IVACY HIGH #1
Eva's 'perfect' life is disrupted when she's adopted and thrusted rather unexpectedly and quite irrevocably into a whole new world where she encounters new friends, strange lifestyles, catastrophic situations, a dysfunctional sibling...
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This chapter is dedicated to Iyanuoluwa-Temi for being a supportive reader and such an amazing person. I love you 🤍
EVA
"Hey! We never got to talk about how you met Omar. "
I stilled, my spoon of ice cream stopping halfway to my mouth. I lifted my head and saw Axel watching me expectantly. He just wasn't going to let it go, was he?
Sighing, I shoved the ice cream into my mouth, contemplating on the best way to answer him.
I could lie and tell him that we met at my old school back in Lagos, but that would only attract more questions, which meant cooking up more lies. I wasn't a very good liar.
Why not just go with the truth? I asked myself.
"We met at the orphanage. But he wasn't raised there like me. He got—" I stopped, realizing I was saying too much, then tried again. "He came in when he was like.... fourteeen and I was twelve at the time. I've known him five years. "
"What orphanage? " He frowned.
"What other orphanage would I be talking about, Axel? " I looked down at the tub of ice cream in front of me. My stomach wouldn't welcome food, that's why I'd opted for it.
"You grew up at an orphanage? "
My eyes snapped up to his. Why did he look so surprised? Surely, the entire school knew about this already.
"You....... don't know? " My eyes danced between his, probing the brown depths to see if I would find any cracks in his expression, but I found none.
He doesn't know!
His cutlery clattered to the plate as he leaned back on the leather couch, running his slim fingers over his mouth. Our chairs were opposite each other, with a table in between. That was how it was throughout the eatery. I'd suggested we pick a window seat because the middle ones felt too exposed. The backs of our couches were high and I felt safe and cozy, cocooned against the glass. He'd wanted me to sit on the same side as him but I declined. I didn't think I could bear the close proximity.
"I didn't. How—" Deep lines formed between his thick brows. "The Lawsons are your foster family? "
"Yes. " I stressed. "How can you not know? The whole school does. "
He sat up. "I can assure you that it doesn't. Everyone thinks you're a distant relative or something. "
How could they think I was their blood relative? Didn't they witness how Zoe treated me?
