Chapter 11: Romantic

Lizzy and the girls were sitting in her pool house. She was deliriously bored. She turned to Skye.

                “What should we do today?” she asked. Skye pulled her head up off of the arm rest of her chair. She shrugged.

                “Come on, think of something.” Yasmin thought for a moment.

                “Have you and Heejun ever been on a date?” she asked. Lizzy looked up and scrunched her face in thought. She shook her head.

                “No, I don’t think so.” Gina sat up.

                “Well that’s it then! Go on a date with Eli! Now’s your chance, who knows how much time you two have left together now that your mother knows.” Lizzy nodded. Skye got out of her chair.

                “What are you waiting for then? Get up off your ass, let’s GO!” she grabbed Lizzy by her wrist and dragged her out while the other two girls followed behind.

                Eli sat at the school library with Yoon Jae and Jessie studying. It had been three hours since they started, and were slowly getting nowhere. All he could do was scratch his head in confusion. He raised his head as he heard the distinct sound of clicking heels. They snapped their heads around to see Skye heading straight for them.

                “Oh God! What does that witch want now?” asked Jessie. Jace began to shake involuntarily.

                “I don’t know, but she gives me the hibbly jibblies!” he rubbed his head. His head was no longer in bandages, but there was still some soreness left. Skye approached the table.

                “You,” she pointed at Eli. He rolled his eyes.

                “Let me guess, I need to come with you now, or you’ll beat my ass?” she snapped her fingers.

                “Now.” He slammed his book shut and shoved his things into his backpack.

                “You can tell her Majesty that one of these days, I’m not going to be able to answer to her beck and call.” He said as he walked past her. She looked at Jace.

                “You too,” he shrank back as Jessie hovered over him protectively.

                “What do you need him for?”

                “Leverage. Get your ass moving shrimpy.” He looked nervously at Jessie. She looked back at Skye.

                “May I come with him?” she shook her head.

                “Sorry, I was told to only take these two.” She folded her arms as she waited for him. He slowly got out of his seat and approached her. He winced as she roughly grabbed his arm and dragged him off. Jessielooked helplessly on as her friends were dragged off.

                Danny walked into the library. Life in this school was harder to adjust to than he had expected. He was sleeping in Skye’s pool house, drafted onto the football team, and the schoolwork alone wanted to make him keel over and die. If that weren’t enough, he was secretly staying on the property of Harold Nielson, the syndicate of the mob that owned the casinos in LA. A bloodthirsty mobster, who didn’t know he was staying there, was only a couple hundred yards away at night. Thankfully, most nights he wasn’t home because he was so busy.

                He looked over and recognized a girl whom he met at Lizzy’s party. It was Eli’s female friend. He walked up to her and smiled.

                “Hey there, do you mind if I join you?” she motioned for him to sit. He set his things down and faced her. “So, how long have you known Eli?” she smiled at him.

                “Only since he came here. He and Jace let me join them for lunch. I don’t really have anyone here besides them, and they’re always being dragged off by Lizzy's henchwomen. It’s really bothersome.” She sighed.

                “Does he let them do that to him often?” she shook her head.

                “No, he doesn’t let them do that to him, they threaten him by using Jace. Jace doesn’t stand up for himself, and they know Eli won’t give a shit if they try beating him up, so they use Jace.” Hyun Joong nodded. It all made sense now. Eli was just trying to protect the kid, but that still didn’t really satisfy his curiosity.

                “What about you? How do you feel on this?” she smiled at him.

                “Do you really want to know what I think?” she asked. He nodded.

                “Sure, why not?” she sighed.

                “I hate those bitches. They’re nothing but a bunch of spoiled heiresses that do nothing but bully others. Right now, they look sweet because Hee Sun is interested in a boy. This actually happens a lot more than people realize. I used to work for her, she’s a fucking BITCH!” Danny’s eyes widened as she continued. This is not what he was expecting.

                “I quit because she got to the point where she was pelting me with shoes and verbally abusing me. I don’t like her one bit. Her little friend Skye? An abusive asshole, but who can blame her? She was raised by a mobster, it’s her life, there’s no escaping that. Yasmin is just a passive little pussy who does whatever she says. She never stands up for herself, even to her boyfriend.” Danny raised an eyebrow.

                “Her boyfriend?” he asked. She nodded.

                “Yea, his name is Samuel Dickens  He’s the heir to the Rising Sun Art Gallery. If you ask me, he’s just a lazy drunk who got lucky. Who woulda thought his stupid ass could make art.” She shook her head. “Yea, he’s pretty abusive. Really hard to be around. I can’t stand being around him, and I worked for Lizzy. That’s saying something. Not to mention all times I’ve seen bruises on her. They try to talk her out of dating him, but it’s not really up to her. Her parents picked him out for her. And she refuses to say anything to them.” He shook his head as she continued.

“Honestly, the only half decent one out of the bunch is Gina. Her grandmother raised her after her parents died in a car crash. She’s a musical actress, and plays the violin, as well as the piano. She has a mind to ignore Lizzy’s shenanigans, but most of the time she and Skye can’t reel her in enough to get her out of trouble. That’s why she’s engaged to James Wilson. Her mother hoped that if she knew she were going to have to grow up, she would stop being so immature.” She laughed as she faced Danny. “Well, we see how well that worked out, now didn’t we?” she nodded. “Yea, they run the school too. There isn’t really anything we can do, whether she really likes Heejun or not.”

                Lizzy and Eli were walking through the park. Skye, Yasmin, Gina and Jace were trailing behind them. Lizzy had a tight grip on Eli’s arm, as if she though he were going to run away. He looked off as they kept walking. Lizzy, on the other hand, had tightened her grip, and was looking up at him. He looked over at her to see her smiling at him. He just shook his head and looked forward.

                “Aren’t you having a good time, Eli?” she asked. He looked at her questioningly. He wasn’t used to her calling him that. Usually it was, “Hey, you!”

                “It’s whatever.” She pursed her lips in thought.

                “What do you like to do for fun, Eli?”

                “Um, working out, skateboarding, and working on cars, normal stuff. I suppose.” He walked with her in silence for a few moments, until the question that was burning in him for the longest time finally blurted out.

                “Why did you pick me?”

                “Huh?”

                “Why me? Why am I here right now, and not someone else? I’m not rich, I don’t find myself particularly handsome, and I’m not very smart either. Why did you pick me?” he looked at her, awaiting her answer. She smiled at him.

                “Because, I have everything. I’m wealthy, I’m book smart, I’m pretty, and I don’t need anything else. Besides, it’s nice to make my own choices for once. I’m glad I picked you.” She said, leaning her head on his shoulder. For a moment, he tolerated her, just a little bit more.

                Brenda Song paced her office nervously. He said he would be calling soon, what was taking him so long?” she jumped as the phone rang.

                “Hello?” she smiled as she heard the voice at the other end of the receiver.

                Hayley pulled up to the front of the café. She checked her GPS. She seemed to be at the right place. She got out of her car and walked into the shop.

                It was very small and quaint. The walls were a pale yellow. The tablecloths on the tables and benches were a bright green. The floor was a pearly white tile. She looked on the walls. Watercolor paintings were spaced evenly throughout. She looked to the left. The display case contained several different kinds of baked goods. Her stomach growled at the sight of so maybe delectable treats. A young woman came to the counter.

                “Hello! Welcome to the Garden Café, how may I help you?” she said with a sweet innocent smile.

                “Hello, my name is Hayley Song. I’m looking for Tiffany Smith, is she here?”

END OF CHAPTER 11