Minerva's POV
I followed Mother into the police station observing my surroundings. Police officers walked in and out of the building. I could hear her talk to an officer.
'Sathiya!' someone called a few steps away making Mother turn in that direction. It was Father. He stood elegantly with a grimace and watched Mother walk up to him, I followed closely behind.' Why are you here?'
Mother stuttered as she explained everything that had happened. ' We...It's been three days now and she hasn't returned' she concluded staring at her feet. His face expressed panic as much as he tried to hide it. ' What should I do?' Mother cried in a little voice and I felt bitter.
Where on earth is Diane? Is she okay or sick or lost? Mother was crying already and Father couldn't console her –as always he didn't do much. I hugged her and patted her on the back continuously. I guess it was because of his office and title in the Police Department; he has never been able to show his grief or happiness. He always had this expressionless face so couldn't tell if he was happy or displeased or sad.
' Where's Tessa?' he asked me still frowning.
' We left her with Aunt Kathy' I blurted before I could think. 'I mean....' I started again realizing I shouldn't have said that but it was too late. He gave me a deadly cold stare and I went silent.
Kathy was his younger sister with whom he was well displeased. Odd right?..... Siblings were supposed to love each other but that wasn't the case with Dad and his only sibling. I get offended by their story every single time I think about it so I tried to shrug it off.
'You all are birds of a feather!' he hollered breathing shakily. His eyes flickered and he moved closer to me—so close that I could feel his breath on my face. My grip tightened on Mother's arms and I shut my eyes almost immediately.
'Are you going to wash your dirty linen out here too?' Mother mellowed.
'It is me that I blame' he muttered retreating to his initial position. ' I'll come home tonight. Go back now' he announced and left us.
Mother sighed heavily looking like someone who just won a battle by chance.
******
Liam's POV
The practical class was going on well until the young lady walked in. Defiant brown eyes, dark glowing skin, and her dainty body.
I could smell her rose perfume from where I sat. She held her hair in a ponytail and clutched a big book to her chest, her strides were perfect—she could be a princess.
But then, she wouldn't be here if she was a princess.
' Athena!' a voice called excitedly. There wasn't a need to turn my head as I knew it was the Madam in charge of the class today.
Her eyes darted about—the new girl and suddenly a grin appeared on her face
' She's pretty I murmured to myself. I looked around the large hall and I realized no one else noticed the new girl except for Madam Cowell and me.
' Attention everyone!' Madam Cowell hit her fist on the table before her, holding unto Athena with the other. It seemed like her wrist would break. ' There's a new student here, she's the daughter of the .....'
' Ma'am!' the new girl exclaimed interrupting Madam Cowell. She grinned at her awkwardly with a slight bow. 'Athena Lucas. Please be good' she announced before the whole class with a smile.
I was sure of three things at that point. First, she is a town girl, secondly, she's an acquaintance of Madam Cowell and she has a secret about who she was.
But I was more concerned about the fact that she was a town girl. The village kids don't get along well with the town kids because some things were different about them. No one was interested in her, they all turned back to their practicals after her introduction. She was going to have a bit tough time.
She wasn't bothered by that I guess. I watched her as she stood elegantly beside Madam Cowell exploring the large hall filled with fashion schoolers.
' Sit with Liam' I heard Madam Cowell say dragging Athena towards me. Yeah, I was impressed with Madam Cowell's decision. I smiled and sat up immediately and soon she was there standing before me—the gorgeous Athena.
' Hi there Liam' she waved at me.
' Hi Athena' I waved back. She sat down and that was all.
What else should I say? What should I ask her? How can I become her friend? ...
These thoughts didn't let me concentrate till Madam Cowell's class ended.
****
Athena's POV
I've never been so pretentious all my life. I almost cried immediately after I sat down. It's hard to do this—alone. I didn't want to resume the town Academy; the nightmares might worsen so after a difficult persuasion, my parents agreed to allow me to attend the village school and not even as a VIP schooler but as a regular. I hoped relating with the other schoolers will make it easier to forget about the incident but Juno was right. The village kids don't like the town kids and I didn't pique their interest. But it doesn't matter anyway—my mission is a different story entirely. I hope it ends well.
' Athena' Liam called hitting his pen on the table. At least I piqued someone's interest and he is my seatmate. That's quite a relief.
I turned to him. 'It's rest period. Would you like to visit the kitchen?' he asked curiously.
What a nice seatmate—I thought.
It wouldn't be bad if I got to know him better. I smiled softly with a reassuring look.
And we left the hall together and it was quite a walk.
******
Liam's POV
' Is that pork meat?!' she exclaimed excitedly.
'Seems so.' I replied eager to know why she was excited. She seemed to be full of life than when we walked down to the kitchen.
' I'll take some' she announced. I watched her run towards the old market man. She conversed with him for a while then gestured at me to come closer.
'Can I get some money? I left my purse in the hall.' she muttered pitifully. Without thinking I handed over my purse to her and her smile returned to her face. 'Do you want some?'
'I don't eat pork' I blurted. She frowned disappointedly.
On our way back to the hall, she didn't say much too.
'You seem to like pork ' I started up since I was confused about what to talk about.
She chuckled.'I'm not allowed to eat it at home. So I jump at every opportunity to eat it when I'm not at home.'
'Oh...I see'
' I'll pay you back. Thank you.' she said.
Planning my day earlier, I didn't expect I'd meet a girl who's so obsessed with pork.
******
' How about you pay me back some other time.' I suggested. She won't think it's a good idea but I guess she had to agree with me. For the rest of the day, she was silent again and a shadow of herself. She looked scared and it worsened every hour. Soon, it was time to leave the school and I followed closely behind her when she left.
'Watch out!' I screamed, the car halted almost immediately. There she stood, so terrified —as white as paper. I could see tears well up in her eyes the moment she look up at me. She looked desperate and the tears fell to her cheeks and yeah I was amused. She wasn't even hit by the car and it was even her who was absent-minded.
'Are you ok?' I swallowed touching her face. Her skin didn't only glow, it was soft too. I caught the smell of her rose perfume again but I was soon stripped of my sense of smell as soon as she started crying.
Should I hug her?
Should I just stand there and do nothing?
Should I take her somewhere else?
' They hit her...I saw...' she managed under her breath and her eyes wandered worriedly. What does this mean? I couldn't understand what she meant but I shouldn't ask her to repeat it.
' It's ok. You're fine.' I consoled her as I gathered her into a warm embrace.
Juno's POV:
'Athena!'
'Juno?' she sounded confused.'How did you find me?' she asked surprised.
'I heard some schoolers talking about how a new fashion schooler almost got hit by a car. I knew that would be Athena Lucas so I came immediately' I explained. I now noticed the guy that was standing beside her.
I assessed him before talking to him. He had a broad face, too beautiful a face for a man. His eyelashes were long and it dazed me each time he blinked. He looked ruthlessly gentle; more like a quiet macho man. He stared at me too with a worried expression all over. He was tall and huge too I noticed as he stood up elegantly moving away from my sister. 'Juno Lucas' I offered him a hand.
He was hesitant. His dark eyes scrutinized me before he finally talked.' Liam Hemsworth' shook my hand calmly. He turned to my sister with a smile and then left.
'Let's go' I dragged Athena to her feet.