Happy Reading.
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The dismissal bell echoed beautifully throughout the school, signaling that the last subject for the day had been completed as the sun was already glowing slightly orange on the western horizon. Students from the various classes immediately cheered with excitement as the bell finally rang for the end of the lesson, and excitedly rushed out of their classrooms after packing up their belongings. Students began to put their textbooks and other school supplies into their bags. And Mallory, who was somehow different from her, her face showed a sense of unease that was carved very clearly from her. Especially when her hands were in such a hurry to put the books in that they almost fell to the floor after the last subject teacher stepped out of her classroom.
"What a rush, Ry. Where are you going?" asked Claire paying close attention to Mallory's tense face that continued to be clearly etched.
Mallory lifted her gaze to glance briefly at her two friends. "Marzio said he wanted to show me something, so I wanted to go home early." she replied simply as she finished putting her books into her bag and grabbed the handle. "I'll go first!" she exclaimed.
Mallory immediately turned around and strode out of the classroom, not even Claire or Victoria had time to respond. Her footsteps opened halfway, running with an even pace that carried her quickly down the school stairs past the other students, before finally walking a little more leisurely down the crowded corridor. Her breathing was a little labored with sweat trickling down her temples. The girl with dark hair passed by a group of other students of the same age as her, gathering at the locker hallway she was about to walk through. Until one of the boys distracted her from the conversation to be fully interested in Mallory who passed by unceremoniously.
Finally setting foot in the parking lot, Mallory's gaze swept left and right glancing at the other students around without interest. She checked her inner jacket pocket for something, but in the next second she realized that she didn't have her own vehicle which required her to wait for the yellow shuttle bus that would arrive shortly in front of the school gate.
Mallory's eyes had already caught the school-only public vehicle on the road that would lead into the school area, but something else distracted Mallory who waited silently. She had only been waiting for a few minutes when a black car pulled up right in front of her. Her forehead wrinkled at the arrival of a car that Mallory remembered very well, she had never seen before. At first she wanted to ignore the vehicle but she was also curious why the car stopped in front of her. Until the windshield came down slowly revealing the figure of the man she saw last night in her cell phone gallery.
"Hey, Mallory Halloran? Interested in coming home with me?" The man with dark brown hair smiled slightly at her, showing his friendliness.
Mallory unconsciously held her breath in the middle, her eyelids opened slightly larger with pupils showing her surprise. The offer with a face full of friendliness made Mallory consider for a moment, before she finally nodded in agreement to the invitation of the student from the next class. Mallory quickly stepped into the passenger side seat next to the man. After making sure Mallory was seated comfortably, she began to step on the gas until the black car moved out of the school area.
What happened just now became a spectacle that two girls witnessed from a distance, Claire and Victoria witnessed it all as those who had just exited the school building, walking side by side not too far from the gate were talking to the head of the organization. Claire was no longer fully listening to what the girl in front of her was saying, she was too busy looking at what she had just seen happen to Mallory. Victoria without looking next to her knew that Claire was no longer listening to the conversation so she nudged her with her elbow to get Claire's attention.
The buildings lined up along the street looked increasingly blurry as the speed intensity of the vehicle Mallory was traveling in increased. The cold wind blew her hair out of the window she had left open, supporting her chin with her palm as she looked out onto the street. As they drove through the suburbs of Los Angeles with only light hip-hop music blaring from the radio, the lips between the two of them were pressed tightly together as if they didn't want to break the ice. The pressure inside the vehicle thickened as they only threw light questions at each other to keep the atmosphere from getting heavier. Mallory who was staring at the road felt that there was an unclear feeling mixed between a pleasure but an uncomfortable feeling secretly slipped in between.
The man who was still focused on the steering wheel in his hand coughed softly which caught Mallory's attention even though the girl did not turn her head. "Mallory, can I ask you something?" Lorenzo finally opened his mouth again trying to melt the tension that hung between them.
The question thrown just now made her take a slow breath, allowing for a few moments of silence to linger in the air before she leaned her back against the chair, Mallory lifting her chin slightly. "Yeah, just ask. Why?"
Lorenzo drew in his breath which felt a little tight in his chest, while maintaining his focus on controlling the steering wheel of the car. "I don't want to mean anything especially offensive to your own comfort, but since this is related to me I wanted to make sure. I'm not feeling very confident but...," he said, his tongue lingering in the air for a few seconds before taking a breath. "There was a rumor, I don't know. That says that you... have feelings for me, is that true? I really didn't mean to capitalize on that or anything,"
In the split second after the words of the question came out and reached her ears, Mallory felt something jolt through her body at a high frequency. She clamped her mouth shut tightly unable to react. The sound of the car engine sounded so far away she couldn't hear it anymore like it was in a low frequency. The time that seemed to reduce her speed made Mallory finally inhale very slowly, racking her brain for the right words before she glanced at Lorenzo through the tips of her eyelids.
"What's that ridiculous rumor, huh? It's all over the place," she said quietly, deliberately pausing afterwards. "I never liked anyone at school, I've been too busy taking care of everything in my life to allow anyone else into mine." Mallory finished spitting out the words that she had designed in her own mind.
Lorenzo could be heard laughing lowly as his hands moved the steering wheel to turn towards the street, which on the right side after the red light had turned green even before their car arrived. "I was right in assuming that it was just a joking rumor being spread," he nodded his chin lightly before a silence that made it seem like he was thinking. "But have you heard the other rumor, about Delrico Stevenson who we all know his reputation at school. He... likes you."
Mallory's head, which was originally resting comfortably on the chair staring at the street ahead, instantly turned her face completely toward Lorenzo. She had heard the rumor spread faintly in her memory, probably within the past few days or so as she remembered. "That rumor... I've heard it," she said softly. "I'm... too lazy to respond. It doesn't matter who Delrico is in the eyes of the people at school."
Lorenzo turned to Mallory for a moment, looking at Mallory's face from the side occasionally. "You don't give them any meaningful feedback, do you?" Mallory raised her shoulders briefly. "Why not? If you were with him... maybe you could get more attention from people at school. Delrico is very, very charming." she continued glancing at her left rearview mirror briefly, seeing her own reflection with one corner of her lips rising very faintly.
"You think I only care about status and the views of those around me?" Mallory asked with a slightly raised tone of voice. "I don't need the spotlight, Lorenzo. Hearing such vague rumors is enough to make me question myself,"
"I think you're like a lot of girls at school who want to get close to Delrico solely on the visual of his face, let alone the sight of people. But if I may ask..." he paused for a breath. "Why don't you just respond to the rumors for the thrill of it, maybe?"
Mallory gave a low laugh. "I'm not as stupid as some of them out there to waste time on something like that," she replied. "But just so you know, the person I've been thinking about the most is you," Mallory's lips quivered as she spoke very softly, especially to herself.
Although the roar of the engine that was working hard to bring them to their destination along the way obscured what the girl next to her was saying, Lorenzo knew every word she was saying. Making him raise the corners of his lips even more to line her face. "You look very calm, Halloran."
"I'm calm just choosing not to think about it too much," Mallory replied softly.
"If... Delrico is rumored to like you, while the reaction from you alone is enough to make it clear you're reluctant to get involved." Lorenzo held his words in the air even though his tone no longer sounded as interruptingly heavy as before. "But what... if I were the one with feelings for you? Would you react the same way you responded to Delrico?" The question came out of nowhere.
Mallory immediately held her breath as Lorenzo said it, again and again she instantly stiffened which made her feel her mind go blank unable to think of anything. Plus the man with the last name Jefferson occasionally glanced at her even though he was still focused on the steering wheel in his hand, as if buying time to wait for Mallory to come up with an answer. But Mallory seemed to deliberately not want to give any answer that Lorenzo was waiting for, she pursed her lips very tightly even though her hands resting on her thighs were clenched there.
Lorenzo laughed low again as if it came from deep within his chest. "There's no way you'd accept a man like me, is there? Even a rumored Delrico would be too lazy to respond, let alone me." he said. "Delrico is practically perfect, perhaps? Many people praise his existence, especially girls." The corners of Lorenzo's lips turned up in a smile that showed a sardonic look in his eyes, and Mallory caught that very clearly even at a glance.
"Huh, you're pretty good, huh, at complimenting someone." Mallory laughed at Lorenzo without glancing at the man again. "I'm not saying I don't accept you but...," she said very softly as if deliberately letting her words carry the wind.
"Did you say something?" Lorenzo's foot stepped on the gas a little deeper while the other foot rose to ease the pressure on the gas pedal, he was sure that he heard something said out of Mallory's mouth just now.
"I didn't say anything," Mallory evasively hid her wide smile behind her palm. "My house is on that front street, you can turn around after two more blocks." She immediately raised her hand pointing towards the street leading to her house.
Lorenzo lifted his gaze to see where Mallory's hand, covered in a black jacket, was pointing. When he found it, he just nodded slowly as he kept the car's speed steady as it turned the last corner before its destination. The car perfectly reduced speed as it came to a stop right next to the curb. Lorenzo had yet to unbuckle his own seatbelt when he saw Mallory who came out to open the door first in a hurry as if something had suddenly changed her mood. Immediately packing his bag before standing on the sidewalk, Mallory ducked slightly to see Lorenzo's face who poked his head out slightly, to see Mallory's face very clearly.
"Thank you for the ride, it's like it was a coincidence that you offered me a ride when I didn't have my personal vehicle today." she said with a faint smile as she held on tightly to the bag on her shoulder, as if it was strengthening herself.
"Not a big deal to me." Lorenzo raised both eyebrows. "How about another day, I take you home together again?"
"Sounds interesting, I'd love to." he replied.
The man laughed to cover the smile that had come out without his permission. "That's good to hear. Looks like it's time for me to go home, you can go straight into the house." Lorenzo glanced at the watch coiled comfortably on his left wrist before sticking his head into the car, fastening the seatbelt after he raised the windshield closed completely.
Mallory didn't say anything after the windshield was closed. Lorenzo glanced out once more dropping his twinkling attention on Mallory's face, as if he was trying to memorize very well every feature of the girl's face embedding it in his memory deeply even though the girl's presence was already outside his car and now obscured by the car's glass which was not completely dark. After he himself had had enough of that, he stepped on the gas of his vehicle playing with the steering wheel as he headed out of the surrounding residential area.
Mallory held her feet up there even though she didn't know why she decided to do so. Her short black hair flew with the softness of the faint, thin gusts of wind that came, carrying the dried leaves that no longer had a tree of origin to let themselves be carried wherever the wind went. Lorenzo's car had disappeared from her line of sight in the distance, making her sigh softly feeling that something had been bothering her during the trip, though she herself did not know what that feeling meant.
"Mallory, what are you contemplating in front of here?"
Mallory felt a small electric shock shock her whole body as she heard the words followed by her shoulder being held from behind suddenly interrupting her silence, she slowly turned her head and found her brother's face. "Eh? You turned out. I wasn't contemplating anything." he replied simply avoiding the man's gaze that was trying to see his face directly.
Realizing that her only sister looked like she wanted to avoid his gaze, he lifted his hand to pull Mallory's shoulder gently until she tilted her body slightly to look at him. "You don't go to school on a motorcycle, right? What do you use to get home? The school bus usually takes a long time," Marzio asked with his eyes narrowing slightly at Mallory, before looking at the surrounding streets showing no signs of passing vehicles.
Mallory sighed before tightening the grip of the bag on her shoulder. "I was offered to go home together, with Lorenzo." she replied.
"What? Lorenzo... Lorenzo Jefferson?" Marzio pulled her sister's shoulders so that he was facing him.
Mallory raised her eyebrows high looking directly at Marzio who he thought reacted too spontaneously. "Yes he is, what's wrong?" Mallory asked back.
Marzio opened his mouth for a moment to catch his breath. "Chaopard Diamond, it's with you, right?"
Hearing Marzio's question at that moment made Mallory immediately dive into the small pocket tucked into the sleeve of her long dress. There was a small zipper there and Mallory pulled it with a fingertip, opening it to retrieve an object that showed a soft blue light. "Yes, it's with me. Always. What's wrong?"
Marzio's eyes immediately softened as he saw the object actually glowing in front of him. "The point is, don't let Lorenzo get his hands on this diamond." he said looking at his sister's face in turn with the diamond.
"What does Lorenzo have to do with this diamond?"
"If I'm not mistaken, he's a member of Dalton Ventura. I'm sure you won't believe me. But later, when I have time, I'll tell you in more detail." he replied calmly although his face showed a different meaning full of uneasiness.
Mallory turned her gaze to stare at the grass with a vacant twinkle as her mind wandered through the threads of possibilities in her mind, she wondered if perhaps the reason she felt uncomfortable around Lorenzo on the way home was because the blue object in her palm was having a reaction. Mallory bit her lower lip gently before nodding her head up to look at Marzio.
"I haven't dealt with Dalton in a while, maybe I'll look into this later." she said.
"Never mind, let's talk about that later." Marzio waved his hand briefly in front of Mallory's face. "I have something more important to show you, Ry."
Marzio grabbed Mallory's wrist that was holding her school bag to take over her sister's bag for him to help carry. Then with his other hand free, he moved to pull Mallory into the house after closing the fence. The girl just shook her head at the treatment while still following his footsteps, but her mind was replaying what her brother had said moments ago, about the connection between Lorenzo and Dalton.
"What are you trying to show me?" Mallory laid down directly on the sofa as soon as she finished taking off her shoes.
Marzio didn't say anything in response to Mallory. He took the cell phone from his pocket, looked for what he wanted to show her, and when he found it, he held it out to his sister. Mallory grabbed the phone, and frowned slightly as she took it. She quickly saw what her brother wanted to show her. It turned out to be a conversation room on the app, but who was Marzio actually contacting, or was it someone else contacting Marzio?
See you in the next part!
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