Banking On My Bodyguard

chapter 4

I checked the clock one last time before grabbing my bag and swinging the door open.

Kingsley was already stood outside with his back to me and I noticed he was wearing the Academy's male uniform. It somehow looked really good on him, accentuating his dominating form and this realisation didn't improve my mood.

To anyone else he might have looked like a normal student, but to me he was a nightmare innocently disguised as a rich kid.

I shut the door behind me and locked it quickly before storming past him down the hallway. The well-mannered side of me considered making polite conversation as we walked, but I didn't want to encourage a friendship between us. He was already annoying as an employee, I dreaded to think what kind of friend he would make.

Thankfully he stayed silent and walked slightly behind me, but the feeling of his eyes on my back was unnerving. I shook off a shiver and turned down the corridors until I arrived at the assembly hall.

Most of the students were already seated and I was thankful we didn't have one everyday. They were usually long, tiring and soul-sucking. Our headmistress, Mrs Rooprak, thought she was inspiring gumption in us, but the morning meetings had entirely the opposite effect.

Over the sea of heads I spotted the familiar rich brown locks of my best friend. I smiled to myself and weaved my way through the chairs until I reached her. She jumped up when she saw me and we exchanged a brief hug.

"Naila I missed you!"

She pulled back and gave me her dazzling grin. She was an extremely pretty girl with signature Arabian features and I'd always envied her Middle Eastern heritage. She was technically a princess of a powerful family from UAE, but she didn't like to talk about it much. We'd known each other since we were 11 when she began splitting her time between England and Dubai.

"Vee I missed you too! You look so good girl! All that time tanning in Bali paid off huh?"

"I mainly snorkelled, but we saw real sea turtles! I wish you could've come."

"Ugh me too but my dad had me running around all these state events in Dubai. It was exhausting." She rolled her eyes as we sat down in the upholstered wooden seats.

"The life of a princess really is hard huh?" I teased and she giggled lightly in response.

The bell rang at the front of the hall, indicating it was time to pay attention, and we exchanged expressions of dread as we turned to focus our eyes and ears on the headmistress.

She began to drone on about the new year and new expectations, rehashing the college motto for the new students in the year below. You could practically hear a collective sigh of boredom as she started to reiterate the founding history of the building and so I quickly tuned her out.

I glanced to the empty seat next to me and realised Kingsley wasn't sitting there. I looked around to see where he was.

I didn't have to look far as he'd placed himself two rows back, right next to Naila's bodyguard. I turned away before he caught me looking and Naila seemed to notice as she leaned over to me to whisper in my ear.

"By the way, what's up with the hot guy you walked in with?" I could feel her staring at my side profile but refused to glance her way.

"My dad assigned me a bodyguard this year, he finally decided the last of my freedom was over." I sighed, already tired of the topic.

Naila nudged me in my ribs and widened her doe eyes, "don't look so disappointed, he's fit!"

I cringed slightly because she wasn't wrong. But placing Kingsley's attractiveness and infuriating personality together pretty much killed the appeal.

"Yeah but he's also the most annoying person I've ever met. Seriously... he woke me up this morning by drilling a camera to the ceiling in my room."

"And then?"

I turned to face her and she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"And then nothing. We argued for the second time in 24 hours."

She sighed to herself, "that's so boring! I thought you would have at least given him a blowjob."

"Naila!" I hissed, but it was a few octaves too loud and some of the students in front turned to stare at us. I prayed they hadn't heard her exact words and stared innocently at the front of the hall as they turned back around slowly.

I could feel her shaking slightly beside me and I knew she would be biting her cheeks to stop from laughing. I really refrained from looking at her then, knowing that if I did we would both crack and fall into giggles.

This was what I loved about Naila, we could laugh at anything together. She had an outrageous nature and a shocking potty mouth despite the regal expectations that sat on her shoulders.

After I felt her calm down I spoke again, "nothing like that is ever going to happen. Even regardless of the rules, he's not my type." I was referring to the unspoken understanding that hooking up with your bodyguard was automatically off limits at the Academy.

"Fuck the rules, if my bodyguard looked like THAT, you best believe I'd climb him like a tree." She glanced backwards towards where he was sat and I refrained from joining her, "and besides, he's everyone's type."

I sighed and sunk down lower in my seat. I didn't want to talk about Kingsley's annoying presence or how attractive he was. I was already tired of the guy and it hadn't even been a week yet.

Naila seemed satisfied with my lack of response and we went back to pretending to listen to the assembly.

After a painstaking 30 minutes it was over and we were dismissed for class. Naila and I had already conferred over text weeks ago and figured out that we shared a similar schedule due to our chosen classes.

As we filed out of the hall the guys caught up with us and Naila immediately thrust her hand out to Kingsley in greeting.

"Vee tells me you're her protector for the year. It's nice to meet you, I'm Naila and this is my bodyguard Paul." She gestured to the man beside her.

I glared as she spoke to him sweetly, but she ignored my presence. Kingsley smiled back at her and shook her hand enthusiastically.

"It's nice to meet you too, I'm Kingsley." His eyes flickered to me and I could see the glint of satisfaction there. He was no doubt thrilled that my best friend seemed to like him already.

I huffed at the ridiculous interaction and turned, beginning to make my way to psychology on the third floor. Naila quickly caught up with my long strides as the men fell into step behind us.

As we walked, we caught up on the full details of each other's summers. Occasionally she'd turn and ask Paul to fill in the gaps of where they had been and who'd they'd met.

My best friend had the happy blessing of being good friends with her bodyguard, whilst I had decided to refuse to even acknowledge Kingsley.

I frowned to myself as the decisive thought occurred and wondered if I was being too harsh on him, but I hadn't wanted a protector in the first place and only agreed to tolerate him to my father.

I shook the concerns from my head and trailed after Naila as she practically skipped to class.