Mia woke up early the following morning after her short conversation with Neil Wayner the previous night. She had messaged him in order to ask him some personal questions for the story she was working on about him. However, after he responded with a message about the importance of caring for others rather than receiving thanks, she hadn't been able to ask anything else.
Neil Wayner, she thought with a faint smile, was a man with a golden heart. He was everything she wanted in a man even though she had never met him. Nonetheless, she wasn't going to give up easily and would continue trying to secure an interview with him someday. She had been thrilled that he had replied to her messages the previous night and would have kept talking to him as long as he responded, but she was interrupted by a call from Rayne.
Rayne had called reminding her about the childhood photo she was to submit to Carlos for the school event. Thinking about the event only made her feel anxious, she had even wanted to withdraw her participation as she had no dress and knew the students wouldn't vote for her to be the school queen. However, the prize for the winner was something she needed to assist her mother. It was worth trying her best for, she would probably have to find a job that would pay her enough money to secure the price for a dress.
After what happened the last time, playing guitar was out of the option to earn money, she would need to think of another way. But first, she needed to finish with her assignments and get it done with, that was if Mr. Ice cube had gotten back from his four days vacation. He was such an irresponsible man, how she wished she could say that to his cold face the next time he looked down on her with those beautiful gray eyes.
Mia retrieved the photo album to find one of her childhood pictures, she sat on the edge of her bed. She carefully removed a photo from its frame and ran her fingers across it. It was a picture of her younger self taken on the first day they moved to Whispering Way Street, she was wearing a pink dress with her curly brown hair cascading down her little shoulders. It was one of her favorite childhood photos.
"I hope that gossip monger, Carlos will return the photo to me." She murmured to herself as she put the picture inside her jeans pocket with so much care.
She didn't have any other photos of her childhood taken before they moved to Whispering way street, her mother had said they lost them in a fire that took place in their last residence. Sometimes she wondered why she didn't have the memories of their life in that other place they lived in before moving here. But then, perhaps she was too young to remember their life before moving here.
Mia's thought were soon interrupted by a soft knock on her door. Owen's voice followed, asking, "Can I come in?"
He rarely knocked or asked for permission before entering her room, but after their little disagreement a few days ago, he seemed to be cautious. They hadn't even spoken much after that day, and she was starting to already feel guilty.
Mia nodded, granting him permission to enter. She knew Owen was only worried for her well being. He didn't want her to be like the other girls in whispering way street.
Owen approached the bed and sat beside her. "Hey," he began cautiously, "Are you still mad at me for being worried about your safety the other day?" He asked.
Mia looked at him, hesitated for a moment, then laughed, "No, Owen. I can't stay mad at you for that long. You're my best pal!" She hugged his arm and looked up at him.
A warm smile softened Owen's handsome features, and Mia couldn't help but notice the spark in his blue eyes. Apart from her mother, he was the next most important person to her. He had lost his mother at a young age and lived alone with his drunked father in the next door apartment. However, her mother had taken him like her own son and welcomed him into their home like one of them. He was more like a brother than a friend to her. Mia thought, unaware of the other person's heart.
Seizing the opportunity of having her complete attention, Owen asked, "How about we go out on Saturday? Are you free?"
Though he had loved her for years, he had no courage to tell her that because of how she treated him like a brother. However, he wanted to set it straight and let her know that he loved her not in a sibling relationship way, but in another way and he was ready to upgrade their relationship.
Oblivious to his intention for a date, Mia replied, "I'm not going anywhere on saturday."
"Good, I will take you out on Saturday then." he smiled.
Mia grinned, "Of course, but only if you're paying for everything."
Laughter filled the room as they both laughed.
Arriving at school, Mia was greeted by Rayne who was grinning from ear to ear. She approached Mia and said, "Carlos is doing a good job at getting you voters in the other faculties. Did you bring the photo I reminded you of last night?" She asked. Carlos wanted the childhood photo to prove to the voters that Mia hadn't done any surgery to her appearance and her beauty was natural.
Mia nodded, "Yep. I don't know why you seemed to be more excited about the event than I am. You should have participated instead of putting my name."
Rayne rolled her eyes at her friend, "I wouldn't stand a chance in hell if I participated, who wants a girl with freckles and red hair. But look at you, even without any makeup and flashy dress, you still look stunning. So I think you are a much better candidate than I am, besides your victory is also mine." Rayne remarked sincerely as they walked into the school hall.
"Oh come on, Rayne, you talk as if your freckles are something bad. You, my friend, are a living doll with those large green eyes of yours." Mia pinched her friend's cheek and they both giggled.
Despite Rayne's influential family background, she never once looked down on Mia like the rest of the students, the two had clicked the first time they met at the school registry. However, Rayne was the kind to always downgrade her own appearance because of her freckles and red hair, which Mia found beautiful.
"We have a voice training class today, we should hurry." Rayne declared as she pulled Mia's hand.
However, as the pair walked towards the voice training room, they came across Alaric along with his three friends exiting the hall. They were all talking among themselves but when they noticed Mia and Rayne, they stopped.
"Oh, look who's here. Miss plain jane of the university and her carrot top bestie." Remarked one of the boys with a smug expression.
While Mia wanted to ignore his remarks and walk away, Alaric stepped forward and grabbed her arm roughly. "Where do you think you are going, bitch?" He grinned darkly, "Don't think I've forgotten how you embarrassed me days ago in class. You think I will let you off after such a thing, you must have taken me for a fool."
Mia frowned upon his words. She wasn't the one who sent him out of the class. She had even forgotten about the event until now. But it seemed his pride had been hurt by being chased out while she was allowed into the class. Considering how they all think of her as a nobody, he must have taken it to heart.
"Let go off my arm." She tried to pull her arm away from his hold, but he only tightened his grip. "Not a chance. I have a score to settle with you in the store room." He said and began to pull her away from the hall and towards the Janitor's break room.
"Let go off her, Alaric." Rayne tried to interfere, but his friends stepped forward and pulled her back. "Stay out of this carrot top."
Knowing Alaric's reputation in school for making out with girls in the Janitor's break room, Mia began to resist. He was a spoiled young brat, who thinks he could do as he pleases in school without being punished by anyone. There was once a time he raped a girl, but when the girl reported, he claimed it wasn't a rape because she gave herself willingly to him. And the school counselor believed him and expelled the girl for accusing a man of rape.
However, Mia wasn't that girl. She twisted his arms the way she was taught in the martial arts class, and jabbed her elbow against his stomach. He cursed under his breath and released her quickly, but before Mia could run away, he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back.
"Bitch! I will teach you a lesson for that!" He raised his hand and landed a slap on her cheek. Mia fell to the ground from the force of his slap. She felt her right cheek burned. And when he grabbed her hair again and pulled her up, the photo in her pocket fell to the ground without her notice.
With her right ear ringing from the impact of his slap, Mia closed her eyes when she saw him raise his hand. But this time, before he could land the slap on her cheek, a voice boomed in the hallway.
"Slap her one more time and I swear I will make that hand of yours useless for the rest of you life, Blackwood." Came Neil's nonchalant voice from the other side of the hallway, where he had just gotten out from the corner of the hallway only to find the boy he had been dying to lay hands on after that day, slap a girl.
At first, he had wanted to pass and ignore what was happening, as he had something important to do in the counselor's office, who had fallen as one of the biggest suspects to his mission to uncover the man helping in shipping the bombs. But when he noticed the girl who'd been slapped, for some reasons he couldn't ignore it. Not to mention he could tell why the damn boy had confronted the girl.
"Release her hair." Neil warned calmly as he noticed the girl grimace slightly.
Alaric tightened his grip on Mia's hair and glanced at the professor, "What the fuck are you going to do if I don't release her? You are just a damn professor with no class, you have no idea what my father's wealth could do to you. If you know what is good for you, turn away and pretend you didn't see anything."
Neil's temper flared like a storm as he took four purposeful strides toward Alaric. Without hesitation, he seized the hand entangled in Mia's hair and twisted it in the opposite direction. A cracking sound was heard along with Alaric's grunt.
Satisfaction filled Neil as his fist met Alaric's nose with a resounding crunch. "I will teach you the discipline you lack from home," Neil declared, his tone unwavering. Despite the boy's broken arm, Neil didn't release him. He gave him the beating given to the disrespectful new recruits in the army.
As Alaric crumpled under the force of Neil's blows, the others holding Rayne quickly released her, and without doing anything to help their friend, they scrambled away from the empty halls.
"You fucker! I will make sure you lose your job!" Alaric cried out immediately he was released from Neil's mercy. However, he didn't stay for a moment and ran away clutching his broken arm and bleeding nose.
Turning to the girl on the ground, Neil found her gazing up at him with an unreadable expression. His eyes briefly fixated on her reddened cheek, and a flicker of darkness passed through his gaze. "Go and apply ice to it," he advised coldly.
Mia, who was still immobilized by the fact that she had been saved by her Ice cube professor once again, nodded. She hadn't expected him to come to her rescue, again. it almost seemed like he was her guardian angel. First, it was on the rooftop where everyone thought she was going to kill herself. Second, it was the night she almost got raped, and now.
Rayne hurriedly helped Mia up and they left the hall while thanking the professor, who didn't even acknowledge their gratitude but stared blankly at them until they disappeared into the corner.
After the pair left, Neil was also about to walk away to get back to his own business. But his eyes caught a glimpse of something on the ground—the photo that had fallen from Mia's pocket. His usual cold and blank expression transformed into disbelief as he picked up the image of a dimpled little girl in a pink dress.
"Mimi..." He murmured to himself, stunned.