Love is Foreign

❥ Chapter Two ❥

Great, just great. Tyan thought as he shivered, rubbing his arms and staring at the dark and dreary sky. His hair was drenched, his mom was asleep, and his dad kicked him out...again. He hated being thrown out. His father knew that and that's why it was a common punishment for him. He had no friends, so he had nowhere to go. That's the only reason why he disliked it so much. He learned to enjoy the walks though.

His father had eaten all the food and left a mess on the table, leaving Tyan's stomach to now be growling like there was no tomorrow. Tyan told his father sternly that he should've cleaned up after himself and got a scolding and a near beating. He coughed softly as he walked slowly, directionless. The clouds thundered above him and he laughed dryly at his miserable life.

"This sucks." he whispered under his breath. "So much."

He dragged his feet against the ground and grunted, overthinking things. He started speaking to himself out loud. "If I were to ever get a girlfriend, ma would be so happy and I can afford to continue the family line," he said animatedly, slowly starting to find a purpose in his life again. He fiddled with his hands nervously, looking down. "I would make father proud for once." he whispered softly, stopping in his tracks with a soft smile. "Yeah, that sounds nice." He sneezed, just then noticing that the rain had stopped and a cool breeze filled the air. He sighed softly, a smile on his lips. This is nice. He turned around and started walking back. I wish it was always this peaceful.

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

Thinking over her actions, Aurora can't say she regretted it. She ran a hand through her hair, sighing and sorted out her acceptance letters from colleges. She got accepted by all colleges she applied for and more. She didn't like that because they were only interested in her due to her last name. All applications she made under a false name, however, were denied. At this point, she was exhausted- physically, mentally, emotionally, you name it- and she just wanted to get this over with.

Her phone rang suddenly and she jumped up. When she saw the caller id, she pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "What do you want?"

"Hi Rory-"

"Stop calling me, Christian." She said in a venomous voice.

"Babe, hear me out-"

"No. Absolutely not."

"Please."

"I can't handle you anymore." She whispered softly.

"I can change, I really can!"

"Christian, you should've thought about the consequences of your actions before you performed them."

"I dumped her."

"Excuse me?"

"I dumped her. She was such a laughingstock. I couldn't be seen with her after that incident."

"Christian..."

"See, I can change."

"Say sorry to that poor girl. Your ego is too inflated and needs to be popped." She hissed.

"God, I love the new Rory." He said in response to her authoritative tone.

She rolled her eyes, despite knowing he wouldn't be able to see it. "Goodbye, Christian."

"Wait, Rory-"

She ended the call and curled up into a ball next to her Maltese. It paid no attention to her presence. She grumbled softly to herself. "You're just like my parents." she got up and went downstairs when there was no sign of it paying attention to her existence.

She found herself in the kitchen and her eyes widened at a delicate pastry on the cake stand. Her mouth watered and she looked around for a fork. When she found one, her hand reached out to take a bite from the cake. Her hand was slapped away.

"No. No cake for you."

Aurora pouted and her housekeeper pinched her cheeks and poked at her thighs. "You need to be skinnier, Mistress' orders."

Aurora nodded, putting the fork back and grabbing a bottle of water.

"Your mother will be utmost pleased."

Aurora forced a smile. "I didn't expect any less."

She went back to her room, ignoring the growl of her stomach. She walked to her scale and wrote down her weight in a notebook. She went to her bed and switched off the light, falling asleep rather quickly.

▵ ▵ ▵

When she awoke, the sun had been up and shining for several hours. She did her normal morning routine, brushing her teeth and taking a shower, then leafed through her clothes that were not designer-those clothes were too tight anyway- and ended up donning a pair of high-waisted shorts and tucked in a t-shirt. She let her hair air dry and went downstairs.

"Miss Duke, would you like breakfast?"

"Would it please my mother?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not hungry." She said softly before dialing Cam.

Ten minutes later, a hyper girl shows up at her doorstep.

"Ready to go?"

"Nah, I'm hungry. Let's eat that gourmet food your chefs make everyday."

"But I wanna go now..." Aurora said softly, looking downcast.

Cam looked at her and frowned, not knowing why she suddenly looked so down. "Fine. We have to get the lunch I want, okay?"

Aurora nodded with a small grin.

"To the coffee shop we go!" Cameron cheered.

Aurora stifled a laugh and followed after the other.

They hung out at the mall again afterwards and Aurora stopped in front of a bookstore.

"I want to get some books on Chinese language and culture," she pointed at the bookstore with a smile.

"Isn't that what tour guides are for?" Cam rolled her eyes.

"I feel that it's wrong to have nearly every country learn English language and culture when all Americans do is go to another country and expect English. It's highly rude and other languages and culture are simply breath-taking." She said as she looked through books containing information about China.

"Well, I think you're wasting your money." Cam said as she followed behind Aurora.

"I think I'm making an investment. You never know what'll happen in the future."

"True..." Cam answered, looking out at the sky as if there was an answer in the empty space.

"Rory?"

Aurora turned around upon hearing the familiar voice, her eyes widening when her gaze fell upon the figure. "No. Way." She said softly, her lips curling up in a smile. "You're back."