Chapter 5

Ariana’s POV

“Stop helping her this instant, Jake!” Blair yelled.

He ignored her and helped me up. He produced a handkerchief from his pocket and proceeded to wipe my skirt with it.

“Go down the hallway and take a left turn. You’ll see an office there. Ask for a new set of uniforms.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “I can always wash this one and dry it out.”

“Ew,” Blair said loudly enough for everyone to hear. “You still want to wear that again? It’s a total mess.”

“Who created the mess?” Jake finally spoke to her.

For the first time since I met her, I saw Blair stutter and struggle to speak. This made me wonder if she was actually in love with Jake, or if he had something on her. I just wanted to get the mess off me, so I went to the place that Jake directed me.

But I just couldn’t stop thinking about his blue eyes. In my former school, everyone had a crush on Max. But even Max could not hold a candle to Jake’s looks.

He didn’t help you last night, Ari. Don’t forget that.

I sighed. I just didn’t understand him. I changed my clothes and headed to the bathroom, just to catch my breath.

My phone dinged. It was a message from Gran:

Honey, can you come by during the weekend? I’m at the old house in Compton till next month.

A tear slid down my face, but I wiped it quickly. It would be nice to see gran today and surprise her. So, I decided that I would pay her a surprise visit.

“I’m sorry that happened to you today,” I heard a small voice say.

I looked in the direction of the voice and saw a cute little redhead. She couldn’t meet my gaze as she was very shy. So, I walked up to her.

“You saw what happened?”

“Yes,” she said. “This isn’t a new occurrence in Hills high. The only surprising thing is the fact that you’re Blair Sinclair’s sister. Yet, she would treat you like that.”

“So, this is how she treats everyone.”

The girl nodded, her hair glimmering in the light. “Yes, if she doesn’t like you.”

“Gee, thanks for letting me know she doesn’t like me,” I said sarcastically.

She gasped. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

I smiled at her. “You don’t need to apologize. By the way, what’s your name?”

“Candace Myers.”

“Nice to meet you, Candace. I’m Ari…”

“Ariana Sinclair, I know,” she cut in.

I grimaced. “Actually, I was going to say Ariana Wells.”

She looked confused. “Aren’t you twins?”

“I’ve always used my mother’s name.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

I laughed. “You sure like to apologize a lot, Candace.”

“I got used to it since I got here. You should even apologize to Blair for looking into her eyes.”

“That’s ridiculous! Why do you all let her do that?”

When she didn’t reply, I sighed. “Who really is Jake? And why does Blair seem to respect him?”

Her eyes shone. “He’s her longtime crush since the fifth grade, but he openly declared that they could only be friends. His father is also the richest in the school. And his older cousin was a star when he was still in this school. No one dares to defy them… not even Blair.”

“That’s interesting.”

Then she looked up at me. “It was nice meeting you, Ariana. I’d better get going now.”

With that, she scurried off. Since I would be going to see my gran, I texted Rachel about my movement and switched off my phone in case my father was not in support of me visiting my gran at Compton.

The rest of the day in school was quite uneventful as I didn’t cross paths with Blair once. If possible, I wished never to see her at home either. All I needed to do was be in my room all the time, and I wouldn’t have to see her.

But how long would I be able to do that for? It would be shameful to live as a prisoner in my father’s house. I walked out of the school and stood by the road to flag down a taxi. Blair and I rode in separate cars to school because she didn’t want to breathe the same air as me.

So, I had dismissed my chauffeur already, since I didn’t want any disturbance from my father. A sleek black car stopped in front of me, and I squinted to see who it was. The tinted window in the backseat rolled down, and I was shocked to see Jake.

“Get in,” he said.

I gulped, not knowing what to do with this offer. “No, thank you.”

“Don’t tell me you’ll be riding home with Blair.”

“No!” I said quickly.

“Then hop in, I’ll take you home.”

“I’m not going home.”

“Where are you going? I could drop you off.”

“Why? You didn’t seem to be this caring yesterday.”

He sighed. “I couldn’t do anything.”

“Liar,” I hissed. “You could. They’re all afraid of you.”

“You need to understand that it’s best not to get involved in some things.”

Some things…

What was I even thinking? I shouldn’t feel entitled towards someone I just met. The sooner I stopped calling it betrayal, the better for me.”

“So,” he continued. “Where are you going?”

“Compton.”

He looked like he was contemplating. Then, he smiled at me. “It’s a good thing I have all day.”

Then he got down and opened the door for me. Around me, other students gasped.

“Wait till Blair hears about this,” I heard someone say.

“Please, stop,” I whispered.

He leaned forward with a teasing smile. “Don’t tell me that you’re afraid of Blair too.”

I bit my bottom lip and hopped into the car, careful not to brush my skin against his. Soon, we were on our way.

“Thank you for the ride,” I said.

“It’s no problem. I shouldn’t be asking you this after what happened today and yesterday, but how do you like Beverly Hills so far?”

I sighed. “It’s quite enjoyable, honestly. If only the people in it were a little nicer.”

He chuckled. “I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.”

“I’ll live with it.”

“So, what are we going to do at Compton? You’ve got a Beau waiting for you?”

I smiled. “I’m going to see my grandmother.”

“Oh, aren’t they all just so demanding?”

I looked at him. “No. My Gran is the best. She’s so sweet.”

He looked surprised. “I see. Mine constantly pressures me to work hard so that I can successfully run Dad’s company in the future.”

“I’m sure it’s easy to focus on that.”

His jaw twitched. “Like hell, it is. The grooming is insane! Add three hours of football practice per day to it, and two hours of photographing the family’s business and history into my brain. It’s tiring.”

I now understood. He was facing severe pressure. I thought rich kids had it easy. I never thought of things like this.

“Well,” I said. “Where I come from… you don’t need to do all that. No one has a big legacy to carry on.”

“Oh,” was all he said, and he became unbearably silent throughout the rest of the journey. Finally, we got to gran’s house. I got out of the car and turned to thank him. But to my surprise, I saw him getting out of the car too.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“To see your grandmother. Like I said, I’ve got all day.”

As soon as we got to the porch, the door opened and Blair got out.

“Welcome, sister. Granny and I have been waiting for you.”