Tiffany's POV
Tiffany left Freya to go for her classes alone, and made for the Principal's office. It had to be important if they'd called her right before classes began.
When she got there, she greeted the secretary, a young woman in her thirties who told her to knock. Tiffany did, and a voice from inside answered her, telling her to come in.
The principal, Mrs. Campbell was relatively young herself, in her forties or fifties. She always wore her dark brown hair in a low bun tied tightly behind her head, with a pair of emerald green glasses perched low on her nose. Tiffany had always liked her, and she'd liked Tiffany in turn, as a star student who was talented in other areas as well. She'd always had a smile for her in the past, but today she wasn't smiling.
"G-good morning ma'am," Tiffany greeted, the cold demeanour making her nervous. "You asked to see me?"
The principal didn't even look up from the documents she was going through. "Yes," she said, have a seat."
Tiffany sat down elegantly, nervously folding her hands in her lap. "Thank you," she said.
"I assume you know why I called you here, Tiffany."
Tiffany shook her head. She didn't have the slightest clue. In fact, she was very confused.
"Well," the Principal continued, "I'm afraid I have some bad news." She pushed some papers across the table, and Tiffany looked down at them. Her heart leapt into her throat when she saw that it was her report card from the last school session. There were very few As, with all the other letters taking up the remaining space. It wasn't looking very good.
She spoke up immediately, "Ma'am I.. I promise I'll do better this year. I was just going through a hard time and–"
The principal silenced her by raising a hand. She removed her glasses and placed them on the table, sighing. Her expression had changed to one of compassion. "Tiffany," she began, leaning forward, "You're one of my favorite students, so I have to do this for your sake. Unfortunately, I have to inform you that if your grades continue like this," she gestured at the report card on the table, "You're off the student body committee. You already left the music club, or else you would be out of that too."
Tiffany's lips trembled, and she tried her best to conceal her emotions. Off the student body committee? She couldn't afford that. Everything she was doing was to ensure she stayed in such a prestigious school, and in it's student body government, all for her future resumé. If she got let off now, how would that go?
"I… I'm sorry," she said, eyes casted down. "I'll do my best, I really will."
The Principal's eyes searched her own, and finally she sighed. "I know you're a very bright student, and that things are hard at home right now. I have the untmost faith in you, so I'm willing to give you a chance. I wouldn't have done this for any other student."
Tiffany nodded, grateful."Thank you, Mrs Campbell," she said, "I won't let you down."
"I hope you won't. That's alright, you can leave now."
Tiffany got up to go, but Mrs. Campbell's voice drew her attention back to the older woman.
"And Tiffany," she said, "I'm sorry about your father's company. I hope you get back on your feet soon."
Tiffany nodded, not trusting herself to speak without bursting into tears. She hurried out of the office, not even bothering to stop and say goodbye to the Principal's assistant who waved at her as she was leaving.
First period was halfway gone already, so there was no point going to her first class anymore. And, she didn't want any of her classmates to see her in such a state. She was sure that the instant anyone showed compassion or tried to ask her what was wrong, she would burst into tears, and the last thing she wanted to do was start crying in front of everyone.
Instead, she made her way to the back of the school. There was a secluded corner hidden between two large alcoves, an architectural oversight that she and Timothy had discovered in their very first year at Shine, and even now they were the only two who knew about it.
There was a little dust there from the holidays, and she quickly wiped it down before sitting down, putting her dusty hands to her face as she began to cry. All the stress of the last few months, coupled with last night's events, her decision this morning, and now her meeting with the principal, was all a little too much. Not only was her father's company failing, but she had the power to help and didn't want to, because the man she was supposed to marry was so insufferable and childish. And now, she was even failing and might get kicked of the student body committee. Everyone would find out, and her reputation would be ruined.
She didn't know how long she sat there, silently sobbing into her hands, but suddenly she noticed that she wasn't alone anymore. She sensed the presence of somebody else and looked up to find her other best friend, Timothy McVeigh, standing over her with a worried expression on his face.
He immediately sat down beside her and wrapped his arms around her, and she turned her head into his shoulder to continue crying while he rubbed her arms and made soothing sounds.
"It's okay," he said, "You're okay."
After a while, Tiffany finally calmed down enough to wipe her face with a handkerchief she always kept in her purse.
"What's wrong?" Timothy asked her, concern written all over his face. But Tiffany wasn't ready to answer. She didn't think she could begin to talk about all her problems without beginning to cry again.
"It's nothing," she said, but quickly backtracked when she saw the look on Timothy's face. "I mean, it's not nothing, it's just– I'm not ready to talk about it yet."
Timothy nodded, showing he understood and that he wouldn't pressure her until she was ready. He pecked her on the forehead and held her closer to him, and they both sat there in silence for a long while.
Tiffany sighed, feeling very grateful for her friend. She and Timothy had met on orientation day, the very first year they had both been admitted into Shine. A bunch of bullies had been picking on him because he was black, small, and skinny, and she had stepped in to silence them with her sharp words of reproach. One of them had pushed her, but emboldened by the support he recieved, Timothy had joined her to stand up against the bullies, and they had all soon run off, scared. They had sat down next to each other at orientation and had been inseparable ever since.
Now, five years later, Timothy had grown a lot taller and more attractive, having started working out two years before, and now he didn't get picked on nearly as much as before. For some reason, though, even though he was highly sought after, he never seemed to have any girlfriends. Freya had speculated once that he was gay, and didn't want to come out because their school wasn't exactly too progressive, but since he never had any boyfriends either, it could only remain a speculation.
After they sat for a while, Timothy procured a magazine from his back, in the hopes of distracting her.
They oohed at the food columns, pointing at all the various exotic spicy foods and sea foods they would like to try when they next traveled out of the country. They aahed at the fashion columns, at the elegant clothes and the elegant people wearing them, and Tiffany dreamed about the day she herself would wear one of those clothes and walk down one of those runways. She had been to a few local shows, but dreamt of a wider stage.
Finally, when they got to the business column, she had to pretend to be as excited as Timothy. Everywhere she looked, Shawn Gold's name and face seemed to pop out at her. The writers and editors, and even Timothy were in love with him as usual. They kept praising his achievements, and there was even a rumour of him being set to become the youngest director in all of Canada.
So, that was his price for marrying her, huh?
Tiffany scoffed. At least he would be too busy to bother coming home or even paying her any attention, and through that she might find some peace. Even now, she shuddered at the thought of staying alone in a house with him. There would definitely be a lot of noise complaints coming from the neighbors, the way they would be arguing.
She giggled a little at the imagery, and Timothy smiled at her, happy tht she was cheering up, even though it was for different reasons than he thought.
The bell rang for lunch, and Tiffany gasped in surprise.
"Oh my god, Timothy! Did we just miss the entire first half of school?!" she said, aghast.
"Relax," Timothy said lackadaisically, "It's only the first day, most of the teachers are only doing introductions. And your grades are fine, anyway, a few absences won't make a difference."
Tiffany pursed her lips and said nothing. Afterall, she hadn't told either of her friends that she had been struggling in school lately. They were already worried enough about her quitting the music club even though she loved singing, and the situation with her father's company. She didn't need them to be bothered about her poor academic state as well.
And so she elected to once again keep quiet about it, and she walked with Timothy to meet Freya at Lunch, talking and laughing as they went.
Shawn's POV Shawn couldn't believe his life.He was supposed to apologize to his so-called future wife, but here he was waiting for her to get off from fucking highschool. If it were any other person, he could have just invited them out to a business lunch to ensure that there wouldn't be any irrational behavior on their part. Social climbers were always so conscious of maintaining a good reputation, she wouldn't want to cause any problems for herself by making a scene. He could also use his lunch hour, and therefore make sure he didn't waste any of the time he needed to be productive on less important matters than soothing the pride of a spoiled brat.But no, she had to be a fucking highschooler, and now he was going to have to take out of his personal time to travel to her home in the evening."Fuck," he said out loud, into the silence of his office. He'd already had plans.Well, guess Rachel would have to do without him today.As if she had heard him think her name, his personal p
Tiffany's POVTiffany was going through notes of the classes she had missed, when a knock sounded on her door. Freya had helfully lent them to her after hearing from Timothy about what happened in the morning. Of course, neither of them knew exactly what was going on, but the mere fact that Tiffany was crying was enough cause for concern, even if they didn't know what was causing her to cry.She got off her soft bed and padded across the room in socked feet to the door. When she opened it, Mr. Gary James, the butler, was standing outside in his usual erect posture."Miss Dion," he said, "There is a young gentleman here to see you."Tiffany sighed, about to ask him for the millionth time to just address her by her name, but then the second part of his sentence caught up with her brain and she frowned in confusion."Someone is here?" she asked, "To see me?""Yes, Miss," said Mr. James.Was it Timothy? Had he come to see her because he was still worried even though she had kept telling h
Max's POV Max perked his car outside the estate, waiting.He had been following the little rich boy his boss always liked to have him follow, but there was a pretty rigorous security checkpoint at the gates that he didn't want to risk going through, so unfortunately he had to wait outside.Max lit up a cigarette while he waited, deciding he might as well use the time for recreation. He sucked in and puffed out the smoke rhythmically, all the while keeping an eye out for the black Chevvy he had been following earlier.He didn't understand what exactly was the observation his Miss had for the rich boy. So far as Max could tell, apart from being stinking rich and (unfairly, in Max's opinion) being blessed with the features of a demigod, he had nothing else going for him. He was incredibly boring and did nothing but work. Hell, in all Max's years of following him around, he had never even seen him interact with women. Perhaps he was one of them rainbow Rguys that Max had been hearing abo
Tiffany's POVTiffany followed Shawn into an Italian restaurant she had never been to before. Apparently, it was still really new, so they didn't need a long-wait reservation like most other eateries scattered around their high-end area.Aside from being annoying to her when she wanted to roll down his car windows for some fresh air, he hadn't spoken to her since they'd left the house.Now, she followed behind him, watching the taper of his broad shoulders into his narrow waist as he walked, being led to an unoccupied table in the far corner of the room by a cheerful waiter. The atmosphere was much better than the first restaurant she visited with Shawn. In fact, it was maybe a little bit too good.Tiffany looked around warily, feeling a shiver run up her spine. From the decor to the music playing, everything screamed romance. She almost cringed at how obvious it was. Almost every table they passed was occupied by pairs of lovey-dovey couples holding hands and staring into each other'
Shawn's POVShawn was actually interested in hearing these conditions his wife-to-be was talking about. Not that he was just going to take everything lying down, of course. He was going to shut it down immediately if it was something ridiculous."First," she spoke, her lips curving around the words, "If I am to agree to marry you, you are going to show me respect."Shawn sat up, a little taken aback. He had been fully expecting her to say something like 'half of your assets should be signed over to me' or something.She continued speaking. "That means no shutting down my ideas, no raising your voice at me, no belittling, no degrading comments, and absolutely no walking out on me in a public place like that stunt you pulled yesterday." The way she said 'stunt' sounded like she would like to use more colorful and less polite words to describe his actions the previous evening. Shawn almost felt like laughing again. If nothing else, then at least this girl was a bit amusing."Next," she s
Tiffany's POV:NEW ROMANCE IN BLOOM?– Shawn Gold and Tiffany Dion Spotted Together at Intimate Restaurant; D'amor!! Love is in the air, and the rumor mill is buzzing with excitement as renowned business man and one of the top three youngest directors in Canada, Shawn Gold has been spotted recently at an exclusive restaurant sharing a romantic evening with the gorgeous Tiffany Dion, the daughter of Richard Dion, Chairman and owner of Dionysus Enterprises. The young Mr. Gold, who has been known heretofore as a man with very few smiles can be seen clearly freely offering one to miss Dion! How surprising!!! With all eyes on this unexpected pairing, tongues are wagging, and speculations about their relationship status are running rampant. What could this mean for the previously speculated Gold-Smith relationship? Could we just be witnessing the start of a new red-hot romance? Or could it have been long-hidden, only now being brought to the public eye by chance? In the business world, r
Tiffany's POVOne of the perks of being in the student body committee was the parking spot privileges. Other students had to come early or miss a chance to park near to the school, but Tiffany always had a spot waiting for her, and right now she leisurely pulled into it, very grateful for it since she was a little late.A disadvantage, however, of being in the same committee was that a huge percentage of the student body was bound to know who you were. Therefore, if, perhaps, a gossip blog posted an update involving you, a greatly sought-after billionaire, and an apparently romantic evening, almost everybody would know who exactly they were talking about, and be able to recognize you by sight.Eyes visibly trailed Tiffany's every step from the moment she alighted from her car to the second she stepped into the school's wide double front doors, trying even less to hide the states than they were yesterday. She kept her eyes low, trying not to make eye contact with anyone, but occasional
Tiffany's POV The school offered various levels of meal plans to students, but Tiffany always packed her own. Sometimes, she didn't have a taste for the svhool food, or she wasn't really in the mood for eating what they had on the menu in a particular day. And, because of her modelling dreams, sometimes sh.pon herself some dietary restrictions that would contradicted if she were to eat at the cafeteria. So, to avoid all of that, she had simply decided it would be easier to make and bring her own food.She was currently sat with Freya and Timothy at their usual corner of the large space, her two friends immersed in conversation while Tiffany pushed her food around on her plate, pretending to eat."So, Frey, where were you this morning?" Timothy was asking, popping a few grapes into his mouth. "We missed you."He made kissy faces at Freya, who frowned slightly, apparently not in the mood for jokes. "I told you not to call me that, It sounds way too close to Fred." She shuddered a bit.