Chances of Fate

X - A Sign Of Affection

Third Point Of View

- - -

"That's a no." Amirah closed her book and stared at Azure, disturbed of the fact that Zodel immediately knew where she was hiding. "Zodel, I know you're hiding behind those bushes."

She heard an, "Aw man." from behind, immediately earning a small sigh from Amirah.

The weekend passed quickly and they were now in the middle of the school week. Not much has changed ever since Zodel came in as a new student except that she had to escape from him when he started clinging on to her for various reasons—or rather, excuses.

And now Zodel has ordered Azure to annoy her for him since Azure's punishment was still on.

"Come on! Why won't you help me find a club?" Zodel whined, sitting beside Amirah.

Azure c****d his head to the side. "Yeah, why don't you just help him, Amirah?"

It was still early in the morning, twenty minutes before the school bell rings and there they were, already testing Amirah's patience.

"Because..." she stubbornly stood up from her spot underneath the willow tree. "I have something important to do after school."

"What important thing? And aren't we supposed to meet for a tutoring session after school?" Zodel leaned in closer, receiving a book on his face from Amirah. "Ow!"

"S-something that I can't tell." She replied, blushing a little. "And i-it'll be quick so I won't miss our session."

Amirah left after that. Zodel and Azure looked at each other in confusion.

Everyone had no idea how nervous and excited Amirah was except for Laura, of course.

It was a special day for her, after all.

She was more distracted than the usual and the people who knew her well were starting to wonder what happened to her.

If people were to answer the question: "What do you know about Amirah?"

A lot would say that she's a hopeless romantic or someone who's easily lovestruck and some replies are just—too extra.

"She's pretty but not too pretty to be noticeable."

"What do you mean by that?" Zodel gave his classmate a funny look.

"I heard that she's having a hard time with one subject. I hope she's okay."

"She's really good at writing essays and literature in general! I heard that one time, she had a small business around the school where she writes you essays and in exchange, you pay her money!"

"Why would an important heiress write essays for people for money?" Zodel thought, staring at Amirah who was minding her own business, writing on a notebook.

Owen Thorne, also known as Zodel, was on the hunt for answers about what their classmates think about Amirah Hearst, a secret heiress that only a few know.

He was curious as to what type of person she was inside the classroom since he never got the chance to actually observe her before.

"She likes the student council's vice president?" Zodel repeated Everleigh's words.

He could see Ash behind her with his arms crossed.

"Almost every girl in this school has at least a crush on the vice president, Alec Lowell." She smiled.

"Do you have a crush on the vice president?" He asked, a little louder to let Ash hear their conversation as a tease.

Everleigh simply shrugged and chuckled. "Who knows?" She knew very well that almost everyone was listening to their conversation after Zodel dropped that question.

Whenever it was about Everleigh—or just any pretty girl in general—and Alec Lowell, it's most likely to cause controversy around the school. He's that big of a deal.

"What else do you know about Amirah?" Zodel continued, making Everleigh chuckle.

She waved her hand. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything more than that. You should go ask her instead if you're that interested in her."

"I-interested?! It's not like that!"

Everleigh laughed as she excused herself from him, leaving a flustered Zodel.

He glanced at Amirah for the nth time who was still minding her own business on her seat, stuck in her own world that only existed in her mind.

The school bell rang, announcing that it was now lunch time. With no teacher present at the moment, the students started to rush outside so that they could take the best seats at the canteen.

"Zodel."

He jumped at the sudden call of his name, unaware that Amirah was already beside him.

"I'm going to talk to Leigh first before we go." She said, waiting for a nod from him before walking towards her friends with a small tote bag in her hands.

Ever since the visit to Azure's house, the four of them started to eat lunch together at the rooftop and everytime Amirah would go with them, she'd have to talk to Everleigh about it and apologize. Leigh would say that it was okay and that was their cycle everyday.

She handed the small tote bag to Everleigh and told her to take care of it for her.

"Oh, who have you fallen in love with this time?" Everleigh curiously asked as she checked the small bag that had snacks inside it.

Amirah looked away, hues of red instantly crawled up her cheeks. "A-ah! I-It's—it's someone from a higher grade..." Her voice weakened. "I'll t-tell you about it later..."

"Well, alright." She smiled.

"I'm really sorry and thank you for understanding!" Amirah stated one more time before closing the classroom door.

She sighed and briefly looked at Zodel who was walking next to her. "I feel bad for ditching Leigh."

"You say that all the time yet you still come. Perhaps you actually enjoy my company than Everleigh's?"

Amirah smacked him in the side with her lunchbox. "i***t! I-I'm only doing this because Connie and Azure will be there!"

Zodel snickered, "Yeah, whatever you say."

When they arrived at their destination, Azure was the only one who was waiting for them. It turns out that Connie had to eat at her clubroom because something urgent came up.

The three sat on the floor, which surprised Zodel since Amirah was chill about it—and almost revealed her secret in front of Azure.

"By the way, Amirah." Zodel started, immediately grabbing Azure and Amirah's attention. "What's in the little bag that you carried around back in the classroom?"

Amirah had to swallow her meal first before answering, "It's... n-nothing important." She looked away, taking another bite to avoid talking.

Some of her friends had already noticed her randomly blushing while  she stares at nowhere. There was no doubt that she was crushing on someone.

"But don't you stutter when you're either nervous or lying?" Zodel thought, skeptically studying the girl's movements.

"Alright, then." He played along.

"You pry too much." Azure frowned at him. "And... aren't you too close to Amirah?"

Zodel hummed in question, purposely leaning on Amirah's side to annoy Azure even more.

"Now, you're just being mean!"

Their rambles at each other almost didn't end and Amirah had to stop the two. It was always like this ever since they started hanging out but they didn't really mind because even though they don't want to admit it, they actually like each other's presence. Luckily, their third lunchtime at the rooftop went well thanks to Amirah.

For Amirah, it didn't really take long for the classes to dismiss because all she did was stare blankly at the board, too bothered to even listen at the discussions.

She decided to pack her things back in her bag when a few students only remained in the room.

"So, Amirah, who is this boy that you're going to confess to?" Everleigh immediately walked towards her, blocking Amirah from getting out of her seat.

Amirah looked away as she fiddled with her fingers. "W-well, you s-see..."

"Oh! So that's what it was!" Zodel interrupted, curiously listening at the two with his cheek resting on his palm. "And you said that it was nothing important'." He pouted.

"Y-you're still here?!" Amirah absentmindedly stood up as her cheeks started to burn. "You won't t-tell anyone right?!" She tensed up, intensely staring at the person behind her seat.

"Of course not." Zodel smiled, only making Amirah more suspicious of him.

She looked at him in the eye, almost tearing up and forced her words to come out. "A-anyway. I'm going to confess to this b-boy who I met because I... because I love him, okay?"

"Love is a pretty big wo—"

"I'm happy when you're happy." Everleigh smiled, cutting off Zodel's statement. "Do whatever you think will make you happy."

Amirah nodded, returning the warm gesture and got out her small bag before walking out of the room.

Zodel looked at Everleigh in doubt when they saw Amirah leave the room. "Why did you stop me?"

"Amirah must've mixed up her words from excitement. She knows what she's talking about 35% of the time."

"Isn't that a bad thing?"

"Not at all." She smiled, glancing at Laura who was leaning against the window near the blackboard. Everleigh knew she was listening to their conversation. "That's what makes Amirah, Amirah, after all."

"If that's what you say..." Zodel looked behind him, seeing Laura exit the room. "I'm gonna go take a walk." He said, excusing himself from Everleigh.

In the next building beside class 2-1, Amirah was there, panting as she hid near the stairs where she saw the person who she wanted to confess to.

He was coming down the stairs with a friend and Amirah was clutching her bag hard as her heart raced in an abnormal way.

As soon as she saw him near her, she immediately took the chance and ran towards him.

"B-Bryce!" Amirah called with her cheeks flushed.

He turned around, eyes widening when he realized who it was. "Oh, it's you."

"A-ah! I l-like you! Please t-take this as a sign of m-my affection!" She unknowingly yelled, presenting him the small bag that has the snacks inside it. She was looking away with her eyes closed shut.

In her head, she was trying her best to convince herself that it was gonna be fine if she gets rejected because she's already been in that situation for at least a hundred times already.

Bryce took a deep breath after getting out of his surprised state and accepted her offer. "Sorry, but you're too short to be my type." He replied, earning a glance from Amirah.

"W-What?" Blinking a few times, she brushed her nose to fix her glasses.

"Thanks for the muffins though." He smiled and started to walk away with his friend.

Amirah blinked again as she stared at the two who were starting to dissappear in the halls.

What just happened?

Her eyes watered due to the mixed feelings that crept up on her.

She was rejected but... he took her bag of muffins.

Laura was on her way to the third floor where Amirah was, knowing that Zodel was secretly following her.

She knew he was curious about Amirah but she never thought he would go this far.

"Perhaps, you're the one who wants to comfort Amirah?" Laura finally spoke, stopping on her tracks.

Zodel looked around the empty halls and realized that she was talking to him. "C-comfort?!"

She turned around with her piercing butterscotch eyes.

At first, Zodel was hesitant but he approached her anyway as soon as she broke eye contact with him and started to walk again.

"H-hey, she was gonna confess to someone, right? So you already know that she's gonna get rejected?" He stood by her side, glancing at Laura's  face from time to time. "Are you following her now that she's rejected? Why didn't you stop her?"

"Because," Laura glanced back at him, earning a shiver from Zodel. "My lady told me so."

"Hmmm, I'll search upstairs then!" He smiled, still a little confused with what was going on.

Without a word, Zodel dashed his way to the stairs that was near them and dissappeared before Laura could even stop him.

There was no need to search the whole building because Laura already knew where she was.

She waited for a while for Zodel to return but her patience for people who isn't Amirah is really short so she started to move again.

When she was about to reach the end of the hall, she heard someone call her and when she turned around, Zodel was already back from his expedition.

"T-that was fast." Laura barely kept her cold demeanour in front of him.

"I just checked the halls and the restrooms to see if she was there but I found nothing."

Laura wanted to comment but stopped when they both heard faint sobbing near the bathroom.

"Comfort her. I need to retrieve something." She quietly ordered.

"W-what—how do I comfort her?!" Zodel whisper-shouted.

"I don't know... give her a hug or something." Laura nonchalantly replied and began walking away, passing Amirah.

"What? Hey! Don't leave me here!"

Of course, he couldn't stop her so he decided to look around for a certain someone.

Once he was reassured, Zodel followed Amirah's voice and finally found her in the corner of the hallway.

Her body was slumping down as she hugged her knees, sobbing. One of her hands were holding her glasses.

Slowly, Zodel approached and sat beside her without Amirah noticing.

Amirah quickly jolted from her position when she felt cold all of a sudden, wiping her tears as she hiccuped out of control.

"Z-Zodel... you're c-cold..." She slowly moved away.

Zodel looked at her with a funny expression. "Geez, that's the first thing that you say after I find you in this situation..."

"W-what are you d-doing here anyway?"

He shrugged, asking himself the same question.

"So... I guess—"

"Yes..."

Zodel frowned. "You didn't let me finish. What if I told you 'I guess you want to be my girlfriend' or something?"

"Y-you i***t!" She started to cry again, more violently than the recent one.

He chuckled, pulling her into a hug. "I'm kidding."

"Oh my, I don't think this is welcome in a school environment." A voice interrupted, standing in front of the two with her hands clasped together.

Amirah quickly pushed Zodel away and stood up in shock. "P-President!" Even though her swollen eyes couldn't see that clear, she knew who it was just from the sound of the person.

Zodel lightly pulled her clothes. "Amirah, we should run."

"W-why?" She looked at the two one at a time, confused as to why Aquila was smiling at Zodel like she had won a fight or something.

"Oh, you found him already?"

"A-Alec?! I-I mean, vice president?" Amirah shrunk back to the corner, sitting beside Zodel. "W-what are you g-guys doing—doing here?"

"Amirah, did you know that this boy has caused a ruckus on the fourth floor's bathroom?" Aquila glanced at her, still smiling.

Alec crossed his arms. "Especially in the girl's bathroom."

"G-girl's bathroom?! What were you doing there, Zodel?!" Amirah turned to him, her eyes wide as saucers.

Zodel playfully raised his arms in defence, still sitting on the floor. "I was looking for you, okay?"

"In the girl's bathroom?!"

Laura instantly spotted the person who rejected Amirah and called out his name.

Bryce, who heard her, turned to see who it was. He was stunned as to why someone as gorgeous as her would approach him first.

With no word, she connected her palm to his face, creating a clap-like sound that echoed through the empty halls.

She grabbed the small bag that they took from Amirah and left.

After checking the bag, Laura sighed in relief. They haven't touched a single one and she was right in time to swoop it.

"Zodel, you i***t!" Amirah's voice echoed.

"Er, Miss President, my name's actually Owen."

"I know that very well, Zodel."

She could already hear the ruckus as she climbed back the stairs.

What she just witnessed in front of her was the student council's president and vice president cornering Zodel and Amirah.

Laura faked a cough to divert their attention to her.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience. They were looking for me." She started. "There must've been a misunderstanding. Isn't that right, Alec?" Calling him in his name made her clench her fist.

"I don't think so, Laura." Alec smiled. "But we weren't gonna keep him long anyway. Me and Aquila just wanted to ask some questions. They're free to go now." He stepped aside for a pathway.

"Alec." Aquila stared at the vice president, trying her best not to show a confused look.

"Let's go, Miss Pres." He replied, pulling her away from the corner and waved them goodbye as they walked away.

"Laura! What took you so long?!" Amirah dashed to her assistant for a tight hug. "This creep was the first one who found me!"

"Creep?!" Zodel yelled, standing up by himself. "I'm the one who comforted you!"

Amirah stuck out her tongue to him and drowned herself in Laura's perfume.

"For a high school student, you're pretty childish."

"Zodel!"

Laura calmed them down and convinced the two to walk back to their classroom.

Little did they know that someone was waiting for them.

"I believe, this is yours." Laura calmly said as she handed back the small bag to her master.

"Amirah! You look like sh—"

"Connie!" Glaring, Azure stopped her.

Connie didn't back down and glared back at him.

As the two were having a glaring contest, the three newcomers were confused as to why they were inside their classroom.

"Um..." Everleigh softly spoke as she slowly walked towards them. "I invited them in since they said that they were Amirah's friends."

"You cried! Why did you cry?" Connie asked, scurrying her way to Amirah to avoid the fact that she lost at the glaring contest. She sounded concerned but her actions were defying it since she was playing with Amirah's cheeks, squishing them as she was holding her laughter. "Who hurt you?"

Amirah sniffed, "It's n-nothing. I just—j-just tripped." She forced a chuckle.

"Gee, you're such a crybaby." Connie finally released her. "Anyway, what's in that bag?" She pointed out.

"O-oh, uh, muffins."

"Let's go eat your muffins, then!"

Azure pulled Connie away from Amirah. "You already forgot why we're here." He cleared his throat at faced Amirah. "It's about our project."

Amirah was about to ask when Connie continued, "We don't know how to write a proper diary entry!"

"Well—"

Again, Amirah was interrupted by someone. It was Zodel who didn't want to continue their conversation since he's supposed to start tutoring session now.

"Meanie." Amirah frowned at him and apologetically looked at the two juniors. "I'll explain it in the group chat later. I'm sorry about Zodel."

"No problem!" Azure smiled, giving her a thumbs up and giving Zodel a glare. "See you tomorrow!"

Connie had to ask for a muffin before she left and Amirah gladly gave them two.

Everleigh had to go too and gave Amirah the responsibility to lock up the room when they leave since Everleigh was supposed to lock the room in the first place.

"Let's make it short." Amirah said after tying her hair up. "I'm having a little a headache."

"Aye aye!"