The Earth After Rebirth

"Good thing the dean isn\'t a greedy leech like the rest of them."

"Agreed. I\'d have been expelled right then and there. I can\'t believe that little witch Ursa."

"You seriously don\'t have Isla\'s phone ID? I have Saanvi\'s, if you move that slow others will snatch her."

"Wh-what? Don\'t say weird things. They can snatch her. More importantly, call Saanvi for me."

Saanvi was visibly annoyed when they called her. Especially upon realising that it wasn\'t just Hiro.

"I thought you said you were on good terms." He mumbled to Hiro.

"I don\'t have Isla\'s phone ID, why would I?"

"Uh, because you\'re friends?" Kiro answered confused.

"We aren\'t really that close. If that\'s all, goodbye." She dropped it.

"Wow, your girlfriend is something."

Hiro turned red, "well, not yet."

"Not yet what?"

"She\'s not my girlfriend yet."

Kiro simply shook his head. He had more to worry about than academy love life drama. If Isla doesn\'t come back Monday, he was doomed.

He decided to send through the class chat.

"Isla, I need you, for school purposes, where are you."

After an hour she replied, "I\'m home, but I should be back soon."

Soon? Soon could mean anything from 3 to 5 days. He didn\'t have that long, he needed her right now.

"It\'s urgent. No later than Monday. Please."

Isla sensed the urgency, "I\'ll try."

\'Try, will she? My life depends on you!\' he wanted to scream, but he let it go.

It hadn\'t been a day since Kiro was called into the dean\'s office. Yet the whole academy already knew what the meeting was about.

It\'s true what they say, bad news do spread like wildfire. Everyone was giving him weird looks. He was extremely grateful that it was the weekend, he didn\'t really want to face his classmates.

As much as he didn\'t care for them much, they did vote for him to be their leader. He didn\'t want to experience how fast they would turn on him if they saw him now.

He quickly ran to his room.

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Isla was in her room packing, absentmindedly doing so. She couldn\'t stop replaying the moment her lips met with Kiro\'s cheek.

\'Why did I instinctively kiss him? Is it because seeing him with another girl upset me?\'

She had seen people doing stupid and irrational things for love, she never thought it\'d be her one day.

She hated and liked the feeling at the same time. It was conflicting.

She left her dorm, and went straight for the station. She rode to student town where her families private jet was waiting. Taking the train to the Upper district would take hours, taking the jet however was just 30 minutes.

"You look so happy, what\'s up with that? Last we checked you didn\'t want to go to the academy." Her brother, Dion, commented when she arrived at the private jet.

"Yeah, she\'s in love. she\'s glowing." Tiana teased.

Wallace just sat there, observing and quiet. He was the eldest of the siblings, he rarely got in on the siblings squabbles.

"Wh-wh-what?" She stuttered badly, the memory of kissing Kiro wasn\'t helping either because that\'s all that was on her mind. She was bright red, embarrassed.

"I didn\'t expect you to guess it right, T."

"Our little Rosie has grown." At her obvious reaction, they surmised to have guessed right.

"I\'m not in love," she said, as she quickly composed herself.

They didn\'t stop teasing her for a while, until they reached their estate. They had all come home for their father\'s birthday party on Sunday. The Silva children all had red hair. Wallace was 27 with brown eyes. Tiana was 25 with blue eyes. Dion was 23 with green eyes like his younger sister.

They were welcomed by the maids, Isla quickly went into her room. She wanted to get far away from her siblings as possible. She only had to put up with them for a couple of days, but she was already annoyed.

There was a knock on the door, "dinner is ready, young miss."

She was going down for dinner when she saw she\'d received a text some time ago, from the class chat, she saw it was Kiro.

"He needs me and it\'s urgent?" Butterflies ran rampant in her stomach, but she played it cool and replied with indifference.

She sat down with her family and they started to eat. They were just having table conversation, Isla wondered what would be so urgent that Kiro sent a text on the class chat.

"Dad?"

"Yes Rosie?"

"Do I, absolutely, have to, be at the party on Sunday?"

Her father clenched his chest, pretending an arrow had pierced his heart, "even my youngest doesn\'t want to celebrate this old man."

"She\'s in love."

"T! No I\'m not!"

"Then why were you smiling at your phone just now?"

"Huh? None of your business. Forget I ever said anything."

She wanted to take this conversation as far away from love as possible. She wasn\'t the least bit embarrassed by Kiro, but her family may do what Isaac\'s did.

And she couldn\'t bare the burden. She was also sure, her father wouldn\'t approve. As much as she can marry anyone she wanted, her father\'s approval meant everything to her.

She flushed embarrassed at the thought of marrying Kiro.

\'Okay, Isla, cool it. This isn\'t the usual you. Play it cool.\'

She noticed her father wanted to dig deeper. He couldn\'t bare the thought of her youngest growing up, because then, he\'d have no one to baby.

"So, where\'s mum anyway?" Isla asked trying to stir the conversation elsewhere.

"Making preparations. She reckons my 50th should be grand. She\'ll be back tomorrow night."

The conversation strayed far from Isla\'s love life, which she was grateful for. She had missed her family, once she got here, Kiro was suddenly not the only thing on her mind.