"Jasper...?" I called, finally tired of the creepy silence between us as we reached our car. If he wants to scold me, let him do. It's actually way better than this silence. He turned to me in what seemed like a plain, emotionless expression, unlike his serious face at the principal's office.

"Yeah?" He asked. I rolled my eyes at this, frustrated that he wasn't reacting at all. At least he could give a hint about what's about to happen, right? But no, of course not, everything's a surprise when it comes to Jasper.

He didn't sound mad, yes, but then again, some things can happen when you're expecting it at the least. Maybe he's just waiting for the right moment, like when I mention my friends' party. That'll be perfect then, just perfect.

"Aren't you mad at me?" I asked softly, making sure to sound a little more nice so that he might unexpectedly change his mind.

He scrunched his face curiously through a smile, "Why would I be mad at you?"

Like he didn't know.

I frowned a little, a bit surprised at that, but the major part of my mind telling me that he's just pretending to be nice and then suddenly start the scolding out of nowhere. This is just his trick, it's got to be.

"Because I made a fight at school, and uh, y'know. All that scene I made," I explained stupidly.

"I know," he shrugged, slightly grinning at how I explained everything to him again, "But what's the big deal here? School fights are pretty common, even I've made some before. Besides, I know it wasn't entirely your fault either. Mrs.Lin explained everything to me, and she did tell me that the person you fought with had broken your phone with no apparent cause. Honestly, she deserved it. Destroying someone else's property is just wrong; how long can anyone tolerate a person hurting them on a daily basis?"

I smiled at him. He was literally supporting me! I never expected that from him, obviously not. Dad would've grounded me for weeks, maybe even took away my phone for sometime - well, since there's no more phone anymore, maybe my laptop. I was really thankful that at least one adult understood how I felt and my reasons for making that fight. Breaking a phone might seem like nothing to rich snobby kids like Ava who love to waste their dad's hard earned money on the most unnecessary things ever, but I'm not like them. I value stuff that my dad has bought me, just like I value even the teddy bear I got from an old babysitter of mine years ago.

"Thank you, Jasper," I said with a grateful sigh, "I thought you weren't asking me anything about it because you were mad at me. Like really, really mad."

"Nope, I'm not. I have no reason to be mad," he said with a sly grin and walked off to the car with me right behind, "And from this, I realized something else too."

Oh no. Is this going to be his actual reaction? Was all he said until now just a pretense? Will he -

Wait a minute. He asked 'How long can anyone tolerate a person hurting them on a daily basis?' and I didn't even notice that sentence in the midst of rejoicing at how he was on my side. How does he know that she hurt me a lot? Did he just guess it, or...

"The girl you fought with, she's constantly on odds with you, isn't it?" He asked, "She broke your phone today, but she has done many other things before too. Isn't that true?"

So he guessed it right. I couldn't stop but nod my head slowly, not interested in disagreeing with him right now.

"You're right," I murmured.

"Why haven't you told your dad yet?"

"Because he and Ava's dad are already in a tough competition. I don't want to put dad in danger by complaining against Ava and causing a fight," I said, "Besides, what's the point in complaining if I fight back most of the time? Like today? It's just a school fight, nothing big."

He shook his head at that, "You think so, June. You may have hurt her back, but what's the point in that if you too get hurt? You're not gaining anything in anyway; you're just hurting her the same way she did to you."

"What do you mean, Jasper?"

I did not mean to sound too stupid, it just came out naturally. I was able to understood what he meant, kind of, but not in this context. If she decides to hit me, break my phone and push me, shouldn't I be doing the same back to her instead of standing there like a clown and watching her torture me? I mean, I can tolerate it if she's just verbally abusing me like usual or even just mildly pushing me and stuff, but there's a limit to what every person can tolerate. Maybe, it's also because of my tolerance that she found the guts to think, 'Oh, June's just a stupid doll who ignores it even if I kill her, so I'll just go on with my abuses'. I can't let her think that I'm a coward, can I?

"You must react, but not in this way. See how it caused you a bad name at school and hurt you too?" He explained further, pointing to the blood stains on my shoulders, "What I'm saying is, next time she's giving you a hard time, you definitely have to react instead of ignoring her; but not by punching her back and causing harm to yourself in the process."

"Then how?"

"Tell me," he winked at me, "I'll deal with it. Actually, we will deal with it."

I squinted at him for some seconds. Did he really mean what I think he did? As if in...pay her back together?

"Wait, you mean you'll help me pay her back?"

"Well, in a way, yes. But not anything physical - we'll just scare her off in the nicest way possible."

"Damn, that's actually better than my other plan - which was to kill her the next time she punches me," I grinned, and he laughed at that, "Nevermind, I'm kidding."

"But I didn't expect this from you, though."

I glanced up at him questioningly.

"I mean, this whole scene. You looked like the 'non-violent' kind of person," Jasper shrugged, "It's hard for me to imagine you beating up someone like that. Then again, I already realised your strength when you pushed me over that day."

"I know, I'm Superman 2.0," I waved my hands dramatically.

"You'll soon be dead Superman if you keep fighting with random idiots."

"I know. I'll be careful next time."

"That's better. Sometimes, having control over how you express your feelings is better than expressing everything unnecessarily and landing in trouble."

"Yeah. But we have plans for when something like this happens again, isn't it?" I said, referring to what he said about helping me out.

He nodded, "Yep. That's a sure deal."

We high-fived and then laughed.

"Anyways....," Jasper spoke as he leaned against the car, "Don't you need another phone now?"

I stood silent, kind of confused about this, because that means Jasper might've to tell dad about what happened, and I didn't want him to know anything.

First of all, I didn't want dad to know about the whole fight and secondly, I didn't want dad to buy me another phone. I felt guilty, though I wasn't the one who broke it, and I felt that it was fine for me to remain phoneless till I have enough fund to buy one myself. At least I do have a laptop.

Phoneless, wow, I made a new term.

It's also partially my fault that it broke; I could've kept it in my pocket instead of holding it in my hand wide openly like that, because I should've known that Ava would do something like this, knowing how hateful she is towards me. I know I'm not some psychic to tell the future, but I could've thought about it. Plus, even if I've my own justifications, dad would never accept what I did and would not buy me a phone anyways. So, either way, it's going to turn out negative - then why take the extra negative of telling dad about it and getting grounded on his behalf? No thanks, I'd rather adjust with Jasper's calmness and support for me in this situation.

"That's fine... I don't want a phone right now. It's not required, actually," I shrugged sheepishly and sat on the passenger seat as he opened the door for me for the third time. He smirked with an expression that evidently asked me 'Are you actually dumb, or just acting so?'and took his seat beside me, "Really, June? You may not need it otherwise, but y'know, you can always get kidnapped or trapped in some other emergency. How on earth are you going to inform someone then? Send a letter?"

As if the kidnappers are going to willingly permit me to call this dumbass here, maybe even give me their wifi password to call him via WhatsApp, tell him something like "Hey, these guys here kidnapped me. I'm at the basement of some mall, can you rescue me in about one hour or so?" and then let me go after a fine lunch when he finds me. Good riddance.

"Kidnapped? Are you seriously thinking about me getting kidnapped all the time? For your information, I'm not some kidnap toy," I shot back sarcastically. For some reason, 'kidnap toy' sounded a lot like 'sex toy', but I realized that it was just my dirty mind being dirty as always.

He laughed, "Okay, maybe I do, but that's just my job and I got to be more cautious than even you are, about yourself," then, suddenly putting on a serious and stern face, he continued, "But jokes apart, you're not going anywhere without a phone, not even to school. And think of it as being part of your protection - your phone is my assistant in protecting you."

I rolled my eyes. Was I really in so much demand for getting kidnapped? Or maybe he was exaggerating about the part where he wouldn't send me to school without my phone. But it's a sure fact that he wouldn't let me go to Karly's and Klaus' house without my phone...and to me, that's an even bigger problem than not going to school, obviously.

I gulped in fear. I just don't want dad to know...and getting a phone means exactly that. Why must Jasper be so adamant about getting me a phone? It's not like we're having any classes or homeworks online, the only thing I use my phone for is for social media sites and some digital art. He sounds like he's the one using my phone more than I do. His justifications are acceptable, but so is mine. If I've never been kidnapped throughout my whole fifteen years of life, then what are the chances of getting kidnapped out of nowhere now? I'm sure that most - like 99% of - kidnap victims haven't even put their phone to use during what happened to them because of the fear and shock, as well as because the kidnappers aren't simply waiting for them to call someone and inform. Sure, the location as well as tower will help find me, but if the kidnappers are smart enough, they can easily get away with it.

Why am I even talking about a totally hypothetical situation here?

"Actually, I think I know why you're saying that," he said after a bit of silence, realisation softening down his stern expression before, "You don't want Mr.Jacobs to know about this. That's it, isn't it?"

Did he just read my mind or something? Well, if he did, I'm glad he did. I was kind of confused about how exactly to tell him that issue, but now that he realised it by himself, I don't have to explain it and make him understand what I feel like. Maybe he already knows well.

"Yeah, you're right," I confessed awkwardly, "Please don't tell him, Jasper. It's not just the fact that he will scold me, but , um...I just don't know for sure."

He paused for sometime, as if either thinking about what I said or just processing what I said, then smiled lightly, "I understand. I won't tell him, but on one condition."

My eyes widened, a light sigh leaving my lips. What was it now?

"I'll buy you a new phone."

WHOA-

"What?" I asked, not sure if I heard him right, "You'll buy me a phone...?"

He nodded with a shrug, "Yeah, any objection to that?"

A hell lot.

First of all, I'm no one of his. He has no reason to buy me a phone, I've never exactly bought anything for him or done something that he might have to pay me back for. I've never even spent a single penny of my allowance for Jasper; then why on earth would he think of buying me a phone? Putting a share on dinner is fine with me, but buying something entirely for me with his own cash seems...weird. Besides, he gets paid by my dad for the job he does; if he spends that hard-earned money for me, then that's technically like returning his money to his boss, right? And that's completely unfair. I don't think that someone like Jasper should even be paying for me - I can always use my own allowance or ask my dad for a new phone, I can afford that. But I'm not very sure of how Jasper is, financially. His background is still a mystery to me, except that he has no company at his home, but that doesn't tell anything about his financial state. Letting him buy something for me without making sure that his financial status is okay is even worse.

"Yes. I told you, I don't need a phone anymore -"

"That is a stupid decision, June," he said, folding his arms across his chest with a serious expression, "You're definitely getting a new phone today. Don't look at me like that; It's just a phone, not a Rolls-Royce."

I sighed in defeat, maybe a little more earlier than I usually do. I had just finished another argument with him, I wasn't in the mood to have one more. Not worth arguing with him, he always wins over me.

Crap, I said that wrong.

I meant, he wins over the arguments with me.

"Fine, you can buy a phone for me, and I'll pay you back with my allowance when I have enough," I said, trying to make it sound as stern as he did.
However, he just chuckled and said, "No, not necessary. I'm paying with my own cash and there's no change in it." And then he got in the car nonchalantly. I stood there outside, staring at the car window blankly at how easily he ridiculed my 'serious-June-face' with just a stupid chuckle and one-liner. Come on, why can't he just let me pay?

He looked at me from inside the car, "You want to stay with your principal tonight? If so, I'll just take off without -"

I quickly got in, shut the door with a harsh slam and folded my arms across my chest with a scowl, "Just go."

"Go where?"

"To wherever you want to buy me a phone from. Y'know, like an 'electronics store'."

"You got that wrong. We're actually going to the hospital before that."

What the fuck?

"Why?" I asked, surprised. He pointed to my shoulder and I groaned - I forgot that again. However, it had kept bleeding for almost two hours by now. The entire top half of my shirt had been soaked in blood and it was clearly visible by now.

"But it isn't even -," I started, knowing very well that I was about to go to the hospital whether I protest against it or not, but protesting just for the sake of it.

"It is serious, it could cause serious blood loss or any infection, and it can't be cleaned with simple first aid. No more excuses, we're going to the hospital right away," he said sternly. I bit my lip and nodded hesitantly. There was no point in protesting anyways; Jasper's too stern when it comes to my health, much more stern than he is about the phone issue.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Jasper handed me his black jacket to cover the dark blood stains splotched on my shirt. I wondered why on earth he would even have a jacket in the car when he was always wearing different sorts of sweaters and stuff - that too in this already-pretty warm climate. He dismissed it for being used for emergencies, since jackets are actually handy and can be used in case it gets too cold or snowy. That's acceptable, I guess, because though the climate is warm for now, it can quickly convert to being cold and snowy, or rainy and humid, anytime. And a jacket can protect from any of these weathers. Also, it did come to handy right now, when my top got stained with blood, so yeah.

At first, I had thought of changing my shirt and covering myself with only the jacket, but then I realized that if I've to pull off my shirt, that means I've to pull out the glass that's stuck along with it too - resulting in more blood loss and pain. Besides, I'm definitely not changing my dress in the car, especially with Jasper right at the front seat. He won't look, probably, but I'm just being paranoid, as usual. "You can take it, by the way," Jasper said, gesturing to the jacket I was wearing.

"Why? I can always give it back to you after a wash," I replied, thinking that he said that because it now had my blood on it and can take a long time to get completely cleaned.

"No, that's not why. You can take it because I've never used it anyways, and probably never will," he said. I looked at him questioningly, and he sighed, "I prefer sweaters over jackets."

"Then why did you even buy it in the first place?"

This guy is crazy.

"I thought I liked jackets then. Figured I didn't, after it'd been kept in the closet for years without any use."

I chuckled and nodded; I liked jackets, and I was more than happy to have a new, plain jacket in the midst of just two or three other jackets which were either multicolored or too itchy to wear. Something casual is always something comfortable. That's exactly why I wore only shirts, T-shirts or hoodies to school instead of the other itchy and uncomfortable but fancy outfits I had - and that's also why Ava and Sally ridiculed my type of outfits everytime they got the chance to. Said that 'a rich businessman's daughter can't be seen in public wearing such a casual and stupid dress.

Anyways, at the doctor's, I had the glass shards taken out of my shoulders with a lot of pain and more blood loss while Jasper paid the bill for me outside - which I despised, yet again. The doctor, who was an old but elegant-looking woman with bright red hair and spectacles kept at the tip of her nose, kept talking to me all throughout the cleaning session, probably for ceasing my pain and letting me concentrate on other things instead of focusing on the injuries.

"So, you say you had a fight at school?"

"Yeah, a girl broke my phone and I did the same to her. Then she pushed me over and I fell on the glass shards."

"Kids these days. You could've just told the teacher about it or tried to stop it instead of doing the same thing to her, couldn't you?" she scolded me. I groaned internally. See? Adults never understand, like never. The only adult who did understand, but at the same time advised me to take a different path during such a situation next time, is Jasper.

"I tried to. But she was getting to the core of my limit, doc," I tried to make her understand. And did I get any far with that? Of course not. What did I even expect? A woman as old as her, a woman who is far more experienced than a tiny teenager like me, to understand my situation and my mind right at that moment? Hell, no, that's illegal.

Her assisting nurse rubbed antiseptic over the injuries after she was done taking out the tiny bits of glass and I winced a bit, my body flinching in a sudden shock of pain. Shit, why does the antiseptic sting more than anything else? Then they proceeded to stick some bandages over the wounded parts and asked me to cover it like that for a day or two, worrying that it might get infected if left exposed. After everything was done, the doctor smiled at me and finally asked my name.

"June Jacobs," I replied with the same smile on my face.

Her eyes slightly widened, "You mean - you're Mr.Jacobs' daughter?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Oh my God!" she almost squealed like a young child, grabbing both my hands in her own and shaking her head in disbelief. For a second, I was about to roll my eyes because I thought she was just yet another fan of rich and famous businessmen. But her next sentence caught me off guard.

"I-I can't thank your father enough, he has helped us so much when we thought we were about to die. If not for him, I wouldn't even be here right now. Neither would my family."

I blinked at her with utmost surprise. My dad knows this doctor personally?

To let us talk about it, the assistant left the room and the doctor, namely Emma Mathews, sat in front of me on her doctor's chair and sighed heavily, "Mr.Jacobs was our savior when we got to the edge of being homeless. I and my family were victims of the mall explosion back in 2009, and your father was the one initiating help for various families then. You probably don't know about this, do you?"

"Actually, yes... I think?" I said, not sure whether dad has told me about such a story or not. He has initiated many charity funds, and I do remember him mentioning a tiny detail about this explosion and his role in charity funds then. But where have I heard about it recently?

Oh, of course! Jasper had mentioned this to me lately, when we were talking about Dorian. He'd told me how he thinks he saw Dorian during one such event and that he may have been a victim of the mall explosion.

"What happened to your family during that incident?" I asked her, now curious about whether all of this is connected and if Dorian actually was a victim of such an extreme case. From what I heard until now, Emma was indeed at the near-end of being homeless and she says it's my dad who helped her with those funds, a home, and got back her job as an experienced doctor. This means that she might know Dorian too, since from what Jasper told, his too was an extreme case of losing everything he had.

"We lived nearby the mall, and I had my own clinic right beside my house. All was going well until that mall exploded on that frightful Saturday night, taking along with it our small house as well as my clinic," she cleared her throat, reliving her traumatic experience while talking about it, "I was glad that I got at least my daughter back alive - she and I had been at a relative's house then. But my husband couldn't survive it. We were devastated upon learning the news and all our relatives, including my brother, left us to our own fate right afterwards."

I listened keenly, now an even higher amount of respect for dad rising in my mind as she retold her experience after the blast. It wasn't a much common experience for me to listen like this to someone who has been directly helped by dad.

"That's when your father appeared in my life, like a guardian angel. He took care of me and my daughter during our worst times and treated me like his own sister. I realized then that sometimes, blood-relations aren't exactly required for us to treat others like family - if that's the case, my own brother wouldn't have left me helpless. After he got a house built for us, left us enough cash to live for a year or so, and got a job for me at this hospital, he took off from here and we never saw him again - but believe me when I tell you that he was God to us then, and still is. I respect him so much. And you're his daughter - I'm indebted to you as well, for your father helped us out of a time of trauma and disaster," she explained, almost on the verge of tears now.

I smiled empathetically at her and patted her shoulder, "I never knew this, doc, but now I do and I'm glad. But you don't have to be indebted to me, or even to my father - he doesn't expect anything back from anyone."
Well, I may not be as close with dad as I used to be, but I know him well enough to know that he doesn't expect anything back from people he has helped. And I deserve no credit or respect for what he has done - I'm not even like him in so many ways. He doesn't get cranky at everything like I do, he's an optimistic person while I find negatives in everything and anything, and mainly, I've never helped people get out of such a traumatic state like my dad has done. I'm a mere stupid teenager who gets into fights at school, has trust issues about my bodyguard and thinks about my lost mother all the time.

"Oh, look, June," Emma said suddenly, taking out her phone and showing me a picture, "This is a picture taken with your dad on his last day with us."

I looked at the picture and saw a big group of people, with three familiar people being at the front; my dad, Karly's and Klaus' dad who's also my dad's business partner, and another guy with dad whom I've seen before but not met. Oh, so the twins' dad was involved in this too? I never heard his name around though. Dad was keeping his arms around a young guy and girl at each side, and further behind stood Emma and many other victims who had lost their homes but got it back. The girl beside dad looked pretty similar to Emma and I figured that must be her daughter. And the guy...

Wait, the guy standing along with dad - that looks exactly like Dorian. So what Jasper said must be true. And maybe, both Dorian and Jasper didn't really recognize each other much. The former was only ten at the time, had just come out of a traumatic experience, and probably doesn't even remember the people who helped him too. Jasper, at the time, should've been about eighteen or so. It's not hard to recognise someone six years later, sure, but Dorian either doesn't remember or just chose to forget the entire thing like some trauma victims do.

"Um, doc, do you know who this is?" I asked her, pointing to the guy who looks like Dorian. She shook her head, "No, he never talked much, I guess. He'd lost both his house and his entire family in the incident. And it wasn't Mr.Jacobs who took care of his problems."

"Then who?"

"Mr.Justin. The person on the far right, see? He was the one preparing funds for a few of them and this young guy was under his care. Unfortunately, Mr.Justin didn't get any credit regarding his role in any of this."

"Why not?" I asked, remembering that 2009 was also the time when Karly was struck with a very bad health condition and needed a lot of care to get back to life with no complications. And that's when we'd befriended each other at school, after I joined this school in fifth grade.

"Well, his daughter, who was just ten or something, had fallen too ill and he had to leave before the two others - it's true that he had a big part in initiating the funds, but he forced Mr.Jacobs to cut his name from the people who'd helped us since he had to borrow a lot of money from the former for the girl's treatment. He didn't completely leave though; he kept taking care of this young guy here and it's him who got a house for him, a caretaker and an admission at some nearby school, even when his own daughter was almost dying at the hospital. I'm sure that he doesn't know, though, since Mr.Justin rarely visited us afterwards and sent money through some mediator. I hope his little daughter is fine now."

I smiled at that. She sure is fine.

Finally, I realised what exactly had went on in Dorian's life before he met us. I guess 2009 was a bad year for every single one of us - Karly was too unwell to even come to school properly and when she did, most people ignored her like she had some sort of a contagious disease and treated her pretty badly for no reason, especially you-know-who. Klaus was traumatized at his sister's bad condition and his only hope was that she should come back to life soon, a lot of his old friends stopped hanging around him and he went from being a topper to being the worst at academics. And I, well, I changed schools after dad got a transfer and the only problem I faced was that I missed my old friends and had a difficult time adjusting to a new school, new street and new house. But that soon changed when I met the twins, befriended them and hung around at their house, helping Karly when required and helping Klaus overcome his hopelessness and depression. Then, by the end of 2010, everything had turned out well; I got used to this new environment and my new friends and classmates, everyone was pretty nice to me except my current rivals, Karly recovered from her bad condition completely and she was suddenly called the boldest and most badass student in class, Klaus had a savage return to being the topper student and began excelling in sports items along with that. But the worst situation of all was probably faced by Dorian, who we didn't know back then - he suffered the loss of his loved ones, his house, everything he had. I can't even think of losing my only family, my dad, and my house, and to know that a friend of mine has went through such a situation is just heartbreaking. I wonder how he held up through so much. I'm proud to have such strong, bold friends who went through so much at a young age and still stood up strong. Why aren't I like them, is the only question here.

"Oh, and, the guy who came with you, your bodyguard?" Emma asked, "I thought I saw him somewhere, and now I remember. He was Mr.Jacobs' assistant all the time back then, a youngster who just turned eighteen. He prepared all the extra supplies and food for us then while Mr.Jacobs managed funds and other important items. Is he still working as his assistant?"

Well, by 'assistant', I knew what she meant. It didn't mean an official assistant, but rather, a person who just accompanied dad to help with both official and personal things. How else can an 18-year-old be an assistant to a businessman working on very difficult projects? Jasper had actual involvement in the business only after some years of meeting dad, I knew that much, and that's not at the age of 18.

I smiled, "No, his position has went far up from there. He has become an employee in dad's business, but he still works as my bodyguard since that's where he started from."

Emma nodded, smiling, "What a nice young lad he is. He too, has my respect for everything he did at that age. I really hope to meet him today -"

"Doctor?" the assistant came in suddenly, "There's a patient waiting outside for you. Says that she wants to clear some doubts."

The doctor nodded to the assistant and smiled at me, "Sorry, June, I think I can't meet him today. But do tell him about this, and that I'm still grateful to everyone. Bye then, see you later sometime."

"Sure, doc, I will. See you later."

I went out just as the next patient entered the room. All the while, I had a big smile on my face. I never knew about all of this, how interconnected my friends and I were before we even knew each other, and how Jasper was a part of everything in this too. How my dad was such a respected and admired person in the society, how Mr.Justin, the twins' father, was the one who took care of our new friend and gave him a new life...everything she told me was so new to me. Now I understood why dad was so popular among most people compared to other businessmen. And why people recognised even me.

I'm just the more glad that I've got such a kind, hospitable and compassionate person as my father. It's true that I'm proud of my dad, but I really don't deserve any of the praise he gets; his acts were far too admirable and good for it to be showered upon me, a young teen who has never done anything worthy of respect and praise. Not that I'm really bad or anything, but I'm yet to grow upto dad's level. I probably never will, but I'll try my best. I would love to help people just like he does.