Chapter Nine

Amaryllis Lexington

****

"I hate Tuesdays." Maya sighed as she buttoned her shirt. She was looking really cute and simple in her shirt dress and skinny jeans. I used to think rich people would always wear faux fur jackets and blings everywhere they go, but Newark proved me wrong. They knew the whole world knew they were rich, so they dressed like they didn't have to prove it. Even Allison, in all her pettiness and vainess wears skinny jeans and hoodies, but they cost more than a limb.

"Why?" I asked, staring at her face which was scrunched up in a frown. I couldn't help but wonder what Tuesdays did to her. Not like I liked Tuesdays myself. Well, in my defense I hated every day of the week except weekends.

"I share all my classes today with a group of people I happen to really hate." Her eyes filled with so much anger, and I felt like I knew who she was referring to. The look only appears in her eyes when there's a mention of the despicable five.

"Hawthorne and his friends?" She nodded, rolling her eyes before turning to face the mirror. Hold up! Maya and I have the same schedule, and that means I share all my classes with those five! Yay me....not.

"Why do you hate them so much? I mean, from what I've experienced with Carlson, he's not exactly a nice person, but you hate them way too much. Do you guys have like some past story?" I asked and she froze. She was trying to fix her hair into a ponytail, but her hands stopped half way. I didn't need any other confirmation.

"It's alright if you don't want to talk about it. I won't push." I reassured her, then decided to reduce the tension that was beginning to build up around us, "chop chop, if we don't get going now or we'll get late."

"I'm done." She finally secured her ponytail, and grabbed her bag. She trailed after me as we exited the room. On our way out, I saw mum at the dining table, so we took a quick detour.

"My darling girls. How are you?" She beamed when she sighted us. She hugged me like her life depended on it, and it made me really warm and fuzzy on the inside.

"Fine, mum. How are you? And where's dad? I didn't see him throughout yesterday." Maya complained. Actually, Maya is more of a daddy's girl than a mummy's girl. I still don't know where I stand, but I'm very much comfortable with this level of affection they were showering me with.

"You know your dad, Maya. He's always working, but he'll be around for dinner tonight. Girls, your dad told me to give you some money so you can go shopping for anything you might need." My ears perked up at the money part.

"We have more than enough clothes already, mum. Just save it for us, alright?" Maya dismissed and my eyes doubled the size of saucers. I debated between being respectable and agreeing with Maya or being myself and saying clothes are never enough. Myself won.

"Haha. Speak for yourself, Maya. Rule 101 of being a girl; Clothes are never enough." Mum laughed at that, and she nodded her head in approval.

"That was the exact same thing Allison said when I complained about her getting too much clothes. You and Allison are so alike." Say. What. Now? Ewww. Bleh. Yuck.

"Eww. No, we're not." I rejected it ASAP and Maya chuckled slightly beside me. Worry clouded mum's eyes and I knew I had blown it already. How would she feel if she realizes her biological daughter hates the guts of her favorite daughter.

"Are you guys not getting along? Oh my God. I've been such a horrible mum! I totally forgot to check on you and ask how your relationship has been with the girls. I just assumed you were getting along just fine, since I see you and Maya are always together." Yeah, because Maya isn't a conceited, self centered, inhumane bag of flesh.

"We are getting along, mum. We are getting along just fine. Don't beat yourself up about it. Gotta go now, see you." I quickly hugged her and placed a kiss on her cheeks. It always gets her distracted. It works every single time.

"Alright, darling. God be with you, my girls." She hugged us and bade us goodbye.

"I almost got busted right there." I sighed when I got into the car and Maya laughed while fastening the seat belt. Oh yes, the seat belt. Gotta fasten that.

"I was looking forward to hearing the kind of excuse you would give, but you were a no-show." I gave her my signature 'are-you-kidding-look' and she shrugged.

I was about to respond when my phone beeped. A large smile appeared on my face when I saw who texted. My Girl!

BFTID: GIRL!

Me: MY WOMAN! HOW I LONG TO SEE THY FACE AGAIN, DARLING ROSALINE.

BFTID: Oh, shut it. You totally frgt abt me.

A chuckle escaped me when I read the text. Trust Rosaline to complain about forgetting her even after spending two hours and thirty four seconds on the phone with her.

Me: Rosaline Waters, I fried my brain cells yesterday just because I put a phone close to my ear for almost 3 hrs, all becuz of you!

BFTID: The fact dt you feel so comfortable not seeing me and not talking to me every second doesn't sit well w me. I wouldn't av a prob w it if I could see you.

"Awww." I said out loud and got a weird look from Maya. I mouthed sorry and she shook her head, and focused her attention back to the road, where it is supposed to be so we don't crash and burn in this expensive vehicle.

Me: Myyyy! This love is overwhelming. I know you're obsessed with me and all, but tone it down a notch fam. Hopefully, I can gt my folks to allow me spend midterms at Hallow.

BFTID: 😍 That'll be the best news ever.

BFTID: I have to go now, babe. Mrs. Henshaw is around. Wink at the hot Hawthorne for me. Love ya.

I rolled my eyes at the adjective she used for Hawthorne but I wouldn't say she was lying. In fact, she was totally underestimating his gorgeousness, but I would never admit that out loud.

Me: Whatever. Keep an eye on Jordan, aii? If you see him getting too close to another girl, set her on fire. Keep our prized possession well guarded.

She didn't respond anymore, so I assumed her data was already off and she was now focusing on her class. I pocketed my phone and sighed, my thoughts going over everything in Halloway.

"Was that your boyfriend? Cause you have that longing look on your face, and you've been giggling non stop." Maya broke the silence and I snickered. Boyfriend my foot. I doubt my fate gives room for a relationship. Just when I was about to get the man of my dreams, my life toppled over.

"Boyfriend? I can't afford that luxury." I laughed and she shook her head at me, probably wondering when I hit my head.

"So all the guys at Halloway are blind? I mean, no one decided to chase you to the end of the earth just to have you?" How Maya just throws compliments here and there shocks me. I mean, I don't find it very easy to compliment people.

"Thank you, hun. Well,  I wouldn't say there are blind, but I'd say no one wants a smart mouth and that's my trademark. There was this one guy though, Jordan. I've always had a crush on him and we were supposed to go on our first date, but it didn't happen." I sighed sadly.

"Why? He bailed on you? Some men are animals! I know someone exactly like him. They make you feel all special, then at the end you realize they never actually wanted you." The venom that laced those words were so thick. Despicable five, definitely. I need to get to the bottom of this matter.

"No, Maya. He didn't bail on me. I bailed on him. That was the day mum and dad came to Halloway to break the news about my parenting." Her mouth formed an O, and her entire face turned red. I was going to ask her what happened when she killed the car engine. I looked around and realized we had arrived at school.

"Let's hurry. We have to get to our lockers before getting to class." She said and hurriedly got out of class. I knew she was just trying to get away from the embarrassing situation she got herself into. I didn't want to probe, so I decided to drop it and pretend like it never happened.

I carried my bag and got out so she could lock it. On our way inside, we were getting a lot more stares than we got yesterday and I knew it had to do with the slam update yesterday.

"You are slowly inching your way up to the top of the ladder, and that means you have more enemies than you could ever wish for." Maya sighed and I laughed. Nothing I can't handle.

We stopped by locker first and I noticed a little crowd had gathered. Was there some kind of show in me opening my locker, now? Come on Newark Academians.

I was punching in my code when I noticed a trail of dark liquid dripping from my locker. It looked like it was coming from inside and that made me punch in the code faster. What could be coming out of my locker?

The greatest mistake I made wasn't opening the locker, no it wasn't. The greatest mistake I made was standing so close to the locker when I was opening it, despite noticing that there was dark liquid coming out of it. Immediately I pulled the locker open, I was drenched from head to toe in warm dark liquid. Everyone erupted in laughter.

"Amari!" I beard Maya yell, and I slowly pried my eyes open even though it was starting to become sticky. I licked my lips and my eyes widened when I realized the dark liquid was chocolate. I almost laughed when the dots in my head started connecting.

"So the best thing Hawthorne could do was drench me in something I loved the most?" I asked no one in particular. I moved back from the locker and I slipped on the chocolate and fell forward. Fortunately, I didn't hit the ground but I hit my head on the locker.

"Ouuuuch." I yelled in pain and Maya quickly dragged me closer to her.  I couldn't even get too angry with Hawthorne because I was busy licking the chocolate off my fingers as Maya dragged me towards the restroom.

On our way, Maya stopped in her tracks and her grip on me tightened. I looked in the direction she was and I was met with the sight of Hawthorne and his friends. Our gaze met and he smirked. He had one hand in his pocket and the other hand was holding his phone towards his ear.  He must have been making a call, because he muttered something to the person on the other line then removed the phone from his ear.

"Hawthorne! This is really the best you could do?" I seethed and he shrugged, taking calculated steps towards me in a very classy manner that an ordinary person couldn't pull of. I never knew walking steps could get me so hazy upstairs until now.

"Look who we have here. All these chocolate goodness and you still don't look appealing." My eyes widened at the insult. Damn, that one struck me hard for sure. I tried to think of a come back but my brain was failing me.

"All these gorgeousness but I still wanna put a dent in your face." Come on, Amari. You are an idiot. My idiocy was confirmed when the idiot and his friends erupted in laughter. Maya shot me a harsh and disapproving glare.

"So you think I'm gorgeous? Well,  that's good to know. If it helps, I happen to think you are....not. I would love to stay and chat but I do not want to get stained. Either mentally or physically." He winked and walked off with his friends.

"I hate him! I hate him so much and I wish he would fall flat on his gorgeous face and break his nose." I growled, but I didn't hear any response from Maya. Her expression was set in stone and it got me worried.

"Are you mad at me, Maya?"

"No. No. It's not you. Don't worry about it. Let's get you cleaned up so we can get to class." She dismissed with a fake smile, but I could see through all of it. I would make sure we had this conversation during lunch.

I washed up at the ladies bathroom and changed into the gym clothes that Maya got me. There was no point keeping my clothes to be washed , so I trashed them. What a waste of fabric and chocolate.

We finally got to class, but we were ten minutes late. The teacher understood the situation so we didn't get detention. The man started talking and rambling on and on about vocations, groupings, projects, and other stuff that made me really hate school.

"The project for this year will be on food. You and your partner will be assigned a menu, and you have to make a live recording of you making the food, then you submit the video." Some people squealed excitedly, while some groaned. I was part of the latter.

"I'm excited for this." Maya squealed and clapped her hands lightly. I made a suicidal gesture to express my sadness at such stupid project. The only thing I can properly make in the kitchen is boiled egg, and there was a time I burnt it.

"So, I'll be dividing you all into groups, then we will talk about the project you will work on." The teacher said and I sighed. I could only hope I get paired with Maya as she is the only one I know in this class.

He kept rambling on name after name. Unfortunately, Maya got paired with someone called Jayden McCurtny. The last name sounded familiar, so I turned to Maya to ask, but I was taken aback by her blanched face.

"Hey, Maya. You look pale. What's wrong?"

"I'm being paired with one of those demonic human beings!" She whisper yelled and my mouth formed an O. My gaze went over to the group, but none of them were looking in our direction. Obviously the Jayden wasn't in any way bothered about being paired with Maya. The desire to know the whole story burnt me like fire.

"Can't you ask to be changed?" I asked and she shook her head dejectedly, telling me this teacher never allows regrouping or changing of partners.

"Miss Amaryllis, I'm afraid you don't have a partner, so you'll have to work alone. I'll try to give you a dish that can be handled alone." My eyes widened. I. Am. Supposed. To. Cook. Alone!

"I... Isn't there something that can be done? I don't know, maybe I could join another group and then we could be three." I suggested and the look he gave me told me that wasn't gonna happen.

"No. My decision is final." He snapped and I raised my hand in a mock surrender. No need to get all riled up man, cool down.

He went to his table and reached for a stack of papers which he referred to as the menu. I was so eager to know what kind of food would be assigned to me. He began to pass the paper around but he was interrupted by the principal.

Immediately he excused himself to go see her in private, the class turned into a marketplace. Everyone kept murmuring, and some tried to take a sneak peek at the the stack of papers. Maya, however, was sporting an angry look.

"Maya, I know I said I'm not going to pry and all, but this attitude of yours is disturbing. I don't like how angry you look." I said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"What did these people do to you? Why do you hate them so much?" I asked and tears sprang to her eyes, but she quickly wiped it away. My heart broke for her.

"I'll tell you ab...."

"Miranda Collins, go to the principal's now." The teacher interrupted Maya, and a blonde girl rushed out.

"Who is the partner of Miranda?" He asked and Carlson Hawthorne raised his hand with a bored expression on his face. At least we shared the same dislike for school.

"Miranda is no longer part of the project, so you can partner with Amaryllis Lexington. So, let's move on." Our gaze met and I was expecting him to sport the same shocked and disapproving look I was wearing, but instead he had a smug smirk on his face.

No way on earth I'm gonna cook anything with that dude without burning him alive and spending the rest of my life behind bars.

"Sir, I would like to work alone" I called out.

*****

I'm not a big fan of this chapter. I just wanted to get this part out so we could dive into some action between our two cuties.

Next chapter will be about Carlson and Amaryllis. I promise!

Love ❤