C7

" Ariel..." I heard dad's voice this time. I know I'm good as dead. I quickly slip on my pajamas bottoms with a t-shirt and rush downstairs.

" Dad."

" What's this? Chatting with your boyfriend?" Mom asks, glaring at me and showing me the screen of my phone. Even if I really can't clearly see the writings on my phone , I know what she's talking about.

" What did we tell you about discipline?" Dad roars.

" I.. it's not what you think." I stutter.

" It's not what we think? What do you want us to think? That last night you went out to party , then you got drunk and you drove home with a total stranger and you slept with him . Ariel you had sex again when your older sister is still a virgin! Why can't you be like her for once!" Mom yells.

" Mom I—" I sob and meet eyes with Leslie who scoffs and looks away.

" Mom what, Ariel? We did our best to take you to school , the convent to be precise, and you spoiled everything. I thought coming to New York will straighten your already broken life but yet you're still being useless..." Mom yells as my heart aches. I need my meds or I'm just gonna go insane.

" Who the hell is Gray?"

" I don't even know him. He took me out and we did nothing, you have to believe me."

" Believe you? Ariel , he's texting you about wearing his sweatpants and he wants to take you out. What type of daughter are you?"

" I did nothing with him." I yelled on top of my voice and I didn't even recognize what I did. My mom slaps me across the face .

" How dare you? How dare you raise your voice at my wife, you whore?"

" I'm rebooking your visit to therapy. You need help and you've finally decided to turn into one of these hopeless street girls like your cousin Alexa. What happened to that little you that has dignity and fear of God? You dropped everything after meeting with that Freddie and now Gray. Aren't you shameless?" Mom yells.

My hand is still plastered on my face and I wish I can run away. My shirt is decorated with my tears and another word I'm gonna faint.

" You're grounded more. You're not leaving this house and you're not eating for the next five days."

" Mom , dad."

" Shut up! You..." My ringing phone stops my mother from talking. She looks at the dialer and glares at me. God let it not be him.

" It's her boyfriend , Gray." Mom scowls. Dad snatches the phone away from mom as he answers the call, putting my phone on loudspeaker.

" Ariel." I hear his voice on the phone.

" This isn't Ariel but her father. Now listen to me mister Gray , leave my daughter Ariel alone. Stay away from her and let her be. You can't just go about deceiving her and getting her in your bed. Leave her alone , you stupid, useless street rat." Oh God.

Why are they making things hard for me? Gray might be a weird stranger to me, but the worth of his house might even be my father's entire income. That's not even important , he has successfully humiliated me on the phone with Gray. I feel like a stupid teenager even if I'm not one.

" Lemme make myself clear to you..." mom says on the phone." She's not your type of girl. Ariel's supposed to be in nun school serving and not following less ambitionless men like you. Keep your dick in your pants and leave her alone. She's a Christian daughter and not meant to be used by hopeless hoodlums like you. Stop calling her." Mom spits and smashes my phone on the wall.

" Mom..."

" Another word and I'm beating the hell out of you. Now to your room." I sniffle and run back upstairs.

My life's stupid. Most times I don't expect all this from my parents. I feel like maybe I'm adopted. That crazy party caused almost half of this. How could Leslie show mom my phone? Does she hate me that much? I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand and sit up to swallow my pills. I really didn't want Gray, but apparently he's gonna see me as a dweeb. A controlled freak.

" You look down." Leslie says at the side of my door.

" You'll be fine, sweetheart." She smirks sarcastically .

" You should leave. You've finally let mom insult me to Gray. Worst is that I even got slapped because of you. Do you enjoy seeing me hurt?" She shrugs and crosses her arms.

" So who's this unfortunate Gray? What's so attractive about you that made him take you home?" I blink my eyes at Leslie's hate speech.

It's not her fault.

I'm not classy. I don't wear skimpy dresses and nice crop tops. My wardrobe is filled with jeans and hoodies and sweaters and t-shirts and some types of dresses that classy girls don't wear. I can't afford their expensive hair extensions like Alexa. I'm not like Leslie either , she's almost like these models with super sexy movements and always on social media. If my parents would ever allow a carefree life , then Leslie would be at a magazine shoot posing naked for the covers. She pretends too much.

" I bet he's ugly , hmm?" She teases and furrows her brows in disgust. Yeah , I'm too lame for Gray. I see the paparazzi he caused by just sitting across from me in that club.

His cars are expensive compared to my truck. He smells wealthy, including his house. I saw people's eyes when I left the club with him even in my drunk state. What would he want from me? I'm just this naive Christian, like he calls me.

" It's none of your business." I state, looking far away from her.

" Yeah. Of course not." She scoffs and turns to leave.

I just can't wait to start college , at least I'll be far away from them. The only time they're possibly gonna see me is after class. My parents made sure we don't stay on campus or even around campus. So we're stuck with them. Or maybe I'm stuck with them. I wish I could make my own decisions just like Leslie , but I'm stuck with being a naive and controlled person. Too scared.

***

It's been a week since the Gray incident. I haven't heard from him , of course I don't even have a phone anymore. I don't go out and I'm always in my bedroom. Reading and sleeping, my life's boring. I sit on the chair of the counter and stir my coffee endlessly.

" Mom , I'm going out with a friend."

" You've gotten a new friend?"

" Mom , it's Hazel. She's a good girl and doesn't have a boyfriend." Leslie tells Mom walking to the kitchen.

" Is she in college?"

" Yes, mom." Leslie smiles drinking from her cup of coffee.

" She goes to church and is a member of the Catholic parish. Her dad is also a respected elder in church..." Leslie continues.

I secretly roll my eyes and envy the way mom listens. I dare not say 'I'm going out'.

" Oh, there she is." We dart our head to the kitchen door as I scan this pretty Blond.

She smiles at us and greets me and Mom. She looks too good to be true.

" Mom , this is Hazel. Hazel , meet my mom."

" A pleasure to meet you, ma."

" It's nice to meet you too , dear. Leslie says a lot about you. So you're hanging out with her this weekend?" Mom's voice beams with eagerness and her smile is so genuine.

" Yes , and we'll be back early. We promise to be good girls."

" Sure thing. Please don't get drunk , I don't want you to wake up in a man's bed wearing his sweatpants." Mom says. I bite the inside of my cheek and stare non-stop at my coffee. I can't believe she had to use me as an example.

" Thanks , mom." Leslie kisses mom on her cheek and rushes out with Hazel.

Mom scoffs and turns to look at me . I gulp the entire tea and stand up from the stool. I'm trying to avoid my mom's ranting. She hisses and stirs her spaghetti on the cooker.

" Mom..." I called out.

" What! " She turns to look at my figure standing beside the door.

I wanted to tell her about my new plan. I was tired of sitting at home all day so I need a job and I wanna go out to look for one.

" I want to look for a job." I spit out, almost not calculating.

" A job?"

" Yes. I wanna be useful and not sit at home all day." I say and continue before she taunts me." It's gonna be a decent job and I'm not following or visiting any man. I'm sorry about that stranger, Gray, and I'll never go close to him again." Now i feel like a stupid teenager again. Like I'm in highschool.

" So I should believe you?"

" Please, mom. I promise to never bring trouble." I pout, rubbing my sweaty hand together.

" Fine. And I wanna know the type of job once you find one. At least by 6pm you should be at home. Clear?"

" Clear." I breathe out and rush out.

I rush upstairs and put on a black jeans and a t- shirt before rushing down the stairs. At least I'll be breathing normal air aside from the air from my air conditioner.

After my daily search for a job , I found one at Sandy's, a restaurant and it's really classy. I'm glad it's a part- time job with shifts. Since I really haven't started college, I decided to resume work by noon and round up by 5:30 pm. It's gonna be a long time for me to gather myself before reaching home by six.

" You'll be fine." Sandy whispered to me on my first day of resumption. I have changed my clothes to her work clothes and it's a shirt with the name of her restaurant at the back on top of my trousers.

I tag alongside Vickie , arranging desserts and snacks on each table. I return back to the counter to take orders from every other customer. A pair of blue eyes catches my attention , staring at me. I raise my head to look at this stranger as he smirks before looking back at his friend.

" That was weird." I mutter while taking a cup of coffee to give to this blue eyed man.

" Your coffee , sir." I address him even if he's in his early twenties , maybe Leslie's age.

" Thanks. Call me Ryan." He answered sincerely.

" Uh, Sure." I reply about leaving but they stop me.

" Can we get your name?" His other friend asks. He's a brunette with hazel eyes.

" It's Ariel. I need to get back to work."

" Sure." Ryan said and he's giving me the creeps with his unending stare.

I nod politely and walk back to my stand.

" Asking you out?" Vickie asks and nudges me with a smile.

" Not really."

" Yeah." She giggles and smiles.

I arrange my hair properly to a tight bun and take out the used dish from the tables. I walk back to the counter and arrange the plates on the dishwasher for the supposed cleaners. I walked back to the counter and a sight made me stop on my track. What's he doing here? Vickie was standing beside him smiling endlessly as they talked. I didn't even notice the dark haired girl opposite him in one of the booths.

" Great , I'm just gonna puke." I mutter to myself.

His head raises up from the table and his eyes meet mine. I gulp and look away. What's he doing here? Vickie walks back and sighs standing by me.

" I'm still trying to catch my breath." Vickie mumbles beside me.

" You're okay?"

" I'm not. Look around , didn't you see someone unusual?" I look around and I can see some girls stealing glances at Gray Carter. I can barely tell his stand around New York.

" Just Gray sitting with a girl."

" Just Gray? Gray is the hottest guy ever in New York and also one of the richest men around the country. Many women will obviously dump their husbands because of him."

" That's ridiculous."

" I really can't explain to you who Gray Carter is." He's just one annoying stalker that brought me nothing but trouble.

" I don't care."

" 70% of New Yorkers care, sweetie. He's the envy of men and the gossip of every normal person." So obviously I'm not normal.

" Oh my gosh , he's coming to the counter." Vickie murmurs beside me. God I hate her.

" You care for something?" Vickie asks Gray who's already leaning on the counter.

He doesn't say a word but stares at me. His grey orbs glue to my figure in front of him.

" Coffee , please." He says, still not breaking the intense eye contact.

" Alright." Vickie replies.

" Not you , let her do it." Gray says looking at Vickie before smirking at me.

" Alright." He's so intimidating. I can't believe I lost my voice because he's standing just an inch from me.

He nods politely and walks back to his table. What's he up to? I hopefully brewed two cups of coffee and made sure it's perfect. That weird brunette he's sitting with stares at me. Her glares are worse than intimidating. I arrange the coffee on a platter and slowly walk back to his booth, making sure I don't spill his coffee.

" Thank you." He says but doesn't spare me a smile.

I nod politely and walk away. The rest of the day was terrible for me because he was always staring. That evening , I closed for the day and hurriedly shower in the bathroom before getting dressed. I walk out of the restaurant and halt to the presence in front of me. His grey eyes scan my figure with his hands in his pockets. I open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out.

" What are you doing here?" I manage to ask.

"Get in the car." He says, opening his car for me.

" I'm sorry , I can't." I stutter and try to walk past him but he pulls me back to himself. My hands rest on his chest as his eyes pry all over me.

" Get in." I gulp and nod , scared of whatever thing this cute man is willing to do. I entered his car as he shut the door.

He turns around and enters his driver's seat to ignite the car. This is so expensive with it's tinted windows.

" Where are we going?" I ask him. He turns on the radio and drives onto the road. He refuses to meet my eyes but continues driving.

I fiddle my fingers and look at my lap.

" What did your parents say? Were you beaten?" He asks but doesn't stare.

" Not really."

" But she smashed your phone?" He asks and meets my eyes.

" Yeah." I nod. He scoffs and continues driving.

"Have you ever defended yourself?"

"I can't. They are my parents."

"Fuck them. The last time I checked , parents have no fuckin' right to hit their kids. They should be arrested for that."

I sigh and look out the window. I watch the city pass swiftly through his tinted windows. Who's he? Always showing up in my life and it's weird.

"How did you know my name?" I ask and turn to face him. His natural messy locks are everywhere as usual. He handles the wheel with one hand and turns to look at me. A smirk slowly tugged on his lips and he looked away.

"I have my ways, Tinkerbell." Tinkerbell , Snow White and now Ariel. What else?

"Yeah. Because it's weird you're always everywhere around me. It's crazy the day i managed to find a job , you thought it's best you eat out with your girlfriend." I scoff and look out the window. I feel his eyes burn holes through my skin. I could nearly tell he smirked. Such a jerk.

"Girlfriend? Don't tell me you're jealous?"

I chuckle silently and whip my head to look at his figure. I didn't realize he took off his jacket and he's just left with his grey colored t-shirt. I scan every ink on his skin and his pretty Arabic neck tattoo. It's so tiny you could barely tell the words.

"Done eye raping me?" He raises his brows and smirks.

I roll my eyes and look away from his intimidating self. How did we come to know each other? Always barging back into my life.

The rest of the ride was tense , because I wasn't breathing from my nostrils. I look up and meet his eyes but they look away instantly. He halts his car beside the road a little far from my house. He turns down the radio and unfastens his seatbelt.

" Thank you." He raises his brows and watches me carefully. I gulp and open his car to get out.

I shut my side door only to find Gray in front of me.

" Take this." He hands me a new iPhone.

" I can't..." I stutter.

" Take it." He glares at me.

" I can't. You're gonna get me in trouble."

" Are you a teenager?" Of course not. I rub the back of my neck and sigh.

" Ariel , take it." I bite my lip and hold back my blush. It's weird he called my name.

" I can't."

He takes a step closer to me and drops the phone on the roof of his car. I can't move and he's standing in front of me , inch apart. God he smells so good. I can't look away from his grey eyes that are glued to mine. His hand brushes on my cheek and pushes back my loose strands of hair behind my ear.

I can't breathe properly , he's making my tommy churn. I didn't notice his hands around my waist and that sent shivers down my spine.

" I need to go." I stutter, not looking away from his eyes.

" Take the phone and call me."

" It's fruitless , they are gonna destroy it."

He chuckles. "They won't. Tell them it's Gray Carter and call me. If you don't call me, I'm gonna ring your doorbell and tell your parents I'm your boyfriend." He leans closer, his hot breath fans my neck as he bites my earlobe. I jump in shock, but he holds me close to himself.

" I dare you to call me." He smirks and hands the phone to me before entering his car and driving away.