Chapter 22

“Hey,” Jasper said as soon as he saw me approaching. When I went down to the playground to get away from the infants, he was hiding under a large, shady tree. I seriously thought I’d find him in the bushes with one of the sisters again. Instead, he was sitting there, relaxing, with two sleeping children on his lap. “The white suits you.”

I rolled my eyes at him. A sister offered to wash my dirty pee and poop-stained clothes, but they made me wear their extra tunic in the meantime. Of course, I did not wear the coif and veil that came with it. It’d be too much.

I sat at a picnic table and briefly observed the children as they played before pulling my phone from my pocket. I responded to some emails and texts before logging onto social media. We were not permitted to access an account. A team was in charge of all public relations and such. They took pictures or videos and posted them on our websites as if we were actually the ones who were using it. But I have a burner account that no one knows about. I primarily use it to connect with people who share my interests, but I also use it to argue with people on occasion. It’s my guilty pleasure, which was how I blew off steam.

I was in the middle of a heated argument online when a big, pink ball rolled under me and hit my high-heeled shoes.

“Hey, princess!” I heard Jasper yell. “Pass the ball towards here, will you?”

I was about to ignore him when I noticed Camilla approaching. I kicked the toy grudgingly, not caring where it landed. When Jasper shouted his thanks, I could hear a smirk in his voice.

“Look at them,” Camilla said as she sat down beside me, motioning the children with her hands. “They’re so happy, so carefree...”

I followed her gaze and noticed Jasper playing some sort of dodge game with the kids. Sure, they were all happy and having the time of their lives, but they were also screaming at the top of their lungs, running around, and getting sweaty and dirty. How annoying.

“What are you doing out here alone, Selina?” Camilla asked.

“Uhm, resting,” I replied awkwardly.

“You’re young. You should be playing out there with them rather than staring at your phone.”

“Thank you, but I’d prefer not to—”

Something heavy fell on top of my head, and before I knew it, I was drenched in cool water. Camilla and I turned around to see a small boy standing on top of the table. He was smirking, pleased with himself.

“I got you!” he yelled before jumping down and slinging water balloons at everyone he passed by. The screams became louder, and the laughter more profound.

“Oh my,” Camilla said in shock. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I stood up and began walking briskly towards the orphanage when another water balloon hit me from behind.

I slowly turned around, looking for the offender. I noticed Jasper standing in the middle of the field, smirking and holding water balloons in his arms. After shooting him a death stare, I turned around and got hit by another. I was dripping with water and annoyed at that point. When I turned back to face him, he was still smirking and tossing and catching a balloon in his hand. I glanced at Camilla, who was looking at both of us with interest.

“Are you going to let him do that to you?” Camilla inquired, a sly grin on her lips.

“I’m fine,” I said as I turned around.

I was hit once more. This time, there is more than one balloon.

I kicked off my shoes and let out a growl that didn’t seem human as I ran towards Jasper to tackle him.

I couldn’t let anyone do that to me without retaliation.

The only issue was that Jasper was faster.

***

“I can’t wait to go back,” I said, grinning happily.

It was already dark when we returned from the orphanage at eight o’clock. There was no one else around. The majority of the students were either eating in the cafeteria, studying in the library, or in their dorm rooms. The rest were in night classes.

My furious charge towards him had turned into genuine joy as the children joined in the chase. They apprehended him, restrained him on the grass, and I used the balloons to waterboard him. He quickly recovered, shook off the kids without hurting them, jumped up and ran after the kids who had betrayed him, tickling them until they screamed, and then it was my turn, and the kids once again helped me avoid him. It was a lot of fun. Eventually, I laughed so hard while playing with the kids. It didn’t matter that we were drenched. We chased each other until our mouths were dry, our throats were hoarse, and our legs collapsed from exhaustion.

“I’m sure the kids would love that, Selina,” Jasper said as he opened the car door beside him and got out before turning to me and offering his hand. Because of Camilla, he’s been calling me by name the entire time we were in the orphanage. I let him because I enjoyed hearing my name roll off his tongue. He helped me get out of the car. “Bring them some of that food as well.”

“Of course, I’ll bake cakes, macarons, and cookies!” I replied as we walked side by side to the dorms. “I’ll bring some small teapots and cups, and we’ll have a tea party.”

“That’s good. I’ll help you.”

“Thanks. And thank you for today. My clothes were dirty, and it was exhausting... but I had the best time.” I beamed at him. He returned the smile, showing off his adorable, gleaming canine teeth once more. “Since you’ve volunteered, we’ll need decorations as well. I’ll order some online. You’re in charge of that. We’ll have the best tea party ever. Wait, we should also dress the children as princes and princesses. Should I order some clothes for them?”

“I’m sure they have dresses. People donate clothing and toys to them all the time."

I gasped. “Oh! That’s brilliant! Maybe my club could sponsor the party! I could organize a donation drive for party dresses, for example. Oh, I can’t wait to tell my friends. I’ll phone home and ask for my old dresses and have them shipped here for the donation drive.”

“Hey, hey, slow down,” Jasper said, touching my shoulder, and there was that pin prick again. But it was not as intense as the last time. He did not even notice. “First, make a list of everything you want to do and delegate it—your phone is buzzing.”

I looked at him, confused, and that’s when I felt the vibrations on my thigh. I took my phone from my pocket and unlocked it.

An unregistered number was calling my number. I just watched it ring.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?”

“I don’t answer calls from strangers.”

“Smart,” Jasper commented. We started walking again. “But what if it’s an emergency?”

“Nobody knows my number except for the people whom I gave it to. If it’s important, they’ll text me.”

There was a beeping sound and a text message as soon as the vibration stopped. It came from the same phone number. I casually opened the text. Then my blood turned cold. I just stood there, frozen in shock.

“Problem?”

My stomach sank. I enlarged the photo that was sent to me with my fingers, looking for signs of deception or alteration. There weren’t any. I tightened my grip on my phone and walked quickly towards the women’s dorms. Jasper followed me, completely baffled and intrigued.

Just as I was about to enter my building, he grabbed my shoulder to keep me from leaving. “What’s going on, princess?”

“Don’t touch me,” I seethed. He immediately dropped his hand. I turned to leave when I noticed a photograph tacked to the corkboard where the announcements were posted. It was the same image that had been sent to me. I yanked it off the board and slammed it into his chest, furious. “This is your doing, isn’t it?”

“What are you talking ab—” Jasper looked at the photo and when he realized what it was, his grip on it tightened. He was angry. He looked at me again. “Princess, this is—”

“Save it,” I cut him off. “They sent you to distract me and you succeeded. You must think I’m so s2pid, don’t you?!”

“Listen to me—”

“No!” I screamed. Jasper closed his eyes tightly and clutched both of his ears. I took advantage of this and rushed into the dorm and up the stairs, locked myself in my room, throwing myself on the mattress. I didn’t care that I was lying in a few weeks’ worth of dust. I was so happily distracted that I forgot I didn’t live in the dorms. But it was too late to go back to my hotel. Jasper was probably still outside, and I didn’t want to talk to him.

My phone vibrated again, and I saw that Henry was calling. I resisted the urge to hurl my phone at the wall. I declined his call. Then the call after that. And the next one after. And the next. Until he got tired of calling and texting.

I opened the sent image again and stared at it.

It was a photograph of Henry and Jade embracing in a white room, similar to a laboratory. Another text arrived. It was a video this time.

I pressed the play button, nearly imploding with pain as I watched it. Another text arrived. There were only six words.

‘Do you want to talk now?’

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