บท 3: Ch 3: The tense silence
"Mother, can I talk to you? It is regarding something important."
Rika's heart pounded as she knocked at the door, unsure of what awaited her on the other side.
She knew that her mother would be sequestered in her room, the air heavy with the aftermath of their latest fight.
The answer Rika got was non-verbal, but her mother gestured for her to enter.
"Do you want to tell me something, Rika? Have you made up with Mark yet?"
As expected, her mother's priority was Mark, and she wondered whether Rika had made up with him. It was not about how Rika was doing or how.
Those words hurt, but expecting something else from her mother was also foolish.
"I wanted to talk to you about something else. Would you be free to hear me out?"
Rika felt like a gambler who was betting on a dangerous bet. But if it paid off, it would be huge for her.
Her mother blinked a few times in surprise but ultimately relented to her curiosity.
"I suppose I can make some time for you."
Rika was sure she had seen wrong, but her mother looked shy and happy momentarily. Her expression changed back to normal the very next second.
Her expression looked weird to Rika, but she still entered the room with her mother.
*cough*
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
Rika looked at her mother and took a deep breath.
She knew that if she held her silence, she would never be able to speak in front of her mother about the Academy again.
"My Academy entrance application results came. I applied for an on-campus and hostel spot. I needed your sign on the papers."
Rika waited for her mother to realise what she had just said.
Her mother blinked a few times, and her expression turned bewildered.
"On campus? There is no way I can allow that. Do you know how dangerous it is? Anyone could lure you in with pheromones and take advantage of…. I mean…you can get assaulted and hurt…. you know what I mean."
The female alpha stuttered twice before settling on a vague answer.
It was clear that her mother was against this arrangement.
But if Rika had backed down now, then her mother would never have agreed with her in the future.
"Mother, I am a beta. Pheromones do not affect me like they do Suzie or Mark. Also, I don't think getting out of this house for a while would be a bad idea."
Rika purposely tilted her neck to show off her bruise.
The last time she checked it before leaving her room, it was beginning to look purple with a few green and black spots.
Mark had not held back when he held Rika up, and she felt slightly grateful.
Her injury made her mother cringe before sighing in agreement.
"I understand where you are coming from. Alright! Just tell me which Academy you choose, and I will decide. Is it one that is affiliated with our company? If not, I can call in a favour and arrange your room. Just tell me where you want to go."
Rika sighed, knowing that the real battle was coming up.
"I applied to Maxwell Academy. Before you ask, yes, I know it is a public Academy. But I promise I will be fine. It has the highest beta acceptance rate so that I won't be bullied there."
Her mother had gone entirely, and Rike knew the signs of danger when she saw one.
"No! I will not send you to a public academy, which is final. If you want to stay at an on-campus Academy, I will choose one that is better for you."
Rike knew this would happen.
There was no way her mother's 'Alpha pride' would be able to take it if her daughter were to go to a public Academy.
"But I want to"
"You will not, and that is final! What do you even see in such a filthy place-"
Rika's mother stopped speaking mid-sentence. Something flashed across her eyes as she looked at Rika's unaffected expression. Her eyes also took in Rika's injured neck with guilty anger.
The number of pheromones pumped into the air was enough to make an omega or a weak alpha faint, but Rika was unaffected because she was a beta.
"I am sorry, but I have made up my decision and sent a reply already."
Anger exploded on her mother's face, and she threw the application at Rika after signing it.
"Fine! Go to that stupid public Academy if you want to. But I will never acknowledge your decision to do this."
This was what Rika wanted in the first place. She picked up her application and went out.
Her mission was successful.
Rika passed her father in the hallway, and he looked concerned when he saw Rika.
"What happened-"
Rika pushed past her father. She did not think she could take his gentle voice right now.
She closed the door to her room and threw her body on the bed.
"I did what I was supposed to. But it does not feel nice, even if this was what I intended to do. I guess I do care about my family a little bit."
Rika cared about her family a lot. She had devoted around 17 years to them, and it was a shame that she never became a part of them.
It was neither side's fault. They were born into different worlds and somehow became a family.
Things did not magically get better the following day.
Mark looked pissed as soon as he saw Rika. But he held his anger in.
On the other hand, Suzie continued to look at Rika with a blank expression. She seemed to be waiting for something, but Rika had neither brain power nor heart to figure it out.
Her parents were already gone for work, so it was relatively entirely.
Suzie decided to call Rika out.
"Are you not going to apologise to brother Mark? He was so sad last night because of your fight. You are insensitive not to notice this when his pheromones give such clear signals."
This was the last straw for Rika.
She stood up from the seat, picked up her bag and left without looking back.
Mark was supposed to pick up and drop off her and Suzy at school, but Rika decided to go ahead alone.
บท 4: Ch 4: Best friends
"Rika, wait! Don't leave! We have a lot to talk about. Hey, Rika-!"
"Suzie, wait! Don't run around. Your body has not recovered yet-! Rika, you wait as well!" The urgency in her voice was palpable, a clear indication of the seriousness of the situation.
Rika could hear the sound of hurried footsteps coming after her. It was clear that Suzie decided to go after her because Rika left their conversation in the middle.
On the other hand, Mark was only acting up because Suzie was acting up. Rika thought he would have gone after Rika if Suzie had acted.
She was almost out of the front gate when Suzie reached the door and opened it.
"Hey! Stop being such a troublesome person, Rika! Just because you cannot grasp how serious a situation is does not mean-"
Rika glared back, and Mark quickly touched Suzie's mouth.
Even he had realised that Suzie was crossing the line.
Their family had tried to explain to Suzie what being a beta was like, but she did not understand the concept and did not want to understand it.
Suzie had bloomed into her secondary gender without that awkward phase in the middle of being a pseudo-beta. That was why she often said these words.
"I'll handle her, Rika. But are you sure you want to go to school alone? I can drop you off if you wait a bit."
Mark promised, but he looked a little guilty now.
Rika covered her neck with a high-neck jumper to hide what happened. But Mark must have remembered what he did to her neck.
"It's okay! I do not need your help. Just get Suzie to school on time. I heard that she has a final today."
Rika reminded her brother before she left for the last day of the school.
'Knowing Suzie, she would bomb her finals for sure. But the school board would pass her anyway because of our parents and her condition. On the other hand, I had to work my ass off to make it through as the top student.'
Suzie sighed as she walked toward the school.
She felt bitter about all her time studying to get good grades. She had hoped that it would make her parents feel proud of her.
But it was too late when Rika realised her parents did not care about her. Her identity as a top student had been recognised, and people expected things from her.
Turning herself into a misbehaving student from this position forward was a burdensome task for Rika.
Finally, Rika reached her school and went to her class.
She had walked to school, and it had consumed all the extra time Rika had before her class.
People looked at her but did not pay her any special attention. It directly contrasted how her brother and sister were treated when they went anywhere.
"Rika, come here. I saved you a seat beside me. Will you sit with me today?"
Rika looked toward where her only friends sat. She could swear that the air around her friends shone brightly when she approached them.
"How was your weekend, Rika? Did you get your acceptance letter? I have so many choices that I can't choose."
The bubbly Alpha is sitting in front of Rika as one of her best friends, Emily. She was a gorgeous Alpha with silver hair and green eyes.
She was bright, strong, and capable of standing up against anyone else.
That was how Rika knew her - their families shared a history.
"I did get my letter of acceptance. What about you, Damian? Did you get your choices as well?"
Rika turned toward the other half of the pair in front of her.
Unlike Rika, Damian was an alpha who looked his part. He was strong-looking, handsome, and scary.
And yet, he looked like a spoilt cat at the moment.
"I don't want to look at that list anymore. When he heard I had gotten it, my old man asked me where I wanted to apply. I want some peace."
Damian looked tired, making Rika wonder if the reason behind his being tried was not his father but his nightly activities.
Like Rika and Emily, Damian belonged to a mafia family. But Rika had heard that he was active behind the scenes and violent.
Despite knowing this, she did not feel scared of him.
"Enough about Damian, Rika. I want to know where you are going. After this, we both need to go to the same university. That's what we promised, right?"
Rika's face broke into a smile at Emily's cheerful and dominating voice.
Despite being female, Emily had moments of dominance where she was more dominant than anyone else. It was a wonder that both she and Damian had been able to keep their relationship going for as long as they did.
'Maybe this is why they break up every other week, and I have to patch them up. Would they get a shared omega or break apart later?'
Rika shook her head, expressing that disturbing thought. She should not be thinking negative thoughts about her friends.
*snap*
"Hey, are you fine? Where did your mind disappear toward, Rika? I was still talking to you."
Emily asked in a pouty tone. It made the young alpha look cute in Rika's eyes.
"I was just thinking about my fight with my siblings last night. It was nothing major, so you have to worry about it. I did not even get hurt much."
Rika bragged about it to her friends but did not notice how the pair tensed and exchanged a worried glance.
"Come with us for a minute. Don't worry! We want to talk to you alone."
Rika suddenly felt that she was in trouble, but she pushed her feelings down and followed her friends out.
After all, she was a beta, so she doubted something would happen to her. Most people were not interested in her anyway.
She did not even think of it much when Emily pushed her toward the wall and reached toward her jumper's neckline.
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