Chasing Hearts

"Now listen, this is only temporary. Just until graduation, then you can come right back," my mother said for the last time as we waited outside the airport gate.

"Why do I have to live with him? What are you doing that you can't take me with you?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Han Ma Ri, you're almost a grown woman now. Stop complaining and do as I say. Your plane is going to leave soon, do you have everything?" She looked down at my single suitcase and a carry-on bag.

"Yeah, everything I'll ever need. Bye, Mom." I waved to her and turned toward the gate. I knew she wasn't going to stick around to see me leave, she was probably already gone off to whatever rich affair she was having now.

No one wanted a single mother with a teenage daughter.

So, the best way to fix that is to eliminate the daughter, I suppose.

Now, here I was being carted off to the States to live with my father and his new CEO's wife and daughter. He left my mother years ago after she found out he was having an affair with his boss. It wasn't long after the divorce that he moved in with her in their villa mansion in Florida.

It was a rather long plane ride from Korea to the United States. I popped in my headphones and decided to browse through the different music styles I'd be exposed to while I was there and brush up on my English since I assumed my father had already ditched his former poor background.

I soon passed out and the ride flew by, no pun intended.

My father was waiting for me at the gate, but he was the only one. I cringed at his high-end suit and fancy shoes, not liking the new look of my father.

"There you are Maia, you were supposed to land hours ago," was the first thing he said to me after 7 years of not seeing each other or even speaking.

"That isn't my name, and the second flight was delayed." I tried to walk past him but he grabbed my arm.

"While you are here, you will be addressed as Maia Beaufort. Han Ma Ri isn't a suitable name for this culture, I don't want you to be picked on or left out because of your background."

I ripped my arm out from his grip. "You mean my poor background. Yeah, I would expect that you would want to hide where you came from. I've already had one parent abandon me, no need to pretend like you actually care about me."

I walked past him and out the door to the awaiting car. I knew it was my father's based on how much it stood out and the driver waiting on the side who opened the door as soon as he saw me. I rolled my eyes and groaned, but reluctantly got in.

My father ranted on about the new private academy I would be attending and what would be expected of me when we got to the house, but most of it I drowned out through my headphones. There was one band I was able to like when I listened to some English music and I went through their songs as I tried to enjoy the ride.

We drove through what looked like a separate small town with tons of old shops and houses. My eyes stopped when we slowly passed by what looked like an art store, but what really caught my interest was the painting that was advertised outside.

It was an oil painting in the traditional Chinese art style. It was beautiful beyond words and it was the kind of work I aspired to create. Sadly, I had to leave most of my art products at my mother's, the only thing I was able to shove into my suitcase was the art easel my grandmother used to use.

She passed it down to me when my father divorced my mother when I was only 10 years old. She saw that I liked to distract myself by drawing pictures at a young age, I was relatively good. She introduced me to painting little by little, but my talent took off by age 12 and I have been painting ever since.

My mother had given me a bit of money just in case my father was cheap and greedy when I got here, but he handed me a bank card as soon as I landed and said he would load money onto it every week for me. Which meant I could go and buy new art supplies right away if I could escape my oppressive father and stepmother.

We arrived at the large villa and I couldn't believe my eyes at how huge the place was, I felt like I could get lost inside of it. My father didn't let me dawdle and rushed my stuff inside.

Waiting in the foyer was my new stepmother and sister.

"Maia, this is my wife Sarah and her daughter Bianca. You both will be going to the same school starting tomorrow."

"My name is Han Ma Ri, it's nice to meet you," I said monotonously.

Sarah seemed a little shocked when I said that, and Bianca just cringed. My father chuckled and ushered me up the stairs and to my room. He said nothing before he closed the door and let me unpack.

I flopped onto the large bed and took out my phone, hoping to see something from my mother that this was all a huge prank, and I would be going home tomorrow.

But there was nothing, of course.

I was stuck here for at least half a year, but who knew if my mother was going to actually come back for me, or if I was going to be abandoned once more. If that was the case, the best thing I could do to secure my future was to take advantage of this opportunity at school and get into a great college.

I just have to keep my head down and work my ass off until then.

With this thought, I turned over in bed and started unpacking my suitcase but stopped when my door banged open, and Bianca stood there.

"I hope you know; that no one is going to accept you at school. Especially with a name like Han Ma Ri, what kind of name is that?" She was already showing her true colours, she wasn't even trying to hide her spitefulness.

I understood her envy, she had been the only child who had lived a lavished life all to herself, and now someone new had come into the mix and she was worried I was going to take everything away from her. But chances were she also wouldn't believe me if I said I could care less, there was no point in engaging in her taunts.

"That's fine, I'm not here to make friends," I said.

She huffed and thankfully left. I was expecting much more than that, but it seemed she was only just beginning. I would have to walk on eggshells around her, great.

It didn't take me long to unpack my things. I remembered the art store I saw in town and went to my father to ask if I could buy more art supplies.

"Why do you need that? You will be starting school tomorrow, you need to focus on that," he said.

"I don't have any school supplies, I thought it would be the best place to get cheap but good supplies for school."

He bought my lie and transferred money onto my bank card, gave me instructions on how to use it and I realized how far behind this place was when it came to technology. I was able to put the bank card on my phone along the way so I wouldn't be seen using such an expensive card.

I tried to look up the art store online and get the bus directions to it, then hopped the bus and admired the bright scenery as it drove alone. When I got to the store it was still open to my luck and it looked relatively empty.

I wandered inside and saw a girl around my age at the counter reading a magazine. I was a little shocked to see we shared a bit of the same ethnicity, except her features were much smoother and fairer than mine.

"Hi there, welcome! What are you looking for today?" she asked.

"I was wondering if you guys sold oil paints."

She frowned. "I don't know much about that, but my cousin would probably know more. Hold on," she said and disappeared into the back. I could hear muttering as I walked around the store to take a look at the art work on display.

"You're looking for oil paints?" a deep voice spoke behind me.

I turned to see a rather good-looking guy who looked to be my age but had a dull and bored look on his face which made me feel like I was being a nuisance.

"Yes, if you have any."

"You got any work to show?" He gestured to my messenger bag.

"Oh, yeah." I rushed to take off the bag and pull out my sketchbook.

He flipped through it with the same dull look on his face, then handed it back.

"Might want to perfect what you already know before you mess around with oil paints, they aren't cheap."

I was shocked. How the hell could he speak to a customer like that?

"Wow, do you speak to every potential client like this?" I asked.

He shrugged and turned to walk away into the back. The girl from earlier stood there awkwardly.

"I'm sorry about him, he is the owner, but he rarely deals with customers," she says.

"Yeah, I can see why. Thanks for the help." I shoved my sketchbook into my bag and walked out. I barely made it out the front door when someone pulled me back.

I turned to see the guy from before and he had a metal box in his hands. He put in in mine, then turned around without a word and walked back into the store. I opened the tin and was surprised to see a bunch of oil paints and brushes for me to use.

But they were all slightly used as if he gave me his own supplies. But why?

I sighed and shrugged to myself. Whatever the reason, I would be sure to pay him back later, but I had spent enough time outside of the house, I knew my father would be asking for me back soon and I still had to navigate my way around.

~*~

The next morning, I got ready in the school uniform and waited by the front door for either my father or Bianca to wake up and at least tell me where the school was. It was my father who woke up first and told me Bianca would be driving me to and from school for the time being until I could familiarise myself with everything.

Thankfully, Bianca was silent the entire ride and just blasted her music, but when we approached the main gates of the school, she stopped her car.

"You can walk from here; it should be easy enough. I don't want to be seen with you like this, or ever," she sneered.

I just rolled my eyes and got out of the car without a fuss. She drove off as soon as the door was shut. I hiked my bag up and started the long journey up the winding driveway to the school.

I got to the main office and picked up my locker combination and school schedule with a map. It seemed easy enough to get around, I just needed to remember what room number I had to go to for homeroom, and the rest was just following the class from one room to the next.

It wasn't much different than my school in Korea. There were Math, Science, English and Gym as the main classes. There were options of music, art, algebra and sports classes if you wanted to focus more on other things. I jumped when I saw the art classes and instantly signed up for them.

I found my homeroom rather quickly but was still one of the last people to show up. I saw two seats pushed together in the back row near the window and sat down, but the boy in front of me quickly turned around with a shocked and scared expression.

"I wouldn't sit there if I was you," he said.

I raised a brow at him. "Why not?"

"Reign Ferrante sits there, and he doesn't like anyone else sitting with him." He pointed to the seat next to me.

"Is there anywhere else for me to sit?"

He looked around the room and all the seats had been occupied.

"Then, it looks like I'm sitting here," I said, then proceeded to take out my supplies.

The teacher walked in, and I waited for this Reign Ferrante to show up, but even after the bell rang, there was no one. Maybe he was a frequent skipper, and I wouldn't see much of him, that would be ideal.

To my dismay, the class door opened minutes later, and I knew without looking it was my new seatmate. I kept my eyes down on my book as he took a seat next to me and sucked in a sharp breath when I felt him lean toward me.

"How is the oil painting coming along?"

It took me a second to realize it was the jerk from the art store who sat down next to me. He gave me the same emotionless stare despite the question he asked. I could see the curious guy in front of us trying to listen to our conversation and was shocked as if he had never heard the voice of Reign Ferrante.

"If you were going to give me those supplies in the end, why insult my talent?" I asked.

He clicked his tongue. "It wasn't an insult; oil painting is a hard art style, and I didn't want you to be discouraged. You have potential in the art style you currently use."

I was stunned a little.

"Besides," he continued. "I thought it was also your chance to prove me wrong if you're so determined." This time I saw a ghost of a smirk on his face and his deep brown eyes lit up slightly.

"I'll make sure to pay you back for the supplies then."

He shook his head. "No worries, it was a gift. Pay me back by making something worthwhile with them."

The teacher called everyone to attention as the morning announcements and anthem came on. I just nodded and smiled at him.

Maybe he wasn't such a jerk after all. His words pushed me a little more to get started as soon as I got home and do exactly as he asked; prove him wrong.

~*~

Come lunchtime I didn't know where to sit, so I opted for sitting outside by the soccer field since it was pretty hot outside, compared to the weather I was used to. I didn't expect to run into anyone outside, but to my surprise, I saw Reign jog across the soccer field as he chased the ball and gave it a hard kick to the other side of the field.

He didn't strike me as the kind of person who would be into sports, but with the way he carried his tall frame across the field, he looked quite natural like this. I hadn't realized how much I was staring until a shadow fell over me, and I looked up to see Bianca and a posse of two other girls.

"Hey 'Han Ma Ri', just what do you think you're doing?" she asked with a sneer.

The other girls laughed when they heard my name.

"I'm eating my lunch, what does it look like?"

She scoffed. "You've been staring at Reign the entire time, don't try and fool me. You aren't worth his time, so don't even bother going after him."

"Just because I'm sitting here staring at him, you automatically assume I'm going to go after him? It sounds like you're a little insecure."

This time her friends snickered at my comment, which only made Bianca more furious.

"Watch your mouth, I can end you with just a few words and make it, so everyone here treats you like an outcast. So just try me." She raised her hand and looked as if she was going to strike me.

"What's going on here?" I heard the commanding voice of Reign behind them.

"Oh, uhm, nothing really. We were just talking to the new girl," Bianca tried to cover up, but there was a high chance that Reign had overheard what she said.

"We were just leaving," she added and hurried her friends away.

I sighed and threw my sandwich down, my appetite gone as Reign stared at me.

"Thanks for the help, but for the future, I advise not doing that. It's only going to make things worse," I said and walked over to the trash.

Reign followed me. "What does that mean?"

"Don't worry about it, I just don't want to get caught up in her drama, or any drama for that matter, and you probably don't want to either."

It looked like he wanted to ask more, but the warning bell for the end of lunch rang.

"I'll see you in class," I said and jogged off the field, not wanting to continue the conversation further.

The rest of the day flies by pretty easily. I realized a lot of the curriculum at the school wasn't much different from mine and although the teachers were accommodating, I was ahead of most of my classes already.

Bianca was waiting for me at the gates after school with her usual sneer on her face. She started questioning me as soon as I got in the car.

"What is your relationship with Reign Ferrante?" she asked.

I sighed. "I don't have one. I just went by his art store yesterday and bought supplies, plus we sit next to each other in class."

"What?" she shrieked. "How did you get into the same class as him?"

I just shrugged and she huffed, hopefully knowing I couldn't possibly be blamed for that as I arrived at the school halfway through the year. There is no way I was able to know him before coming here or know what class he was in.

She was silent the rest of the way, but I could tell he wasn't convinced, but thankfully dropped it for now. Once we got home, she went straight to my father to ask about something and I slipped away into my room to get started on homework and my oil painting. I used YouTube and Google images to help me get started, and before I knew it, it was almost midnight, and no one had called me out of my room.

I wasn't able to finish a decent painting by the next day like I had planned, wanting to show Reign as a gift for the supplies but I was being too eager thinking I would turn into an artist overnight.

However, the next few days at school, Reign was nowhere to be found. The rest of the week went by and he didn't show up for a single class, which did give me more time to work on a painting, but made me a little concerned about how far behind he was going to fall.

I had the idea once I realized the oil paint supplies he gave me were running out, to take some notes from class and go over to his shop to see if he had any more oil paint supplies. I was also thankfully able to finish a decent painting the night before that I could give him.

After school I made sure to grab everything so I could head over right after, telling Bianca not to wait up for me, to which she didn't bother replying to.

When I got to the shop, Reign's cousin was there again, and it made me realize that I hadn't seen her at school and wondered if she went to a different one or was older than I thought.

"Hey, it's you, welcome!" she said and ran over. "I was hoping you would come back."

"Is your cousin here? I have some things for him, he hasn't been at school all week."

Before she could answer, Reign walked out from the back looking like he had just woken up, and gave me a confused glance. "What are you doing here?"

I shoved the notes toward him. "It's most of what you missed in class. Also, I was wondering if you had any more oil paints I could buy."

He took the notes and fanned through them, then shook his head.

"We don't normally carry those, but if you give me a few days I can have some ordered for you."

I almost forgot the painting. "Oh yeah, I made this for you. What do you think?" I took out the small painting and handed it to him.

He looked it over emotionlessly, then walked into the back with it and reappeared without it. "Amateur work, but you're on the right track."

I gaped at him. Was he serious?

"Well, if it's such amateur work, then give it back."

"No," he said simply.

What the hell was this guy's problem? I wondered. I rolled my eyes and stormed out, planning to never speak to him again after yet another underhanded insult.