76 Failure as a Friend

Alex found it amazing that for the entire car ride back, the other three … no, scratch that. The other two were chattering away. Ziad, as usual, was the laidback silent type who simply listened and answered whenever needed.

Not that there was a lot of that.

Both of them didn't bother to ask him anything though.

Not that it bothered him because, hey, he wasn't that interested in contributing to the gossip of the day.

After listening to Fleur going on - for what Alex felt was the umpteenth time - about this latest K-pop band that emerged, Alex couldn't help but let out a snort.

"What?!" Fleur immediately stopped her marvelous rendition about how fantastic their songs were to glare at Alex.

Alex, who was sitting in front, rolled his eyes though Fleur couldn't see it and said, "To think that even if you are a genius, you're still so fascinated by these mundane things. K-pop? Really?"

Fleur smacked the back of Alex's chair and said in a rather annoyed voice, "CST are not mundane!"

If Alex could roll his eyes even more, he would, "Even their name is ridiculous. CST."

"It stands for Charismatic Sexy Teens, thank you very much," Fleur said with a scoff, "And their songs are very catchy and inspirational. You know, fun. Not like you."

"Are you sure they're selling music or their faces?" Alex asked, "Their name is hardly inspiring."

"Oh, come on, Alex," Aurora said with a slight laugh, "Stop being so serious. It's marketing. Their music is really good and their good looks are a bonus. Nothing wrong with that."

"It is if one has to keep hearing both of you gushing over them like some mindless fan," Alex.

Aurora gave a smirk that was so like their father as she said, "Oh, someone seems to be eating sour grapes."

Alex leaned over to the side and glared at his sister who was sitting behind with Fleur. All of the chairs had car seats that were modified specially for the car, which was their exclusive 'car pooling' car. Only the driver's seat was normal, which indicated that an adult sat there.

So Alex had to pull at the seat belt a bit in order to be able to stare at his sister.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" he hissed, "In what way would I actually be jealous of that nonsensical boy band? What can they possibly have that I would actually want, or more importantly, can't have?"

"People gushing over you, for one," Aurora said.

"You forgot Isaura," Fleur replied, giggling.

"Oh yes," Aurora said, nodding, "How could I forget Alex's personal fan?"

Alex groaned and turned to face the front again, and said, "Now don't you start that again."

"Oh my, dear, dear brother," Aurora replied, "When did I ever stop?"

At that moment, Alex thought he should get himself an ipod. Since he wasn't allowed to have a fully functional smartphone by his overly outdated father, the next best thing was an ipod, right?

It would be perfect to block out these annoying little statements. Knowing Rory, once she found something interesting, she could go on and on about it.

Normally, it would be fine as he could just tune it out, but in this case?

Since it involved him, with a particular sticking fly, it was too close to home. She would definitely keep making jabs at him.

"Oh, gosh, I just can't wait to tell Mummy and Daddy!" Aurora squealed.

Alex closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands.

Yup, it could only get worse.

Ziad, sitting across from Alex, reached out and patted his shoulder.

Alex looked up at him and Ziad said, "It's practice."

"Huh? Practice? Practice for what?"

"For secondary school," Ziad replied, "Before I started, my father gave me this really long talk about how it was like to be classmates with your father."

"Meaning?" Alex asked.

"Uncle Kyle seemed to be a magnet for girls," Ziad explained, "He said it wasn't so bad in lower primary, but it got worse after upper primary. No need to mention how bad it was in secondary school."

Alex could detect sympathy in Ziad's eyes as he continued to pat him on the shoulder, "Be strong."

"Oh, come on Ziad!" Alex protested, brushing aside Ziad's 'comforting' hand, "You're exaggerating."

"Hardly," Ziad replied, leaning back on his chair, "As Fleur's brother, I have a responsibility to take care of her - as well as all of my friends. From the year before we started school, Baba has been teaching all sorts of things about what to expect and what to look out for."

Ziad had been given this heavy responsibility by his father, and it was one that he took without complaint. Fleur was such a bright and cheerful girl, and unlike Aurora and Alex who were famous due to their father, Fleur was an internet mini-celebrity in her own right.

She had mother and father fans, as well as sibling fans; and being the sociable girl that she was, she would welcome them wholeheartedly.

But not everyone was a real fan.

Some were jealous people and some had bad remarks about how fake Fleur was. Though these comments were deleted from Fleur's channel, the thoughts and mouths of people could not be stopped as easily.

Ziad was quiet most of the time because he, like Alex, was busy observing the people around them. He not only had to look out for those who may have bad designs on Fleur, but he also had to be able to distinguish those that would want to be friends with them just to get to know Alex.

Isaura had been on his radar the moment she stumbled into their circle but at the moment, she appeared to be harmless.

The devotion in her eyes and attitude towards Alex was pure and Ziad didn't think a seven-year-old could be devious, or that good an actress. Still, he would have to report to his father about her as that was something he did since they started school.

Well, he called it a 'report' though his parents said it was him telling them all about his day in school.

Alex was quiet at this, the words that were at the tip of his tongue being swallowed back.

He, of all people, knew just how dark people could be but he had been under the mistaken impression that he was the only one that 'knew' this.

Perhaps Ziad only touched the surface but certainly, Alex could not look down on this brother of his.

All this while, he had been studying the people around him but had neglected the ones who were the closest to him.

Partly because he had grown up with them so he felt he already knew them and partly because he trusted them completely and saw no need to 'study' them.

Now, he realised that this was not a good thing.

Why should he only look out for dangers but ignore his friends?

He should not take them for granted.

He had never known that Ziad had been looking out for them all this while and he felt like he had been an utter failure of a friend.

Heck, he was an utter failure of a friend.

Alex reached out and gave Ziad a slight punch on the shoulder, saying, "Thanks."

Ziad gave him a smile, nodded and they began talking.

Fleur and Aurora just stared at them in amazement.

"Do you see what I see?" Aurora whispered to Fleur.

Fleur had her mouth wide open and then she turned to face Aurora, saying softly, "If you mean Alex actually talking and not sulking in one corner, then yes."

"I can hear you, you know," Alex said.

"Well, good," Aurora replied non-plussed, "Keep up the good work, brother."

Alex just rolled his eyes and continued talking to Ziad, ignoring his sister.

✿ Author posts on WN and neovel ✿

Long after Alex had reached home, Isaura was standing next to a teacher who was accompanying her. The school was practically empty now but there was still no sign of Isaura's parents.

"Don't worry, Teacher Ian," Isaura said to him, smiling as she looked up, "My father will be here soon. Sometimes he comes late because he's very busy."

Ian held back his frown as he looked at the little girl who did not seem worried or even crying. Most kids her age would already be sobbing away when they were the last to go back.

More so when they couldn't even get hold of their parents on the phone.

This was the first time that they could not contact the child's parent or guardian, and Ian was getting really worried that something might have happened to the child's parent.

After all, the child was very calm and composed, which indicated that she was raised in a loving family. Such a family would not be so late in picking up their child, right?

Just as he thought this, a car came and he breathed a sigh of relief when he noted the licence plate.

"See, Teacher Ian! Dad is here," Isaura said happily, "Thank you for keeping me company."

She ran over to the car when it stopped and entered. Ian stood there, watching her enter the car safely.

After the car left, Ian couldn't help but wonder about the parent who had come, whoever it was.

From start to finish, Ian could not see who was inside as the windows were tinted and the driver never wound down the window to either apologize for being late, or thank him for being there.

He shrugged, thinking that it must have been Isaura's driver instead of a parent. No parent would be that unsociable, right?