Prestige

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Shoutout to naiseyeyebee for being hella active on my previous chapters. This one is dedicated to you.

I was still angry at Jae, especially after he tried to hide his affair with Charlotte. My anger put me in awkward moments, to the point that I was sat in the boy's changing room, after the basketball practice, waiting for Jae to appear. "Handled? Wow!" I sarcastically commented, spinning the basketball in my hands as I avoided making any eye contact with Jae, once he had entered the room. He looked at me, confused before he figured out what I was referring to, "I can explain." He started to talk but I stopped him, "Please don't try to buy yourself an excuse out of this one." I got up and started to walk out of the empty changing room.

Wordlessly and against my own desires, Jae chased after me, "Amara!" I spun on my heels when he grabbed me by my arm, pulling me close to him. "What?" I harshly questioned, not wanting to be nice to him at all.

I pulled my arm from his grip, to which he reacted to by wearing the expression of shock. He couldn't bring himself to say anything, so I spoke for him, "Just forget it and leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you." I tried to fight his grip on me, but he was too strong and managed to hold me close against his chest. "Just stop fighting me. This isn't getting you anywhere." He commented, still holding me close. I obeyed, reluctantly, sighing as I gave in to the long seconds of silence. The sound of his calm heartbeat managed to make me feel awkward as I mentally realised how close I was to him.

"Please let go." I pleaded to him quietly. His eyes softened as he looked down at me and finally let go of my hand, before pushing his body away from mine. I couldn't bring myself to look at him, or to say anything, or to even move at all.

"Charlotte's mother married my father, she's my step-sister. This happened while I was away in England with your brother. It's why I didn't recognise her when I first saw her, and it is why I managed to get her to stay away from you all." His words were simple and clear, his tone was normal and calm, as if he was talking to an audience of more than one person.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Luna asked him, in a concerned voice. It was only when she stood beside me that I realised she was in the room. Apparently more people were here too, Ro came and stood between my best friend and I.

"I was trying to get used to the idea and accept it, why would I tell you guys about something that I couldn't wrap my head around?" He asked, making us feel a little stupid. "Plus it means nothing now, you all know." He told us, before finally setting his eyes on me.

"Let me be the one to tell everyone else." Ro randomly volunteered. Jae nodded in agreement, "Don't twist my words around." They both chuckled for a bit before Zero disappeared with my best friend, leaving me with a man I had no idea how to face.

"I'm sorry." I whispered quietly. Sadly, he didn't hear it, "What did you say?"

"I'm sorry." I replied, in a slightly louder voice.

"Babe, I can't hear you unless you speak loud and clearly." He smirked as he looked down at me. I groaned a little before glaring at him, his eyebrows were narrowed as he waited for an answer. I rolled my eyes before mumbling, "I said I'm sorry."

He grinned as he pulled me close to him, "Say it again." At this point, I was getting tired of his teases, they were staining my pride, "You heard it the first time." My words were loud and clear, making him chuckle as he held me by my waist. I cluelessly stared at him and watched his chest vibrate as laughter slipped out from his lips. "Come on, lighten up." He hummed as he watched me blankly stare at him.

"Whatever." I harshly commented before conjuring up the courage I needed to bring myself to sit down on the bench in front of his locker. "She's your step-sister?" I questioned to myself, not bothering to his the tone of disgust and disapproval.

"Wow." He commented as he stared at me, trying to figure out why I reacted the way I did, but it was clear to us both that I was going to hate his step-sister, no matter what.

"I'm sorry." I excused myself, apologising only for the sake of being polite.

"You know you're not." He commented, and if I wasn't mistaken, his eyes were glistening with joy.

"Yeah, you're right." I replied, "I am not sorry." He chuckled a bit at my words before sitting himself beside me. "How did that happen?" I asked him, trying to figure it out myself, before he could speak.

"I have no idea. But I think they met at a formal event for business and got close through that." He replied.

"Do you think they'd last?" I abruptly asked, not thinking my words through. I turned to look up at him, more apologetically than ever.

He smiled at me. "It's fine. This is his third marriage. My mom was his first wife and first love, but then she left. After that, his heart never seemed to settle for a person." He told me as he placed his hand on mine.

"Do you miss her? You know, after she left?" I asked him and he looked at me confused, so I explained a little more, "Do you ever wish you could meet her?"

He looked down at our hands before looking back up, "I guess we all long for our parents, so yes, I do miss my mother and wish I could meet her once again. But I can't, life isn't fair to people like us."

I turned to him, shocked by his pessimism, "Yes, you can, life isn't that unfair."

He smiled and looked at me, kissing my cheek before pulling my head to his chest, "She lost her battle with cancer. We can't bring people back from the dead, no matter how much you love them." I looked up at him, before I could say anything, he spoke first, "You didn't know, it's okay." He kissed the top of my head before holding me in his arms for a moment longer.