In Love With The Bully

Chapter-6

Trip to Greece

Zander's POV

"I really like Ellie " I lied. For some seconds we stood staring at each other. I was smiling at her and she was staring at me with a shocked expression.

So my plan is this :- If I go straight towards Ellie and ask her out, it would look kinda unnatural. My plan was to take it slow by pretending to ask Meredith for help. She would pressurize Ellie to ask me out. When Ellie would be convinced, I would be the one to ask her out and it would make her more happy making Joseph more jealous.

"I KNEW IT!!" Meredith was screaming excitedly. Then she stopped abruptly and sat on my bed as if nothing happened. Seriously, what type of girl is she? "Hey, so aren't you going to help me out?"I asked. "Don't you realize? I think.....Joseph likes her too" she said. Dang it! She noticed it too. UGH! But I'm not going to let go so easily either. I want revenge. I will make her help me anyhow.

"Joseph? Of course not. He only likes Ellie as his sister" I said with a weird expression. "I don't think so, Niarchos " she yelled. She yells so much that I'm worried about my eardrums when I'm near her. "Oh yeah! You're in Joseph's team then?" I asked angrily. "No I'm neutral. I'm not helping anybody" she replied coldly. And after that we spent 20 minutes arguing about it. Finally I convinced her by telling her repeatedly that it was me Ellie liked and Joseph only thought of her as his sister. We ate some really heavy snacks of her choice after that and she eventually agreed to help me.

"I'm not really good at these things but what should I do?"she asked. "Just tell Ellie I like her indirectly. Encourage her to date with me" I said. "Fine ! Now gotta go! Bye" she said in her usual cold voice. I smiled and called Sophia to walk her to the gate. I had nothing to do and I was really bored. Just then I heard my cell phone ring. "Zander?" It was dad. "Dad" I said without any enthusiasm. "We're having a very important ball in Greece day after tomorrow. I need you to come attend it. Joseph's already on his way. I want you to come. Now!"he said. What? He wants me to come to Greece for a stupid ball! I wanted to deny but it was dad I was speaking to. "What's this ball about? Is it important for the new business you're starting? What about my school?"I asked. "Yes! It's billionaire John Martin's party. He's a very important person. Don't worry about school. I've arranged everything "he said.

"Ok, I'll be there dad" I said and hung up. "Zander, the drivers are ready to take you to the airport " called Sophia. "Ok"I yelled back.I didn't like people calling me Master and all those crap. I liked Zander and only Zander. I lazily changed my jeans and hopped into dad's Limousine. It looked like I was going to a prom. My dad didn't care a bit about my education. But I would meet mom if I go there. That was the only thing I was looking forward to.

I reached airport and saw the Niarchos private plane ready to fly. I quickly got inside. We flew for a day. It was a really comfortable flight. "Shall I carry your bag for you sir?"asked my bodyguard, Tristan. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me 'sir', tris" I said coldly. But I let him carry my bag anyways.

Athens is a beautiful city. I've been there for thirteen times already, but only for a short period of time. I saw dad's hotel, it looked so grand and majestic. The limousine pulled to the parking area. I looked at my watch and it was nighttime in Manhattan  but daytime in Greece. As soon as I reached the hotel, I ran towards the swimming pool area where I usually find Kristie, my one and only best friend. We have been best friends from elementary school. She was also there with me when we kinda bullied Meredith.

I saw black hair popping out from the pool. "Kristie?" I shouted. She came up from the water and swam quickly towards me. "Zander!"she shouted as she attacked me with a hug. I hugged her back and kissed her cheeks. "I'm glad you made it Zander. I was getting worried about you " she said. "Really? Let's take a stroll ok?" I asked. "We can have a walk later. Why don't you meet your dad first?"she asked. "Nah I'm good. Let's swim" I said opening my shirt. She nodded. No way I'm meeting a selfish dad who gives a damn about his son.

I swam for a long time with Kristie. Many people had encouraged us to take our friendship to the next level. But none of us felt that way. We were doing fine as  friends. After swimming, I met dad, Joseph, Becca and Ellie. Most of the students of Florecent were there too for the ball. Becca, Joseph, Ellie, Kristie and I were sitting at the hotel's cafe drinking coffee."We're all here except Meredith. I miss her a lot" said Becca. Joseph and Ellie nodded. "Oh, the scholarship student? I think we're better off without having any poverty in the air" said Kristie as she sipped her coffee. Everybody turned towards Kristie and Ellie looked at her sternly. I shook my head warning her not to talk like that about Grand. There was an uncomfortable silence after that. "I forgot my bag in the lobby. Will somebody accompany me?"asked Ellie, breaking the silence.I volunteered which made Ellie very happy. "You're meeting your mom after three months. You must be so excited. You love your mom so much" said Ellie as she picked her bag up. "Yeahhhh" I said excitedly. I missed mom so much.

When we returned, there was still a dead silence. We went and joined them. Suddenly my phone rang and I heard dad's voice. "Zander, I need you to meet Mr. Martins. He's room is two floors above the place where you're drinking coffee. Don't get surprised. I'm standing right next to the CCTV monitor " he said. "Sure" I replied meekly  and explained the situation to the others. They just nodded. Kristie wanted to come with me but I denied.

The Martin's room looked more luxurious than dad's. "Zander " said a childish voice. I turned round and saw Lizzy Martins running towards me. Elizabeth is John Martin's eight-year old granddaughter. She is very down to earth and friendly. At least she is not a snobbish brat like most of us ,billionaire's children were when we were young. "So what's up, Zandy? How's school " asked Lizzy trying to act mature. "Come here " I said as I hugged her and ruffled her hair. Lizze tried to push me off and was trying to ruffle my hair. Just then something caught my attention. It was a picture of someone .It was placed in the center of the room with royalty. It looked very familiar to me, like the younger version of a person I knew. "That's Meredith Grand!!" I said aloud ."Meredith? That's not any Meredith. That's just me" said Lizze innocently.

I was really ashamed of myself. I don't know why, but for some reason I was also missing Meredith. Oh Zeus! Why was I even thinking about that weirdo?