Chapter 2

Damn it.

The boy woke up, but they were still busted.

"Theo, and you…new kid? Why are you whispering back there?" Their Math teacher, supposedly called Ms. Shannon, asked.

"Do you have something to share with the rest of us?"

She should've, no, she could've ignored him. It would've been easier than getting into trouble on the first day of school.

With Tia's eloquence, she got them out of plenty of trouble and embarrassment. It saved both Tia and Theo's time, too.

The class continued after Tia cleared up the little misunderstanding. Typical school classroom problems.

Perhaps, Theo was not the friendliest person one could meet, but at least he had basic human decency.

He tossed a note, a piece of paper which seemed like a gratitude to Tia.

That wasn't all, though. Tia flipped the paper, seeing a "can we meet somewhere after school?" note.

Tia's face froze. That was sudden. To add up to all that, Theo was someone she wasn't comfortable around, even though she didn't want to admit it.

Even though the redhead was hesitant about it, she placed a paper back on his desk, with a short response.

"Sure."

Tia could hear a little chuckle of satisfaction coming from the guy sitting behind her.

What exactly did he want to talk about?

One thing for sure, it will be a challenge for Tia to focus in class now.

Her mind will start making up different conversation ideas.

'Does he want to talk about school? Will this be a school related conversation? Does he need help in his academics? Why would he need help from a new student?'

These questions couldn't help but ponder in Tia's brain. It may not seem like it, but the girl's quite an overthinker at times.

The first day of a new school, yet it's not the most enjoyable.

A tip to all highschoolers:

Always sit next to the window so when spacing out, you get a view to look at.

Unfortunately, there might be someone on it already, though.

Tia put a hand under her chin, looking out the window, and observing random details.

Huh. Look what's out there.

A happy family. Ah, wait. A "happy" family. No one knows the real situation going on between them.

That's what Tia thought while looking at them, at least.

She missed it. She missed those days when she had her father.

A loving father, too.

Wait, why did he leave?

All Tia knew was that her parents got divorced when she was 9.

Well, that was what her mother told her anyways, she didn't really know what age she was at when her beloved father left them both.

Since then, her mother was distant towards her.

There were barely any more fun times she experienced at home.

Being cheery in school and having friends were her only escape. That was why she loved school.

When her parents just separated, she thought that maybe if she got good grades and better achievements, it might cheer her mom up.

Entirely unaware, it made her mom go rampage once.

Most of the words were pretty hurtful, but she blocked them out as it was too much for her past self.

She got so scared that tears started streaming down her face and the next thing she knew, she had started bawling.

The poor girl ran towards her own room, crying on her bed and hugging her favorite penguin plush, letting it all out.

Now, there is a big wall between them. It stops them from trying to understand each other even more. They couldn't have a mom and daughter conversations and interactions.

Who knows which of them will start pounding on it and manage to break it down first?

Moving on from her broken relationship with her mother.

She had always desired to know the reason for her father's departure.

Sometimes, her brain thought it was her fault. Why, though? Why did it keep on blaming her?

On other times, it told her that it was her mother's fault. Again and again, questions keep filling her head.

Why was she subconsciously blaming her own mother?

It's not like her father left because of anyone.

Maybe he was just fed up with life and left on his own accord, but why is something pushing her to remember why her father left?

Her memories had missing pieces every time she tried to remember why on Earth did her dad leave her behind.

'Ugh, now's really not the time to be daydreaming about this, you know?' Tia scratched her head in an attempt to make herself focus on the class more.

"Focus, Tia, focus," she said to herself.

When her brain cooperated with her, Tia finally took notes and caught up with the rest of the class she missed.

Tia wasn't the brightest and smartest.

She recalls failing a lot of her academics when she was just a child, although she did win some competitions and got achievements.

After a while, though, she forced herself to get better results, and here she is now.

Time quickly flies by when you don't keep track of it, huh?

School ended.

For the first day, Tia liked her study progress.

"I guess it's time to meet a certain person, then." Tia mumbled.

She waited until there were less people in the class.

Taking a few glances at Theo, she noticed that he has been intending to do the same.

"Tia!!"

Oh dear, she forgot about her new friend for a quick minute.

Tia gave Mia a hesitant smile because she did promise Theo to meet.

"Do you want to go home together?" The blonde hugged her taller friend.

Tia felt really bad that she honestly couldn't accompany her home, but she saw another figure walking towards her.

"Oh, right!! You couldn't meet her during break, but here's my best friend! Her name's Regine Jade Salzwedel. I call her Reggy though! Man, it must be nice having such a fancy name." Mia introduced a new friend to Tia.

Lord, she was gorgeous. It was a school uniform, yet Reggy looked so elegant. Short, fabulous black hair and beautiful dark brown eyes.

There was so much to adore about Reggy.

"Nice to meet you... Reggy? My name is Tiara Williams, you can call me Tia." The freckled redhead greeted, offering a hand.

'Do I even deserve shaking such smooth hands?'

Tia's eyes were fixated on the skin of the black haired.

Reggy gave a little smile, nodding her head.

Whoops. It looks like Tia got a little carried away.

"Uh, sorry for disturbing you girls, may I talk to Tiara for a while?" Theo interrupted them, sounding as polite as he could.