His Irreplaceable Love.

Chapter Ten.

Gaining a new Friend.

Not everyone is going to be a true friend to you. A true friend will tell you the truth while a ' friend' will just tell you what you need to hear.

Ever since the start of the rumours, Aliya has been bullied by almost every student that she had a class with her except Red aka Muskaan, Ahad, and Ayla who have been nothing but helpful toward her.

"Where are you going, loser?" one of the students tells Aliya after trying to trip her.

She ignored him and walked away but he still followed her to where she was heading to.

"Don't you dare ignore me", he tells her as he grabs her hand trying to bring her towards him.

"Could you just leave me alone?" Aliya yelled at him trying to pull her hand but he was too strong for her.

"I won't leave you until I get the same treatment that you are giving your friend Zayn...."

He couldn't even finish what he was saying when someone punched him.

"Don't you dare say that about Aliya...."Hamza tells him while continuing to beat him up.

After that Hamza turned to face Aliya who had an angry expression on her face.

As he tries to approach her, she puts her hand up stopping him.

"Don't, just stop right there. Stay away from me. I will take care of myself. I don't and will never need you or your help", Aliya shouts at him making everyone around them stop whatever they are doing to watch them. "You have done enough along with your girlfriend Alina. So please don't try to be innocent while you aren't", she added walking away from Hamza who couldn't even try to justify himself.

"She is right, brother. You should stay away from her because if you didn't your girlfriend would never be able to leave her alone", his sister Ayla tells him.

Before Hamza could even say anything when Ayla also walked away leaving him dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, Aliya ran to a place where she felt safe, the school garden where no one goes there.

She sat down trying to calm herself down while taking small breaths to keep herself from brawling her tears out.

It hurts especially when the one who is doing this is my sister. Whether she is my stepsister or even blood. She still pulled me when I hadn't done anything terrible to her.

A hand appeared in front of her with a handkerchief in it. Aliya looked up to see Matthew who was once her partner in a chemistry project.

"Thank you but I am..."

"Don't say that you are fine. I can see that you need a shoulder to lean on and I am here for that. If you let me as a friend", he tells her while taking a seat beside her.

"Thank you but I don't think you should be seen with me because..."

"Because of Alina, right?", he asked her. "I know about the rumours that have been circulating around the school and I know that none of them are true", he added smiling.

Aliya looked at him thinking about how he knew so much about Alina.

"Before you ask, I will tell you everything someday but not now", he tells me smiling.

Aliya just shook her head and continued looking at the tree in front of them.

"You shouldn't let her do all that to you. I know that you are sisters but at least she should respect you..."

"Sometimes, you can always blame someone for not respecting you but blame their guardians/parents. They should be the one teaching their children how to behave and how to be good Muslims", says Aliya cutting him off.

"That's true but it's not always about the guardians but the children too. Even if they get easily influence, they should always think before acting on what they are told to do", he explains to her.

"It is as if you know more than I do, Matthew. And just answer this question, did she hurt you in anyway? Just answer yes or no".

Matthew looked at Aliya complimenting her on what to tell her as he didn't want to expose anything else to her.

He couldn't tell her anything, not now maybe a little bit later.

"You can say yes and no. Let's just leave it at that, okay?" he tells her trying to put a stop to the conversation.

A few days passed when Matthew continued to hang out with Zayn, Red, Ayla, and Aliya making Alina angrier and angrier than she already is.

What are you up to, Matthew? Why are you with her?

Alina needed answers to the questions she had for him. She knew where he would be during his free period.

At the library.

She slowly approached him while he was studying. Matthew looked up to see whose shadow was in front of him.

"What do I own this pleasure?" he asked her while looking at his books and not at her.

"Why are you hanging out with her?..."

"Why are you getting jealous? You threw me away like a used paper that you didn't need anymore. And now you are monitoring the friends I hang out with. Can you at least get a life, Alina?".

She was beyond shocked when she heard her name instead of the nickname he gave her when they first met.

He has stopped calling me Lina.

Alina quickly blinked away the tears forming in her eyes.

"I am sorry for what I did but I did it for..."

"Yes, for me. But you will never give me a reason...a real reason as to why you pushed me away. I get it now and I am staying away from you and you should do the same", he cuts her off. "I need to get back to studying", he added looking behind Alina to see Aliya walking toward where he was sitting.

Alina walked away feeling more hurt than ever. She knew that the person she knew as Matthew was no longer there.

She had pushed him to the limit until he couldn't take it anymore and it was all her fault.

Alina turned back to see him smiling and laughing with Aliya.

That should have been me but I need to do this for my mother. For the love that I want and need from her. I need this.

I am sorry, Matthew. It is better this way.

She harshly wiped her tears not wanting anyone to see her weak to the point that she was crying.

Influencing someone is like making them do whatever you want them. Even if it is hurting someone close to them, someone, they love and care about.