chapter 2

I returned home after all the chaos that happened today. My body craved for bath and rest, and the exhaustion slowly drained me, pysically and mentally. Could today get any worse? I whined to myself.

I had just dealt with those armored men that were trying to kill me, a mysterious FBI agent who spared my life, and Miguel having a relationship with Amanda. Literally, everything was nothing but another burden to suffer.

As I entered the house, I was greeted by Hansel who was sitting on the couch, his arms were spread wide open while he gave me a skeptical look. I stopped in my track and stared at him with my exhausted face.

"Why did you return home late, young lady?" he asked, his tone filled with domain.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance and crossed my arms above my chest.

Who gave him the right to question me? And what the hell was he trying to say? Not because we were living in the same roof, he had a right to control me.

"I went out with my friends at school," I shortly responded, trudging towards the staircase.

The look on his face was suspicious and pissed off at the same time, as I stopped in front of the stairs and gazed at him blankly. He trailed his eyes on me as he stood in front of the couch, hands tucked in his pockets.

"What happened to your face?" he said, furrowing his brows as he examined the bruises on my face.

"I got into a little fight, Hansel. Don't be too nosy." I shook off my annoyance and scoffed at him like it was nothing.

"I didn't see you at the building awhile ago, why?" he suspiciously asked again and started approaching me.

His questions were giving me chills, and I couldn't help but simper. Random excuses were starting to pop in my head, but I couldn't quite decide on which of them should I say.

"I had swimming tryouts. Just occupying myself by being productive," I lied, shrugging off my annoyance.

"Araulla, you never changed. You're still a bad liar," he commented, his eyes narrowing.

"I'm not going to explain myself further so if you don't mind, I need to rest," I responded and rolled my eyes before stepping a foot on the stairs.

"Why are you being so disrespectful? You lied in front of me, yet you have the audacity to turn your back while I'm still talking. No wonder why Mom despised you." Hansel scoffed provokingly. I stopped in the middle of the stairs and turned my back to face him. Simpering at his snide remark, I gripped the wooden stair railing.

I balled my other hand into a fist and tried to ease the anger building up inside me. But my mind told me to be in control and ignore his insult.

"I'm not trying to impress her anyways. I hate to admit it, but I'm not trying to be a her so why would I lie?" I laughed, rolling my eyes again and clomped upstairs to my bedroom.

If only I could say to him all Mom's wickedness. Before Hansel could even argue about how perfect his mom was, I should probably slap him the fact that Mom cheated on Dad multiple times. I was the only one who knew all these, thanks to William who gave me more information than what was needed. Nevertheless, I was so thankful he opened my eyes to reality at such a young age.

I collapsed on my bed and stared at the ceiling for a few minutes. This had been my thing whenever I was stressed out: just stare up the ceiling and contemplate.

I didn't know what Hansel's trying to imply but it didn't matter. It was odd to think he was trying to be my big brother. Though he was twenty-one, he still didn't know about anything and he was making me look stupid. I hated it.

I rolled out of bed and walked towards the bathroom to clean myself up. Gazing myself at the mirror, I drew my brows together and sighed. I looked unwell; my dark brown hair was disheveled, dark bags were laid underneath my blue eyes, my lips were too pale and chapping, my fair complexion appeared a little too pale, and a reddish dot on my forehead was slowly breaking out to a pimple. I looked like a mess, especially with this little bruise and wound beside my eye that had been covered with a band-aid.

I peeled it off my skin and rinsed my face with warm water. Looking up from the sink to gaze at myself, I started contemplating.

Flashback

"One. . . two. . . three. . ." I was counting to ten as I covered my eyes with my little hands while facing the wall.

I heard Hansel's footsteps behind me along with his little chuckles. We were playing hide 'n seek and I was glad Mom let me play with him; I'd been grounded for a couple of days.

We were upstairs in this narrow hall that led to each room. I peeked through my fingers and slowly removed my hands from my eyes. Moving to the other side of the hall, I was about to open Hansel's door when I heard shattering glass from downstairs. I was jolted and I couldn't quite tell what was happening.

From my curiosity, I peered through the staircase and saw Mom and Dad. They seem to be having an argument, something I rarely see them do. Dad looked like he was about to tear up, as he reached for Mom's hands. But she was pulling it away from him, screaming at his face as tears rolled down Dad's cheeks. Realizing that I shouldn't be eavesdropping to their fight, I hasted to go inside Hansel's room, my heart thumped in awe.

I sat at the edge of Hansel's bed, worry apparent on my face as I fidgeted my fingers. I knew where he was hiding, and I knew he could see me through the thin lines of his closet door. He went out of it and approached me with furrowed brows.

"Araulla? Are you alright?" he asked, rubbing my back for comfort.

I prevented tears from falling down my eyes and looked at him with a grin. I was five, and I shouldn't be telling something like that to Hansel. He would be uneased and Mom wouldn't let him play with me again.

"I got you!" I laughed and smiled widely. He sighed in annoyance and rolled his eyes.

"You cheated, it's not fair." He frowned, crossing his arms. "Aren't you gonna tell me what's wrong?"

I shook my head and chuckled. "I was just kidding."

"C'mon Araulla." Then he shook my arm pleadingly.

I ran to his door and peered through my shoulder, "Nothing's wrong." I shrugged. "It's my turn to hide," I winked.

"Liar!" he shouted playfully as I ran out of the room and he quickly followed.

End of Flashback

Maybe that was the reason why Hansel knew I wasn't fine at all. I didn't know why but it was like his magic trick. Maybe he still cared or maybe he just wanted to find out what I had been doing.

I shook my head from the memory and bathed myself before sleep.

~*~

The day passed by and I was in school. To be exact, I was in the locker room, changing my uniform into swimwear for the tryout I signed up yesterday.

The warm-up was basic. We would just do about five rounds, swimming back and forth in this huge swimming pool. After that, Mr. Grey would set a timer and teach advanced swimming strokes.

After the warm-up, Mr. Grey demonstrated the strokes we needed to learn and submerged himself completely in the pool. We followed his marks as he blew his whistle, signaling the start of the session.

An hour later, the lesson was done and I found myself swimming to the edge of the pool, removing the goggles off my eyes. I went out of it and headed towards the shower room to rinse myself and be ready for lunch. I stepped into the cubicle as the warm water started hitting my skin.

"Hey there," I heard someone greeted from the other side of the cubicle. I didn't respond because I didn't want to assume she was talking to me. "You're the new girl in Kingsley, aren't you?" she added, her voice sounded feminine. I still didn't respond and continued rinsing my hair.

What's with students and nosiness?

"It's rude to not respond you know," she said again. I knew she was referring to me so I had no choice but to talk to her.

"Um . . . hey? Yeah, I'm the um- new girl," I sheepishly responded.

"I didn't know you were also into swimming," she said.

"Yup," I answered, popping 'p'.

"You're gorgeous by the way. I almost thought you are one of the Royals," she said that made my eyebrows furrow.

I scoffed before responding, "How'd you know about me?"

"From students. News spread easily here in Kingsley especially transferees who look interesting." She laughed and I heard the cubicle door creaked open. That wasn't funny at all. It bothered me.

I pulled the towel out of the hook and rubbed it against my body. Wrapping it around me, I twisted my hair as the droplets cascaded down my bare shoulders. I swung the door open, immediately noticing my reflection in the huge mirror in front of the array of cubicles. I also noticed a girl standing in front of the sink, her blonde hair was still wet as it ran down her waist. She had these sharp features: high cheekbones and a slim face with a chin that was perfectly carved. Her thin lips curled to a smile as she gazed at me through the mirror.

"Don't be dumbfounded." She chuckled. She was the girl from the cubicle next to mine.

I approached the sink and stood beside her, opening the faucet to wash my hands.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Jillian Moore." She shrugged, gliding a lipstick on her lips before pursing it together.

Jillian Moore. Quite an understatement. I was guessing everyone knew her by her name. She looked pretty and she might be popular.

"Okay, so I'm guessing you're pretty much like Kourtney, aren't you?" I guessed and looked at her through the mirror.

Her eyebrows furrowed and a look of distaste was drawn across her face. She rubbed a finger on her lips before responding, "God why does everyone know that bitch?" She said, irritated. I chuckled in amusement and smirked at her.

"Doesn't she rule Kingsley like a queen bee stereotype?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. She laughed slightly as she turned to her side to face me.

"You're so new," she said. "I don't feel the need to tell you this, but Kourtney isn't the person who everyone thinks she is. She's more on like, overshadowed."

"Overshadowed?"

"Yeah. I'm sure you heard about Lindsey, haven't you?" She grinned at me, her back leaned against the sink. I nodded in response. "I hate to gossip about Kingsley stuff but I feel like new students must be aware of it."

~*~