3 New guy

"You took a long time", remarked my best friend.

"I was cornered by him", I said.

"OK. What did he want?", she asked me.

"He wants an apology", I said.

"You apologised to him?", she asked me.

"No way. I would never", I said. She didn't look comfortable with my answer.

"What?", I asked pinning her with my glare.

"IT would be easier for us if you apologised", she said.

"No. I would never do it. No matter what happens" I said to her with conviction.

She didn't answer me. I walked silently beside her. I knew she wasn't happy with my choice. She was my cousin and a great friend. I thought she would support me in this.

We had reached the cafeteria  and got my food. We were looking for a chair when the security stopped me. I looked at him confused. I didn't understand what was going on.

"You can't sit here", he said.

"What? I'm a student and I have bought my food", I said to him.

"But you can't sit here. You have to go outside and eat", he said. I was really annoyed. I was always a good girl. I don't know what had happened. But something inside me snapped.

"I'm going to sit here and eat my food", I said to him.

"No miss. You have to go outside and have your meal", he said without missing a beat.

"Fine", I said to him and stormed outside with Lily. I knew I might have put Lily in the spot as well. But it felt nice to feel being supported atleast half heartedly. I knew she always craved attention and love from her peers but unfortunately she ended up with alienation because of me.

"I'm sorry that you lost your seat at cafeteria because of me", I said to her.

"IT is fine but atleast they let us have our food", she said.

"That is not kindness ok? I will certainly report it to our principal", I said fuming.

"There is no use I heard the principal is someone who belongs to the poorer side of his family", said Lily.

"So? They are going to let us be miserable just because their precious's boy took a beating to his over inflated ego", I said with contempt.

"You can't pick fight with someone who is way beyond our reach. They will bury you", she warned me.

"No. They won't. I never thought that I would have to fight him to stay in this school but believe me if that is what it takes I will definitely do it", I said sitting down beside a tree. Lily joined me but I was still too angry to finish my food.

"Think about it Mia. They would fail you", she reminded me.

I felt my heart sink. I didn't want to disappoint my father by failing. He had  already gone through a lot. Plus I studied hard to get here. I can't let anything stand in my way especially not a rich snob like Duke Hamilton.

"Don't worry. I'm not saying that they will do it. But you will never know", she said.

"Let us not talk about this anymore. We have to finish this and go back to our classes in five minutes", she said.

"You are right. It is going to be a long walk", she said quickly biting of the burger.

I wasn't hungry my mind wandered towards Duke Hamilton. What was his deal? Why is he so desparate for an apology? It is not like one would even care about an apology from an insignificant me. He didn't even want it to be public one so that people would know.

"Hey Mia right?", asked another voice from besides us. I saw a tall guy. He will be slightly taller than Duke. I don't know why I was comparing him to Duke anyway.

"Yes", I said reluctantly. I hated talking to strangers and fighting have definitely put me in the spot.

"I'm Liam Wright', he said.

'I'm Lily ", she said enthusiastically.

" Good to meet you Lily ", he said with a grin.

" I'm sorry you had to eat outside because of Duke ", he said.

I stayed silent. Even the mention of the devil was, making me fume. I hate him. I hate this place. I wished I could go back to Alaska. I wished mom was alive.

" Are you crying?", he asked me. I noticed that I had an errant tear  making it's way down to my cheeks.

"No. Excuse me we have to get back to our classes come on Lily", I said to her.

"Ok", she agreed slightly reluctant. He was handsome and all.

I gave her a sharp look and she scurried with me.

"If you need a friend I'm definitely there for you. Don't think you are alone in fighting Duke.", he called out.

I guessed that. I noticed the students were going out of the way in avoiding me. I think Lily is the only one apart from Liam who talked to me the whole day.

" Why are we leaving Liam. He will be our only ally. If we are going to survive picking a fight with Duke. There is no chance for us. Unless there is Liam with us", she adviced me.

"Lily I don't want to be used as a pawn for the fight between two boys. Thank you so much", I said rolling my eyes.

"Your wish. But we are going to need Liam. Mark my words", said Lily.

We were late. It wasn't surprise considering the fact that we had to go to one side of the campus from the other end. I saw that there was a new teacher. Guess I made a bad impression. She was very different from all the other teachers. Her expensive clothes and make up didn't make her fit here at all. Her face darkened when she saw me.

"I'm sorry miss. We", I talked but she interrupted me in the middle. I didn't know what I would have told her. It was too embarrassing to admit I was kicked out of cafeteria even though it wasn't my fault.

"I'm Diana Hamilton. I'm 27 years old. I will be teaching you Mathematics. Fun fact about me I hate being late. You two can come back to my class next day on time," she said.

Duke's P. O. V

I was in a lot of anger. But this time instead of them directed at myself I let them out on a girl. She was nothing a nobody. She wasn't that beautiful. But there was something about her. Once you take a look you can never not look back. But instead of enjoying my attention and revel at it. She chose to ignore me and even despise me. This surprised me a great deal. I knew I wasn't Harry styles but still I had a decent views on youtube. From what my friends read in comments seemed like girls wanted me. I wasn't eighteen yet but still all woman were after me irrespective of their age. I was wondering why was she so unaffected by me? Hadn't she heard my songs before? They were still pretty hot on social media. Maybe she grew up in a farm or something. I absently typed her name and found that she had ten followers and she had locked her profile. I felt like laughing this girl who doesn't even have a social media presence was acting like a diva. Maybe she wanted to grab my attention. She now had it completely. I would make sure that she regret that day.

"Sorry man", said Paul. I watched him silently. I may have suffered from boredom in the past. But it would have been better than the present situation. I never thought myself that I would be viral for being slapped by a woman instead of being on stage. That was a change atleast.

"You don't have to worry about anything. She will soon be gone. I will make sure of that", he said.

"What do you mean?", I asked him. He was the son of principal of our sorry school. He was my distant cousin too. He claims himself as my best friend and I never corrected him. So he stuck close to me. I on the other hand was would prefer my life of music and silence. But unfortunately Paul would never let that happen.

"She will be alienated by everyone and eventually she would step out of this school", he said to me.

"Don't worry about it Paul", I said throwing him the car keys to him. He caught it and his eyes widened when he realized what I gave him. I got it as a present from my family. The illustrious Hamilton if only they knew how much I hate that fucking car. Like the rest of world my family knows nothing about me.

"You want me to leave her alone and not worry about how she destroyed your reputation?Are you going to forgive her and forget what happened? ", he asked incredulously.

"I never said that", I told him patiently.

"So you are going to do something", he said with an anticipatory smile.

"Maybe. Maybe not", I said evasively.

"Like hell you are going to forget what happened! Why didn't I think it before", he said with a laugh.