Truthful Lies (I wanted the truth but preferred the lies)

🌗(Wilhelm Residence)🌗

💫💫(September 24)💫💫

In a room dimly lit by the rays of moonlight coming in through the partly opened curtains, Adria woke up with a start, seemingly just coming out of a nightmare. She was drenched in sweat as she looked around her surroundings, her eyes resting on the time which read 2:56AM. She knew she wouldn't have a peaceful sleep without those faces appearing again in her dream. She got out of bed and headed into her bathroom, intending to take a shower to wash the sweat of her body and in hopes too, to wash away her nightmares which lingered in her mind, haunting her.

In order to get her mind of her nightmare, she got dressed in her workout clothes and headed to the inhouse gym at the other end of the house. After two hours of intense workout, she headed back to her room to get ready for school. Coming out of the shower she went to her wardrobe and chose a white top and black jean as her outfit of the day, she then threw on her grey hoodie because the weather appeared a little bit chilly today.

Heading downstairs Adria met her Nanny Esther in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Nanny Esther had been taking care of her since the incident, she didn't leave like most people did after what happened and Adria was grateful. She saw her as the only family she had left. Adria walked towards her, kissing her on her cheek and greeted her.

"Good morning Nanny Esther" she said heading to the dining table to have breakfast.

"Morning young Miss, how was your night?" She asked studying Adria's expression carefully.

"I told you to stop calling me that." She told the woman she saw as a mother figure.

Nanny Esther smiled knowingly, " you didn't answer my question Adria."

"I slept well." Adria replied trying to sound convincing but the old lady could see right through her. She sighed, knowingly.

" Your grandmother called." She said gently trying to gauge her reaction towards the topic she just brought up. Adria paused in her action of dishing her food but continued not replying to what she heard. Esther continued

"She wanted to know why you didn't call her."

Adria's reply was short and devoid of emotion "let her know that I was and am still busy."

"I understand that you don't want to see her after what she did but I think she's being sincere with her wanting to be involved in your life." Esther was trying to make Adria see reason on why she should listen to her grandmother, but her decision didn't waver.

"I'm not interested in meeting her, if she really wanted to be in my life she's 16 years too late for that, she should have come when her daughter was still alive. All she wants is the money and I'm not going to give her a dime after what she put my mother through so you can tell her that I'm not going to call her nor intend in meeting her anytime soon."

Esther didn't push the topic further knowing how stubborn and hardheaded she is when she has made a decision, in her opinion Adria took after her late mother. Esther sadly smiled reminiscing how hard it was to often convince her mother before she got her to rethink her decision, like mother like daughter.

When Adria had finished with her breakfast, she kissed the old lady on her cheek before heading out. Before she was completely out of the door she heard her nanny's voice from the kitchen;

"Will you be home early today Adria."

"No, I'm going to head to the library after school to catch up on some work." She said over her shoulder, she went outside where she saw her driver, Charles, waiting for her.

"Thanks Charles but I'm going to be driving this week, why don't you head home and spend some time with the missus and kids, hmm?." Adria suggested, knowing that he needed to be there for his family since there was a recent addition to their number.

Charles nodded in acknowledgement and gave the car keys to Adria, thanking her for her thoughtfulness. Adria just waved it off as nothing and got in her car, heading for the building which had 'Empire State High' to it's name. Charles had been their family driver before the incident and he was one of those who stayed and supported her even when she thought of ending it all.

Getting to the building which was a host to students for learning, she found a parking space and parked her car. You could see different types of students around the parking lot. There were those who hanged out in groups, the cliques that only allowed specific people join them, the group of cheerleaders filled with stuck up girls who think they are above everyone else. Then there are the jocks who almost each had a girlfriend from cheerleading. Empire State High was a school for the rich which only allowed scholarships students in once in a while.

Adria walked into the classroom room scanning it, only a few students were in class, she headed to her seat at the back next to the window. The bell rang and you could see more students trooping in and locating their seats, their history teacher came in after them, ready to start his teaching.

Few minutes into the lesson the classroom door opened and every eyes turned to look at the figure that entered the room. They watched him whisper something to the teacher while the teacher nodded and pointed to the empty seat next to Adria. As he walked towards the seats, he couldn't help but notice how all the girls were ogling at him and he hardened his face, looking like he didn't care.

Adria saw this and scoffed inwardly, she knew why the girls were staring at him as she was also doing a while ago. After all no one could fail to notice his incredibly good looks with those grey eyes and silky black hair. When he got to his seat, he glanced briefly at Adria and focused his attention on the teacher.

While the teacher introduced him stating that he was a transfer student without saying his name, Adria couldn't explain the feeling she got when he glanced at her, she could swear that she felt her heart skip a beat but she didn't want to admit it, she shouldn't be attracted to him, she wouldn't be attracted with him.

Adria had this great sense of knowing and figuring out what she needed, and right now she knew that her heart skipping at the sight of him was a red flag because it wasn't part of her plan. She decided to keep her distance from someone she just met and doesn't even know his name. But despite that she still stole glances in his direction.

The first class ended and the teacher left the class. Immediately he left, girls left their table and headed in his direction, she knew what was happening, they all wanted to talk to the new and very attractive transfer student. Adria decided to leave because she would not be able to stand their high pitched and flirty voices. As she left she thought about how he is feeling knowing that girls are all over him on his first day, telling herself that maybe he's a player and would bask in the attention.

As she headed to her locker, someone brushed past her and she felt a jolt of electricity from where their hands touched as it enveloped her being. Looking up she saw the it was the new guy and as he glanced at her, she felt her heart skip several beats. There was something in the way he looked at her, it almost felt like they knew each other but she brushed the feeling off and headed to her next class.

Others came in after her and as she looked up, she caught him looking directly at her, holding her stare as he walked to the empty seat next to her. He stared at her for a while before looking at the teacher who just stepped into the class. Once again Adria felt the feeling of familiarity arise within her but she reasoned within her that she had never met him before because she surely wouldn't forget a face like his if they had crossed path, at least that's what she thought. Girls were glaring at her because he seemed to only notice her and no one else.

The rest of their classes included her stealing glances at him and her heart skipping several beats whenever he caught her. When he turned back to face the teacher again, she could have swore that she saw his lips tinting up in either a smirk or a smile.

When the class ended, his gaze flickered towards Adria once more, and for a moment, it seemed like he was trying to convey a message. Adria's eyes widened slightly, and she looked away, her face a mask of calm. But her mind was racing with questions. Who was this mysterious new student? And why did he feel familiar?

As she gathered her belongings and headed out of the classroom, Adria couldn't shake off the feeling that she was being watched. She glanced over her shoulder, but all she saw were the glares girls directed at her because the new guy looked only at her and didn't spare them a glance. She decided to head home and clear her head, her plans of visiting the library postponed because of a certain pair of grey eyes.

But the sight that met her at home left her shocked and lost for words.

(Wilhelm Residence)

💫💫(September 24)💫💫

On getting to the door of her house, Adria met her grandmother in a heated conversation with Esther. More like she was the one shouting while nanny Esther was talking calmly with her, she was going to intervene but first decided to linger behind and hear what it was about.

"You have no right to keep me out here, this house belongs to my granddaughter and I am very much entitled to it as family" her grandmother shouted at Esther, but Esther didn't waver.

"I'm sorry but the young Miss decides who is allowed in and who is not, and I was given specific instructions not to allow you in here. So I'm politely asking you to leave before I involve security and throw you out." Esther stated in a calm and strict voice.

Adria decided it was time to reveal her presence but what her grandmother did next left her shocked and lost for words.

Her grandmother slapped Esther, "how dare you, you threaten to call security on me and do you really think I would believe the lies you spew. Wait till my granddaughter hears of this and I will definitely have her fire you for being disrespectful towards me."

"I will do no such thing." Adria said and went to stand in front of Esther studying her face, "are you okay " she asked softly.

Esther just smiled and nodded, "I'm fine Adria I was just telling her that you don't want to meet her and she had to leave."

"I will take it from here, you can continue with what you were doing before" she told her.

Esther was a bit reluctant to leave Adria with the old lady, Adria knew this but she just nodded and smiled reassuringly, urging her to trust her decision.

When Esther got into the house, Adria turned and faced her grandmother who was seething with rage for being ignored.

"How did you pass security at the gate, I gave specific instructions not to let you in MY house" she said maintaining a cold demeanor and stressing the MY in her sentence letting the old woman know who was in charge.

"I told them that you called and wanted me to see you and trust me granddaughter, I was very convincing. Now why don't we go in and have a chat, it's been a while." Mrs. Mavis (her grandmother's name) said with a fake smile, making a move towards the door but Adria blocked her way.

"And what makes you think I would want to talk with you, you should leave, I don't want to ever see you." Adria stated already tired of the conversation and just wanting to go in and sleep. She was about to head in when a sudden force made her face turn sideways and had her ears ringing, her eyes stung with tears but she didn't let them fall.

Mrs. Mavis who had just slapped her granddaughter shouted at her,

"You ungrateful little bitch, you dare to treat me like this after everything that I did for your mother, this is how you repay me. I guess that stubborn daughter of mine failed in teaching you manners and respect before her death. What a disrespectful daughter she brought up."

Adria was already fed up with everything but her bringing up her parents death and degrading her dead mother was the last straw. She faced her and pinned her with a dark and chilling look which made her shudder a bit. Regarding her, she spoke with a cold voice.

"You of all people have no right to speak about my mother in that way. You are possibly the worst mother anyone could ever have." Mrs. Mavis was about to say something but Adria wasn't done yet.

"What kind of mother locks her daughter up in an attic because she had just one candy?, Who beats her daughter up because she requested for a bike?, what kind of mother leaves her daughter out in the cold just because she finds out she was pregnant? Tell me." Adria asked while a stray tear rolled down her face, she had promised herself she wouldn't be weak but she couldn't help it, her parents were her weakness.

After her parents death, Adria spent days in her parents room mourning them when she found her mother's old dairy from when she was younger, she cried when she read all that her mom went through in the hands of the woman standing in front of her with a shocked look on her face, it soon turned to anger.

"Your mother was a stubborn one, if she had done what I asked I wouldn't have punished her. She doesn't listen, I am even ashamed to call her my daughter."

"My mother was a strong and loving woman, she was the best mother anyone would ask for. You are not even worthy to be called a mother. The lady you said you are ashamed of stood strong despite all you put her through, she emerged victorious despite the challenges, despite almost losing me. This house you claim you are entitled to was designed by her. You didn't even support her when she told you her dreams."

Adria was tired of everything as more tears rolled down her face, remembering what her mother went through, but she was glad that she experienced happiness when she met her father.

Deciding that she wouldn't waste anymore time exchanging words with her, she turned but not without saying some parting words.

"I don't want to see you, hear from you, I wish I didn't even know you, if you don't leave now, I will get security and I promise you they won't be gentle in leading you out." With that said she headed inside, before her grandmother could say a word she slammed the door in her face.

When she got to her room, she locked the door behind her and slid down, resting her back on the door. In the confines of her room, she let her tears run freely without planning on making them stop anytime soon.

Few hours later, Adria woke up and stood from her position on the floor. Looking outside she saw that it was night time, she had fallen asleep while crying. After she has freshened up, she headed down to the kitchen to eat as she hadn't had anything since that morning. After eating a little she went back to her room to try to sleep again but she couldn't, she just kept tossing and turning.

Facing the ceiling, she thought back to the events that happened before she saw her grandmother, the reason why she skipped going to the library. She remembered a pair of certain grey eyes that had caught her attention and made her heart skip several beats. A smile appeared on lips while she kept on thinking about him, his face, raven black hair, his lips which she wondered how it would feel if they kissed.

When she realized that she was smiling and thinking of kissing his lips, she immediately frowned. What what she doing, thinking about someone she just saw today, she doesn't even know his name or where he was from. But she still had the nagging feeling at the back of her mind that she knew him. Adria didn't like the feeling that he evoked in her, making her feel warm by just thinking about him. If she didn't know any better she might have said he cast a spell on her.

She knew what she was feeling wouldn't die anytime soon so she decided that maybe if she knew him, she would be able to kill these feelings. Before she drifted off to sleep, she convinced herself that she was only going after him because of curiosity and intrigue, not because she was attracted to him.

The last thought on her mind was that she was going to know everything about the mysterious new student, and she planned to do so before the school session ended.

****************

When Adria stepped into class the next day, her eyes immediately searched around for him and she found him seating where he sat the previous day, next to her seat.

She headed towards him with a determined look on her face and a feeling of confidence which wavered with each step she got closer to him. She couldn't ignore the warm feeling that she got when she spotted him seating there.

Settling in in her seat she turned towards him and Introduced herself self.

"Hi, my name is Adria Wilhelm, what's yours?"

When she didn't get a reply, she thought he didn't hear her so she repeated it a bit louder to his hearing. She knew he heard her when he turned to face her, and for a fleeting moment his eyes met hers but he just faced his front.

She felt dejected that he ignored her and at that moment, the teacher entered. When she thought that he wouldn't answer her, she heard his voice. She felt like an entire species of butterflies was released into her stomach when she heard him and turned to him.

"It's Alejandro Lopez" he said staring intensely into her eyes.

"it's Alejandre Lopez" he said staring intensely into her eyes.

Adria couldn't help but admire his molten grey eyes as they looked in hers. Once again that feeling of familiarity rose within her and it had her doubting if she knew him. Andre turned to focus on the teacher while Adria was lost in thoughts. She kept wondering where she knew those grey eyes from because she could no longer deny her feeling of being familiar with him.

When the class ended, she arranged her books and decided to engage him in a conversation to know him better but he was already out of the class by the time she looked up. She decided to follow him and maybe ask him where he was from hoping to get a clue about it they had crossed paths.

Outside the classroom she saw him rounding the corner, she followed him and saw he entered the class where they were having their next lesson and went in after him. The classroom was empty except for the both of them. Turning to face him she saw him already staring at her, and as usual her heart didn't miss the chance to skip beats.

"Already obsessed with me miss Wilhelm?" he asked with a smirk playing on his face which made him look dangerously handsome.

Adria's thoughts were along the line that him being this handsome should be a felony, but when her brain fully comprehended his words, she frowned.

"I'm not obsessed with you." She stated.

"Really, because the stares you gave me in class and you following me here states otherwise." He replied, teasing her.

Adria face turned a little red realizing that he caught her and him seeing that made his smirk stretch further.

"I was only staring at you because you are new here and I didn't follow you here, this is the next class I'm having." She said not fully comprehending the words that flew out of her mouth in order to not prove him right.

"Right...so what you are saying is that you stare at every new student."

Adria felt like face palming her self when she realized what she said. Her face turned beet red when she realized how dumb it sounded, seriously of all the things she could say she just had to say that.

"So why did you follow me miss Wilhelm?" he asked deciding to stop teasing her and go straight to the point, he no longer had the smirk on his face.

"I...." She thought of how to phrase it so it wouldn't sound suspicious but decided to just say it like that. "Where did you transfer from?"

"Why are you asking?" He said not answering the question.

"Just answer it." Adria really wanted...no, needed to know where he was from.

"Not until you tell me why." He replied, not giving into her quest to knowing where he's from.

She decided to go with the truth, "fine, I'm asking because you seem familiar and I wanted to know if we've met before. Now answer the question."

Adria saw a look flash across his face when she mentioned that he seemed familiar but she didn't know what that look meant. He didn't look like he was going to answer her.

She was already getting frustrated with him not giving her the answer she needed. She was about to remind him about the question she asked when the bell rang and students started trooping in. She headed to her seat and tried her best not to look in his direction as it seems he knew when she always did, but she sometimes felt his gaze on her being.

The class ended and the teacher left. She was about to turn to Andre so she could get her answer when someone called her name instead. Turning to face the person, she saw it was another new student.

"You are Adria, right." The girl standing in front of her with a bright smile asked. All Adria did was nod.

"Great, my name's jade and I'm new here. I was told that you are very smart and really good in mathematics calculations." Jade said.

Adria still didn't say a word, when jade realized that she wasn't going to say anything, she continued.

"Anyway I came to meet you because I'm in desperate need of a tutor. You see I'm actually a scholarship student, not that my parents don't have money to pay it's just that my dad wanted me to work hard so he made me apply for the scholarship, so I passed but I have to take my maths exam again because I missed it but because I excelled in other subject they gave me the scholarship but they rescheduled the maths exam in a month and I have to take it again but the thing is that I'm not very good in maths that why I approached you hoping you would be able to tutor me and... I'm probably rambling right now." Jade smiled sheepishly.

Adria just looked at her, wondering how she got all that sentence out in one breath.

"I'm not normally this talkative, I just tend to talk too much whenever I'm stressed, nervous and excited. But you don't have to worry I promise I will try to control talking too much so that I would be able to learn from you but that is if you accept but I really hope you accept because I can't afford to fail this exam because then my dad would be disappointed in me and I don't want him to be disappointed I want him to be proud of me and I'm probably rambling again." She sighed.

Adria still didn't say anything but she has a small smile on her face because the girls character amused her. Jade was feeling a bit embarrassed and decided to walk away when she heard her name.

"You said your name was jade right." Adria asked waiting for confirmation from her. Jade was about to say something but decided against it and just nodded.

"Okay, meet me after school in the library." Adria said gathering her books together.

Jade had a confused look on her face, "why?"

Adria looked at her with a face saying are you serious.

"For our first maths lesson of course." She replied, still smiling at jade's amusing personality.

"Omg, thank you, thank you, thank you, you have no idea how much this means to me." Jade said happily, looking like she could jump around if not that there were people in the class so she had to hold herself.

"I think I do, remember you told me, about not wanting to disappoint your dad."

"Oh yeah I said that, I guess you do know how much this means to me. Uhm, I know that I promised to try not to talk too much but I want you to know that you can tell me anytime I'm rambling or talking too much because it's something that I can't really control but believe me I'm trying, I've actually been reading about what I can do to stop talking...."

"Jade, you are rambling right now." Adria said placing her hand on her shoulder.

"Oops, sorry. Right my lips are sealed." She said placing her thumb and index finger together, while she made the motion of zipping her lips.

"Remember, after school, the library." Adria said heading towards the door. She heard jade mutter thank you, she just nodded and left. She thought jade's character was cute and amusing.

She headed to her next class, hoping that Andre was there alone so that she could get her answer but when she got there, the class was empty with no sign of Andre. For the rest of the day there was no sign of Andre. She wasn't the only one who took notice as she heard girls talking about his absence from class and some speculating that he was the type to ditch school for the rest of the day, having that bad boy vibes.

Adria heard this but decided to ignore those thoughts, basing her thinking that maybe there was an emergency that urgently required his attention and that was why he had to leave. With that thought she went and met jade at the library for her first lesson.

When they were done, she headed to her car and started the drive home. While she was driving, her mind went back to the time he had said his name, "it's Alejandre Lopez". Suddenly a memory popped in her head, he said his name was Lopez. She remembered back when her father was still alive, she would often go into his study to watch him work as she admired the way he signed documents and made money making offers to people he wanted a partnership with.

She remembered one time seeing a file with the name Lopez on it and when she wanted to open it her father came into the room, took the file away and kept it in his safe. When she asked him why he didn't want her to read it since he always allowed read others before, his reply was that it was a special file and she wouldn't understand. This was months before their death. She decided to check the safe when she gets home to know if the file would still be there, she had a feeling that it was related to Alejandre.

When she got home, she went straight to her father's study and opened the safe, and just like she guessed the file was still there. She opened the first page and read through it. It was about a man named Dante.

Name: Dante Lopez

Wife's name: Maria Lopez

Children's name: Larissa Lopez (female)

Alejandre Lopez (male)

When Adria saw Alejandre's name she paused a bit but continued reading. She found out that Andre's father owned a chain of hotel around the world but she knew her father didn't invest in any hotel project so she wondered why he had his file.

Reading further she noticed that it wasn't just a plain file because watching her father work she knew how he composed documents and files and this was different. She remembered one line her father always loved saying, "mi hija ( my daughter), you see the truth isn't always as it seems, the web of lies is woven with threads of Truth." She didn't really understand what he meant by that, but looking at the file in her hands, she understood what her father meant.

Realizing that the file was just actually a cover up but instead a method of passing a secret message, she spent hours deciphering what it actually meant. And when she was done, she was shocked and confusing because the message seemed to only provide more questions instead of answers, it read:

"Years and years of secrets buried. The time has come for all truth to be revealed.

The Omerta Alliance must rise from it's ashes, hidden no more, we fight the battle head on.

Signed: Wilhelm and kaiser."