My Words Are Law

Neighbors (1)

After getting out of the apartment, Amaryllis couldn't ignore the men going in and out of the studio apartment at the end of the hall. It felt like a slap to her face, and she felt stupid yet again for assuming he was even remotely poor. Of course, someone as cunning as him has a fallback plan, even if it's as serious as facing his own disownment.

Fortunately, he didn't send her any messages after last night. She thought he'd ask to enroll together, but maybe because of the press con, he's already got his hands full.

"Lis!" A cheerful, high-pitched voice shook her out of her trance as she raised her eyes to see Mia grinning.

"We met by chance so I dragged Samantha along. I hope you don't mind?" Mia cheerfully narrated as she hooked an arm around the other girl before doing the same with Amaryllis. After which, she led them through the gate to enter the campus.

"No." Amaryllis gave her a small smile before directing a separate greeting to the redhead, who nodded in acknowledgment.

Amaryllis put aside her worries over what happened at breakfast and focused on the two girls.

"Oh, by the way! Did you see the news!? Chryses actually has his own company. And WALL at that!" Mia prattled as she glanced at Amaryllis and Samantha.

"Mariam says it's a really good app. Aren't you also using it, Amaryllis?" She excitedly asked.

Amaryllis shook her head, momentarily reminded of the time she used it back in high school. "Not anymore... I can't afford the yearly subscription."

"I see. But it's really amazing, isn't it? Amaryllis was one of the beta users of WALL 100. What a coincidence!" Mia turned to Samantha, who nodded calmly.

"Is it really that good?" she muttered, obviously not interested, but she chose to humor Mia, who was expectantly looking at her for any comment.

"It has a trial run. I'll be thrilled if my schoolmates are using my product." A baritone voice suddenly piped in behind them.

"Speak of the devil!" Mia exclaimed as she turned around, recognizing the voice of the CEO of WALL. "Good morning! Fancy meeting you, Mr. CEO." She added, looking a bit awkward while shooting her friends a worried glance after her excitement dissipated.

Amaryllis turned to look at him as well, wondering how he's here when he was just being interviewed live a while back.

"I didn't know Amaryllis was a beta user." He smiled down at her.

"Well... It was free for a while." Amaryllis tried to act normal, but it was probably clear she wasn't entirely comfortable with her lack of eye contact.

Students turned to look at the young CEO in amazement, whispering their admiration. Some even greeted while he smiled and nodded in their direction.

"Are you enrolling, too?" Mia asked to break the awkward silence that ensued.

"Yeah. I was hoping I could tag along."

"What about your friends?" Amaryllis couldn't help asking. She doesn't plan on having classes with him again. Not after what happened last semester. Especially not after signing a contract with him.

"I don't think I'd call them friends exactly-"

"Oh, Chryses! Man, how have you been?" A male student tapped him on the back. All three girls immediately recognized him, being one of the people regularly following Chryses.

Taylor sidestepped to retreat beside Amaryllis, letting the other person's hand slide down and off his shoulder. It was so nonchalant you could almost say it wasn't intentional.

"Good." Chryses' voice was calm as he smiled. "Though I was robbed the night you kicked me out of your flat." He added in the same manner, at the now frozen face of the poor guy. He must not have expected Chryses to blurt the incident out in front of everyone.

"Ah, c'mon. Please, don't be mad at me. My friends were also planning to crash in my place, so I couldn't afford to let you stay for the night. Anyway, you're still loaded, so you didn't have any problem, right?" The guy uttered, thinking he was perfectly being reasonable.

"What piece of shit." Mia suddenly interrupted, and I couldn't help but agree with a nod.

The guy's smile dropped as he looked at Mia. "Excuse me? Did you say something?" He looks pissed.

This is the part where she should pretend she didn't say anything, but Mia is Mia, after all.

"...Shit," she said. "Every time you talk, it smells like shit." Mia's smile was so sweet you wouldn't expect her to say something so provoking. Yet there she was, showing her dimples innocently.

"Ha! This bitch-!" The guy took a step forward, but Chryses stepped in between. He continued to advance towards the guy until they were well over earshot.

"Chryses! Just leave that shitba-!" Samantha and I covered Mia's mouth simultaneously while shaking our heads. She should really learn to filter her words on some occasions. Otherwise, she'll get herself in serious trouble sooner or later.

"Mnnmmph! Mmmapp ammu mooinggg!?" Hey! What are you doing!?

"Unless you want to get your teeth knocked out while passing by a deserted alley, quiet down and let the men handle their problems," Samantha explained, and Amaryllis nodded yet again at her wise words. "Anyway, it's not worth getting involved for. That psycho can take care of his own trash," she muttered the last sentence under her breath.

The blue-eyed girl glanced at Samantha and saw her staring with curious eyes.

"Let's go." Chryses' soft voice called out, and Amaryllis looked up at him with a frown. His former friend was left a few feet behind with a pale face. She could only imagine how he was threatened.

The contract. He briefly mouthed the words before smiling again. Mia and Samantha, who were looking elsewhere, didn't see it. It was such a strategic move, as usual.

With a sigh, Amaryllis nodded at Mia, who was looking at her for confirmation. "Well... Let's go then...?" She uttered, sealing her friend's schedule for the whole semester.

Samantha looked up from her phone she had whipped out seconds ago and tilted her head at Amaryllis, probably wondering what she was thinking, while bobbing her head in agreement.

***