After that episode with her parents, Alia can't help but feel weird.
She was feeling an onslaught of emotions, to the point of not knowing what happened afterwards.
When Alia recovered from it, she was already lying on her bed and just staring blankly at the ceiling. She can't even remember if she had finished eating her desserts!
She facepalmed. How can she still think about food when she should be thinking on how to act in front of her parents and brother tomorrow?
They never did such things in the past! Even when she was just a child, all they did was to bid goodbye and go back to work or whatever things that they're going to do.
What more, they've done such things in front of the maids! She wanted the earth to swallow her now.Even her brother had rubbed her hair while saying goodnight! Her twenty-four year old mind can't accept it, no matter how much she wanted their affection and care!
Alia fell asleep after an hour of planning like she's going to be fighting in a war.
---
Kriiiiiiiiinnnnnggg!
Kriiiiiiiiinnnnnggg!
Kriiiiiiiiinnnnnggg!
The youngest member of the Qins, turned around and reached out to stop the noise from the alarm clock, while her eyes were still closed.
But as soon as she had been able to shut the alarm off, she remembered something, so she suddenly sat up and rolled out of bed.
Actually, what Alia remembered was not something major. But her whole week will depend on it!
Today is Monday. And it's the first day of class for the week. She believed that when a person started a week with positive energy, then his or her whole week would be full of positive energy.
So, she had to prepare now, lest she arrive late at school.
She went into the bathroom and did her routines. Since she's tired from yesterday, she decided to skip her morning exercises for now. Besides, she was feeling exuberant about going to school than ever!
After she changed into her uniform, Alia got her bag and put her phone, wallet, and keys inside. She went down to the living room and left her bag on the sofa before she proceeded into the kitchen.
Her brother was already seated and waiting for her.
Aiden heard a footsteps coming this way so he looked up. He saw Lia walking towards the dining table and greeted her, "Good morning Lia."
"Good morning brother."
Alia looked around, it seems that their parents have already left.
Her action was noticed by her brother so he informed Alia, " Mom and Dad have already gone into the office. They'll be staying at the condo afterwards."
Alia nodded. She knew that it was likely the case, but she still felt a bit sad.
She immediately straightened her face after noticing that she was frowning. Alia doesn't want her brother to worry. Besides, she shouldn't have expected them to change their lifestyle because of her.
Alia wasn't that kind of person. She knew that they were working hard because of their children and secondly, because the company had become what it is today due to her parents sweat and blood. It is justifiable that they would still work hard for the company until now, despite it continuing to grow and expand more and more. It was her parents first child. The company has existed for almost twenty-five years now, which was even older than her brother.
As she sat down, the maids that were in charge of bringing food on the table started putting down several different dishes.
Lia's eyes bulged with shock. Why are there many foods? It's just her and her older brother. It's not as if they can both finish eating it all!
She kept quiet, but when the plates with different dishes reached number seven, she couldn't help but call her brother's attention. Lia can't help but asked–
"Brother? Why are there so many foods? Isn't this a bit wasteful?"
Aiden looked at her and explained, "Don't worry Lia, the maids and butlers can eat those later and you can bring a lunchbox for you to eat later at school."
Alia nodded and smiled cheerfully. She doesn't want to waste such expensive foods. They're wealth won't be affected by its prices, yes, but for her, wasting food isn't an appropriate thing to do.
After she finished eating her meal, Alia chose a dish for her lunch at school.
At exactly seven, the Qin siblings are both ready to go to their respective destination. Aiden decided that Lia will ride with his car.
After fifteen minutes, they arrive at Northern Star High School. A famous high school in town. This was where Aiden also graduated in high school. This school houses more than half elite teens in town.
In short, there's a lot of snob and bratty teens studying here. Only a few don't put airs on. And she had previously thought that her ex- best friend and fiance were in that category.
But not anymore. She'd realized that they're both in the 'great pretenders' group of people, and cannot be trusted by her.
She won't be fooled by them ever again! She won't let them succeed this time!
She bid farewell to her brother and instructed the driver to take care when driving. Then walked towards the school gate.
There's only a few students now, compared to how many students it would turn later.
Since it's still a bit early, Alia easily arrived at her classroom. More than half of their class was already there. Class Scion was known for this reputation. Nobody in Scion was late ever. Absent, yes, but whenever that happened, there was an acceptable reason. And since their school is giving the assigned class lessons and school works online, no one is really left behind when it comes to studies. Socially, of course, it all depended on your connections.
In the past, Kara, her supposedly nice and caring best friend, always told her about every news and gossip, especially everything about Alex, whether Alia was absent or not.
That was exactly the reason why she believed that Alex was a nice person. It was too late when she realized otherwise.
Alia sighed and shook her head, then she focused her attention on reading her book. She shouldn't think about those two. People like them are not worth anything for her to bother.
When quarter to eight arrived, their homeroom teacher entered their classroom, and began calling their names for attendance.
In reality, their teacher didn't have to call their names, by just looking at their sitting arrangement, she can easily see who was absent. But Miss Amira doesn't want her students to start their day with being inattentive and lazy. She believes that starting their day with calling names for attendance will help the students' mind to be attentive and active for the day.
Everyone was quiet as she called them one by one. Alia had to wait for a while for her to be called since her last name started with Q.
"Santiago?"
"Present!"
"Qin?"
Alia raised her hands as she said, "Present!"
And finally, all twenty-six last names were all called and their English class started. After an hour, their teacher changed. It was time for Mr. Alonzo's Math class. And just like that, the students' attitudes changed too. From sitting straight to bending their backs, as if to hide from their teacher, their calm faces turned gloomy, as if their life was doomed.
Well, no one can really blame them. Their Mathematics teacher was known for being a strict and terror teacher.
You will be punished by writing five copies of Math Theory definitions and explanations when he caught that you aren't listening. And, by saying writing, it really means to write with pen and paper. You can't even let others help you because he will know. You can't hide such a trick from Mr. Alonzo.
After another hour, which was full of tension and trepidation, their math class finally ended.
Their third class is Physics. Many girls are happy because of this. Alia always felt like her eardrums were going to explode from their squealing.
She had to admit, this teacher was indeed handsome. He could've been an actor for his looks– sculpture like chin, an expressive apricot colored eyes, pointed nose, sword-like brows, and fair skin. Added to that fact, he's not into a relationship, so many girls in their school got a crush on him. Mr. Samora was a nice person too. He treats every student with fairness, so even if some students don't have a crush on him,especially the boy students population, they still admire him for that reason.
Mr. Samora was also a patient teacher. He will teach a lesson one more time, if some didn't get the topic of the day. So, even if Physics is one of the most difficult subjects for some of them, the class hour for it still feels like a breeze for them.
----
After Physics, there are two more subjects before lunch. So as a result, as soon as they finished copying their homeworks, everyone in Scion headed for the school cafeteria or wherever they planned to eat their lunch.
Alia walked with Amiel, one of the two close friends she had in their class. Their other friend, Azra, had to help their last morning classes teacher, so she's just going to follow them later.
When they arrived at the cafeteria, Alia chose the farthest table for them to sit while Amiel ordered her and Azra's food.
As Alia and Amiel were about to eat, someone called Alia's name.
And guess who?
It's Kara!
Alia's face gloomed. She can't help but remember the pain she felt when Kara betrayed her. Alia doesn't want to face her soon, but she has no choice now. She can't avoid her because Kara called her name loudly, so everyone who knew her that was sitting near them likely heard her.
Alia turned around and showed a small smile, "Hey Kara."
Kara, who didn't notice Alia's expression, beamed and said, " Guess what! Alex will be coming to our house on Saturday to practice with my brother. You have to come too!"
Alia frowned, then remembered who was in front of her, so she changed it quickly with a smile and asked with fake enthusiasm, "Really?"
Then she quickly followed it with, " But…. I can't go to your house on Saturday."
Her expression and tone were both filled with sadness, that it really looked real.
Kara asked Alia's reason with a pout on her face, "Why? Don't you want to see Alex?"
"It's not that…. I already promised my parents that I will stay home on Saturday." Alia replied while slyly avoiding to say the exact answer to Kara's second question.
"Oh…. Did aunt and uncle punish you?"