7. Matchmaker

"So, how's it like dating Issac?" Elena asked, sitting beside Innessa as they waited for their professor to arrive.

"It's nice," she said in a small voice, pretending to read her notes.

"I don't know why, but I'm so invested in your couple. You guys are so perfect. An angel for a dev-" She abruptly sealed her lips, and when Innessa glanced at her, she shrugged her shoulders, smiling sheepishly.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," She blurted out, pulling out her journal and noting some points from Innessa's notes.

They were talking about Elena's favorite cafe and how the pastries there were the best when two girls walked over to them.

Innessa noticed them first as they stared at her with sweet smiles.

"Hi, could you lend me your notes? By the way, I'm Cassie, and this is Arielle." The girl introduced them both.

"Hey, I'm Innessa, and this is Elena," Innessa introduced themselves. She noticed how they completely ignored Elena, and also, these were the same girls who were gossiping about her a couple of days ago.

"My notes are not in proper order, but you can go through them once Elena is done with them," she said.

Cassia pulled a chair and sat in front of them while Arielle stood close, still smiling.

"Oh, I will. By the way, I wanted to ask. Do you know Maddox?" Cassie asked.

"Maddox?"

"Your boyfriend's cousin, Maddox Knight. Don't tell me you never met him," Cassie asked, surprised.

"I... Uh... I haven't. We just recently started dating, so it's still new," Innessa tried to handle her lie.

Cassie and Arielle both groaned. "Okay. But whenever you meet him, can you introduce me to Maddox? I know he's single and you could help me out, you know," Cassie wiggled her brows.

"I'm not a matchmaker, Cassie. And that'd be so rude on the first meeting with someone," Innessa said calmly.

"A woman should fix another woman's crown, you know. I'm just asking you to help me out; it's not that big of a deal. Just introduce me to him once, and I'll handle the rest," Cassie said with a pleading look.

Innessa frowned, lowering her gaze. She wasn't even dating Issac for real, and now these girls want her to set them up with Issac's cousin, whom she never even met.

Crazy.

"I... I don't think-"

Innessa was cut off by the professor's voice; they didn't even know when he showed up. The girls went back to their seats, and she couldn't be thankful enough.

"That's crazy. Why would you set her up with Maddox?" Elena grumbled as Innessa passed her a tight-lipped smile, though from the inside, she was panicking because she didn't know who Maddox was.

The rest of the classes went smoothly. She was in the corridor, placing her books in the locker, when something slammed into the lockers at some distance from her, causing almost everyone to flinch because of the noise.

Henry stood there, grabbing a guy's throat, and the cause of that noise was that guy. Henry had slammed that poor guy into the locker.

That guy tried to shove him off, but Henry's goons grabbed him and slammed him back against the lockers.

Henry stood in front of him, grinning as he grabbed that guy's throat, and like always, everyone was gawking, and no one was coming forward to help the guy.

Innessa knew better than anyone what it felt like in that position. How no one comes forward with a helping hand could lead to so much trauma. "Go call the professor," she said to Elena, who was frozen. Innessa nudged her arm and repeated her words, causing Elena to nod as she hurried out of there.

"Who do you think you are? Are you sure you want to mess with someone like me? If I say you'll do all my work, then you'll do it. It's your fault that you're a genius. Poor thing." Henry mocked, raising his arm to punch the guy, when Innessa stepped forward, grabbed his arm, and pushed him away from the guy.

He stepped back, and his eyes dangerously narrowed at Innessa. "Stop this," She gritted.

Innessa faced his goons, "let him go," She demanded with mustered-up courage, knowing fully well these were the same guys who cornered her that day and would've done something horrendous to her.

To her surprise, they let the guy go and stepped back. Henry stepped closer to Innessa, causing her to flinch back, almost bumping into the guy.

"What the f*ck you think you're doing?" Henry sneered. His hands balled into fists, and she was sure he wanted to punch her but was refraining from doing so.

"It's not your f*cking duty to get in my way. Stay the f*ck out of my business," He barked.

"I'll not let you bully people; this is wrong." She was so glad that her voice came out firm.

Henry raised his hand to grab her when the guy she saved tugged her back and stood in front of her. At the same time, Elena came jogging with the professor, and within seconds, everyone scattered away. The professor walked over to Henry and the other guy and told them to be in his office.

They walked behind the professor and left while Innessa rested her back on the lockers, taking in a deep breath. Her fingers caressed the band-aid on her neck as the cut throbbed. It had almost healed, but she still covered it with a band-aid because she didn't want to give Henry the satisfaction of leaving a scar on her.

After her last class, she was heading out with Elena, who said her goodbyes and jogged off. Innessa felt someone approaching her from behind as they stepped in line with her.

"Hey," Her eyes darted to the guy beside her, and she paused.

"Hi," she said, seeing a light red bruise from a chokehold on his neck. He was the same guy whom Henry was bullying.

"I'm Archie," he said, holding out his hand for her.

Innessa gently shook hands with him. "I'm Innessa Laskin," She introduced herself.

He was tall, probably 5'11, and had a lean fit body. Good looking. His dressing was good, and he was holding a bag on one of his shoulders.

"Thanks for helping me out there. Henry always had beef with me because I refused to do his assignments for him. We are in the same year." He said, pulling his hand back.

"The professor let him off with just a warning, and it was always like that. Because of me, you might be on Henry's radar now. I'm afraid he'd try to hurt you. He's not a good guy. One and only d*ckhead in our prestigious academy," he said.

"It's alright. Don't worry about me. I'll take care of myself, and if he bothers you again. Just take my name and tell him you're my friend. He won't bother you then," she said politely, and now Archie was having a confused look on his face.

"You're not a secret Taekwondo Master, are you? That'll secretly kick Henry's arse," He asked with a light chuckle, making her smile.

"It's not like that. I can say that he's kind of scared of me," she said awkwardly.

Archie smiled, and then he did something unexpected. Stepping back, he bowed with one of his hands at his back and the other resting on his chest. "I'm grateful," He mused, and she flushed, noticing students staring at them.

"Thank you, now please stand straight, everyone is staring," she said, a little panicked, and he straightened with a light chuckle.

"I'll keep in mind to look for you whenever I'm in trouble with Henry," he said.

"Sure," Innessa was getting these gentle, charming vibes from him. He didn't feel like an extroverted person. Just confident and gentle.

"Are you on I*******m-" He stopped abruptly, noticing something behind Innessa when all of a sudden, a heavy arm draped over her shoulders, and the musky, leathery scent mixed with rich, strong Cologne filled her nostrils, causing every fiber in her being to stand straight.

Innessa stiffened when a kiss landed on her temple. Her eyes broadened at the feel of those warm lips.

"I was waiting for you for the last twenty minutes." His deep, rich voice with that British accent caused her stomach to flutter with unknown emotions as she tried to mask her expressions, which was the hardest because Archie was staring at them, dumbfounded.

"I... I'm sorry, I was just heading to meet you," she said in a small voice. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed everyone gaping at them, and to her horror, they were standing in the psychology department.

Issac showed up in her department. Now all the students would gossip about it. She should've hurried to the parking lot sooner.

"Archie, this is Issac, and Issac, this is Archie." Archie tipped his head lightly, but Issac didn't show any reaction. His eyes were narrowed as he gazed at Archie with those dead eyes and poker face.

"You won't mind. I'd like to steal my girl," Issac said, lowering his arm from her shoulder and holding her arm, gently pulling her to his side. Closer. So that her side was pressed to his.

My girl. My girl. My girl. My girl........ It kept ringing in her ears.

Archie masked his expression, "Oh, sure. I'll talk to you later," Archie said, passing her a small smile.

Innessa smiled back at him softly, a cute little wave in his direction as he walked off.

"Who is he?" Issac asked. His voice was low and calm.