Unexpected Connection

CHAPTER 1

Hi, I am Liliana Grant but you can call me Lily. 

'Good Morning'

I stare at my alarm waiting for it to ring

Ring Ring

I hit it the button. 

'Beat you again' I say to the alarm. 

I get up from bed. Good thing the blinds are down, the sun in your eyes when you just wake up is not the best way to start a day. I drag myself off the bed, wash my face and teeth.  I open my blinds by remote when I am in the bathroom, and like every other morning, I take my binoculars out to my huge balcony and look out. 

'There it is'

The house stood in the distance, the rising sun always hit the house in a different way making it look so pretty in the distance. I have been obsessed with this house since I was a kid. Why? Because everyone who moved in there moved out in a year, some say it is cursed. By 'some'  I mean the women (mothers) in the neighborhood. I would tell you more about the women later on, I do not want to get distracted. Like always I start by looking around the large compound. The house is on my street in fact it's my neighbor but it is still so far. There are so many things between us like a basketball court in both houses, a tennis court in my house, a garden in my house, the one in the other house is dead but I am sure with some TLC, it would be back to being a beauty. If you haven't being able to tell, I live in a pretty wealthy neighborhood. Everyone is almost the same, you have the housewives or trophy wives and you have the working wives, you must fall into one and because of that there is a clique. My mother falls into the working class clique which I am proud of, not that being a housewife is easy. 

Ugh! I am getting distracted again.

I turn my attention back to the house. I have always loved the exterior of this house, it is basically a glass house like my home, it has a flat roof with a dried up garden to one side. The house as black, and white paint on the wall, the other side of the roof without the garden is gray. There are eight bedrooms inside and ten baths, eight ensuite and two powder rooms. Okay, so you are wondering, 'how does Liliana know all this?' well I sneaked in a few times. Hey, don't judge me, okay. There is also a huge car garage in front of the house. I especially love the huge, and I mean huge front door. It is roof to ceiling and that is a lot when you realize that the living room has a high ceiling, that is, it is two floors combined. You would think the door would be so heavy, I thought so too but I was surprised when I used it for the first time, it is unnaturally light and easy to open. I also love the huge windows near the door. We have a similar front entrance except the door in my house is not floor to ceiling but it is just as wide. Done admiring the house, I look towards the back of the house, there is a building there, almost like warehouse.

'That's new'

I have never seen that building before. I quickly scan the entire compound, nothing else is different. I look towards the gate of the house. Woah! there is a moving truck, someone is moving in. It has been a while since any one moved in here. I thought it was going to be left forever, if it did, I would have bought it. The house is in good shape mostly because the realtor in charge makes sure everything is up to standard, there have even been a few open houses but nothing really stuck. 

I wonder who moved in. I look around the stuffs looking for clue, I laid my eyes on one of the most beautiful motorcycles I had seen, well after mine that is, gracing the huge driveway. It is a Ducati Diavel 1260 S beside it is a Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE.

'Nice. They've got taste'

Whoever moved in is already in good grace with me just for having that ride. I look around and see someone that looks like he owns the place but he can't possibly be the one, right? 

He would be about my age mate, maybe a year older tops. Even though I am far away, I can tell he is so tall because where he stands by the door is far high than where I normally reach. 

'Ah, I am going to miss sneaking into that house' 

My attention gets drawn back to the mystery guy at the other house, the tattoo on his left arm, cannot see it what exactly it is from here though, with his messy hair falling to the side of his head, it looks like he has run is hand through it a couple of times, and the black on black he is sporting gives him this bad boy vibe but I will not judge him. I find myself staring at him, okay fine, I am checking him out. Not gonna lie, he is hot And i do have a thing for tall guys. I notice he has a binocular in his hands. 

'No way'

I haven't met anyone who just has a binocular without a job that requires one that isn't a creep. I know you are thinking, 'But Lily, you have a binocular', yes I do and see what I use it to do. Only creeps. I look towards the moving trucks for one person. 

'How do you know he is alone, Lily'

I look back to the house, hoping he hasn't gone inside. I gasp. He is looking in my direction. Correction, he is looking straight at me. I freeze thinking, If I do not move, maybe he would think I am a statue. My heart beats rapidly, he is still looking straight at me and then he just had to do the sexiest thing I have seen in a while. He smiles at me with those fine lips, he just had to have dimples didn't he. I also have dimples but I am sure they not as hot as his is. I gulp. I remove my binoculars. I could just go inside now but instead I look through the binoculars, he is still looking at me. Thank goodness I am dressed okay, can you imagine if today was one of those days I dress like a hopeless person to sleep. I would be so embarrassed but now I have a short plaid pajama short and a matching top. He waves at me still smiling. I wave back at him not knowing what else to do. Then my alarm rings again.

'Okay, that is enough for today'.

I step back into my room, making sure to close my the glass door behind me. Now it's time for breakfast. I open my room door and I am greeted with the smell of food. I love food. I run down the stairs could not wait for the elevator door to open, I slide down the stair railings landing on my feet. I have been doing that since I was a kid, I definitely fell a lot more than a couple times before I mastered my landing. 

    "Tell me you didn't slide of the railings again" my mom asked. My mum, she is the best. As much as she works, she always makes time for us and I do not remember a time in my childhood when she has been too busy for her family. She is 5"8, I am the same height as her and wear the same shoe size which is perfect for me because she has good style which I steal occasionally. My mum has blonde hair that is cut into a very straight bob, the hairstyle makes her look like the power woman she is. She currently has on a navy blue pant suit with a white blouse underneath and a matching navy blazer. 

    "Come on mum, you know she definitely did that. It's part of her morning routine" Asher my brother says. Asher is my twin brother and we do not know who came first, our parent refuse to tell us, they say they do not want to create a weird dynamic among us and Asher has taken it upon himself to name him the first born. Isn't he hilarious and like I always tell him, the fact that he thinks he is the first definitely means he is the last. Asher is every girl's dream, he is tall and lean with an athlete's body just like the guy from the other house expect the guy is taller. Why am I thinking about him now. You know I heard somewhere that thinking about someone means you are curious about them. Am I curious about him? I just meant him, I know I haven't met him, technically but you know what I mean. 

    "Lily!!" I heard my dad call me snapping me back to reality.

    "She is off to dream land again" Asher says snapping his fingers in my face, I smack them away.

    "No I'm not" I say and kiss my head's cheeks. My dad is different, for someone who works so hard and is always traveling, you would think he would have given us issues but that is not the case. Every time my dad travels, he always calls us, every single night, to say goodnight. He says he cannot sleep until he sees our beautiful faces but I think that is just an excuse he makes cause he misses us. My dad is tall, that is where Asher gets his height from, my dad used to play football in high school and in college and somehow, years after, he still maintains his body. I mean, he still plays all kind of sports from football to tennis to golf, to basketball and he makes Asher and I play with him all the time. He made us love sports. Asher plays in the school's football team and basket ball team while I play volleyball, archery and tennis at school. While I play football, basketball, tennis and golf with my dad, I play volleyball and badminton with my mum. I know it sounds unrealistic but I come from a big family of sports, whenever we have a free time be it weekends or holidays, no matter where we are, we always play sports and my parents apparently think they have two boys. 

My grandparents also love sports and that is why I know a little gymnastics, my grandma thinks it is an alternative to ballet because I refused to take ballet, We all do take defense classes too, boxing, kickboxing and taekwondo. Like my dad always says, 'A Family That Trains And Those Sports Together Stays Together', it's a weird quote, I know. I am not good at some of the sports I mentioned like badminton and gymnastics mostly because I do not have the time to practice them. Everyone in my family plays more than one sport, it doesn't matter if you are good in it or not just play. They love it when we play outside. I think my parents want us to be strong and protect ourselves because they are not always around. They work in two different companies that have been merged but still has two CEOs, don't ask me how that works, But because of that, they always travel together leaving Asher and I alone, we used to have someone watch us but not anymore. 

    "Lily" my mum calls.

    "Yes, mum"

    "I asked what do you think about steaks for dinner" she repeats. 

    "Perfect" I answer. I love steaks. "Are you traveling during the weekend?" I ask my dad.

    "We do not know yet" he replies.

    "But we would let you know" my mum completes.

We eat our breakfast, I know you are expecting me to say in peace but no, we talk about our plans for the day while eating. Mum and dad also tell us what is happening in the company, they have been doing that since were were kids, They say it is to prepare us for when we take over so we wouldn't be overwhelmed. They even make us CEOs for a week and travel leaving us to make decisions and all. 

I remember the first time it happened, I increased everyone's salary and made sure candies were added in the cafeteria. I thought my parents would be livid when they got back but thankfully they were not, they were even proud of my decision. I think they just didn't want me to feel like I made a bad decision. They are awesome parents. 

After dinner, I run back up to my room to get ready for school. I wonder if the new guy comes to y school. I quickly have my bath and change into a turtle neck long sleeve top and a long cotton wrap skirt pairing it with my sneakers.  'I think I look fashionable enough'. The skirt, though it's long reaching my ankle, brings out my shape at the hip. I have never been so slim, I take my big butt from my mother's side of the family, every woman on her side always had bigger boobs and butt than their age group and we develop early.

I admire myself carry my backpack before leaving the room. Asher is driving me to school today like he has been for a week now. I can drive, I love driving but I am feeling lazy.

    "Let's go" Asher calls from inside the car.

    "Do not rush me" I shout back getting in. The poked is tongue at me. "Real mature".

    "Do you have practice today?" he asks as he drives out the compound.

    "Yeah, I've got tennis. You?" 

    "Basketball after a pop quiz"

    "How do you know we have a pop quiz?" I ask. Asher and I are in the same class.

    "I have my sources" he answers. 

    "Why did you not tell me earlier, I am so not prepared" I tell him while opening my bag. He just shrugged.

If you were wondering what his sources are? He doesn't have any, he his is own sources. Let me explain. Our parents work in Computer Programming and Software Development, my dad is in charge of the programming while my mother in development and because they want us to be familiar with the family business, they taught Asher and I programming and development, and we took it a step further by using that experience to learn hacking. We decided to learn how to hack because we wanted to get into the alarm system of the house so we could sneak out, it didn't work we so got caught and even got grounded. I remember we had to write 'I will never sneak out again' a thousand times. So back to Asher's sources? he must have gotten into our school's system to find out. 

Welcome to Trinity University, a school for Business and Computer Science. It's the school for the one percent of the one percent. Everyone here is an elite class. For a private school for the wealthy, their firewall is pretty lackluster. The whole school is a combination of three buildings, building A in the middle is called Eagle building, it is where all the classes are located. The second building on the left is called Serf building, it's basically where the offices are, the director's office, deans, the important administrative staffs. The final and third building on the right, Leo is the relaxing building, we have the cafeterias, coffee shops, vending machines, indoor garden and others there. It is the prettiest building in this school. I might take you on a tour later, we have so many sports facilities like lacrosse, soccer, football, tennis, badminton, basketball, archery and others. There is a sport for everyone. 

Asher parks in the spot allocated to him, there is a parking spot allocated to every student. Immediately he gets down, the cheerleaders and his teammates surround him. I on the other hand am ignored. This is my school life, the boring life of a wallpaper. I walk towards the school, my attention is drawn to someone going into the Serf building, I cannot se the face but the person seems familiar. Ignoring it, I walk into the eagle building and take the elevator up to my floor, it is the top floor, I walk up to my locker and begin to get ready for class. I have Economics first, kill me already. 

    "Can you believe we have Econs?" Asher asks opening the locker beside me. I can remember how happy we were when we were able to change our locker allocation, it was the first time we got through the school's firewall, we were so happy. Asher and I have always been close and even though we have some differences, we have so much similarity and we like being close to each other at all times, we always say we feel drenched when the other person is not around because w e draw strength from each other. 

    "Tell me about it" I answer hitting my head on my locker. One thing I like about my school is that all the lockers in each floor are different colors giving us variety which I appreciate.

    "What are we doing after school?" I ask Asher. As he is about to answer a group of student gather.

    "What do you think is happening?" Asher asks.

    "I don't know nor do I care" I answer. Asher laughs and we walk to class. 

One of the reasons why I love my brother is because even though he is popular at school and I not so much by choice, he still hands out with me, we always have lunch together and he makes sure I come to all his game and he is always in mine. We support each other always and I love him for that. 

In class, the lecturer is writing on the board. I look round the class, there are nineteen students in my class, the seats are single chairs with the table in front, imagine an high school classroom, that's what my class looks like. The students in front have their notes out and are jotting what the lecturer is writing. The jocks are on the right side of the class at the back and they are obviously not listening, they are probably talking about sports. The cheerleaders sitting on that side with them, the popular girls in school are doing their nails, yes, in class and talking probably about a party coming up. The sit beside me is empty, Asher is sitting in my front. I am sitting on the last row on the left close to the window. My text book is out on the table but I am definitely not listening, I am thinking about the guy that moved in today. I wonder if he is with his family and if he has a girlfriend. I know it's too soon but a girl has got to know. 

    "Hey guys, you have a new student in class" Mr. Martins, my Economics lecturer speaks up getting my attention.

    "I hope it is the new guy we saw earlier" one of the cheerleaders, I think her name is Heather says. Heather is new to our school as well. She is beautiful, not gonna lie. Her blonde hair flows well with her ivory skin, she is tall and slim, the perfect combo for a cheerleader. 

    "You said you knew him" another cheerleader, I do not know her name says to Heather.

    "Yes, we went to the same school before we came here" Heather answers.

    "You are so lucky that you know him" another cheerleader says. 

Before we go further, let me inform you that Heather is the school's queen bee and like every queen bee, she has a two most trusted bee workers that are always with her. Do you know the cliché popular girl in high school, that is Heather. She is new but she quickly made a name for herself.

    "I know" Heather say flipping her hair.

    "Can we concentrate, thank you for letting us know you know him, Heather" Mr. Martins says and I snicker. Heather's eyes fall on me with anger. 

    "Leave her" the second cheerleader says, her name is Hailey Morgan. I would tell you all about Hailey later just know we were friends before but not anymore. I roll my eyes at them. 

    "Okay ladies, enough. Let us welcome the new kid" Mr. Martins says. "Ian, come in" he adds. Heather sits up and adjust herself. 'Oh please' . I roll my eyes again.

Ian walks in and you would not believe it or maybe you would but it is the guy from the house, the guy that just moved in, he is also the guy from the office, no wonder the person looks familiar. Standing beside the teacher, Ian scans the whole class, when his eyes fall on Heather, she waves at him smiling but he ignores her and keeps scanning the class. I do not know if anyone noticed but I did and smiled. Do not get me wrong, I do not hate Heather yet but I know I would.

    "Please introduce yourself" Mr. Martins tells Ian. Ian is still scanning the class and then his eyes fall on me and he smiles, I groan inwardly.

    "Is that the guy you were telling me about in the car, the guy that moved in to your favorite house?" Asher whispers from the front. 

    "Yes" I answer my eyes still on Ian.

    "This is going to be good" Asher says laughing. 

    "Hi, I am Ian Carter" Ian says his eyes still on me. I look away from him and see that Heather noticed that his eyes is on me. She looks over at me and frowns. I poke my tongue out at her and roll my eyes. My eyes fall back on Ian and I see him smiling, his dimples gracing us with their presence.

    "Thank you Ian. You can sit beside Liliana" Mr. Martin says pointing to the empty seat beside me. We get assigned seats in my school because it is the lecturers that come to the class to teach, something about wanting we students to get comfortable in our classes. 

    "You can sit with me, Ian" Heather says but he doesn't answer instead he walks up to the seat beside me and drops on it, dropping his bag on the floor.

    "Binoculars" he says to me. I hear Asher snicker in front and I hit him. 

    "Hey" he says looking back.

    "Mr. Asher, please don't disrupt my class" Mr. Martins says and it is my turn to snicker at Asher's but but.

    "You are the girl from the neighboring house" Ian says beside me. 

    "Shh, no talking in class" I tell him and face my book still not concentrating. I can feel Ian smile at me.

I cannot believe he just happens to be in my department.