"Today's homework will be to finish the rest of the worksheet, thank you class," Ms Lee greeted the class goodbye as the bell rang.

"Thank you Ms Lee," all of us stood up from our chairs and greeted back.

"So what time should we meet up for the party on Saturday?" Zach asked.

Right, the party. Sha said it was an annual thing for the school and students from two other junior colleges are invited as well. That meant big crowds, boo.

Sherwyn swung his bag over his shoulder, "I say around eight?"

"That's fine by me," Sha replied.

"Alright, we'll see you on Saturday," Fidyana dragged Zach's arm along as they left the classroom.

"Happy anniversary, lovebirds!" Sha raised her voice as they walked out of our sight.

Fidyana and Zach have been together for three years now. They're one of those couples who just compliment each other so well and you know they'll get married eventually.

"Lady, don't do that face," Sherwyn commented.

I snapped out of my thoughts, "What face?"

He folded his arms, "I know a I-don't-feel-like-going-to-the-party face when I see one. You have to go, end of the story."

"What? You can't not go, you're graduating this year so it'll be your only chance to go!" Sha practically shrieked, "Plus, you already bought your party outfit when we went shopping last week."

I faced Sherwyn, "You think I can skip the party?" and I gestured to Sha, "With her as my friend?"

"You got a point," He chuckled in response and I can see Sha smirking.

"This party is sure fancy," I looked around my surroundings. I'm in the grand hall in this hotel, everyone is dressed in semi-formal attire and the drinks are served in a champagne glass. My outfit for the night was a navy blue knee length lace dress with a silver purse, matched with silver-coloured flats.

Sha narrowed her eyes at me, "What did you think the party would be like? Those typical American parties where everyone gets drunk and have sex?"

"Maybe?" That was exactly what I thought.

"Ninety per cent of houses in Singapore are apartment flats, to save space due to the small land. We do have parties where everyone gets drunk and have sex, that would be in we call it 'function room'," Zach explained.

I spotted Sherwyn with drinks headed towards us and thanked him for going to the kitchen to make a special request for lemonade as the drinks served are either alcoholic or soda.

"What's the point of this party? We've been here for twenty minutes and just stood here," I complained, I simply want to go home.

"Socialise? Flirt? There're guys from other schools here you know," Sha smirked.

"Well I'm not interested in either," I replied and took a sip of the lemonade.

Sherwyn raised his eyebrows, "Why, do you have a boyfriend?"

"No," I said too quickly.

"Suit yourself, I'm going to talk to the girl over there," Sherwyn pointed at the group of people at the other side of the room, "I met her at a competition last month and she followed me on Instagram so I'll take it as a sign," and he shot Sha and I a wink before he left.

"And we're going to talk to some friends, see you later," Fidyana and Zach excused themselves.

"I guess you're stuck with me now, sweetie," Sha clicked her tongue and pulled me by my arm, "Let's go flirt with the guys over there."

"I really don't-"

"Oh come on, live a little!" Sha interrupted me and I was dragged away.

As we walked closer to the two guys, I felt as if I recognised one of the guys from his back view; his dark brown hair. When his friend signalled to him that someone was approaching them and he turned around, my eyes meeting his.

Bloody hell.

There was a shock expression on his face which then later turned into a subtle smirk. So he still hasn't changed at all has he?

"Tiana, nice to see you again. I see you're less cute compared to the last time I saw you," he said in his most attractive voice. Of course he hasn't changed.

I put on the fakest smile I can give, "Walter, looking four years older the last time I saw you."

I then felt a light smack on my arm, "You guys know each other?" Sha whispered beside me.

Crap. I've been dodging questions every time she asked about my past, and now I sure won't be able to avoid her questions later on.

"Yeah... we were classmates," I replied with the truth.

"He's hot!" She exclaimed, but thankfully I didn't notice her checking him out whatsoever. The last thing I need tonight is Sha making out with Walter.

"What brings you ladies here tonight," Walter's friend spoke, "I'm Aadil."

I was about to greet him back when Sha cut in, "I'm Sha, do you want to get something to eat at the refreshments area? I heard they just served some rainbow cake."

"Sure," Aadil replied and gave a pat on Walter's shoulder before he went.

Why would Sha be interested in him? They just met...

Then she winked at me as she was walking away and I understood why she did that. A normal reaction would be to feel betrayed, but I'm glad Sha left us alone, as I'm sure we've things to talk about that I don't want Sha to hear.

Walter cleared his throat, "Never thought I'd see you here, in Singapore."

"Never thought I'd see you again, after what happened the last time we saw each other," I said, feeling the awkward tension.

"It was four years ago, I'm over it," he answered without looking at me, and I can't tell if it was a genuine answer because so much time has passed and I've changed a lot in the past four years.

There was a few seconds of silence before I spoke up, "Care to tell me now you ended up in a party for junior college students?" Hopefully that'll lighten the mood and change the subject.

"I... know people," and his eyes found mine again, "I'm actually here for an overseas learning trip for my university course."

"I see, so are you still on the path to becoming a pilot?"

He looked at me with a surprised expression that I remembered him wanting to become a pilot since he was young before saying, "Yeah, I am."

Thankfully Aadil approached us as I just wanted to get out from that super awkward conversation. I also noticed that Sha wasn't with him.

"Hey man, you want to get back to the rest?" he asked Walter and he nodded in response.

"Where's Sha?" I asked Aadil and looked around the room to see no sign of her.

He shrugged, "Don't know, I was grabbing a drink and I saw her walking away with another girl."

Walter cleared his throat, "Will it take another four years for us to see each other again?"

"I hope not," I walked away and went looking for Sha.

I spent the next ten minutes searching the entire ballroom for her but to no avail. I did see Sherwyn flirting with the girl he said he was going to talk to, seemed like it's going well from the looks of it. I also saw Zach and Fidyana talking with a group of people, so I decided to go home by myself and I didn't want to ruin their fun just because I wasn't having any.

As I approached the elevator, I saw Sha talking to a girl, and it didn't look like a friendly conversation, so I went to hide behind the pillar. I peaked my head out a little, and saw Sha walked towards the girl, they're standing in very close proximity now. The girl was very clearly Chinese, looked about the same age as me, and was currently staring at Sha's lips.

Oh.

Sha leaned in closer to her, but she pushed Sha away, "Don't do that."

"I can't stop thinking about you, Fi," Sha reached her hand out and grabbed Fi's hand.

"I can't stop thinking about you too, but Sha... we can't keep up this ruse. I can't be with someone who is afraid to be seen with me, I know that sounds unfair and selfish, but that's how I feel," Fi shook her hand loose from Sha's grip and walked away.

I hid my head behind the pillar once again and heard Sha cursed. After a few minutes of thinking, I decided to not approach Sha with what I just saw and I'm positive she doesn't want to talk about that right now, I'll check in on her in a few days. That's if I somehow find a way to know how to approach her on this issue as I've never dealt with this issue before, so I'll need to thread it lightly.

"Sha, I've been looking for you everywhere," I walked towards her as if I didn't see what just happened.

"Tiana, sorry! I was talking to an old friend I hadn't seen in a while," her face of sadness quickly was concealed with a smile.

"It's cool, and actually I want to head back home," never good at social events, and never will be. Although it was nice seeing Walter after all these years and what happened, I'm glad he's on the path he wanted.

Sha nodded, "Sure, I'm a bit bummed as well."
The first half of the car ride back was silent, no doubt Sha was thinking about what Fi said to her. But eventually, she got her mind off it.

"So any deeds on you and the hot guy?" she asked, obviously referring to Walter.

I sighed internally, knowing I'll have to touch on my past, and have to be very careful with what I'm going to say, "We were classmates, that's all."

She pursed her lips and thought for a few moments before saying, "Doesn't seem that way to me."

"It's... a long and complicated story."

She turned her head to look at me for a second before looking back at the road, "Does that mean you're open to tell me about your mysterious past one day?"

I kept quiet at her question so she continued speaking, "I noticed over the past few weeks we've started talking, you always change the subject when asked about your past. Plus the only things I know about you are your birthday, where you live and how academically smart you are."

I really do want to pour everything out to her, especially everything that has happened since Zari died. I feel that I need a friend to talk to about everything just to let it out, but I can't take the risks.

She pulled up right beside the house, "Let's just start with that I'm adopted and I live with my foster dad."

"Sound good to me," Sha said as I opened the car door.

When I walked into the house, all the lights were off and Breton was most likely asleep as it's past midnight. I put my purse on the kitchen counter and went to pour myself a glass of water.

I almost spilt the jug of water when I heard the sound of an object hitting the ground.

It came from the living room so I put the glass down and went to see what that sound came from. I looked around the living room to see that a book from the bookshelf had fallen onto the ground.

How did-

Before I could finish that thought, at the corner of my eye, in the reflection of the mirror I saw someone standing behind me.