❝ They say, who loves first, falls hardest, but what if this story is she fell first, he fell harder. ❞
Truths hurt, lies are a blasphemy in a relationship. But have you ever felt it? When everything feels like they're infinitely stretching your sou...
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Blood trickles down my cheek, staining the white school shirt. I didn't even have to turn to call for someone before help arrives with a new pair of shirt and trousers.
My mother is likely peering through the keyhole of the door once more.
The cut must have occurred when my father flung those papers at me. They seem to have nicked my skin.
"You're of no use!" David Knightley spits as he marches to his desk and settles into his chair, kneading his temples. He has been plagued by severe headaches of late. He should get himself checked.
"I'm trying, father," I reply, head bowed in shame. I'm a disgrace.
"Trying? You can't even surpass that drug addict wench, and you're saying you're trying?" his fist comes down hard on the table, knocking the blue paperweight to the floor, where it shatters.
"Father, your han-" I start, but he cuts me off.
"Don't show me fake concern, Logan. I want results," he collapses into his chair, exhaling deeply.
"I will, father. And actually Angelina is not a drug addict anymore. She has been to rehab and has been clean since last year," I state before turning to leave.
"Don't fucking defend a good-for-nothing junkie in front of me," he retorts as I walk away. An object strikes my back, likely a file, but I do not look back.
As I reach the school premises, my exam reports in my hand, stained with my blood, I see students with luggage and backpacks, leaving with tears and horror in their eyes.
As the cold air hits my skin, I realise today marks the onset of February, likely the day the non-rankers, those who failed to secure a rank before the Year-Ending Ball on New Year's Eve, are expelled. Students kicked out from Aureus aren't easily accepted by other schools. And if they are not from respected families, then they are doomed forever. That's what this place does to people. It ruins them.
I engage the brakes of my bike, halting before my designated parking spot, only to find it occupied. Elijah's bike stands where mine should be. What was a Second Ranker's bike doing in the Seventh Ranker's slot?
Not finding any other space vacant, I park my bike in Elijah's slot and make my way towards the classroom, plotting how to befriend Arianna.
It doesn't concern my father what rank I get, as long as I'm one of the elites. But the problem here is that he requires Arianna's family's influence to rescue his company, necessitating my alliance with her- either by entering the Golden Ranks or by any other means necessary. That was the reason why, when he saw my seventh rank again and no development in hatching a friendship with Arianna, he became so furious. Otherwise, my father is a total softie.
