THE HEARTBREAK SOCIETY

➶ 8

AUGUST ATHEN LAURENT wore smiles behind sharp, cold eyes—unfriendly and daunting, reminding you that compared to him, you are insignificant. Being the heir to the second most successful business in the world, I felt small. With one word, he could ruin me before I could plead my case. Notorious for his groundbreaking accomplishments, he certainly didn't lack in the appearance department either. Despite his unsightly personality towards others, he was extremely handsome. Handsome in the sense that you would pay to meet him, grovel at his feet, and thank him for allowing you to do so. The sight of him made females drop their panties in a hurry.

Initially, I believed he couldn't be as terrible as the rumours went, had I not witnessed firsthand. When I accidentally bumped into him, he had sneered and claimed how 'dirty' I was, then proceeded to dump his kale smoothie over me. And to make matters worse, I happened to hate kale. With my luck of having him as my pair for a ridiculous event, it was as though the world wanted to see me emotionally suffer.

Though, I couldn't help but hate him. I hated when he would enter the dining room with superiority and watched as he looked down on others, degrading them. His gaze would find me among the crowd and taunt me of my standing. This action alone caused others to envy me. To others, it might have looked as if he was acknowledging my existence when in reality, he was looking at me like I was trash.

What drove me insane was I couldn't understand why I deserved to be humiliated. I remained in my own space and only spoke to Asra and Zavian. And even then, there were times when they were away for business trips. I had grown used to this and learned that students involved with family businesses were often away.

I let out a sigh, laying my head on the desk with exasperation. "What's on your mind? You look both scared and confused," questioned Asra, too busy to look up as she furiously jotted down notes.

"That's my thinking face," I retorted, slightly offended. "And I'm just thinking about how I'm two weeks ahead of everyone. I'm so bored."

She snorted, "Not everyone can be a dignified nerd such as yourself," and although she never spoke of it, I knew that she had tried to disperse rumours and protect me. Even with her status in society, there were things you couldn't erase. They resorted to cornering me when Zavian or her weren't around instead and made sure to keep the news from reaching them. I thought it was rather entertaining to see how far they would go.

"You better use these four hours diligently. You have a week's worth of homework from fashion studies," I laughed, using a hair tye to pull the messy wave of curls out of my face. Too lazy to use contacts, I'd gone with glasses since I doubted anyone would bother to pay attention to me. "I would love to help, but unfortunately, I can't sew."

With my words dripping in sarcasm, Asra stuck out her tongue and flipped me off. "Why didn't you convince me to finish before I left for that trip?" she pointed an accusing finger as though I had betrayed her.

"I did. You told me that you would do it during your trip," I shrugged, scrolling through social media when an ad of Liana in a beauty commercial came up. Although she was a horrible person, she was gorgeous.

When Asra noticed, she rolled her eyes and smugly said, "If you tried a little harder, she would be dirt next to you," and when I saw the mischievous flash of excitement in her eye, I immediately stood up and backed away.

"I'm heading outside for the remainder of the break," I excused myself before she could protest. With a final wave, I darted away and hoped that I wouldn't encounter any trouble.

Sighing, I slipped through the corridors, wary of students and headed straight to the clearing by the football field. It was a secluded area with the right amount of shade accompanied by a perfect view. And since the academy sat on a hill, this spot was a hidden gem.