Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Isabella's pov;

I came to Big Brother's house to see how yuyang is doing. Why does the house look deserted? No one was around but the door was wide open. I didn't know what to think or should I just go home? But I didn't want to walk back alone so I walked into the house.

I walked to Yuyang's room and saw her lying on the bed having a wet cloth on her head. She woke up when she heard me entering the room.

"Come on in," She said.

I closed the door behind me and sat down next to her.

She asked me, "Bella? When did you come?"

I said, "Just now. How are you feeling right now?" I pressed my hand on her neck and checked the temperature. It looks like she's getting better.

"I'm okay. But dad asked me to have this thing on my forehead for every hour."

I laughed and said, "That's the thing bringing down your temperature." I looked around and asked, "Are you home alone? Is nobody home?"

"Sammy was here. I think she'll be in the kitchen. She said she's preparing food for me."

(Sammy - babysitter of yuyang, doing her sophomore year in culinary school)

"Okay."

Sammy walked in while I was talking to yuyang and asked me, "When did you come? I didn't see you coming."

"I knocked on the door. No one answered me and the door wasn't locked so I walked in."

"Oops! I forgot to close the door."

"It's fine. But don't forget to lock it next time."

She gave a nod and gave food to yuyang.

Yuyang slept after taking the medicines so Sammy and I came out of yuyang room and seated in the kitchen table. Sammy prepared a chocolate smoothie for me.

While I was drinking it, Sammy pointed at the bruise on my hand and asked me, "What is this?"

"Was it obvious?" And hid the hand.

"You were hiding something and making it obvious."

"You mean like the fact that I have these bruises?" I raised an eyebrow.

She frowned slightly before smiling and asked, "I could see it clearly."

"What should I do now? Do you know how to hide it?"

"You can put some foundation on it. The bruise doesn't look that deep so it'll go away in a day."

"Thank you."

"How did you get it by the way? Did you got stolen by someone?"

I used the excuse and said, "Yes, they… they took my wallet."

"Did it happen when you were on the way here?"

I gave a nod and continued drinking the chocolate smoothie.

"Do you have money to go back?"

"No, I think I have to wait till Big Brother comes and I can go with him in his car."

Sammy left to somewhere. I gave a flick on my forehead by myself saying why are you keep lying to everyone you see. Liar.

Sammy came back and gave me some bills and said, "He comes home late. Don't wait for him. Take this money to pay the taxi."

"It's fine. I'll go by myself. You don't have to do this."

"Just take this. Give it to me when you see me next time."

"Thank you. Okay, tell yuyang that I left"

While i was walking to the bus terminal,

I looked at the money Sammy gave me for my transport. I feel so guilty for lying like that. Because of that idiot, I lied to her.

Suddenly, someone snatched the money from my hands which left me stunned for a moment. I ran after that guy to take the money back. How can he snatch it from me? He must be insane, how could he possibly have stolen something so valuable right in front of my eyes?

After running for a while, he stopped to take a breath. I used the opportunity and ran after him and held his collar and asked, "Give me back my money!" While breathing heavily because of running. The guy who stole the money from me looked like a teenager.

He gave the money back and asked, "Did you chase all this way for this twenty dollar bill?"

"It's not mine. That's why."

"You got the money back. Then, why are you still holding my collar? Let go!"

"How can I leave you like this? Let's go."

"Where are you taking me?"

"To my house."

"It's fine. I'll go to my place. Let go."

While I was dragging him, a car stopped beside us. Argh! I recognise the car. Mr Martinez stepped out of the car and gave a stare at me. He saw me holding that boy's collar and stared at him.

I let go of that boy's collar.

He asked, "What are you doing here?"

As soon as I let go of his collar, that guy ran away from me.

He shouted, "Thank you!" to Mr Martinez and ran away.

Mr Martinez looked around and asked me, "Who's he? What are you doing in the middle of the street by dragging a boy like that?"

"He stole the money from me so I ran after him to get the money back."

"Did you get hurt?"

He came closer and looked at my face and touched my hands to check. He saw the bruise on my wrist and asked, "Did he do this to you?"

Sh*t! I forgot to cover up the bruise with a foundation like Sammy suggested. What should I do now? I should uses this as a excuse.

"I think so."

"Why can't you be careful? Okay, get in."

He opened the car door for me to get in. I got in and he got in after me.

He touched the bruise and asked, "Does it hurt?"

I shook my head and said, "No."

"How much did he took?"

"Twenty dollars."

He let out a sigh and asked, "Did you ran after him for twenty dollars?"

"Even it's a small amount for you, it's still a money."

He said to the driver, "Take us to the house."

"Sir, what about the meeting with Mr Miller?"

"Ask Mr Johnson to postpone it tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Sir."

I said to Mr Martinez, "You can go to your meeting. I didn't get hurt, I can go to the house by myself."

"How will you go with this hand?"

I moved my hand and said, "Hey, it's not like it's broken. It's just a bruise. It'll go away tomorrow."

He held my hand and said, "Don't shake it. What if you got hurt and doesn't feel the pain yet? It might pain later so keep it steady."

Sometimes I get mad at him for no reason and sometimes I feel warm around him all of a sudden. The way he's talking to me, I like it. Even if it's a small bruise, he worries a lot for me. He is always there, whenever my mind starts wandering off. He's always there when things are bad or when things get better. I never said it out loud but I do love him too.

We arrived at the house.

Mr Martinez applied a ointment on my wrist and said, "Sleep well. If you want something, call me. Don't get involved in these situations If someone stole your money again. Call me if it happens next time. Don't run after them and get hurt. Okay? Did you get me?"

"Hey! I'm okay."

He gave a nod and patted my head and said, "Sleep well."

"Good night," I mumbled.

Before leaving he said, "And, don't think yourself as a knight in shining armour. Taking risk for once in a life was enough."

He turned and walked to his room.

I looked at him leaving. Did that really just happen? I couldn't help but wonder as I lay in bed. He was so... nice, and kind and caring.

Everytime, when I see his worried face, I get worried too.

The next day in the school,

"He's going to give the papers today? But we just wrote the exam yesterday. Did he corrected the paper already? Is he a human or a machine?"

Jose said, "Calm down. You said you wrote well then what are you worrying about?"

"But, still… it's nervous hearing after something like that."

Mr Davis made his way into the class and took his place. He started calling out the names and distributed the test papers with remarks. Mr Davis was a strict man who never missed an assignment, and he knew how to make sure that everyone got good marks.

When he called out my name, i got nervous. I walked over to the front and got my paper from him.

"You did well this time. Good."

When i saw my marks, i got 70% for the test. I can't believe my own eyes. I showed my paper to Jose and Tracy, they praised me for my marks.

I kept my paper inside my bag carefully. I'm excited to show this to Big brother when i go to the house.

During the break hour,

"Someone's being so beamy so my ice cream is melting quickly." Jose teased me.

I took a scoop of ice cream and ate and said, "It tastes delicious. Get me one please."

He gave the ice cream to me and said, "Take it. It's already melted. I'm going to buy a new one."

"Buy for me please." Tracy asked Jose when he tried to leave to buy a ice cream.

"Got it." He left.

Tracy asked, "You look happy."

"Yup! I got high marks."

"I don't know why you're getting low marks when you can get high scores like this. You only study for the important test. Why is that?"

"Because I'm lazy." And laughed.

She said, "Because you don't want your brother to know that you're getting low marks, right?"

"You know the answer then why are you asking me?" Continued eating the ice cream.

"I heard what happened in the hallway."

"Huh?"

"Someone saw it and spread it in the sports club. Why did he do that?"

"How do I know that? He's the crazy guy not me."

"You're going to let it go like this?"

"What do you expect me to do?"

"You should report him."

"Please, don't. I'm already done with him in the high school. I don't want to start all over again with him here. Moreover, he's in his final year. He's going to leave the college in a year."

"You're going to resist this for a year?"

"Who said about resisting? I'm going to ignore him as long as possible."

"Tell me if he's overboard. Okay?"

I gave a nod and continued eating the ice cream.

"What about the guy from library?"

"Jeremy?"

"Yeah."

"Don't know. I didn't get messages from him. Maybe he's got bored of me." And laughed.

Jose came, "Who got bored of whom?"

Tracy said to him, "There's a guy in marketing and advertising flirting on Bella."

"He's just a friend."

Tracy teased, "Oh, really? Is he just a friend?"

Jose said, "I think he's just a friend."

Surprising. The one who team up with Tracy and teased me now speaking for me? When did this happen?

Tracy, "You're taking her side now?"

"Yes, I am. What are you going to do?"

"Fine. Don't talk to me for a day."

Jose sat beside her and gave the ice cream he bought for himself to her and said, "Are you cool now?"

She pouted her lips.

He took a scoop of ice cream and tried to feed her. She gave in and took the bite.

I wonder why he did that. Actually, Jose been acting weird around me recently.

While we're on the way to the class, I looked at Jose who was talking to Tracy.

Tracy said, "Ah! I forgot to give the keys to the secretary. I'll be back right now."

Jose and I walked to class together.

I asked, "What did you want to ask me?"

"What?"

"You told me that you wanted to ask me something but you didn't. What was that?"

"The man I saw along with you when you came to give the guitar to me. He's Alexander Martinez, right? The CEO of Skyland corporation?"

I nodded and said, "Yeah, you know him?"

"Who doesn't know him? He's one of the elite people in California. Moreover, my father's studio was under that man's firm."

"Oh…"

"Are you his girlfriend?"

"What! No!"

"He said that you two are dating."

"When did he say that?"

"After you left to the car, he told me that he's your boyfriend."

Why is he telling around people that he's my boyfriend? Now, I don't know how to explain it to Jose.

"I don't know how to say this but I don't wanna lie to you either."

"It's fine. You can tell me when you want to. Just convey that I have a girlfriend and I don't have interest in you."

"Huh?"

"Because he didn't casually say that he's your boyfriend. It was more like a warning."

I laughed and said, "He's always like that. He's a possessive type."

"Oh, okay."

"Don't say this to Tracy. I feel uncomfortable talking about these stuff."

"Got it!" gave a thumbs up.

"Thanks. And, I'll let him know that you're not interested in me too." And giggled along with him.

After the classes got over,

I looked around for Harry's presence and ran to Mateo's car as soon as possible.

"Why are you running like that?"

"Take the car."

"Is something wrong? Is someone's chasing you?"

"Just take the car quickly, Mateo."

"Okay. Okay."

After we came away from the college, i let out a sigh and leaned back on the seat.

"What happened, Bella?"

"Nothing. I'm just running away from someone I knew."

"And, who's that?"

"Harry."

"Harry Williams?"

"Yeah, the one who grabbed my hand that day."

"He's Harry Williams? He looked different."

"People age, Mateo."

"Is he studying in your college?"

"Yes, I just came to know about that yesterday."

"You're going to run everyday like this?"

"Yes, now let's go home and don't talk about this in front of Mr Martinez."

"Okay. But if he did anything, don't forget to tell me. I'll take care of it."

"Okay."

At the house,

I rushed inside the house looking for Big brother.

"Why are you breathing heavily?" Mr Martinez asked when I walked around the house.

"Wh-Where… where is… where is big brother?"

"Slow down a bit."

"Why were you asking for me?" Big brother came out of the study room.

I took my test paper out of my bag and showed it to him, "I got high scores in the test, Big brother."

He took the paper and looked into it and said, "Good. That's what you get when you put your effort into it." And patted my head and continued, "What do you want this time?"

"What about a one day trip to Disneyland?"

"Granted."

"Thank you, big brother."

"Don't you want anything from me?" Mr Martinez asked me.

"It's fine. I'll ask my brother if I want something."

Big brother pinched my ear and said, "Don't start fighting with him. When do you want to go?"

"What about this weekend?"

"Okay. I'll take you this weekend."

"Bring yuyang too. It'll be fun if she comes along."

"Okay. Go and get fresh up. You give out a sweat smell." And closed his nose using his finger.

"What did you say? I smell?" I moved closer and hugged him and asked, "Do I smell now? Huh?"

Rose laughed seeing us.

Big brother pushed me and said, "Okay. Okay. You don't smell. Let go of me."

I let him go and said, "I'll go and fresh up."

When I turned, Mr Martinez was standing in front of me giving me a stare.

"What?"

He shook his head and remained silent.

I walk past him and walked to my room.

In the room, after I got out of a shower, I dropped on the bed. I heard growling in my stomach. I forgot to eat properly in the cafeteria.

I came downstairs and saw the empty hall. Where is everyone? I walked to the kitchen.

"I'll set all the dishes on the table in a minute."

"It's fine. I'll eat here. What is today's menu?"

"Deep flavour chicken fettuccine cream pasta with mushroom."

"Wow! It sounds delicious even before eating it."

He gave me a plate of pasta with chicken arranged on top of them with the white sauce.

"How should I eat this?"

He took a bit of pasta and gave it to me saying, "First, this goes in."

I took the bite, "mmm…"

"Wait…" he poked the chicken and mushroom dipped in the sauce and said, "This follows the pasta behind."

After taking the bite, "Wow! The chicken and mushroom taste delish with the pasta."

He gave a nod and kept more pasta and the sauce on my plate.

"Ah! It's enough. I bet I'll be rolling on the floor like a ball if I ate more of this. There's lot of butter in this pasta."

"Butter gives out the best taste of this dish. Go and sit in the table and eat properly."

"Where's everyone?"

"Mr Martinez and Mr Johnson left together."

"Oh, what about Rose?"

"She said she's going to the garden."

"Okay."

I took my plate and sat in the table and continuing eating my pasta.

After finishing my pasta, while I was surfing through the social page of mine on my phone, I got a pop up message from my high school friends group.

I opened it,

Noah - Guys! Are you all free this weekend?

I replied, "Why?"

Noah - Just say yes or no?

Sophia - I'm free!

Evelyn - I'm free too.

Liam - I'm not. I have practical classes.

Noah - You have to come!!

Noah - Hey, Bella! Why aren't you saying anything? Even if you have something important to do, you have to come.

What should I do now? I thought I'll be going to Disneyland with my brother and yuyang. What should I choose now? Disneyland with my brother or a get-together with my best friends? Am I the only one who's in a situation like this?

While I was thinking, my phone vibrated. Noah is calling me.

I answered, "Hello?"

"I know you saw the messages. Why aren't you replying to anything?"

"My brother said he's taking me to Disneyland so I'm…"

"You have to come. That's it. How can you have excuses every time I call you? Don't you want to meet your friends? Are we your friends or not? Send a message that you're coming to the get-together." And ended the call.

He didn't even ask for my answer. Since I didn't go to get together for a lot of time, Noah is mad at me. I wanted to go too. I wonder how I get busy whenever my friends invite me for a get-together.

I opened the chat and typed, "I'm free." And kept my phone back on the table and looked at it. Now, I have to say to Big brother that I'm not going.

"Why the long face?" Big brother asked me.

"When did you come?"

"Just now."

"Where did you go?"

"To meet one of our dealers."

"Big brother…"

"What is it?"

Mr Martinez walked into the house while I was talking with Big brother.

"I can't go to Disneyland with you this weekend. My friends asked me out."

"Jose and Tracy?"

"No, my high school friends. I didn't go to the get-together two or three times so they forced me to come this weekend."

"Okay. Go with them."

"Is it okay for you?"

He patted my head and said, "It's fine. We can go next weekend. You go and meet your friends this weekend and enjoy your time. Understand?"

I nodded.