Momentary peace

Arriving at school, Tristin parked his Ferrari in the student parking lot and sighed. "It's that time again where I pretend everything is alright. Come on, Tristin, it's just eight hours," he said to himself as he took his backpack and exited the car.

"Tristin, wait up!" a voice called out.

Tristin turned and saw Max running towards him. "Hey man, sorry about disturbing you last night, but my parents wanted to make sure the car I came home with is really legit," Max said as soon as he met Tristin.

"Your parents care about you, Max, and no parent in their right mind would allow their child to drive a car they don't know how he got it," Tristin said, placing his hand on Max's shoulder.

"Is it me, or does Max look a bit dashing today? Or is it the fact that he came in a Golf 7?" one girl asked as they passed Tristin and Max.

"You know Tristin is the one who won that car from Thomas, right? He's the dashing one, strong, handsome, and drives a Ferrari," the other girl said.

"You both know they're just two poor guys who happened to get lucky, right?" one guy who was with the two girls said, rolling his eyes.

"Shut it, Tom. You might be a bit well off, but you still drive a Toyota Tazz. Girls love riding in nice cars," the other girl said, her eyes firm.

Hearing what the girls were saying about them, Max blushed, his face a bit red.

Seeing Max blushing, Tristin teased, "Look at you blushing. You might get a girlfriend before the end of this week." Tristin said as they walked to the main entrance of the school.

As they entered the main gate, students were discussing the duel between Tristin and Thomas. "Did you see how strong that guy is?" one guy said, pointing at Tristin who was walking with Max.

"Yeah, I saw. He sent Thomas flying and knocked out more than 40 students in the process. That guy is dangerous. Don't ever mess with him," one student replied.

"Tristin," a girl's voice called out after entering the main gate.

"Mbali, what do you want?" Max asked, frowning a bit as he looked at Mbali from head to toe.

"This doesn't concern you, Max," Mbali snorted as she sidestepped Max and looked at Tristin. "Tristin, I've been thinking and I feel like we started on the wrong foot. Your business is with Thomas, not me. Can we start ov…"

"Stop right there. Tristin is not interested in Thomas's chewed leftovers," Max jumped in as he dragged Tristin away from Mbali.

Tristin didn't even look at Mbali, who was left standing alone as he and Max headed to class.

Seeing this scene, students began to whisper. "Mbali is so shameless. After Thomas was defeated by Tristin, she tries to throw herself at Tristin," similar whispers began.

Max clicked his tongue as he walked with Tristin. "Why are you so angry? Did you pursue her in the past?" Tristin asked, hearing Max clicking his tongue and shaking his head.

"No, not at all. She's not even that pretty with all that heavy makeup. Her body is great, but I just hate girls like her, who only chase after men with status and money. She'd even sell her own mother just to be with a rich guy," Max said, frowning.

"Don't pay too much attention to people like that," Tristin said as they entered the classroom. Since it was still early, only a few people were in class. Lerato was busy talking with her desk mate, Zinhle, but as soon as she saw Tristin, she ran to him.

"Lerato, I thought you hadn't arrived yet. I didn't see your car in the parking lot," Tristin said as he looked at Lerato, who looked surprisingly more beautiful today.

Lerato smiled at Tristin, her eyes glowing. "I didn't drive to school today. Thomas's father took my car. Since Thomas doesn't have a car, no one is allowed to drive to school," Lerato said, unbothered as she shrugged and curled her lips.

"It doesn't seem to bother you, not even a bit, huh," Tristin said, raising his left eyebrow.

"I didn't buy it, so why should it bother me if they take it back?" Lerato rolled her eyes before continuing, "By the way, Thomas's father is really angry with you. I'm certain the Ngobeni family will take action since you humiliated Thomas in public," Lerato warned.

"I figured they wouldn't let something like that go easily. So which side are you on?" Tristin asked, raising his eyebrows.

Lerato frowned as she narrowed her eyes and folded her arms, lifting her boobs in the process. "Why would you even ask something like that? Have you forgotten already? I'm your girlfriend now. For better or worse, I'm on your side," Lerato stated.

Tristin smiled at her as he looked into her eyes. "That makes me happy," he said, pushing a stray hair back behind her ear.

Seeing how lovey-dovey the two were, the students in class made some noise, some even whistling.

Hearing the noise and feeling their gaze, Lerato's face turned red. She looked down and said, "Anyway, I came to warn you. I'm not going to be the clingy girlfriend who's always sticking to you." She turned to leave, but Tristin grabbed her hand.

Feeling Tristin's warm hand, Lerato turned and looked at him with a bit of a frown, thinking, "What have I gotten myself into? This guy will take advantage of me every chance he gets. Well, I'm his girlfriend now. I should get used to it."

Seeing her frown, Tristin smiled a bit. "Have a picnic lunch with me today. I brought food and stuff," he said, still holding her hand.

"If I say yes, will you let go of my hand?" Lerato asked, her face red.

"Yeah, sure, I will let go of it. But if you say no, I'll pull you over and hug you right now. Maybe throw in a kiss or two," he continued.

"Alright then, I'll have lunch with you. Just the two of us," she said before Tristin pulled her even closer.

"Cool then," Tristin said, letting go of her hand. Lerato went back to her desk, feeling warm. "He never said he likes me or agreed to be my boyfriend, but his actions speak way louder to me," she thought, her face red.

Soon, speculations about Lerato and Tristin started in class. Some even said they saw Lerato kissing Tristin yesterday, but no one dared to speak loudly since Lerato was a well-known martial artist and Tristin had just showcased his strength against Thomas.

Some said they were the perfect couple; some were a bit jealous, saying it wouldn't last since Tristin had angered the Ngobeni family.

Morning classes began, and the teachers kept eyeing Tristin, having also witnessed the duel that resulted in more than 40 injured onlookers. Before Tristin knew it, it was lunchtime, and the news about him and Lerato had spread throughout the entire school.

Tristin rushed to his car while Lerato chose a nice spot for their first picnic lunch date.

"Here, you do the honors since you're a girl," Tristin said, giving Lerato the picnic basket filled with snacks, pizza, fried chicken from KFC, yogurt, and a sky-blue blanket to lay on the grass.

"Just because I'm a girl?" Lerato asked as she took the blanket, laid it neatly on the grass, and arranged the food nicely.

"See, look how nice it is. I would have just thrown everything randomly," Tristin complimented.

"Blue is your favorite color, right? Your car is blue, your phone case is blue, and this blanket is blue," Lerato asked as she sat cross-legged on the blanket.

"Yup, I like every variation of blue," Tristin said, following and sitting cross-legged opposite Lerato.

Seeing Tristin and Lerato having a picnic under the tree, students began to whisper again. "So the rumors are true. Lerato is dating Tristin. What is she thinking?" one guy murmured.

"Girls love this sort of thing, dating an enemy of the family. I guess it makes them feel like Romeo and Juliet," another guy said, opening his arms.

"Huh, Thomas is still recuperating at home, and she's having a picnic with the guy who put her cousin in that sorry state. Doesn't she know how Romeo and Juliet ended?" one guy snorted with a frown.

"Well, it makes a great story. What can I say?" the other guy said.

"All stories that end in death are great. Look at Titanic; Jack had to fight hard for the girl he loves, but in the end, he had to give up his life for her. It still makes me cry whenever I watch it," one guy said, his eyebrows raised.

Hearing the whispers, Tristin asked, "Are you okay with all this?" looking at Lerato, who was also hearing the whispers but was busy chewing a slice of pizza as she hummed.

"Your beef with Thomas has nothing to do with me. If Thomas's father has a problem with me siding with you, that's his problem. Besides, you and I aren't weaklings like Romeo and Juliet in the story," Lerato said, continuing to enjoy herself.

"Speaking of strength, I wanted to know, why would the dignified princess of the Ngobeni family train so hard in martial arts?" Tristin asked, looking at Lerato.

Lerato looked at Tristin, raising her eyebrows. "I just want to be strong enough to have a choice in my life. I don't want to be used in some political family business," she stated.

"That makes sense," Tristin nodded as he held his chin. "What about you? Don't you have anything you want to ask me?" he asked.

Lerato put down the slice of pizza and looked Tristin in the eyes. "I want to know everything about you. I can tell that you're hiding a lot about yourself, but not now. When you feel like you can trust me, I know you will tell me, right?" she said, looking into Tristin's eyes.

At this moment, Tristin's felt grateful to Lerato as he raised his eyebrows and looking at her in the eyes. "She gets me. I think I might be falling for her," he thought to himself. "Yeah, I will tell you everything about me when the time comes," he said, looking into her eyes and smiling.

"Thanks," Lerato said as she stood up to sit next to Tristin. "In the meantime, let's enjoy this momentary peace we have right now," she said, laying her head on Tristin's chest, knowing that Thomas's father would soon retaliate against both Tristin and her.

As Lerato and Tristin enjoyed their picnic, Buhle entered the main gate of the school. Wherever she went, all eyes were glued to her youthful yet adult beauty.

"Who is she? Is she a new teacher? With her and Miss Megan, I'll never skip school. She's so beautiful," one guy murmured.

Buhle wore a powder blue high-waist torn jean revealing her smooth thighs, high heels, and a white crop top t-shirt showing her belly button. She looked so hot that students and teachers froze. Even girls who thought they were beautiful felt small in her presence.

Ignoring their gazes, Buhle continued to the faculty room, number five.