They didn't eat in silence, they never eat in silence. Xavier wasn't drinking out of Isabell's glass. Isabell wasn't taking the pieces of meat from Xavier's plate and they were definitely not fighting a bloody war from words. Something didn't seem well and Lowren just seemed to notice it as she asked "Did you guys get into another fight today?" They didn't move their lips to respond to their mother "I'm asking something" She said raising her voice a little this time
"No" Xavier slipped a word out
"No, Mom. I just don't have the energy to fight with any monkey today" Isabell explained with the usual annoying tune
"Did something happen?" Lowren asked serving her a meatball "I just had a bad day" The irritated Xavier looked a little concerned as he stopped munching on his favorite dish and started to gaze at her. Isabell usually shrugged off those types of fights easily and that was the reason why Xavier looked worried for her
"Is everything alright, Bella?" Lowren asked, her voice still low "Yeah, Mom but It's nothing to worry about, I'm okay" She said stuffing her mouth with everything left on the plate "But, Bella y—"
"I'll go back to my room, Mom. I need to work on some tasks" She breath out "And I am okay" Isabell stood up from her chair and just like that she ditched the question from her mother "Okay" Lowren said after a pause and her face was still anxious "Remember to rest as well" Isabell nodded a yes, nit really agreeing and headed straight to her room. Xavier's eyes stayed concerned
----
A knock followed the opening of the door of Isabell's room, she lifted her buried head from the pillow
"Izzy, Can we talk?" Xavier asked with a dramatically decreased voice "No," she said exactly one word before going onto the pillow again "Izzy, come on," He said, she ignored him for some moments but Xavier didn't seem to have any plans of going back, Isabell sat up on her bed. Her was face still annoyed and Xavier abruptly took the chair seating in front of her
"What do you need?" She sounded exactly like her expressions, "I need nothing, Izzy," he said, passing a smile to her. Fakest of the fakesmiles "Then why are you in my room?" She asked leaning towards the table and she grabbed her phone telling him I don't want to talkto you "I- I just want to say sorry about being rude today. I never intended of hurting you but I think my words were harsh" Xavier turned his lips into a bout
"Zavy"
"Izzy, I know you're always concerned about me but maybe I'm one minute younger than you that's why I'm like this. You are supposed to ignore the mistakes of your younger sibling, Sister" Xavier sighed heavily, audibly, and loudly
"Xavier" she called his name again but that didn't stop him "I'm sorry I never wanted to be a bad brother to you" his brown eyes were at the edge of shedding tears "I will try, try to be better, and—"
"Xavier freaking Harrington, what the hell do you need from me?" She tightens her grip on a corner of her pillow. Hurling it forcefully at her brother putting every ounce of strength inside her aiming for a severe result. "Iz–" Xavier tossed the pillow just launched towards him and it fell to the ground "--zy, what do you mean by that? I don't need anything, I'm just tel—"
"Oh Come on, brother, it's literally your signature sign for asking for things and I ain't a fool, Crackhead" She flung her cell phone at a corner of the bed getting irritated as always "No, Izzy it's not l-" she cut in, again
"Oh I get it, you're planning on sneaking out tonight and you want me to convince Mom if she finds out so that she won't beat the living hell out of you, right?" Her face filled with frustration "You deserve to be my sister, you are so smart" A corner of his lip stretched into a smirk, all the apologetic expressions were gone and Isabell rolled her eyes at him again and again until she closed them hissing loudly
"I'm not going to do it for you" She moved her head to sides in disagreement "You know you are the best sister in the entire world" Xavier leaned forward holding Isabell's hands, he continued with a grin on his face "I'm grateful to have you as my sister. Your kindness and support mean a lot to me" Isabell puked in a reply to him "Shut up and get the hell out of here" She tossed Xavier's hand "This world hasn't seen someone so precious, so admirable–"
"Shut up, Zavy or you gonna leave my room with a broken nos–"
"I love you, sister. More than the star combined, more than the droplets of water in the ocean–"
"I got a gun under my bed," She threatened "That won't be a problem. It would be an honor to get shot by such pretty hands and—"
"Okay" she inhaled deeply "Okay, Zavy. I will do that" She exhaled anger "What's the deal, pretty sister?" Of course, it has to do with give and take when it comes to these twins helping one other
"Gimme my Joel back" She drew breath in, Xavier threw a trying-to-be confused expression at her
"Yes, Sissy?" He asked "Give me my stuffed toy back. I know why the hell is he missing since morning, You dumbass" she ground her teeth "Aw, Sissy" his lips pouted again "Give him back" Isabell extended her hand toward Xavier with her palm facing upwards
"Coming right up, dear sister" He jumped out of the chair rushing to the living room and in exactly five seconds Xavier appeared back on the chair presenting her favorite stuffed toy back to Isabell "Here you go," He said holding Joel in both of his hands and bending his head
"I hate you so much" She rolled her eyes "I love you too, sister" Xavier stood up taking her normal response as a yes
"But you know the thing right?" Isabell asked and it was now her time to smirk at her brother "Yeah, i do- Sending you a picture according to whatever postures you ask within one minute of your message" He frowned again "Good boy, you're free to go" She pressed her lips together holding back the laughter
"Please be kind this time my friends still laugh at me about what you did last time" His face hung down
"What did I do last time, dear brother?" Isabell was already laughing
"You made me put my head in a dustbin and asked me to bark like a dog, IzyDamnWizy" One more chuckle and she couldn't stop cracking up or start breathing and both anymore. "Perfect as always" She blinked her eyes, trying to seal the laughter to mock Xavier
"I hate you," he said cringing feeling moving over him "I love you too, brother" The seal went off her lips causing her laughter to echo around the room as Xavier left her room smashing the door "I hate you, IzyWizy" he yelled from outside
----
Morning rose with a soft breeze, portraying the sky in shades of pink and orange. Dew shimmered on the edges of green grass.
The Law Building has a formal entrance, an ironic status of Themis placed in the center of a floor embellished with an elaborate design. The courtrooms are used only for the mock trials that were famous for sucking the soul out of student's bodies. Along the building's boundaries, law libraries and professor offices contribute to the scholarly atmosphere.
"You fine?" Ashley screamed as she located Isabell staring at Themis. Isabell turned around at the high-pitched voice of Ashley "I'm Living" She replied staring again at the statue "Time for the class," Said the one they keep to tell them the time; Steve said placing a hand over Isabell's shoulder and she replied with a nod and they started to walk to the class "Better than yesterday?" Steve asked "You can say that" She replied nodding again
"Happy to hear" Steve's grip tightened over her shoulder, brushing the sides of her hair. Isabell stopped walking, causing the other two to have a brake too
"He won't remember me right?" Isabell asked and Steve dragged her to get on steps again and they continued stepping
"No way" Ashley sounded almost sure but almost "Except for the graceful hazel hair, that unforgettable mole on your chin, and the crazy voice or maybe clumsy habits of yours. Everything else about you is definitely not rememberable" Ashley replied making Isabell's feet stop walking again "She is already scared and you're making her more nervous, Ash" The words were in the sound of Steve. Isabell nodded under his arm again, agreeing with him "I'm just kidding, Babe. Nothing gonna happen" She replaced Steve's hand and Isabell nodded one more time "Nothing gonna happen"
Five minutes into the class Sebastian was here already. As soon as he entered the class, everyone held their breaths in, terrified, scared, frightened and every word for scare was visible on their faces "Good Morning" He conveyed a cold greeting. The class showed no signs of life. Ashley told Isabell about how Sebastian insulted a girl for not knowing the answer to a question from final year exams; that they probably hadn't learned yet. He made the girl cry and there was no way he was going to end class without tears today. Isabell sat right in front of him, it wasn't a choice. Even though Isabell wanted to do everything in her power to ignore any interaction with this strange Sebastian she had to sit right in front of him because since the first day center front belonged to her Isabell gazed over him with anxious eyes. There is no way he remembers me from yesterday. He doesn't have a photographic memory or something, right? He has something- like a little bit something normal, right?
She asked herself but the both of them never knew the answer and they stayed in hush
"I'm going to get easy on you guys today" he announced getting some relieved breaths in return "But before starting the lecture I'm going to ask some questions from yesterday's class" The relieved breaths went back stuck into their lungs.
Isabell avoided any type of gesture that could possibly make her visible to Sebastian
She wasn't even making eye contact not even breathing when he pointed a finger at her "You" Without even a consideration, her eyes met his. Isabell didn't know he was speaking to her so she wasn't expecting herself to give him a reply but for an odd reason she never stopped looking at those deep black eyes maybe she thought she is looking at The Knight: the most anticipated interaction of her life
"I'm talking to you" This isn't me at all like why would it be me? Could it be? No? Yes? Something?
Sebastian's gaze narrowed, his jaw tensed over the way he had just ignored Isabell, twice
"I'm talking to you, Latecomer" he remembers and he is talking to Isabell
as soon as she realized it, she left the seat and stood up with unstable legs "Ye- yes, Sir" he isn't even the teacher but a three-year older guy who happened to have the luck of becoming an assistant professor at this young age but because of the rules, I haveto call him sir but wait! Wait! This isn't freaking important now!
"What legal principles and precedents support the concept of 'reasonable expectation of privacy' in the context of Fourth Amendment rights?" he threw the question at her while knowing she probably didn't know the answer. Isabell paused for a moment, and for lots of moments not sure how to gather the words "The rea- the reason" She stopped as her words shattered somewhere in her throat and some in the air. Sebastian's stare was intense and it made her nervous "The reasonable ex-" Hhe tried again but failed. Sebastian's lips curled into a smile that she categoried as a mocking smile "So you don't know the-" She cut Sebastian in
"The 'reasonable expectation of privacy' concept in the Fourth Amendment originates from the 1967 case Katz v. United States, where the Supreme Court ruled that individuals are protected, not just specific places. This precedent requires warrants for government intrusion into areas where people reasonably expect privacy." The entire room went silent as soon as Isabell stopped talking, even Sebastian's voice took pause
"That's impressive" He moved his head up and down 'Is it possible to enlighten your answer with some cases?" He said figuring out he would definitely get something in his shield this time "Cases like Smith v. Maryland happened in 1979 and from recent years United States v. Jones, 2012 extended this doctrine to address evolving technologies" Her response made Sebastian take steps toward the desk not forgetting to admire her knowledge "I'm impressed" He announced once again "Thank you, Sir" She replied with a relieved voice and in a flash Isabell was back to her place
"We'll be discussing 'Advanced Constitutional Law: Contemporary Issues in Constitutional Interpretation' today and I need you guys to focus" Isabell just realized he was wearing black. Similar to the last two times; two embarrassing interactions and in a total of three times. He was always wearing a black suit
There was something different in the way Sebastian delivered his lecture, he had studied law for just three years more than the students sitting in front of him but the amount of knowledge his words contained needed a decade of study, and maybe that is the reason why Isabell couldn't stop her hand from noting every single word his mouth was uttering. Despite how much she hated Sebastian, how much she wanted to convince herself that he is The Knight she couldn't break the connections to his eyes
"That was all for today," He said as he just gave them a lecture for a couple of minutes but it actually was an hour long. Isabell never realized how the time flew so fast
After a while Sebastian spoke again "Mr. Conner" he said pointing at the door when a man in his mid-fifties appeared in a wheelchair, making the faces of the entire class glow with a grin. The old man seemed weak and ill even from a distance. "He wants to talk to you guys. I'll leave you with them" He said, swiftly taking steps towards the door he stopped to nod a hello to Mr. Conner at the door. Mr. Conner smiled in return and Sebastian left, closing the door behind him
"How are you, my children?" His warm voice asked, "We are fine, sir." The voice that Sebastian had taken away just returned,
"And how is Sebastian?" He asked, making every single one of them sigh "Maybe you should return soon if you want us alive sir," Ashley told him. Mr. Conner shrugged her answer off with a peal of laughter,
"So as you all know you are in the final year and your graduation isn't so far" He said moving the wheelchair to the center "And you know that it's time for you to decide about the case for your Legal Case study" The students replied with "Yes, Sir"
"All of you have one week. One week to decide on the topic and then submit it to Sebastian. He will be helping you with it until I return" The class wasn't annoyed by what Mr. Conner just said but they seemed horrified and absolutely stunned, too scared to give him a reply "You guys are okay with that?" He asked and still there was just a quietness "Students?" he raised his voice a little this time
"Yes, sir" the student in the center front replied, leaving everyone frightened.
"As expected of my top student, only a gem can recognize the worth of another gem" Isabell nodded while no one else showed any sign of life.