it.
"Okay okay. You've got the second best eyes on the planet. They look like pools of honey. Soo brown and gorgeous. Like when you are under the sunlight, they look like Honeycomb and chocolate mixed together. Because of your irises. They kinda look delicious. I want to pluck them out and eat them." she said licking her lips.
"Aaand, she spoiled it." Haru said loudly and that's when I realized that there were people around us. She looked distracted for a while but then looked at the said boy in confusion.
"I didn't spoil anything." She defended herself.
"You were both so romantic until you acted like a cannibal and spoke of your fantasies about eating his eyes." He said rolling his eyes at her and she just stuck her tongue out at them.
"So what, are you now gonna call him 'honey'?" Jess asked with a sweet voice.
"Ha-ha. How funny.'' she said with a blank face. "Anyway, Jess? I need your help with something. Can you please come with me to the washroom?" she asked looking at her expectantly and Jess just shrugged her shoulders getting up from the seat.
"What are you gonna do in the washroom?' Jordan asked wiggling his eyebrows but he glared at his brother when he smacked his head.
"That's my girlfriend you are speaking about." Brendan said glaring at his twin.
I just smiled at their banter and then turned away when Shaden got up to follow Jess. My eyes followed her until she left the room and when I turned to my side I jumped back to find Sam sitting there. In Shaden's seat.
"What the hell Sam? You scared me." I said with a hand on my chest.
"So the bracelet?" he said smirking.
"Yeah, what about it?" I asked plainly.
"She likes you." he replied.
"Of course she likes me. She wouldn't have been friends with me if she did not." I said rolling my eyes at him.
"Okay firstly, you gotta stop being a sorry bitch. And secondly, you and I both know that she likes you in a way that's different from us all. She might not have realized that yet or she is just stunted in that department. I mean come on, that girl is just fifteen. We were even more naïve at that age than she is now."
"Naah. I don't think so. It's just her. I wouldn't call it naïve though; I just think she is innocent." I said and God knows how much I wish what Sam was right.
After fifteen minutes or something, Jessica returned to the class. Alone.
"Where is Shaden?" Brendan asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"She said she had to leave somewhere." She replied and turned to me. "And Louis, she asked if it would be okay if you take her stuff to your place. She will come and get it from you." she told me.
"So, is anything going on between you guys? Like something we aren't aware of?" Ashton asked wiggling his eyebrows.
"Yeah, it's called friendship." I replied in boredom.
"Sure. Keep telling yourself that." Casey said with twinkling eyes.
"Princess, you wouldn't want to go there." I warned and then looked at Sam watching her with a smirk. She glared at me, muttering something under her breath.
"So what did Shaden take you away for?" Sam asked, deflecting the attention from Casey.
"Just the normal girl stuff you know." She said avoiding eye contact and pretending to inspect her nails.
"No we don't." Sam said looking at her wearily.
"Yeah obviously, it's about periods. You wouldn't get it." she said trying to dismiss him.
"Try me." he challenged. He was getting defensive there. If someone caught up to him, they would understand that there is something wrong with Shaden.
"She wasn't sure about something related to that. So she asked me." she said in a strained voice. I now for sure know that she knows something which we all don't. Not all, maybe with one or two exceptions.
"How can she not know, she is 18." I said trying to gauge in her expression.
"She is fi-" she looked at me, slowly understanding dawning on her, but she didn't give out anything from her expression. "Is filthy 18, but you know how she is, dumb as a stick." She covered it up and then abruptly turned towards her boyfriend and started planning for a new date so that she wouldn't be disturbed by anyone.
After few minutes, I got a notification on my phone. I slid it out from my pockets and found a message from Jess. I looked at her but she was still speaking to Brendan.
The message read 'To the basketball court, five minutes before the class ends' I sent her a quick thumbs up and planned on what I could speak to her.
When it was time, I quietly walked out of the class and went to the basketball court. It was open. I stood by the door, restless to know what Jess knew. To calm myself, I leaned on the wall beside and took a deep breath. After a while Jess came in and directly launched into the subject.
"So what do you know?" she asked and I raised an eyebrow at her.
"You really think I am gonna speak something before you tell me what you know?" I asked and she sighed.
"Okay, for every information you tell me, I will exchange one of my own." She bargained and I called in for truce.
"She isn't 18." I said blankly, already knowing that she knows about it.
"Not fair. That was my only point." She pouted.
"Come on. You might know other things. Like how old she really is?" I probed her to see how much she knows.
"That I might know. She is 15." She said and then looked at me for more information.
"What? Stop looking at me like that. That's the only thing I know about her too." I lied.
"Really? Nothing else?" she asked looking disappointed. I felt relived knowing that she actually doesn't know much. "Anything?" she tried again.
Of course, I knew something else. I know that Shaden isn't her real name. I know that Naeem isn't 9 either. I know that she is running away from something else and that she is both sad and scared.
I know that she sometimes cries in her sleep or that's what Naeem told me. I know that she hates speaking about her family, though I don't exactly know the reason and I also know that she doesn't speak to them often.
But of course I am not telling her all these. These are some of the things which I am the only person who is aware of. Of course excluding Ruby, Kara and the Stone aka Cameron's family. But that's a different story. But I just shook my head at her. Her face fell in disappointment. Suddenly her eyes lit up.
"I know something else." She said and I looked at her with a raised eyebrow, pushing her into speaking. "She recently got matured. Remember few weeks ago when she complained that she is having a very bad stomach ache and was feeling dizzy?" she asked and I nodded my head.
"So that day when she went to washroom, I followed her. She later told me that she was bleeding and that it was her first time. I then dug deeper and questioned her how can an 18 year old just get matured. She gave me some lame excuses but then I broke her. That's how I got to know about her age. Now that I think about it, how did you know about it?" she asked and I sighed.
"I heard her speaking on the phone. So apparently she wanted to study more than what she is supposed to do. So she forged the documents before she moved here. If someone gets to know about it she will be sent to a correctional center in India because of what she has done. That's why I never spoke about it to anyone." I confessed though the entire story was a lie.
This was the excuse Shaden gave me before she realized that I wasn't buying it. And I am assuming that she would tell the same story to anyone. Just then it hit me. Shaden became a woman recently. So I was crushing on her even before she got matured. I am basically a pedophile. Yuck!
"Who else knows about this?" she finally asked. I might as well tell her the truth at least for this question.
"You, me and Sam. But she doesn't know about Sam knowing about it. And before you ask me, No, I didn't tell Sam anything. He also heard it from her when I was confronting her." I explained before she can blame me.
She muttered something along the lines that 'You are getting boring these days.' And I just snickered to that.
"What were you even speaking to her?" I asked and she stiffened.
"I am not really sure, but I am very worried about her. She asked me if it's possible for a guy to have sex with a girl when he is drugged and if its possible for him to not remember what happened the other night. I don't know if she was asking for herself or for someone else. But she looked genuinely concerned." She said worrying her lips.
Did something happen to her the other night? Did something happen to Rina at the party? Whatever it is, I am pretty sure Shaden can deal with it. But that won't stop me from worrying, will it? I scoffed at my own thoughts. "So will he remember?" I asked and she looked at me as if I lost my mind.
"You are a guy. You should know better than a 15 year old girl." She said with narrowed eyes and then sighed heavily when she realized that I actually needed an answer.
"Well."
"Of course that's not possible. A guy will remember at least one bit when these kinds of things happen. Even if the girl won't remember it." she explained and I nodded my head.
Just then the bell rang with a shrill noise and I leapt away from the wall in surprise and Jess started laughing at me. I scowled at her and walked out to collect mine and Shaden's bag to home.
I drove home and whenever I glanced at her bag, I felt a level of accomplishment. She trusted me enough to give her bag to me, which might or might not contain something she wouldn't like sharing with others.
I opened the door to find Leo stretched out on the couch, lazily scrolling through Netflix. He looked up from the TV and gave me a lazy smile. When he found that I came in with two bags, he just raised his eye brows at that.
"Did you finally grew some extra brain cells and decided to study or are they just some new books from library?" he asked.
"Neither. This one is Shaden's bag. She will come home later to collect it." I replied
"Ooh! My favorite girl. How did you even find someone so innocent and cute?" he asked with a chuckle.
"Charm older brother. You should learn it from me. Maybe then you would actually find a girl friend." I teased and he looked flushed at this.
"I should let you know that I indeed have a girl friend. 18 months for now." He said and I gasped at him.
"How dare you not tell me about it? We had a bro code. We promised that we would tell each other everything." I said with a hand on my heart and a pout on my face.
"Quit being a drama queen" he said rolling his eyes at me. "I just didn't tell this to you because she is my first actual girl friend. I mean, I dated Vera, Angie and Ethel. But it isn't the same. I liked them, I still do, but I never loved them. And this girl, she has me whipped. I love her. I love her so fucking much." He said with a full blown grin. Wow! My brother is in love.
"What's her name?" I asked with a smile of my own.
"Zelda Antos" he said with a small smile on his lips and adoration in his eyes.
"Zelda? Cool name. How did you guys meet?" I asked, clearly sounding excited.
"Woah! When did you become my girl best friend, squeezing all the answers from me?" he teased and I just smacked him on his arm.
"If you don't tell me now, I will peel your skin." I warned.
He raised his hands, palms up, in defense. "Chill chill, I will tell everything." And then he started. "So two years ago, she was a fresher in our university. She is in Forensic department and quite frankly, we didn't start on the right foot." He said laughing at the memory.
"Go on." I urged and he rolled his eyes at me but continued nonetheless.
"I was having a bad day and I thought that it would make me feel better if I were a jerk to strangers. She was in the University's cafeteria and we kinda got into a conversation. Then when I found out that she was doing Forensics, I started insulting her subject telling that it wasn't pure science and she got pissed and then we got into an argument. Pretty big one, if you ask me. She was almost about to punch me." he said scratching his neck.
"Please tell me she did punch you in the end."
"She did not." He said blankly. "Anyway, that night I felt super guilty and then went looking for her everywhere. You know how I get when I know that there is someone out there who doesn't like me. I was going crazy because I wasn't finding this girl anywhere and I even pulled my strings in her own department and even that wasn't helpful."
"Poor baby."
He ignored my commentary. " Then after a week, she was at my door step, wearing a big ass smirk on her face, rubbing it all over my face that I was searching for her for a week and still had no luck. Then she invited herself into my room and gave me a tough time in making her forgive me. Then somehow we clicked together. She was good company and was so fucking intelligent. And then after a month, Bam! She comes and asks me on a date in front of my entire class and friends. She is brave too." He said chuckling at that memory.
"So wait, she is the one who asked you out first?" I asked.
"Well, I didn't actually have romantic feelings for her until then. Or at least that's what I thought back then. I mean I always liked her from the very beginning. But you know, I thought that I just liked her like a friend. And then she asked me three more times before I kissed her. That was when we kind of established that we were in a relationship." He said scratching his neck.
"What the hell? You made the girl ask you out three times before you kissed her. Are we from the same family?" Tia asked him suddenly, giving me a jump scare.
"Tia! Little warning would have been appreci-" I stopped mid sentence when I found Shaden standing beside her, grinning at Leo. "When did you come?" I directed my question towards Shaden.
"Just now. So tell me, was that true? What Tia just asked?" she asked plopping down on the sofa, at the spot where moments ago Leo's legs were stretched.
"You could have sat someplace else." He said trying to kick her off the sofa. Is this really their second meeting? Doesn't look like it.
"Just tell Dude." She whined and Leo sighed.
"Hey, I am very careful with relationships okay? I didn't want to ruin our chances at being friends because of this relationship." He defended himself.
"So are you guys in love?" she asked dismissing his defensive tone totally.
"We are." He replied blushing bright. Tia snickered at him.
"You knew?" I accused her.
"Of course I know. Who do you think gave him advice whenever he screwed up?" My Tia asked with a smirk.
I wanted to be angry that I was the only person in the family who didn't know about this. But I know I can't do that to Leo. I kind of understand why he did that. The time he met her was around the same time when things went wrong with Char. So I think he was trying not to hurt me. I smiled brightly at him.
"Please tell me you at least used the magical words before her." I teased but frowned when I saw my brother fidgeting with his fingers.
"Oh my God! She said it first?" Shaden asked laughing loudly.
"That's not even the worst part. It took me almost two weeks for me to give her my answer." He said huffing.
"Man! I would never want to date you." I said laughing and I saw Shaden frowning at this.
"Good. Because it would be so gross. Incest and all." She said and everyone laughed.
"So Shades, what do you want to eat?" Tia asked her.
"Wait? You are eating here? What about Naeem?" I asked.
"Well about that, he is staying at the Bennetts and said that he wanted a hatrick night with Theo. So I was assuming you wouldn't mind me eating here." She said sticking her tongue out at me. "And Tia loves me a lot."
"That's right. I love having a girl around the house for a change. So what would you like to eat?" she asked her again.
"Anything Tia. I believe anything you cook will be delicious." She said with a sweet smile.
"Man, she is so good at this. Impressing the parents and all." Leo said snickering and she charmed him with a beautiful smile of hers.
"I will make a proper Italian food item for you dear. Come to the dining hall after 20 minutes?" she asked looking at all of us. We all nodded in agreement. Leo went back to watching TV and Shaden and I just walked up to my room.
"So this is how the Great Louis Enrique Emerson's room looks like. Just like I expected it to be." She said looking around.
"So you were thinking about how my room would be?" I asked with a smirk but she was busy checking out the room.
"You and fifteen other people I know." She said dismissively and I for a fact know that she wasn't trying to wave it off but was just being honest. She plopped on my bed and went through the books I had on my table. Then she got bored with that and looked back at me.
"Soo..." she said wringing her fingers and I held back my smile.
"So?" I asked her and she looked hesitant to speak."
"See, after Naeem came here, these are the first two days I was not with him. I tried staying at my place alone but I am not able to do that. On the first day, I was with you guys. Yesterday, I was with this another friend and I feel like a burden to all these people just because I can't manage to stay alone. You see, before I left India, I never, when I say never, I mean never, never stayed alone. I always had someone to stay with me. But not now and I hate staying alone." She kept babbling. I held onto her shoulders and made her look at me.
"Shaden? What is it?" I asked her patiently.
"Can I stay at your place today? I will sleep anywhere. I don't care as long as there are other people staying under the same roof. Please, I don't wanna go back there to stay alone for the night." She requested and my heart broke at the vulnerability in her voice.
She is the same girl who smashes things on her way when she is angry. She is the same girl who the entire school fears and considers as the She-Hulk. Seeing her like this, scared and insecure, broke my heart and I just nodded my head at her. At times like this, I feel like I would wanna do anything for her.
"I will ask my Tia." I said getting up from the bed. She held my wrist to stop me.
"But you are okay with this?" she asked me, looking at me expectantly. I nodded my head at her and she sighed, pulling me down on the bed, to sit beside her. "Then don't bother, I already asked her. I was planning to ask you only if she agreed." She said nonchalantly and I smiled at that.
That's my girl. My? Yeah, well, who cares?