"Where were you, Adam? I've made breakfast. Eat before you leave," said a thirteen year old Angela Saunders, looking at her older brother.

"I was at Damian's house. He had a fight with Freddie and his gang," informed Adam as he sat at the table to have his breakfast.

Angela's dad, Gerard Saunders, was a professor of physics at the University of Texas in Austin. He had already left for his university at 7 o'clock in the morning. Her oldest brother Arnold, eight years older, was studying medicine, wanting to be an orthopedic surgeon. He lived at his university dorm and came home on weekends. Her next brother, Alex, was six years older and studying a course on Special Education. He dreamt of having his own educational institution for differently abled children. He juggled an internship and his studies and therefore he was hardly at home. Her youngest brother, Adam, was four years older and in the same school as her. While Angela was in the seventh grade, Adam was in his junior year.

They usually went to school together and Angela hated it very much. All her friends used their bikes, but she wasn't allowed. After trying a lot to convince her dad and her brothers to agree, she finally gave up. Her home wasn't far away from her school. It was a neighborhood she loved as her friends lived nearby. They had been living in an upscale neighborhood of Austin, Texas, for the last twenty years.

Angela sighed. Damian was becoming too rough day by day. Damian Anderson was her next-door neighbor. Being an only son of his parents, he had it all. He was of the same age as her and, therefore, had been best friends since the day she was born. They grew up together and knew everything about each other. He was in the same class as she was and they usually stuck together. His father, Ronald Anderson, was a famous cardiologist working in the same hospital where Angela's mom, Stefanie Saunders, worked as a nurse. Damian's mom, Erika Anderson, was an Event Manager at a five-star hotel. They didn't have time for Damian and fought like cats and dogs whenever they were at home together. He had everything that money could buy apart from love, attention, and care.

"You go ahead, Adam, " she said, walking towards the door.

"Won't you go to school today?" he asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Let me check up on Damian. I'll go five minutes later," she said, rushing outside their white painted gate, down the pavement to the house next door.

Damian's house was enormous, three times the size of hers, looking like a palace almost. Damian hated his house as he mostly stayed there alone. After his grandfather's death, he was lonely since his parents didn't have any time for him. His grandfather left him this vast mansion along with a huge inheritance, all of which would be his on his eighteenth birthday. But he didn't want any of it. He just wanted a little love, a little attention.

Angela went up to the huge ornate door and rang the doorbell. An injured Damian opened the door. His lips were bleeding, his forehead had a deep gash, and his right eyebrow had turned a shade of purple.

Angela gasped at seeing his state. "Oh my God, Damian, you're hurt," she said in a distressed tone, going inside his house and closing it behind her. Damian just stared at her without a blink, without a word, as if he was hypnotized. Angela had noticed this recent change in him since the beginning of the year. He was quieter and stared at her more. His naughty pranks and silly laughs had reduced a lot.

"Damian?" She touched his cheek tenderly.

He blinked, coming back to his senses. "Where were you? I'm hurt and you have the time to see me now? I'm so disappointed in you," he complained, looking hurt.

"I just came to know now from Adam. Come on," she said, pulling him by his hand towards the washroom near the living room. He sat on the counter while she hunted in the cabinets for the first aid box.

"Why do you need to do all this?" she asked as she came near him and placed the first aid box beside him. He kept quiet and looked down to see what she was doing. She picked up the disinfectant and dabbed it onto a piece of cotton, softly cleaning his wounds.

"Is it hurting?" she asked, blowing over the wound on his forehead as she dabbed a little and cleaned it. Damian shook his head, staring at her face, which was so close to his. His heart stopped beating and his breath caught in his throat as he stared at her spellbound by her. He didn't know what was happening to him anymore, but he loved to have her near.

"Damian, why do you even talk to Freddie?" she asked, tired of his silence. What was wrong with him?

"I don't," he said, still looking at her.

"Then why did you fight?" she asked, curiously.

"He was spewing out dirty stuff about you," he confessed and looked down at the floor.

Angela looked at him in disbelief. She had always steered clear of Freddie and his spoiled group of friends. She couldn't stand the sight of them.

"What did he say?" she asked, curiously.

"I can't tell you," said Damian. Angela cleaned the wound on his lip as he quietly kept looking at her. She didn't know what was wrong with Damian and why he became so quiet suddenly.

"There, done. I'm getting late for school. I need to rush," she said, storing the first aid box back in the cabinet.

"Stay," said Damian, holding her hand.

"I can't. You know Ms. Knightley will complain to my dad. He'd punish me for bunking school," said Angela.

Damian was upset as Angela walked away towards the door. Closing his eyes, he sucked in a deep breath as she walked out of his door. He jumped down from the vanity counter to get ready for school. He couldn't fathom this craziness of being near her all the time. If she wasn't around, then there was no point in staying back.

Damian quickly got ready and left for school. He rode his bike to the neighborhood school in five minutes. He ran down the corridor to his classroom. He was five minutes late, but at least he would be with his Angela.

"Ma'am, can I please come in?" He asked a pacing Ms. Knightley, who was asking the students to submit their homework assignments.

Ms. Knightly whirled around and glared at him. He knew he wasn't one of her favorites and she would go crazy if one was late to her class, but well, he could handle that.

"Here comes Sir Damian Anderson, always late," she started, but after looking at him, she ‌softened. "What happened to you, young man?" she asked with concern, seeing him injured.

Freddie and his gang, sporting similar bruises, stood punished at the back of the class for not doing their homework. Damian couldn't tell her the truth. She would lose her temper if she knew they had fought.

"I had an accident, ma'am, " he lied. Ms. Knightley looked at him with more concern than before.

"Come inside and sit down," she said and Damian released the breath that he had been holding. He walked inside and saw Angela staring at him in disbelief. He knew she wasn't expecting him at school today. Giving her a cheerful grin, he went to his seat. The classroom door opened and his best friend, Xavion Alexander, peered inside.

"Ma'am, can I come in?" he asked, expecting a blast from Ms. Knightley.

"Why can't you boys come on time?" asked a displeased Ms. Knightley.

"Sorry ma'am. It won't happen again. My uncle woke up late and dropped me after getting ready for work," he complained. Ms. Knightley sighed, knowing that Xavion had lost his parents in a car accident last year and he depended upon his uncle. She couldn't say a thing to him.

"Okay, come in, Xavion, " she gave her permission. Xavion walked into the classroom and sat beside his best friend, Damian.

"What happened to you, dude?" he whispered.

"Later," said Damian and he tried to concentrate in class, but all he could see was Angela as she sat on the front bench with her friend, Helena. Her hair was looking more beautiful than before in the new hairstyle that she sported. Her eyelashes had grown more and he could see their curly length from such a distance.

"Yes, Damian. Can you answer me?" asked Ms. Knightley.

Damian came out of his dreamland and blinked and gaped at Ms. Knightley with a blank expression on his face. "Sorry ma'am, could you repeat your question, please?" he said, looking lost.

"It seems you were lost somewhere. Tell us what you were dreaming about in just one sentence using a noun, verb, proverb, adjective and a pronoun," she asked, and Damian's eyes widened. Was she serious? Who could answer that?

"What's a proverb?" he asked, scratching his head. He had forgotten what it actually was.

Ms. Knightley threw up her hands in the air with frustration. "Freddie, Carl, Sean, Brian sit down. Next time, do your homework before you attend my class," she said strictly. Then she turned to Angela. “Angela Saunders, do you know what a proverb is?"

"Yes ma'am, " Angela answered. She had always been a grade A student and all the teachers loved her.

"Good. After class, you will teach Damian what a proverb is."

"Yes, ma'am, " Angela said. Damian's heart wanted to break into a happy dance.

"Good. I'll ask you again tomorrow, Damian. I hope you'll be able to answer me," said Ms. Knightley. Damian nodded, his heart pounding in his chest at the prospect of spending more time with Angela.

"Yes, ma'am, " he answered with a grin on his face. Ms. Knightley frowned at him but didn't say a word further on the topic and proceeded to teach more grammar. But nothing entered Damian's head, and he eagerly waited for school to get over for the day. Finally, Ms. Knightley's torture ended, but there were more to come. Throughout the day, there was a bitter war between him and Freddie's while Angela looked displeased.

It was their much needed break, and Angela walked over to him. "Damian, I won't teach you anything if you fight with Freddie again," she threatened.

"Don't worry, I won't," assured Damian. He and Xavion sat discussing something serious and Angela left them alone. Seeing Damian's behavior, she was actually curious about what Freddie might have said to him to make him so worked up. She would have to ask him later when they were alone. Classes resumed, but she noticed Damian was distracted throughout the day. She had caught him staring at her many times, but didn't give it much thought. Maybe he was worried over something!

Helena kept on pleading with her to accompany her to see Brian, who wanted to tell her something important. "No, Helen, you go ahead. I want nothing to do with them," she said, knowing fully well how Damian would react if she spoke to anyone belonging to Freddie's gang.

"Please, Angela. He threatened to complain to mom about my bunking school yesterday if I didn't meet him today after school," begged Helena.

Angela scowled at her. "Then you shouldn't have bunked school, " she said, crossly.

"Please Angela. You don't need to talk to them. You just need to be with me," pleaded Helena with puppy dog eyes. Angela groaned but finally gave in.

"Fine, but make it quick. I don't want Damian to see me talking to them," she said with an eye roll.

"It'll take a minute! Thank you, thank you," said Helena. School was at last over and she pulled Angela along with her. Angela looked around for Damian. Had he left? She didn't want him to see her now knowing how possessive he was about her.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of my imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Copyright © Rituparna Darolia.

All rights reserved. No part of this novel may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.