Mia winced as the ice pack met her burning cheek, her eyes clouded with sadness as she faced Carlos and Rayne. "I don't know how i lost the photo," she confessed, her voice filled with regret. That photo was her favorite one and was the only one taken when they first moved to whispering way street. She had even gone back to check the hallway where she had been confronted by Alaric, but the photograph wasn't there.
Carlos, who had just come to ask of the childhood photograph he needed to put up in the school newspapers along with Mia's other photos he'd taken, looked displeased at the knowledge that she had lost the photo. He pulled his oversize glasses up his nose. Clutching his camera tightly out of habit, he said, "Mia, you're falling behind in the voting. Diane is getting more votes. We need to win this. I hate being on the losing team, and I'd like to remind you that we have only one month before the event."
Rayne jumped to her friend's defense. "Carlos, lay off. Nagging Mia won't magically bring back the lost photograph. Let's focus on winning in a positive way. You can put her up in the school newspapers without the childhood photo, you've taken quite a lot of her photos already."
Carlos sighed as he put his hands on his hips. He had chosen Mia because he knew what beauty and intelligent was when he saw one, and that was all that was needed for a person to win the crown on the day. He had willingly volunteered to be her photographer and voting coordinator because he believed she deserves it more than Diane. Besides, he wasn't doing it because of Mia Harrison, he was doing it for himself. Her victory meant his as well, and he didn't want anything to ruin his hard work.
Carlos was about to speak again but he finally noticed Mia's reddened cheek and gasped in surprise. "What happened to your face?" He asked, but before Mia could speak, he raised his camera preparing to click a photo,"I could turn this into headlines in the school newspapers, you know, make some drama out of it."
Rayne glared at him as she stepped forward and blocked Mia from his camera, daring him to try. "Don't you dare, Carlos. Mia doesn't need your drama. Just focus on the competition and mind your business."
He scoffed, "Her business is obviously my business now, so step aside so I can click my photo."
"I'd like to see you click the photo, I will break that camera if you dare."
As the two continued to argue, a freshman student approached Mia. "Hey, Mia, you're being called into Mr. Bennett's office," he informed her and left before she could question him as he didn't want anything to do with the most hated student in Ivy Grove.
Mia didn't bother herself with the student as she was already used to most of them ignoring her presence. However, knowing that Mr. Bennett must be calling her for her story project, she left Rayne and Carlos to continue arguing and headed to block 29. On her way, she recalled how he had come to her rescue in the morning, and she felt her heart warm up at the fact that he was like her guardian angel sent from the heavens.
She knocked on his office door, Mr. Bennett's deep voice resonated from within the office, "Come in."
Entering the office, Mia found him seated behind his desk, but this time, he wasn't busy typing on his computer like he usually did whenever she came to his office. Instead, his gray eyes fixed on her the moment she stepped inside. His expression betrayed none of his emotions as usual; he appeared nonchalant yet undeniably handsome. She couldn't help but notice the black high-necked long-sleeved shirt he wore, concealing his tattoos. The shirt clung to his torso, revealing the contours of his abs and toned arms.
His unfazed deep husky voice suddenly broke the silence, "If you've had enough of staring at me, Harrison, you can sit down."
A blush crept onto Mia's face at the fact that she had been caught staring at him longer than she should. Quickly taking a seat opposite him, she tried to conceal her embarrassment by saying, "You called for me, Mr. Bennett? Oh, yeah, about my story. I have a deadline, you can't keep delaying it, my scholarship is at stake. And I hope we will finish with it today, I can't..." She continued to blabber to hide her embarrassment.
However, Neil just quietly watched the girl before him, he could barely hear the rest of the words she was blabbering. Now that he looked at her closely, she still looked so much like her younger self. Those large brown eyes and two cute dents on both cheeks, not to mention those plump lips that doesn't know when to shut up when she was little. And just like then, she still blabbers to hide her feelings. He didn't know how he missed all those details when he first met her. But then, he wasn't the same as the boy he once was, it was only natural he didn't give a damn and didn't notice her resemblance to the girl his younger self once liked.
Neil's gray eyes briefly lingered on her slightly reddened cheek, where she'd been hit. He noticed it wasn't as red as it was before. He then glanced at her large brown eyes one last time, a moment that felt like an eternity before he diverted his attention and cleared his throat and said,
"You don't have to publish that story you presented to me a few days ago, it might gain you recognition, but it will put you in harm's way."
Mia frowned deeply, "Then what will I do now? That was my only hope at getting a good mark. We have just a few more months to finish this semester, it's already too late for me to work on another story." She said dejectedly.
"I didn't say I won't give you a mark, I just said you don't have to publish it to the world." Neil reassured calmly as he began to type something on his computer, but then stopped and glanced at her, "You told me the other time that Miss beauty without brains stole the story she published from you, was that true?" He asked, not caring to amend the way he'd addressed Diane.
Mia suppressed the laughter that threatened to roar out of her throat at how he'd addressed Diane, who believed she'd marked him as her man. If it wasn't for his serious gray eyes staring at her with so much intensity that sent cold shivers down her spine, Mia would have thought he sounded funny and would have probably laughed, but she cleared her throat and nodded her head, "Yes. I was the one who got that information."
"How did you find the information?" He asked, with his eyes staring straigth into her eyes as if to detect if she would lie to him.
Mia would have thought he looked creepy and dangerous if he hadn't been the first person-oh, second person, including Rayne, who seemed to believe she was actually the one who got the information. She explained to him how she had followed the man in a suit to the alleyway and warehouse. She also told him how she eavesdropped on their conversation.
Neil's eyes narrowed dangerously, "You must be insane, young lady!" He exclaimed In a harsh whispered tone.
Mia was taken aback by his sudden rage. "What? I_"
"Do you have any idea what they would have done to you if they knew you followed him and eavesdropped on their conversation?" He demanded coolly, and without waiting for her reply, he answered, "They would have torn you into tiny little pieces. You wouldn't even have the chance to feel the pain of your death, you would be gone in a second."
Mia knew she had risked her life by following that man, but she had done it because of her desperation to get a good story to secure her future, she hadn't even thought about the risks and the "what if" she had been caught. However, she still didn't regret going after him because she had unknowingly saved the life of the people who would have been bombed in that port.
"I will do it all over again if I live that day again. I don't regret it, the only regret I have now is trusting Diane with the information." She remarked honestly.
Neil found himself at a loss for words for the first time. He had never known any girl like this one before him. He had thought her to be an irresponsible student, but it turned out among all the ones he'd known in this school, she was the most responsible and the most foolishly brave person he'd come to know. And he couldn't help his sudden amusement.
He leaned back against his chair and asked the question that was expected of him to ask the girl who got the information, "Would you recognize any of the men if you see them again?"
Mia didn't think much about his question, or try to wonder why he seemed so interested in the information, she answered, "I might recognize the one in a suit if I see him again. Oh yeah, and the one they addressed as their boss, he had a scar that ran down his face like this." She used her finger to draw a line from her brow to her lip. It was a face she would recognize anywhere with such sinister scar. She then continued to describe what she remembered of the man.
Neil tapped his fingers on his lap, he was quiet for awhile before he said, "Never let anyone know you were the one who got the information, let that girl take the credit for it." He advised. Da Kroll men are probably keeping a close watch on Diane by now, one wrong move would cause her death. If Mia continued to claim the story as hers, it would bring her no good but harm, and since Miss beauty with no brains had decided to steal something that wasn't hers, it was only fair to let her face the consequences of it in the future. It was just like the saying; you will reap what you sow.