by MADISON HAL
TO THE BOY WHO STOLE MY HEART IN THE LOVE TRIANGLE
Madison Hal
Morin Hal
Copyright © 2020 by Madison Hal and Morin Hal
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. Publisher's note: this is a work of fiction. Names locations characters are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to anyone is purely coincidental. Any resemblance to anybody living or dead, actual events or organizations is coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
Chapter 1
Maya
“Where are you, Maya? You can’t be late again.”
I thought to myself, why have I heard this 1000 times?
Hi there, I am Maya. It’s the first day of my senior year! I should be excited, but I am really nervous. It's my final year and I will be attending an elite high school, Shores Academy. Now you might think I must be rich but no, I attend the school on a merit scholarship.
My dad always made it a point to let me know I needed to get to school on time, and today was not an exception.
I turned to my dad and said, “It’s my final year Dad, I can handle this. I won’t be late.”
Then I leaned in and hugged him. Dad stood still and stoic.
And that’s when my father told me, “Oh well, you’re going to have a brilliant summer this year because we are going to a great place after school.” I frowned and looked at my father mischievously.
I knew what he meant when he said we were heading to a great place. He meant we would head over to the library. I know, it sounds unusual, but according to my parents, I had three choices in life: I could either become a lawyer or a doctor or a forgotten soul.
Yes, my parents are African, and as a first-generation immigrant, they had high expectations for me. I knew I had to make their dreams for my future come true. I know it sounds like pressure, but I am used to it. Sometimes I feel as though they’re vicariously living their lives through me!
I walked into the kitchen and found my mother standing there.
She looked at me and said, in an emotional voice, “Well look at you, Maya, all set to start your senior year of high school.”
She smiled and looked to the corner where she had her favorite high school movies.
My mom tried to hide them from me. She loved to hide her fun side, but I saw through it.
I laughed and said, “Mom you still have those 80s movies?”
She chuckled and said, “Of course I do. It was always my fantasy to go to prom like you, but of course I didn’t have prom night where I came from. Instead, we had, ‘sendoff’ parties.”
I looked at the movies next to her and recalled how much my mom fondly spoke about her high school movies.
Of course, she acted like it wasn’t a big deal because my dad was strict about her sharing things not school related. He believed in education before frivolous things.
Dad didn’t have it easy as a first-time immigrant, but he raised me as best as he could successfully: he was determined to give me a quality education.
Well, let’s just say they succeeded.
I still can’t believe it’s my senior year. I just got a scholarship besides my parents helping to pay the tuition.
They gave up everything to let me go to this private school, so I knew I couldn’t let them down.
So, I focused on my studies and ignored all the guys and the fun parties out there. But this year I was determined to go to the prom; it’d be my last opportunity to do so.
I still haven’t asked my mom for money to buy a prom dress.
I realized that the last thing they needed was worrying about paying for it.
My parents had to worry about my other siblings too, six more to be exact.
I didn’t want to burden them any further.
I wanted to make them proud of my achievements, and of course, my father said he didn’t believe in the prom. He said it was just a waste of money, anyway.
I knew he didn’t mean it. I guess he just wanted me to stay focused on my studies.
I currently have a 4.0 GPA. I decided I would not let them down by not keeping up my grades, especially in my senior year.
Back to my reality, Mom looked at me and said, “Hey, is Michael going to walk with you to school today?”
I didn’t say a word. I wished my mom wouldn’t ask me that question.
Michael’s been my best friend since childhood and he seemed to care a lot about me, or at least that’s how I saw it.
I wasn’t sure if he had a crush on me or if he was just being friendly! Ew, no, he can’t possibly have a crush on me.
We are best friends and promised each other we would not cross that line.
Michael’s parents and mine are incredibly close and so it made perfect sense for us to be best friends, I guess. I told my mom I’d meet Michael at school. Stunned, she said, “Okay, well you should head out then.” I nodded.
Mom offered to drop me off. I said, “Okay.”
She got her car keys and dropped me off. I quickly got out of the car, excited yet worried about my new school. Mom wished me well. I thanked her and hurried to the school.
“Hey Maya.” I heard a familiar voice say. I turned, and of course it was none other than Michael. He looked super excited.
He asked, “Are you ready?”
I laughed and said, “Yeah.” I put my hair back into a big barn on top of my head my curls cascading down in my heart thinking oh my God, this is the day I’ve been looking forward to: senior year.
That’s the moment Michael announced, “Guess who’s coming back to the school?”
I shook my head and asked, “Who?”
Michael looked at me and said to me, “The one and only Hunter Rothschild.” Stunned to hear that Hunter was returning to the school, my heart skipped a beat. Yes, you might say I worried about his returning.
Hunter’s parents transferred him to a different private school, but now they transferred him back. More on that story later.
I didn’t care that I had a scholarship; I didn’t want to involve myself in any drama.
Then Michael added, “It turns out someone else is returning to the school this year too.” My ears perked up. Who is he talking about? And that’s when Michael said his friend Blaine, some new kid who’s really super quiet, will be attending the school. Michael said all these rich kids act like we are losers because we have a scholarship, but in the future, we will be better off than all the rich kids.”
I chuckled and said, “Let’s just get to school and go have fun.”
And with that, my mother asked, “What are you two talking about?”
Michael respectfully told her, “Always just talking about the new students in school.”
My mom clasped her hands and said, “I think it’s better you focus on your studies and not worry about what everybody else is doing. You are going to be a success. You have no choice, okay?”
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“Of course, mom,” I replied, beaming. I hugged her, and we hurried before she mentioned anything else.
Chapter 2
Maya
I arrived at the school excited about my first day. Michael stood by me, excited.
He said, “Can you believe it is our last year and we got a scholarship to Silicon Valley Academy.”
I marveled at the sight of the latest driverless cars with the rich guys and girls stepping out as though they owned the universe. I couldn’t believe my luck. How did I get so lucky to be part of this institution?
Then that’s the moment I looked ahead and noticed a sleek Mercedes Maybach’s door open and out came the most incredibly handsome guy. Freaking hell, he looked amazing. He was at least six foot five inches tall and when he stepped out, he looked like he just stepped out of an all-American Male catalog or something.
He glanced around and looked so confident. I was instantly hooked.
I mean it’s crazy, but I acted as though I didn’t notice him, even though I clearly did.
Then he turned my way, and a quirky grin formed on his handsome face.
Michael noticed and frowned. He tugged on my elbow and said, “Are we looking at someone now? “
I turned back to him, feigned ignorance, and said, “No.”
He nodded.
As much as I tried to feign ignorance, I couldn’t help but look back to see if Mr. Handsome stared back at me and holy freaking hell, he was. I averted his gaze and blushed.
But the handsome guy folded his arms.
He smirked mischievously and said, “Hello.”
I immediately looked straight ahead, bowed my head and kept on moving.
I didn’t want him to see I was interested in him.
Besides, I had Michael next to me.
I didn’t want Micheal to say anything about the attraction between me and this gorgeous guy.
But then I reminded myself he’s probably one of the filthy rich kids who had everything handed over to him.
He’s probably a trust fund kid.
I can’t jeopardize my scholarship by fantasizing about him.
Micheal and I walked into the hallway to the sign-in desk.
We got registered and then the handsome guy walked towards me. He stood right behind me. Feeling him close behind me, I turned and smiled.
“Hi, I am Noah.”
“Hi, I am Maya,” I replied with a broad smile on my face.
“Great to meet you Maya, let's meet up later.” And with that, he walked away.
I couldn’t stop smiling. But then my smile turned into a frown trying my best not to upset Michael but guess what? Michael shook his head. He frowned and said to me, “Don’t tell me you’re going to ruin your last year over some guy who’s just going to play around?”
I huffed and told him, “You are reading too much into this. What is wrong with smiling?”
He said, “I have no problem with your smiling, just know that whatever happens, we’re here to study. “
I said to him, “Yes sir, boss. For a second there I couldn’t tell if you were my dad or my mom.”
And that’s when he growled and looked away.
I giggled, reached for his hand and said, “Hey, I was just kidding.”
He frowned, and said to me, “I might not be your dad or your mom, but there’s a lot riding on the scholarship and you cannot mess it up for yourself.”
I thought it was a little cute seeing Michael concerned about me.
So I let it slide.
The guy walked past me and said, “Hey, how are you doing?”
Michael pushed him aside and said, “We’re fine. We are heading over to class now. “
And with that, he walked with me towards the class. I pulled my arm away from him and said, “You didn’t really have to do that now, did you?”
He said, “Well, since you won’t tell him off, I just have to do what I have to do.”
I stopped Michael from confronting him. Michael frowned and walked past me.
I wasn’t paying attention to my steps because I kept looking back to look at that handsome guy standing at the corner.
I didn’t notice the wet floor and guess what? I slipped and fell flat on my butt.
It was so embarrassing. I sat there and then I glanced at the corner: I noticed the rich silicon enhanced girls laughing at me. Just great, exactly what I needed, getting ridiculed by the bad girls. How the hell will I get out of this now?
Chapter 3
Maya
I couldn’t believe no one helped me up. The students stood there and rolled their eyes.
I thought to myself, what kind of crazy school is this?
I picked up my items off the floor and that’s when a rich girl, who I noticed earlier, staring my way. I sighed, she walked up to me, held her hand out and helped me up.
She said, “You’re new, so you need to stay away from all guys.”
And that’s when I realized I should probably focus on my studies and not worry about some cute guy who’s probably unattainable.
Of course I didn’t have any insecurities and have always been told that I was on the wall. Plus, the last thing I needed was messing up my grades because of an infatuation with some popular guys.
I wished Michael hadn’t walked away so fast, he would’ve noticed my fall.
I finally hurried into the class after listening to the students laughing. There was nothing I could do about it; it happened and now I must move past it.
Michael noticed me stumbling into the class. He walked towards me and asked, “Are you alright?”
That’s when one girl said, “It’s alright for now but she needs to stay away from the guys.”
Michael said to the girl, “She’s not interested in anyone, OK Lola. She is here to study and that’s it.”
And with that, we watched as the girl snickered and said, “Let’s just hope that’s exactly what she wants to do and nothing else.”
Michael said to her, “In your dreams. Maya won’t be caught dead with him.“
And that’s when I tugged Michael’s elbow.
I said to Michael, “Please, you don’t have to stand up for me you know. I can stand up for myself.”
He laughed and said, “Looks like you did a pretty good job over there so listen it’s our first day, let’s just get through it.”
I nodded, but then I looked at Michael and wished for a second he would not focus so much on me.
He was quite protective of me too.
I guess that’s because my parents insisted he monitored me; they felt he was an excellent influence on me. It’s kind of crazy to think that Michael was my parents’ choice.
I will not lie, I almost believe they’ve already planned our wedding.
The two families coming together and forming a bond seem like the ideal dream for my mother and his mother. However, that will not happen.
I wondered if my parents would accept someone else taking me to the prom.
Would they let me go to the prom in the first place? Then I said to myself, “It is your senior year, focus on your classes, keep your scholarship and forget about the prom, it is months away.”
And that’s when I turned to see another filthy rich and popular guy walk into the class.
He looked great. He smiled at me, and I averted his beautiful gaze.
But he kept looking at me, and I could feel his eyes on me as though pushing and staring deep into my soul. I also noticed the bad girls staring daggers at me. That’s the moment I looked up and our eyes met.
She murmured, “I think you need to stay away from my guy.”
That’s when the teacher asked, “is everything OK?“
She twirled her head and said, “Everything’s fine sir.“
I decided at that moment I needed to use the bathroom, so I let the teacher know.
I hurried over to the bathroom and tried to clear my head. I told myself I needed to focus because this was my first day, I cou
ldn’t mess it up. I looked terrible. I glanced at the mirror and noticed a filthy rich girl snicker. She said, “Nice clothes, but it’s not exactly what I would call chic.”
She moved out of the bathroom before I could say a word to her. I headed to class but when I got there, I found some girl seated on my chair!
She was clearly an entitled girl.
I signaled for her to move, but she wouldn’t budge.
The professor turned around and asked, “Is anything wrong?”
The girl snickered and said, “No nothing’s wrong. It seems this girl here Maya can’t find a seat.”
Irritated, the teacher said to me in a firm voice, “Don’t just stand there, find somewhere to sit.”
And that’s when the girl got off the seat and feigned a smile. It was obvious she pretended to care about me.
She said, “That’s OK Mr brown, she can have a seat.“
Michael looked at me and shook his head.
He said, “You should’ve said what happened.” And that’s when the instructor turned around again.
He said, “Can I have silence while I’m teaching?”
Chapter 4
Maya
The first week was quite eventful, but as the days went by, I realized I needed to get a part-time job.
Michael suggested I work part-time at the library close to the school and I thought that would be ideal.
My parents supported the idea and as long as it didn’t affect my studies, they were fine with it. I started working with the library team, stocking shelves and filing returned books. That’s when Hunter walked into the library and sat at a computer. He beckoned to me for help and I raised an eyebrow.
I laughed and thought, why wouldn’t a tech entrepreneur’s son be a super genius?
Surely he can figure it out.