Chapter 7

Anna's POV

I woke up with a smile on my face. I didn't know why I was happy. Maybe because it was a Wednesday or I because I had been successful at having substantial control of my emotions yesterday or maybe it was because I remembered Kathy's concern last night. 

It didn't matter what was making me smile but I was just happy. I quickly did my morning routine, wore my uniform, took my bag and ran downstairs. 

"Wow. You're in a pleasant mood today", Kathy said with a smile as she gave me my packaged breakfast. 

"Thank you Kathy", I said and hugged her. 

She looked stunned. Maybe she wasn't expecting that hug. 

"What are you thanking me for?" she asked after getting over her surprise. 

"I saw the dinner you left at my door", I said, beaming. 

Kathy's face immediately brightened up. "You're welcome dear", she said. 

"I'm sorry Kathy," I said when I remembered something, "I forgot to bring the plate down with me."

"There's no problem dearie. Now get going. Dexter is waiting for you", she said as she pushed me towards the door. Well, she tried to push me. 

I hugged her again and ran to the garage. 

Dex was leaning on a grey Tesla when I got there. He hadn't noticed me yet so I took a little time to admire him. Dex was one fantastic work of art. No, I'm not a pervert. I just admire good looking people when I see them.

I walked over to him nervously. I had some big time explaining to do. He must have been really mad at me because of my attitude yesterday. 

"Hey Dex. Good morning", I said when I got to where he was standing. 

"Good morning Annabelle", he replied curtly before opening the car and getting in. 

I sighed and followed suit. When we had gone some distance, he spoke. 

"Care to enlighten me on your change in behavior yesterday?" he asked in a calm tone. That tone scared me. 

"I'm sorry Dex. I didn't mean to act that way", I said remorsefully. 

"I know that Annabelle. You are definitely not like that so I want to know the reason behind your actions yesterday."

I thought, should I tell him?

He was supposed to be my friend right? 

I finally made up my mind. 

"Some years ago, I lost someone who was dear to me," I said after taking a deep breath, "she was my second mother. She died on a Tuesday. I remember her every Tuesday and it hurts to think that she's gone."

By now, tears were rolling down my cheeks as I remembered that night my parents told me that Arya was no more. That same night, that bitch came to our home did something, something I would never forget in my entire life. I subconsciously touched the scar. 

"I'm sorry Annabelle", I heard Dex say. 

"It's fine", I said, wiping my tears. 

Today was supposed to be a happy day. 

I was grateful when Dex changed the topic and started telling me the story of how he came to work for us. 

In no time, we got to school and said our goodbyes.

As usual, boys and girls in sky blue shirts and purple skirts/trousers doing one thing or the other in front of the school. 

As I passed them, I noticed that some of them were staring at me. 

Scratch that, all of them were staring at me. I simply shunned their stares, thinking they were a result of my face off with Kayden yesterday. 

"Her?" I heard someone ask and I stopped. He was clearly referring to me. He was even pointing. 

I guess my halt gave him some kind of go ahead to walk up to me. He didn't just walk up to me, he even blocked my way. 

I looked him up and down trying to figure out what he wanted from me because I had absolutely no idea what was going on. 

"You're the Siromani daughter?" he asked. 

No wonder they were staring at me. Great, my cover was blown. But how? Anyway, there wasn't much I could do. This was bound to happen sooner or later. 

"I asked you a question", he said, stepping closer to me. 

If that was an attempt to intimidate me, then he got it all wrong.

"Yes, I am," I said with my head held high, "the name's Annabelle Siromani. Do you have a problem with that?"

"I can't believe this", he said, folding his arms across his chest. 

This was starting to annoy me. "What can't you believe?" I asked. 

"You just can't be Basha Siromani's daughter," he said. "Have you taken a look at yourself? You wear glasses. What's next? Braces? You just don't fit the description of a billionaire's daughter."

I shook my head. "You mean I don't fit the description you formed in your head", I pointed out. 

A small crowd had formed around us but I didn't care. No one had the right to insult me and question my identity just because I wasn't like them. I never tried to impress people in the past and I wouldn't start now.

I continued, "you know nothing about me. Why don't you get some facts before opening that mouth of yours to say nonsense?"

He glared at me and I rolled my eyes at his idiotic behavior. 

Since he was blocking my way, I walked around him and went straight to my homeroom. 

I put on my earbuds as soon as I got there and sat down. What that guy said really annoyed me. I needed to calm my nerves so I played 'bird set free' by Sia. That song always had a soothing effect on me. 

As I listened, someone tapped my shoulder from the back. I turned to see a girl pointing forward. She was pointing at something or someone in front of me. She looked scared. I looked forward and was graced with the presence of the queen of the bitches who happened to be in front of my desk. No wonder that girl looked scared, they certainly fear this girl. 

Her majesty didn't come alone, as I expected. Her minions flanked her on both sides and she looked at me scornfully. I returned the look but with more amusement. I even gave her a smirk. She should be honored. 

"What do you want?" I asked when I got  tired of our little staring contest. 

"I heard you claimed to be the Siromani girl I've been waiting for", she said, twirling her hair on her forehead finger.

"Do you have anything important to say?" I asked. I wasn't in the mood for this rubbish. 

She ignored my comment and continued, "I've come to give you a chance to go out there and withdraw your claim."

That got me laughing. She was saying that I was  impersonating myself?

"Look sweetie," I said after laughing, "my name is Annabelle Siromani and that's it."

"Why are you lying?" she asked.

I raised my eyebrow for her to elaborate. Most people found it hard to believe my identity but this one went as far as calling me a liar.

She continued, "you look like a peasant so why would you claim such a position?"

I smiled and took a good look at her. There's something that comes with being wealthy your whole life and it's that you don't have to mouth it. The cash speaks for you. And you can differentiate between a long timer, a newbie and a fake. This girl was certainly a fake. 

One thing I should give her credit for was that she was  doing a good job at being fake but I could see through her lies. She was posing as a rich girl so that she could fit in and that disgusted me. How she managed to rise to being queen of the school was beyond me.

"Hello," her annoying voice broke into my thoughts, "are you listening to me."

I ignored her and continued my inspection of her. Don't ask me why, I needed to block out her voice and at the same time, do something useful with the time she was spending in front of me. 

No doubt, she was beautiful. 

Her white was beautiful and her face was acne free. Her face was plump and oval shaped. She had short lashes but the way they curled naturally was lovely. She had a Greek nose and her eyebrows were sparse but arch lined and cute. She didn't have an hour glass figure but she wasn't straight either. She had large hips that added a graceful look to her. 

Overall, she was really beautiful. 

The problems started with her  attitude and ended with how much she tried to fake herself. For starters, her hair was not blonde. Somehow, she managed to remove all traces of her real hair color. She did it so well that even I couldn't guess the original color but it wasn't blonde.

Next up was her skin. If you took a close look, you'd see that it wasn't healthy. I could see small cracks in it which proved that her skin products weren't of good quality. Lastly, I looked at her uniform. The skirt was so short that it only managed to cover her large ass. The shirt was looking abnormally ironed and shiny, like it was starched heavily to look like that. 

What really caught my eyes concerning her uniform was that if you looked closely, you'd notice that it was actually kind of worn out. All these showed that her rich girl talk was fake. 

I just wondered why she couldn't be herself. Why be ashamed of who you are? 

She was still talking but I kept ignoring her and put my ear buds on to listen to another song. This time I listened to 'say amen (Saturday night)' by Panic! At the disco. 

For whatever reason, Mr. Edwards didn't come to class today. I didn't mind though.