CHAPTER THREE: LIBERTY

~ His name is Kai ~

POV: GABRIELLA BROOKS

"That would be all for today's class, see you all next week" The professor said as he packed up his books from the lectern and left the hall.

It was the first class of the semester but i didn't really understand anything because i came in late. I had a hard time trying to navigate my way to where the class was going to hold, I would have missed the class if not for the fact that i saw a fellow law student and we found our way together.

"Hey there" The girl who helped me get to class waved at me as she got to me and leisurely sat on my desk.

"Hey.......

"Sage" She completed. "My name is Sage, what's yours?"

"I'm Gabriella but I prefer being called Briella."

"Perfect. You are automatically my first friend in school of law" Sage smiled at me and I couldn't help but smile too.

Was it this easy to make new friends?

"That's fast but yeah I totally agree. You are the first friend I'll be having in a long time" I sighed as I remembered how my parents critiqued every one of my friends from middle school till junior year and I ended up being a loner in my senior year with my cousins as my only friends.

"Fear not sweetheart, I'm not going to be your only friend because girl, my circle is big and I'm gonna introduce you to everyone."

Sage really looked like the type of girl to have a lot of friends, she just had this bubbly energy to her. She also looked like someone who didn't contemplate much before doing anything, someone who would let her impulsive thoughts win. For starters, her hair was dyed pink which was matching with her pink nails, pink sandals and pink backpack. The knee length black sundress she was putting on was the only thing that didn't have the colour pink. She definitely looked like a real life barbie with how snatched her waist was and how pale her skin was looking.

And then there was me who didn't even look half the way girls my age looked. Not like I was feeling pressured or anything. I indeed believed i had a nice body shape and of course legit face card but i still looked dull. There were so many things I've wanted to try since i was in high school but i was so scared of my parents that I didn't even dare entertain the thoughts. I wanted to get my lashes done, I wanted to get my nails done, I wanted to style my hair however i wished to, I wanted to dress in my own aesthetic and style. I wanted to go out with friends and experience high school the way others did. I wanted to stop feeling less of myself whenever I saw people my age living their best life while I was confined to the four walls of my bedroom with daily check in's from my parents.

It was suffocating.

I wanted to be free.

And this was my chance to do everything I ever wanted and even if I ended up regretting any of my choices along the line, I would still be happy, because it was something I chose to do, not something I did because it was what was expected of me.

"Earth to Briella" Sage screamed into my ears jolting me back to reality. "Girl, I was talking the whole time."

"Sorry i just zoned off." I apologized with a smile. "So here's the thing, I want to change my wardrobe and maybe do some maintenance, can you come with me? You seem to know your way around when it comes to fashion."

I wasn't able to go for shopping the previous day because some blue eyed dude decided to spoil my mood. But anyway, this was good timing because I actually get to go with someone.

"Oh my love, perfect timing, I was actually going to get some clothes today. So what's your style?"

"I love the acubi style, street wear and a little bit of coquette." I answered quickly and her face changed after she did a once over on the outfit I was wearing.

Sigh....I was still wearing my old clothes.

"But what you are wearing doesn't......

"Yeah my parents love seeing me wear clothes like this, I will tell you everything on the way, let's go" I cut her off and began to pack my books into my bag.

"Okey dokey" Sage said in a singsong voice as she jumped off the desk and we headed out of the already empty hall.

Our first stop was a small shop that sold clothes, I had told Sage the whole situation with my parents all through the taxi ride and she promised to turn my life around with her touch of magic.

The shop had everything I had always seen on P*******t and TikTok, From Baggy pants to cute baby tees to parachute cargos and every other thing needed to complete the Acubi aesthetic.

I had saved enough money right from high school because I knew the life I envisioned to live in college was going to be damn expensive. And I had enough pocket money that my parents had given me and of course, the extra money left from renting an apartment. Turns out living off campus was less expensive than living in the dormitory.

I tried out so many clothes with Sage hyping me up the whole time, I bought a few of them and then we went to another boutique. This time we focused more on buying bags, shoes, jorts, jerseys and a few dresses. Sage didn't buy as I much as I did, and everything she bought had her signature color pink. While most of my dresses were in different color combinations, the most prominent colour was black because it was my best colour.

When we finished, Sage and I went to a salon so I could get my hair and lashes done. I was always tying up my hair because according to my parents, I looked put together when my hair was in a bun. But all that was going to change. I had my hair curled and did some cat eye lash extensions.

"Do you want Acrylic or press on?" The nail tech asked me and I quickly chosed acrylic.

Sage was fixing a new set of nails and we both decided to do matching chinese blush nails set.

By the time we were done with all of that, I was really tired but at the same time I felt alive, I felt in control of my life. Sage followed me to my apartment because of the many stuff I had to carry, because even with a taxi, I would have to make two trips and Sage was so sweet to help out. But we did stop at her dorm first so we could drop off the things she bought too.

"Your apartment is so portable and pretty, I'm jealous" Sage pouted as she looked around the my room.

"Thank you" I appreciated as I tried to arrange my clothes but didn't know where to start from.

"There's a fresher's party this weekend, you're coming right?"

Party? I've never attended one.

"I have never attended a party before so I'm not really sure" I awkwardly laughed.

"Sorry to say this but your life before this must have sucked, you really need me to add all that glitters to your life." She bragged and I just laughed.

"I guess I'll be attending the party then, but how do you know about all this? Aren't you like new to the system?" I asked because i was really surprised as to how she knew a party was holding and there was me that was clueless.

"Babe that's why I'm a social butterfly, I know everything that happens in this school." Sage said putting a stray hair on her face behind her eyes and that was when I saw it.

A tattoo? I looked closely and saw a semi colon tattoo right behind her ear.

"Is that a tattoo? Aren't you like eighteen? Are your parents okay with that?" I asked all the questions running through my head and she just laughed.

Did I say anything funny?

"Girl relax. It's just a tattoo and my parents are okay with it. My mother actually accompanied me to get the tattoo, it was my 18th birthday gift." Sage shrugged like getting a tattoo was something casual.

Maybe it was casual and I was the one being weird.

"Wow....your parents are so cool" I told her and went back to arranging my clothes in the closet.

My parents would rather disown me than let me get a tattoo under their watch. And I'm not even exaggerating.

"Do you want to get one?" Sage asked the question so casually. "It would really put a stamp on your rebellious era"

"Rebellious? Nope, it's freedom era."

The idea of getting a tattoo was tempting but how was I going to hide it from my parents when they come to visit at the end of the month.

"You can get one on your chest, right above your breast so you can hide it properly." Sage advised as if she could hear exactly what I was thinking.

"Oh my God, how did you know I was thinking about how to hide it?" I asked in shock.

"Duh...your expression told me. Get dressed, we are going to the tattoo palour." She declared and stood up from the small stool in front of the dressing table.

I couldn't even decline because deep down inside me, I wanted to get wild and get a tattoo. I quickly changed into one of the tube tops I had bought earlier and matched it with a cargo skirt and strappy sandals. We left the house and in no time we were at the tattoo palour, the place was lit up in dimly and was filled with all sorts of people. I kind of expected it to be more reserved but the whole place was buzzing, part of it was because half of the place was a bar.

Sage talked to some lady who told us to follow her upstairs. The vibe was entirely different from whatever was going on downstairs, the light was very bright and it had fewer people. Sage told me to get comfortable while she talked to the tattooist. I decided to look around while she was gone and saw a guy at the far end was getting a tattoo on his hand while two other guys that seemed to be his friends were talking him through it.

One of the guys looked familiar and i tried to figure out where i had seen him. It was as if he sensed that someone was looking at him because he turned around, his eyes meeting mine. His blue eyes were something i could never get over and i couldn't stop looking into them, it was like he trapped me in his gaze.

His eyes were beautiful.

He was the first to break eye contact and I felt his eyes wander on me as if checking me out. I didn't know why but I suddenly felt hot all over, why was he staring at me like that?

Before i knew it, he was walking towards me and I didn't know where to run to. Why on earth was he coming over? We were neighbors, yes, but that didn't mean we were on good terms.

"Looks like you had a whole makeover, I hope your personality changed along with your appearance" That was the snarky comment that left his mouth the moment he got to where I was.

He just had to remind me why I didn't like him in the first place.

"Personality? That's rich coming from you. The way you behave is literally terrible." I scoffed.

"Wow...in what sense? enlighten me." He leaned on wall adjacent me as if he really wanted to hear what I wanted to say. But I definitely knew it was a mocking stance.

"You are loud, rude, arrogant, self centered, obnoxious and the list could go on and on but I have better things to do than to stay here and banter with you" I told him and attempted to walk away but his next words stopped me.

"That just sounds like you are obsessed with me." He smirked. "Should I be scared? I mean we've only met like what, twice?"

Wow...that's the most absurd thing I've heard all day. Me, obsessed with him? Funny.

I took in deep breaths because I was starting to get angry and i didn't want to say something I would feel bad for later on.

"Obsessed with you? Seriously, dude I don't even know your name." I wanted to scream but I ended speaking very calmly and almost unbothered.

"Kai" His voice suddenly went deeper and he looked into my eyes.

"So...rry what?" My voice wavered, it was like I couldn't function properly with the way he was looking at me.

"My name, it's Kai." He shrugged with a small smile on his face as he strolled back to his friends.

Kai......

What the hell just happened?