Devil on the Rooftop [Book 1]

Chapter 59 - Arisa

There were about a million scenarios playing through my head. All of them ended with Loyal meeting Wade. How could I keep that from happening? How could I make sure my ex-boyfriend stayed away? Wade wouldn't be reckless enough to come looking for me. Would he? No. There was no way. We didn't end on good terms. Not at all. He was my first boyfriend, my first love, but we both played an equal part in ending our relationship. Another good reason not to see him again.

I met Wade during my middle school graduation ceremony. His best friend Deacon was in my class, and I was voted valedictorian for the grade. According to Wade, my speech made him fall in love at first sight. He thought I was a fragile and brainy girl who was too sweet to ever yell, and too delicate to ever raise her fists. I never corrected him. My insecurity led me to keep up the act, and after a while, I got pretty good at it. I told him about the self-defence classes my mother made me take, but never mentioned how hardcore they were. Freshman year, he asked me out, and we became the school's power couple. He was a basketball genius and I worked hard to graduate with honours. On our downtime, he taught me some of his best moves, and I helped him study for his exams. It was a fun relationship and we were both really happy together.

That was until the accident happened.

On his way back from a late practice, Wade crashed his bike into a car. It was bad. The doctors said he wouldn't be able to play sports for the foreseeable future because the bones in the right hand were injured so badly. I stayed with him through his recovery, through the physiotherapy, but it was hard. The more time we spent together, the more our personalities clashed. Wade was too on edge, too angry for me to handle, and I became a bubble of anxiety. After his discharge from the hospital, his views on school and his studies completely changed. I couldn't believe how drastic the transition was. I confronted him about it a few times but he always blew me off, until he didn't and shouted, 'someone with two working hands wouldn't understand!'

That was the last straw for me. I suggested we break up. The news spread like wildfire, and other boys from Oakville high school began paying more attention to me because I was single for the first time in a while. Wade didn't like that at all. He was in denial about our break up for a few days, and fought anyone who blinked in my direction. I had no choice but to intervene on his behalf during one of the fights because of his injured hand. Everyone was blown away by my strength. I soaked up a lot of spotlight that week, and sad to say, Wade ghosted me for the majority of it. His bad reaction pushed all my buttons and eventually, I snapped. 'What? You're not man enough to handle a strong woman so you pretend you never met her?'

Those words delivered the final blow to our relationship. Coincidentally, at the same time, my mother was offered a new job across the city. She was worried about how I would react to leaving Wade but I was quick to support her decision. I was quick to fill her in on my special circumstances too. I told her I was eager to leave Oakville behind and start a new life elsewhere. I wanted to be able to maintain my grade point average and be recognized as a strong and resilient young woman. I didn't want to force a facade and pretend to be something I wasn't anymore. If Tomasia dug up enough information about my time at Oakville, then she would have definitely heard about my relationship with Wade, the bicycle accident, and the fight I intervened on. It was pretty big news at the time, so much so, that it got printed in the school paper.

"Are you okay?"

My mind stopped running and I was able to look up from the floor. I found my mother walking out the academy doors and Khaleel standing beside me. "You've been spacing out," he said.

I shook my head. "What were you saying?"

"I haven't said shit," he replied. "But now that you mention it, yeah. I need you to start talking about what happened in this foyer. Don't leave anything out."

"Shouldn't we head to class?" I suggested, feeling a bit overwhelmed."I need to shut off my brain for a while."

"You get thirty minutes," Khaleel said. "And no, we're not going to class. We're going to my place."

"Excuse me?"

"Chill," he droned. "We will be back before school ends. I will personally make sure you get home safe."

"Why do we need to go to your place?" I asked, my cheeks filling with colour. God, why couldn't I catch a break with these rooftop losers? "Can't I just for once lay low?"

He faked a smile. "Nope. I need you for this mission."

"What mission? What are we doing?"

"We're asking for help," Khaleel replied. "From a pretty scary guy, so I'm going to need you to be the buffer."