Chasing Hearts

Seven

Along the way to the shop, I tell Reign why I left the house as soon as I got there, and a few more details of my life there so far. He doesn't seem shocked and said there are a lot of parental situations like that for other students at school since most of their parents are wealthy.

"Will your dad let you keep this little guy?" Reign asked once we made it out of the rain.

I fed the little thing on the table while Reign fixed the noodles and stuffed cakes.

"Probably not, I was thinking of dropping him off at a shelter. He's cute and small enough that someone will adopt him, or her."

"Why not leave him, or her, here? I can look after it until we can find a place for it, or you can convince your dad to let you keep it," he said.

I poked the little thing on its nose. "You would really do that?"

He shrugged. "Why not? It will give me some company here for the time being."

"What should we name him then?"

We ate and talked about ideas for names, then finally settled on the name Luna because he is black, and I found him at night. This was also a neutral name in case it turned out to be a girl.

"I should probably head home, it's pretty late already and my phone died a little bit ago," I said.

"Wait, before you go." Reign ran into his workshop and came back out with a wrapped bag. "The supplies you wanted came in this afternoon, here."

"Oh, that's great! It took a lot shorter time than I thought. What do I owe you?"

He shook his head. "Instead, how would you like a job?"

"What?"

"I need some help around the shop on weekends, since Xiuying has other plans then and can only work after school during the week. It would be a good excuse to get you out of the house, and it will look good on a resume or application for the future."

He had me there, But would my father ever approve?

~*~

I didn't bring up the job prospect with my father when I got home. Instead, he questioned me about where I was and what happened to Bianca at school. I claimed I knew nothing and was in class at the time that it happened, but of course, he didn't believe me and thought it was me who was plotting against my stepsister.

I hadn't done a single thing in the house to Bianca to make them suspect I had anything to do with it, but one word from the sweet and innocent Bianca, and I was thrown under the bus for no reason.

The more I stayed there, the more I wanted to escape. Maybe a job would be a good idea, even if my father didn't approve. I was 17 years old and in this country, I was of legal age to leave the house and live on my own. If I had the income and stability, there would be nothing stopping me from leaving the house and finishing school on my own.

If I got a job, maybe I could eventually get out of there. I wasn't holding out hope that my mother would be coming back to call me, I needed to think of different options for the future.

"Good morning everyone, I have an announcement to make. Track and field day will be coming up, this year we will be inviting the local schools in the school board to participate and compete at our school. Make sure to sign up outside of the main office if you're interested," the teacher said before he started the lesson.

Thinking about track and field also made me think of a classmate I used to have back home, but he had moved to the United States when we were younger. I was never able to find out where he went or how he had been doing. Being here was a chance for me to meet up with him again.

After class, I went to the library and took out my laptop to send Yu Sheng a message through Facebook. I didn't expect him to message me back right away, and to my absolute surprise, he was only a city away!

Which meant he would be coming to our school. He then mentioned he wanted to come to our school and scout out the field since it was his first time competing here.

"What are the odds," I muttered.

"What odds?"

I screamed and jumped at the sudden appearance of Reign, and slammed my laptop shut.

"Make some noise or something, geez."

"Who were you talking to?" he asked.

I packed my laptop away and frowned at him. "No one, just an old friend that I discovered lives in the same area as me. He might be coming to our school for track and field day."

Reign said nothing to this and just stared at my laptop as I put it in my bag.

"Are you going to meet him?" he eventually asked as we walked out of the library.

"If he shows up, yeah."

He just nodded. "Okay, I'll see you later. I have somewhere to be."

I watched as he rushed off, an odd and awkward feeling left behind. I couldn't help but feel like he was upset about something.

I tried to shrug it off and enjoy the rest of my lunch in the cafeteria, but there was one question that kept bothering me the entire time.

How did Reign know I was in the library when it was my first time actually going there?