Chapter 2

"Seat belts, ladies," Their father—Mason—reminded them.

Gianna loved it when he drove them to school a lot more than when Louisa did. Reason being that, with him, they could crack jokes, sing, and even play games on their way to school. But with their red-haired sweet mother, it wasn't the case. All she wanted to hear were their heartbeats and breathing.

Mason adjusted the rearview mirror to have a better view of his princesses from time to time as he drove.

The aura in the car was beginning to grow to become like that in their mother's presence and oddly enough, Gianna found it convenient as she tapped away on her phone. Even Petra the Magpie hadn't questions to ask today as she was as well busy with her little iPad.

"Knock! knock!"

"Who's there?" They absentmindedly replied, still gadget dedicated.

"So,"

"So, who?"

"So, don't leave me alone," He singsonged a popular king of pop's song while nodding his head to an imaginary beat resulting in a car suffocated with laughter.

"Oh my God dad. Where is that from? Besides it's not don't, it's just," Gianna corrected.

"At least you got the message."

Succumbed into the temptation of the fabricated game, every one of them took their turn, forgetting completely about their luminous screens.

First was Petra's deposit. After a kiss and a hand wave, Mason did a U-turn. He adjusted the rearview mirror more to his right to better caption a brooding Gianna.

"This is not the first time we're dropping Petra first so I'll take it her absence isn't the reason. What's troubling you, sweetheart?"

The boy next farm and his taunts, she almost said.

"Is it a boy?" He added.

"No," Gianna quickly interjected. "No, it's just that I got a message from Mimie saying that she won't be in school today."

"I'm relieved. But don't you worry, you won't even notice her absence." Gianna deeply huffed. "By the way, I want us to have some alone time today, just you and I. After school. What do you say?"

She turned to look at the road-focused man, dazzled. It had never happened before to have a one on one outing out of the ordinary family outing sometimes to the city and many times to Cold Spring Main Street. She preferred the latter in most cases with its charming and serene environment, classy restaurants, and amazing souvenir boutiques.

"I say it's great," She smiled. "Why though?"

He pulled up the saturated parking lot, rested the engine, and turned to his daughter. "Daddy wants to be your first date. Is he worth it?"

Gianna cackled, "he's more than worth it." She kissed him, walked out, and waved.

"Hey," Mimie alerted her presence as Gianna packed her books. Your typical dork in shiny rimmed lenses. But she was evolving as far as dressing was concerned from the way she did in middle school. What worsened was the gruesome rise of an extra piggy ponytail. "How was y-your weekend?"

"Great as always." Gianna hurriedly zipped her bag and shut her locker to not mistakenly cross paths with Sean.

He's been on her tail lately and she did not understand why. She has to admit that during her freshman year she died for his attention but she didn't need it anymore. She had stopped. Stopped trying to make people like her, trying to make him like her a very very long time ago.

"Are you free tonight? W-would like us to perform some more research on Mr. Bethel's ass-signment. My elder sister told me he lived f-for outstanding outputs from his students and—"

"No, Mimie." She cut her only friend short. Soon after, a twinge of guilt slithered through her. Whether a slight or severe stammerer, it is always and only good to not interrupt, complete their words, or speak over them. So was her mother's advice the first day she overheard her and Mimie's discussion on her first day of visit. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

"Have a date tonight." Mimie's face lightened up. "Now before you start shooting 'em bombs, it is only wise I tell you it's with my dad."

"Aww. That's so cute."

"Let's postpone it to tomorrow. After all, we don't have to submit it until Thursday."

"O-okay."

Just then did her backpack brusquely fall off her shoulder. On the way to picking it up, thinking it to be an accident caused by an equally trotting student to class, it was kicked a foot away by a familiar black and white sneaker donned foot. With the latter scenario, Gianna was sure as breathing who it was.

She shut her eyes for a bit, pressed her lips firmly together, inhaled, and silently struggled for her backpack.

Successfully in its hold, Gianna dusted imaginary dirt out of it and stood up tall, even taller than she had been before the incident, with her head hung so high that a sequoia tree will proudly hand over its status.

So far so successful. Given that her school life had taken a new turn since she made it to high school, Sean's as well will never crown a day 'a day' without stepping on her toes, no matter where, how long, and how much she hid, he'll always find a way to get her skin.

Now she didn't want to go to the canteen as she had been avoiding it for two consecutive weeks. Gianna preferred, on that day, like Friday, to sketch a way out of school without Sean's troublesome yet handsome face on the horizon. How Prison Breakish.

"Dennis and I are t-taking off. You sure you d-don't want to come?"

"No, thanks, you go ahead."

"Okay."

Away they flew leaving Gianna with her thoughts on not only prison break but on Seth too.

"Stupid!" The air around her right ear became warm inflicting a startle. She turned to see her nemesis staring down at her with a devilish grin. "You can't escape from me, Donovan. So this," he lifted the notebook on which she sketched, tore off the page, and scrunched it. "Is stupid. Just like you."

"What do you want from me, Sean?" She scowled.

He laughed, mischievously and hauntingly. "What do I want from you." He repeated then laughed again. "You're totally wet behind the ears." He threw the crumpled paper to her head which bounced and fell to the floor.

"There's nothing you can give me. At least not now. But be sure to have nothing but what will be covering," he checked her out from head to toe in such an intimidating way that she shrunk on her seat.

"What you have in there, if at all there's something, when the time comes."

Gianna swallowed. Her eyes still hadn't found the effrontery to look at him whenever he spoke to her. Why? She asked. Where was the real Gianna? The head elevated, fearless, and confident Gianna her mum had thought her to be?

What changed? What went wrong?

"You're being a coward," She dared then regretted as soon the third word left her mouth. She'd tended not saying a thing as the proverb went; 'the best retort to a fool is to keep quiet.' Sean didn't understand that or if at all he did, he didn't mind being a fool.

He chuckled, "no, you're being idiotic and too full of yourself. Get off that chair," He ordered.

Gianna didn't move.

"Donut van, if you know what's good for you, you'll do as I say. You owe me that. Get your fucking ass off that chair, and now."

"If I do as you say, will you let me be?"

"You know better." Gianna hesitated yet succumbed. It was for the best, she believed. The scale balance appeared even, the consequences, whether she obeyed or not, were linear. "Walk to the canteen, get your lunch, and eat."

She begrudgingly obeyed. It would sound sweet and cute from someone else's mouth but not Sean's. He was cooking up something at the back of his mind, she knew it.

In the boisterous interior of the cafeteria, Gianna was able to sight Mimie and Dennis in the company of a couple of other mates on their usual table. A look behind proved that she wasn't being followed, that alone relieved her. She got her lunch as was instructed, walked towards her comrades who were as surprised as glad to see her.

"What happened today?" Dennis asked.

Gianna wasn't as personal with the Vietnamese in Chinese features as she was with Mimie. Same cut across the rest of the three individuals who sat opposite her.

"Hey!" Mimie warned. "I'm glad you finally joined us," She referred to her friend with a welcoming smile. "We were just talking a-about Mackhie's Golden Jubilee scheduled for the weekend. Y-you'll be there, won't you?"

Mackhie's was one of Cold Spring's oldest and most famous cafés known for not only its sumptuous coffee but also its luscious muffins and chef's kiss donuts.

"Yeah, I will." She absentmindedly dipped her straw in and out of the hole it created on the previously foiled packet of orange juice.

"Here comes the future prom king and queen," Judith commented dreamingly as she focused on something behind her. "Isn't it against the ten commandments for a beautiful boy to court an equally beautiful girl?"

"It should be. We just over sighted it." Meredith confirmed.

Gianna didn't need to look back. The three girls, Dennise inclusive, had heart-wrenching hots for one particular guy in school just like every other girl. The same guy she tried by all possible means to avoid now more than ever.

The orange juice she had been playing with had abruptly become the most important thing she'd come across as she sucked on it through the straw.

"Oh my God, what's he doing?" She heard Meredith say.

"Isn't it obvious? He's stripping," Dennis retorted.

Gianna's eyes bludged, however, she didn't dare look back.

"Goodness, it's getting hot in here." Judith fanned her reddening face.

"W-why is he heading t-this way?"

Gianna's head turned into a chest of gibberish. Nothing the girls said made sense. Well until a presence hovered over her. A cold and apprehensive presence.

Her eyes waggled to the familiar infuriating sneakers and stuck there. Another presence made itself known. It was a pair of fancy female boots. Definitely that of his grandiloquent girlfriend—Elodie.

"Head up, Donut van," He gruffly ordered.

Gianna took the last pull before adhering to his words with its actions. Just then, she felt compressed with all the stares pointed at her.

They had said something about stripping, she didn't see any form of nudity before her.

"Here." He tossed a fabric to her face. "It should be neat by 'morrow."

Gianna pulled the fabric off her face to see that it was the checkered shirt he wore on a long-sleeved t-shirt minutes ago. It had now had a huge red stain on it.

"Give it to her, babe." She heard him say. "Let me do it for you."

In a lightning bolt, her view went dark as a new fabric blinded her.

"That too."