Go away!

"I have no plans of claiming the story now that it is published under Diane's name." Mia replied to his advice. She had already given up on trying to prove to the school that it was her story, claiming it would only bring her more bad names and make the students hate her even more. She didn't want any trouble with anyone, she desired to graduate Ivy Grove institute in one piece. Mia thought, as she watched Mr. Bennett nod his head and resumed to type something on his computer.

Mia could tell he was marking her project in the computer, as everything in Ivy Grove institute were done on computers, including all the assignments record. However, she couldn't help but admire him. She was intrigued by the seriousness in his gray eyes while he swiftly typed on the computer. The sound of the keys matched the fast beating of her own heart. His cold demeanor and nonchalant attitude was something that intrigued her even more. She couldn't help but think of characters from Mafia novels—mysterious figures with hidden pasts and secrets behind a calm exterior.

Whenever she looked at him, she always had a weird feeling deep down in her heart, a feeling she couldn't pinpoint. It was like she knew him but yet she didn't. Perhaps it was because he had the color of eyes she'd been obsessed with, the eyes that inspired her to write a song, a song as lovely as gray.

Neil felt Mia's eyes on him as he typed away. He was used to people staring at him, and women throwing themselves and drooling at the sight of him. It was something he had become so accustomed with through out the years, but whenever he was being stared at, he always couldn't hold his irration. However, now that it was this girl staring at him, he couldn't help but wonder about the thoughts running through her mind as she looked at him.

He wanted to ask her if she still remembered the boy she used to follow around and used to call "Zeedya," instead of Xavier. But then what difference would it make even if she remembered; he wasn't the same as that boy he used to be.

Neil finally raised his head, their eyes met briefly, and he could see a mix of interest and uncertainty on her face.

"What other jobs do you do, Mr. Bennett?" The question slipped out of her mouth before Mia could reconsider.

Neil paused, his long fingers hovering over the keyboard. A faint smirk appeared on his lips, and a touch of amusement gleamed in his gray eyes. "Are you curious, or is it the journalist in you kicking in?" he raised a brow. He would admit, the girl before him was braver than any of the other students. None of them dared to even look him in the eye not to mention questioning him.

Mia pursed her lips, she had already asked the question, so she replied, "I'm just being curious. Did you study journalism to be qualified as a professor in our faculty?" Though that wasn't the question she wanted to know, she wanted to know him and what he did before he was taken as a substitute, but then she didn't want to come off as a nosy journalist.

Neil scoffed softly. Him, study journalism? May the Heavens forbid. He hated those nosy journalist and paparazzi. If it wasn't for his mission, Ivy Grove was the last place he would like to be. However, he didn't tell the curious cat before him that, instead, he hummed, "Hmm." Then using the opportunity, he asked, "What city were you born in, Harrison?"

He was curious to know what went wrong with her family to make them move to a place like whispering way street.

Mia was taken aback by his question, but then she still answered while subconsciously hugging her arms around her midriff, "I was born in downtown Vertexa, we only moved to whispering way street when I was six years old." She murmured softly in a small voice. It was the first time she told anyone from Ivy Grove where she lived, since he had already seen her home the day he dropped her off, then she had no reason to hide it.

Neil's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Vertexa was another poor town, it wasn't the place the girl he knew was from. The girl he knew was a daughter of some rich people in Mirage mesa, the city he once knew as home.

"You've never lived in Mirage mesa before?" He asked to confirm.

Mia, who knew Mirage mesa was the capital city of their country, and was the place the president and most of the most richest people in the country lived in, couldn't help but chuckle, "I have never been to Mirage mesa in my entire life. Though I wish to visit the city someday, as I heard it has a lot of fun places. Why did you ask...?" Her voice trailed off as she noticed how he was looking at her like she'd suddenly grown two heads.

Neil couldn't believe what the girl was saying. She'd never been to Mirage mesa before? How was that possible when she'd been born there? His eyes couldn't have been mistaking the photograph of the little girl. Even though fifteen years had passed since he'd last seen the girl he knew as Mimi, he would never forget her face, not to mention those dents on her cheeks.

Mia's phone suddenly went off and she picked up the call. "What's up, Owen?" She asked the other person on the call.

"What? I'm on my way!"

It seemed like the call was something urgent, because she jumped out of the chair and ran out of the office without even saying anything to him. However, Neil was also too stunned by the revelation that she had never been to Mirage mesa before, to care about what must have been so important to make her run out like that.

He leaned back on his chair and tapped his fingers against the armchair. It seemed something wasn't adding up here. Neil thought as he picked up his phone from his table and searched for his friend's number. He tapped on it and placed a call.

The phone was picked up at the second ring, "Did the devil fall onto the earth for you to call me first?" Came Liam's laughing voice. Neil never called him unless it was something important, and by important, it means if there had been some bomb or if he needed some information about da Kroll. Furthermore, whenever he was on disguise, he never called nor answer calls from anybody he knew as Neil.

Neil's brows furrowed, cutting through Liam's laughter. "Cut the crap, Liam." Neil said sternly.

Liam's laughter immediately faded, replaced by a more serious tone. "Alright, man. What's going on?"

"I need you to do something for me."

***

Mia burst through the afternoon bustling street of whispering way, her heart pounding as she rushed towards her mother's eatery. The sight of a black car parked in front and a swarm of people caught her off guard. She pushed through the crowd, determined to reach her mother. The people crowding the small eatery moved aside to give her way while whispering among themselves and pointing a finger at Mia.

Amidst their murmuring, Mia could hear Owen's desperate and angry voice. "You can't take everything away from Aunt Elizabeth, we will pay you back the money in a month."

As Mia neared the entrance, she spotted two men confronting Owen, her mother seated with hands covering her face. Ignoring the whispers of bystanders, Mia entered the eatery.

"What's going on here?" She asked, looking from one person to the other.

One of the men who was talking to Owen turned to face her. "Miss, your mother owes the bank a considerable amount. And her payment date is due, so we're here to collect it."

Owen, who looked to have also rushed back from his school, turned to Mia with frustration, "Mia, Aunt Elizabeth didn't want to worry you. She thought she could handle the matter on her own, but it seems everything went out of her hands." He explained to her. Owen had also been called by one of his friends that some men were taking out Elizabeth's things from her eatery. The Harrison family were more like his, he had rushed back as soon as possible leaving his classes.

The man who had spoken to Mia a moment ago, spoke again, "We are sorry, it's either we call the cops or we sell everything you own to get back our money."

Mia had seen the bank warning note days ago, however she hadn't expected it would be due this soon. She had even seen the figures of the money her mother loaned from them. Even if they sold everything in this eatery, it wouldn't amount to that.

"I'm not letting them take everything from us." She said defiantly. This eatery means a lot to her mother, she wouldn't let them bring it down. "Give us some time and we will pay you back the full amount."

Hearing Mia's words, the people outside, who do nothing but feed on gossips, began to whisper among themselves again.

"That's Elizabeth's daughter. She's the reason they're in this mess. I don't know why Elizabeth's spending so much money to send her to an expensive university when in the end, she wouldn't go anywhere but get married."

"Should've saved some of that school money to rebuild this eatery, instead of wasting it all on the girl's education."

"Yeah. I wonder what they are trying to prove by sending her to an expensive university like Ivy Grove."

"The family's weird, they have no man in the house. I heard from Mrs. Dennis that Elizabeth must have gotten pregnant out of wedlock and raised the girl alone. Who knows, perhaps even the girl isn't going to that expensive school to study but to screw the rich kids there for money."

Mia, who heard what the women were saying about her family, couldn't help the anger that boiled in her veins. "Enough! This is my family's business. Go away!" She slammed the eatery's door at their faces and closed all the windows from where some were trying to peek in to see what was happening.