In the morning, Jack escorted Mia to work after dropping off Sophia and Emma at their school.
As the limousine went away, the other students in front of the entrance surrounded the two girls and almost drowned them in questions about the enormous limousine that took them there.
As they were entering the school, Sophia simply said it was because of her father's new job, avoiding saying anything about Mia Mills and her relationship with her father.
While Sophia and Emma were walking along the corridor, they crossed paths with Eliza Francis and her two friends, who immediately glued against the wall, avoiding Sophia's gaze, with her grinning and saying, "It is so nice when worms know their place, isn't it, Emma?"
"Yes, it sure is, Sophia! School was never this peaceful and fun, ever since the worms got suspended! No more bullying, no more kids crying in the corridors or the bathrooms because of all the bullying and beating…"
The Principal was talking to a teacher, and he faced the two girls as they were going to their classroom, Sophia said with a grin, "It also helps that our Principal learned his place as a figure of authority in this school instead of a paid lapdog to some rich parents!"
"Rich parents? You mean entitled grownups? Because rich parents don't put their kids in public schools! They prefer to have them in private schools, like where Miss Mia studied!"
The Principal cleared his throat, pretended not to hear the direct mockery, and turned to the teacher with whom he was talking and said, "You know, in my time, if I ever mocked one of my teachers or the Principal of my school and my parents found out, I would be grounded for days! Kids nowadays suffer from a severe case of lack of parenting!"
With the same grin, Sophia said, "Probably because in your time, teachers and Principals actually cared about their students' well-being instead of pretending not to see bullying and beating, even if it was done right in front of them! Don't you pretend to be innocent now, Principal! We all know what you did until a few days ago! I have no idea why you still dare to keep working here! If you were noble and honourable, you would have resigned by now!"
As both girls entered the classroom, the Principal glanced at them with his face red in anger, and the teacher excused himself and went to his classroom while trying to hold his laughter.
Inside, the students were already seated, and as soon as the teacher entered and closed the door, he started the class call.
Upon registering the names in his notebook, he got up and wrote a title on the blackboard. As he pointed at it, he said, "The Schools Sports Competition is going to start in a few days, and this year, as you are all aware, our school will be the host. I am hoping that the ones who want to participate are already training for the different events. I want to take a few minutes to talk about the events and to note down who wants to participate. I need to send the list of names to the Principal so that those students can be excused from gym classes to train. Or, if the gym teacher agrees, to change his classes to do more exercises related to the Competition. So, who wants to participate in the Athletics event? It is a relay race with obstacles, and a team of five students can join efforts."
Sophia and Emma immediately raised their hands, and so did a bunch of other students. The teacher let them choose amongst themselves who would be on that team, and then he moved on to the next event after noting down the names. "Now, the Dodgeball event. Again, a team of five."
Emma didn't move, and Sophia immediately raised her arm. Other students raised their arms as well, and the teacher waited for them to choose the team members.
After noting down the names, he smiled and said, "I am seeing a pattern here. For the Boxing event, only one person in this class can participate."
Sophia shrugged and said, while all the other students were smiling at her, "I guess it will be me, then. I will win that trophy for us, so I hope everyone else does the best they can in the other events so that we can win everything!"
The teacher wrote in his notebook while all the students were cheering and clapping for Sophia, and they all went silent when the teacher tapped his hand on his desk and said, "Humility is a virtue, Sophia. You can't assume you are going to win. A lot of schools are going to participate, and there will be many students for you to fight. The Boxing event will be divided by weight, but there is no gender division, so you might end up having to fight against boys. I think it is not fair, but a lot of girls in previous years demanded for that to happen."
Sophia cracked her knuckles and said, "Oh, I don't want any other way, teacher! I always loved to beat up boys! Fighting girls only would be boring! I want to fight entitled boys who think they can win easily because they are boys!"
"Well, usually, boys have more strength than girls, and that would mean you might end up getting hurt."
With a dismissive hand movement, Sophia continued, "I am not the tiniest bit worried about getting hurt! I often get hurt while sparring, and I don't cry or give up! Besides, I will be the one hurting everyone who dares to face me!"
With a mocking smile, Emma asked, "Didn't Miss Mia knock you out the last time you sparred with her? Didn't she hurt you a lot?"
"She knocked me out once! I knocked her out two times — almost three! And she was the one who ended up more hurt than me! She had to go to work today with a lot of makeup and sunglasses! I only have a swollen cheek and a split lip!"
With a slight frown, the teacher asked, "Who is Miss Mia? A grown-up woman?"
"She is my father's new boss. And his friend as well. She is okay, but she gets on my nerves, and every time I see her, I want to squeeze her neck! She is helping me train by being my brand-new punching bag! I guess I only need to train for the relay race with obstacles and the Dodgeball event. I kind of like the idea of using a ball to hit other kids! Sounds like fun!"
While the other students were laughing, the teacher rubbed his face and said, "You look like a nice kid, but you are too violent, Sophia. You should calm down and… I don't know, act more girly?"
"For what? To be a damsel in distress so that I needed to call a boy to save me? I prefer to be the one doing all the saving, thank you very much!"
The teacher noted down Sophia's name for the Boxing event and waited for all the laughing and clapping to end to begin his class.
When he was writing on the blackboard the subject for that day, Sophia whispered to her friend, "Why are you not going to participate in the Dodgeball event? It will be fun!"
"Thanks, but I will pass. I am not good at that. Every time we did it in gym class last year, I always got a ball in the face!"
"Oh! I can hit kids in the face with a ball? Nice! Maybe I can break a few noses or teeth!"
Emma slowly shook her head and whispered, "Sometimes, you worry me, Sophia…"
"Hehehe!"
Meanwhile, Jack Cross was in the elevator, going to the top floor with Mia Mills. The moment they entered her father's building, the receptionist lady told them that Mister Mills wanted to see them.
While the elevator was going up, Mia was silent, wondering why her father called for them so early in the morning. It couldn't be because she was going to change departments, so it would mean it was something related to the fundraising event.
When the elevator doors opened, Mia said as they walked along the long corridor, "I think he wants to see us because of the event or because of the push you gave to that paparazzi. I haven't checked the news yet, but we may have appeared in some magazines because of that."
"Should I be concerned?"
"I don't think so. You did that to protect me, and considering you are my bodyguard, what you did was expected. It could also be because of something entirely different, like Douglas ending up in the hospital because you knocked him out."
Jack Cross sighed, and when they reached the door that led to her father's office, he opened the door for Mia. She smiled and greeted the secretary, who immediately opened the next door for them, closing it as soon as Jack entered.
In there, Joseph Mills and his assistant were seated at his desk, and the moment they entered, Joseph Mills made an awkward smile and pointed to the two empty chairs in front of his desk as he said, "Please, have a seat. There is something I want to ask before we speak about what made me call you here."
Mia sat with a serious look on her face and said, "And good day to you too, father. So serious this early, it is probably about something that doesn't even concern me."
Joseph Mills took a couple of magazines from a pile on the left side of his desk, searched a few pages, placed the magazines in front of Mia, and said, "I am pretty sure this concerns you."
Jack peeked over Mia's shoulder and saw a picture of him pushing away the paparazzi, the one who fell when they arrived at the fundraising event.
On the other magazine was a picture of him and Mia arriving and a two-page article about the mysterious man who escorted the heir of the Mills Corporate, together with a few interviews with some people who attended the event.
Mia read for a while and then shrugged. "Some of them talked about the event when they left, and the reporters and paparazzi there asked a lot about Jack and me. So what?"
"What about the man he pushed away?"
"He blinded me with the flash from his camera, and Jack took him away from me. That man dared to go beyond the barrier, which was preventing him from getting near me, so he got what he deserved."
Joseph Mills pointed to the very end of that article, and Mia read aloud, "Some guests were surprised to see the young heir Mia Mills kissing her escort in the fundraising event, but no one knew who he was because he never attended any kind of social event or was ever seen next to Mia Mills." She then faced her father and said, "At least this part is accurate. So, what do you want to know? I kissed him, yes, and I am pretty sure your older brother also told you he saw that."
"He did. He even asked who Jack was, and I said I had never met him. What I don't know is why you kissed him. You wanted to shame me, or what?"
"Father, after what happened to me because of you and your business, I am way beyond that. I kissed Jack because I wanted to. I like him, and I am old enough not to need your authorization to kiss whoever I want. Or are you going to pull the rich father's card and say you won't allow us to be together? You can do that, and I can also walk out that door holding hands with my dear Jack, and you will never see me again. I recently found out I can do a lot of manual labour, and there is always work for people who want to work, just in case you thought I need your money."