The Academy

Chapter 33

Nicola's POV

Where the hell is Alicia? She's missed a few days of school, so I texted her, but she hasn't replied. Her friends, Yasmine and Astrid, have also been acting weird. In the lunchroom, they would often stare at me, but quickly look away when I made eye contact with them. And don't get me started on Tamsin. That girl has been giving me more death glares than usual and that's saying something. I've tried approaching Astrid in health, but she's expertly able to evade me. My last resort is to somehow ask Zara about her sister. I'm not sure how I'm gonna be able to accomplish that feat since Zara doesn't know about our relationship and would be confused was to why I'm inquiring about her sister. It's Thursday, one of our scheduled meet up days, and she requested we meet in the library which is extra weird since we've always gone to her house. I entered the library and searched around the room for a while until I saw her in the back. I quietly placed my stuff on the table and took a seat across from her. She looked up and nodded her head in acknowledgment before staring down at her paper.

"Umm... I was thinking of this for an intro." I slid a sheet of paper to her. She glanced down and nodded in agreement. Okay, something is totally off. The Zara I know would never just agree to anything I did. I retrieved my paper and then moved her paper. Her head whipped up and I was met with a harsh glare. At least somethings are still normal. "What's wrong?" She just shrugged in response. "I don't buy that. You never just agree to whatever I want to do. Something's bothering you. And your family and close friends. What is it?"

"Can we just get this done. I have to-"

"You wouldn't be in a rush to leave if we did this at your house. Where we normally do it. Why did you want to meet her instead?" I pushed.

"Because Tamsin doesn't want you at the house. My parents are also there." She curtly replied.

"What about Alicia? She hasn't been here all week."

"You notice a lot about my sister." She gave me a knowing look.

"No. It's just that she's in my math class and I noticed that she's the only one in your family that has been missing. You mentioned she has a condition. Is she ok?" I quickly rambled.

"She's physically fine. I can't say the same thing emotionally." She packed her stuff away. "This has been a rough week for everyone in my family. Let's take the week off and reconvene another time." She paused and thought of her next words carefully. "If you want to avoid getting hurt, I'd avoid Alicia for as long as possible. And that includes anything related to her. Like friends and family." Zara stood up and left. What did she mean? Why would I avoid Alicia? I feel like Zara has a hunch, but I'm not sure if I'm just being paranoid. I quickly packed up my stuff and went to my dorm.

I fumbled with the lock for a little. Something just felt wrong. I opened the door and saw Alicia patiently waiting on my bed. I glanced and saw Rosé's bag. That makes sense. Rosé must've let her in and then left. I smiled at Alicia, but she gave me a forced smile in return. Okay, something is seriously up. I hesitantly walked towards her and leaned in to kiss her, but she turned her face causing my lips to collide with her cheek.

"We need to talk." I wanted to shit my pants when she said that. Instead of a verbal reply, I sat next to her on my bed. "You are right. We are from two totally different worlds and don't belong together." I stared at her in confusion, but she didn't meet my eyes. Alicia spoke devoid of emotion. She spoke like this was something rehearsed and she was just delivering the message. "I'm sorry for leading you on. This was just a-a..." she seemed to be having difficulty saying the next words. She took a deep breath and continued. "This was just a game for me to boost my ego. It meant nothing to me. I don't... I don't..." she started hyperventilating so I held her hands. She seemed to snap out the trance when I made physical contact with her. "I can't do this." She jumped off my bed and hurled her phone onto the ground. I yelped when it broke apart. "I can't. I just can't." Alicia held the side of her head and she paced up and down. "I can't break up with you like this. With just lies. I can't say something that's not true. I love you and I can't lie and say I don't."

"Ali, what's wrong." I held her shoulders to stop her pacing.

"They know about us." She started to cry. I instantly engulfed her in a hug. "My family knows and wants me to end things with you or they'll hurt you." She started shaking. I'm guessing this is what Zara was trying to warn me about. "I'll also be financially cut off for the rest of my life. I-I don't know what to do. We broke up before and I was distraught. I can't go through that again." She started to violently shake. I sat her down on my bed. "And I was to record breaking up with you, but I couldn't go through with it." She pointed at the broken iPhone. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She cried even harder. "My mother wants to send me to conversion therapy, but my dad was like 'oh she'll just confess to a priest'. And I don't know what to do. How am I supposed to be with you if I can't give you anything?"

"Ali!" She looked at me with tear stained eyes. "I love you and the last thing I want is to put you in a place where you have to decide between your family and me. So... I'm going to do it." She looked at me confused. "I think we should breakup." I started choking back sobs while Alicia was straight up bawling. "But... I just want you to know one thing. I'd love you even if you had nothing." She brought me into a rough kiss. We passionately kissed each other trying to convey our emotions to the other person.

"I'm sorry." She rested her forehead against mine. "You're my one true love and I'm an idiot for letting you go." I gripped Alicia's hand tighter. I truly didn't want her to leave, but we knew she had to. "Tamsin is waiting in the car outside. I'm not even allowed to socialize with you anymore. All my actions will be watched. I took you on this rollercoaster of emotions and for that, I'm truly sorry. Never doubt my love for you, Lala." She kissed me hard one last time before reluctantly leaving. The moment she closed the door, I started to hysterically sob into my pillow.

"Hey! Can you help us with the math homework? It's really hard and- hey! What's wrong?!" Rosé and Hailey rushed over to me. Hailey rubbed my back while Rosé gathered tissue. "What's wrong?" They were both petrified. After I calmed down a bit, I told them everything that happened. Hailey had tears lining her eyes while Rosé wanted to kill Alicia's family.

"It hurts. It hurts so bad." I held my chest as I cried in Hailey's embrace. The two of them tried to make me feel better, but to no avail. Rosé then had the idea to call Rue and Logan to help them out. Together, the four of them, they were able to get me to fall asleep.