"If we're only ever looking back,

We will drive ourselves insane."

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My eyes nearly fell out of my sockets as I took in the magnificent sight before me. Four sleek, expensive cars idled at the front of the school entrance, surrounded by a small herd of excited students. Asher was standing by the side of the third car, a beautiful black Porsche Spyder, looking as impatient as ever. It was like an invisible rain cloud constantly hovered over that boy. He waved us over, and shot me a fleeting annoyed glare. Well hello to you too, dickwad.

"Emily's riding with me. Go pick one of the cars to ride with," he stated bluntly before walking over to the passenger side of his car, opening the door for Emily like a gentleman. If glares could kill, Emily would probably be six foot under, murdered by the jealous Royals-crazed girls surrounding us. Emily seemed to notice this, and quickly slipped into the passenger seat with a face as red as a tomato.

My eyes twinkled bright with excitement as I eyed the other three cars, all of which had tinted windows. My jaws nearly dropped as I spotted a navy blue Bugatti, the very first car in the line. As my eyes traveled past the beauties, a classy silver Aston Martin and a flashy matte green Ferrari.

Squealing internally, I practically skipped towards the sparkling Bugatti, opening the door carefully and sliding in.

"Ohmygoshthisissoawesome!" I whispered to myself excitedly. Gingerly, I let my curious fingers run down the smooth leather of the seat, almost shitting bricks at how soft it was. It even has the new car smell!

I glanced to the side, and after realising the driver was none than Robin Oswald Clair, my excitement deflated almost immediately and a small frown replaced my grin. Cocking an eyebrow, Robin wordlessly started his car; the engine purring to life.

As much of a dick Robin is, he has amazing taste in cars, I thought, looking around the interior of the car in amazement and wonder.

"You're quiet," he commented, his eyes never straying from the road.

"There's nothing to say," I answered, trying my hardest to sound indifferent and not down-right pissed. After all, I was in the same car as the guy that had ditched me without having even the tiniest decency to let me know in advance. No big deal.

"Hmm," he hummed, and my eye involuntarily twitched. Was that all he had to say? I am going to murder him in his sleep!

"Do you have any music?" I asked after the silence was too much for me to bear. Robin nodded, leaning over to open the compartment in front of my seat. Inside was a neat pile of CDs.

"Take your pick," he murmured. Carefully, I picked up the first CD case in the pile. It was Bastille's Bad Blood. With a smile, I popped the case open and took the CD out, handing the CD to Robin.

"You listen to Bastille?" Robin asked, glancing at me in surprise. I nodded and looked out the window as the tune of my favourite song began to play.

"I...apologise for cancelling on you last minute yesterday night," Robin began to say, and I noticed that his knuckles on the steering wheel turned white.

"It's nothing," I murmured quietly, though I wasn't going to forgive him entirely for bailing on me.

"I had an emergency meeting," he elaborated hesitantly, which surprised me. Robin didn't seem like the kind of guy to apologise and explain himself.

"It's alright. I was stupid to think you would attend the ball with me in the first place," I murmured. As much as I hated to admit it, it was true. He was an extremely popular and attractive and busy eighteen year old. Why in the world would he drop everything to go to the ball with me, out of all people?

"It's not alright. I should've at least told you in advance," Robin muttered. Well that I couldn't disagree on.

"So?" I urged, turning to face him.

"So what?" he asked, looking slight confused.

"Make it up to me," I said firmly, crossing my arms. Robin's eyebrows nearly shot off his forehead.

"What?" Robin exclaimed, for once looking as if I caught him off-guard.

"Make it up to me," I repeated slowly, glancing at him to see his brows furrowed together.

"How?" Robin asked, looking less than thrilled.

"Take me out for lunch," I decided, after pondering my choices for a few seconds. Robin glanced at me, a sliver of surprise in his eyes.

"I don't waste my time on dates, Alexandra," Robin stated, and shivers went down my spine when he said my name.

"You wasted my time, so it's only fair if you made it up to me. And for your information, it isn't a date," I replied rashly. Or is it?

Robin's hands tightened around the steering wheel, clenching his jaw tightly as he tried to control his anger.

"What is the point of this?" Robin seethed.

"Free lunch," I snorted, as if he was stupid, "duh."

"Seriously?" Robin spat.

"Yup!" I replied cheerfully, popping the 'P'.

"Fine. I'll buy you lunch. But I will decide when and where," Robin said through gritted teeth. A slow grin appeared on my face.

"You promise?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just get out of my damn car," Robin muttered, and I realised we had arrived at the mall. Judging by the way the valet was waiting almost impatiently by the car, we probably arrived a while ago.

I rolled my eyes, getting out the car and looking around the strangely empty shopping mall.

"Won't we get in trouble for skipping class?" I asked nervously, suddenly realising that we were out during school hours in school uniform.

"As if they'd dare to get us in trouble. Besides, if you don't skip class at least once in your life, you'll regret it," he muttered, smirking slightly.

"Wait, you, Mr. I-Have-A-Stick-Up-My-Ass, skipped class before?" I exclaimed in surprise, earning a dirty look from him.

"Yes. And for the record, I don't have anything up my ass," he growled. I rolled my eyes.

"Where's Em, anyway?" I asked, trying to change the subject. As if on cue, the roar of an engine broke the peace and quiet, and Asher's Porsche rolled into the entrance. Three valets appeared, rushing to the cars.

I watched as Logan stepped out of his Ferrari, and Yuko out of his Aston Martin. I let out a low whistle. Lucky guys...

"I take that you like cars?" Robin asked quietly and I shook my head in response.

"Are you kidding me? I don't like them, I love them. Back in my hometown, my dad used to always bring home these magazines and we'd talk for—," I cut myself off, realising that I had said too much. I glanced at Robin, who had an unreadable expression on his face.

"Forget what I said," I muttered, internally scolding myself for having such a big mouth. We waited in uncomfortable silence as Emily and Asher made their way towards us. Yuko and Logan trailed behind, both with bored expressions on their faces.

"I'm going to the music store," Logan muttered immediately, before turning and entering the shopping mall.

"I'll be in the bookshop," Yuko said, trailing after Logan. Despite the fact that it was Friday, the shopping mall was strangely...deserted.

"There's no one here," I commented, frowning at the unusual sight before me.

"Get used to it when you're out with us. We always rent the entire mall when we go shopping," Asher said, almost smugly.

"The entire mall?" I blurted out.

"Of course," Robin replied, almost dismissively, "how do you expect us to shop if everyone's gawking at us and grabbing everything we touch?"

I rolled my eyes. What a diva.

Without another word, Asher beckoned Emily to follow him. Robin and I trailed behind them quietly.

Asher turned to Emily and gave her a once-over, in which she began to blush like a baboon's butt.

"Mother says you need to dress more...sophisticatedly," Asher sighed, running a hand down his face. I bit my lip. I could practically imagine the spark of excitement in her eyes fade.

"Sophisticatedly?" Emily repeated, staring at herself. Asher nodded silently.

"Do you think I'm...too plain?" Emily whispered, refusing to meet his eyes. She fiddled with her fingers restlessly. Asher glanced at her.

"Emily...," he trailed off, perhaps trying to find the words to say. He came up with nothing.

"Sorry," Emily mumbled quietly, so quietly I almost didn't hear her. Asher didn't look at her.

I gasped softly, glaring daggers into his head. That asshole! How can he just...basically admit that he thinks she's plain? And Emily is far from being plain! Look at her blue eyes, her hair, her personality! Everything about her is vibrant!

"It's rude to eavesdrop," Robin muttered beside me. I glanced at him, frowning.

"It's not eavesdropping if they're being loud. I can't help but hear," I defended, crossing my arms. As we entered a shop, a sales assistant immediately approached us.

"Hello! Welcome to Hilda's, I'm Jen—"

"Just get her a new wardrobe," Asher interrupted, pointing at Emily, who refused to look at the sales assistant in the eye. The sales assistant's smile faltered, but she quickly recovered, "Of course, Mr. Dane. Mr. Clair."

After she bowed at the two boys, she gestured for Emily to follow her. Emily cast me a nervous glance, and without hesitance, I followed them.

"Where do you think you're going?" Robin practically barked.

"Beat it," I spat defiantly. I wasn't in the mood to deal with his attitude.

"Lexi!" Emily sighed in relief, rushing over to me. "Thank god you're here! I hate shopping."

"This is Jenna, she's going to help me today. Jenna, this is Lexi," Emily quickly introduced. The sales assistant gave me a hesitant smile, looking less stiff and uptight without the boys around.

"Nice to meet you," I said, returning her smile. "Alright, now let's get started!"

We spent the entire hour in the shop, helping Emily find outfits that screamed 'Sophisticated!' but not anything that made her look like she wasn't herself. Asher stood by, offering some comments here and there. Robin sat beside his friend quietly, on his phone.

The next shop we went to was a salon, where Emily had her hair layered and highlighted slightly. The last place we stopped by was the optical shop, where she picked up several boxes of contact lenses.

"Do you even wear contacts?" I whispered.

Emily nodded, "Only on special occasions, but Asher insists that I wear it every day."

We were interrupted by the sales assistant who returned with the new boxes of contact lenses, and after Asher had paid, we headed back to the cars without another word.

Four hours and three dozen shopping bags later, I collapsed into Robin's car, wiping the thin sheen of sweat on my forehead.

"That was a workout," I huffed, almost rejoicing in happiness when Robin turned the air conditioning on. We rushed around the shopping mall like ants in a hot pot, buying anything and everything that Asher liked. I ended up carrying a dozen shopping bags, all filled with various clothes, shoes, bags and makeup for Emily. Thank god we could finally rest. My feet's aching and my arms are sore.

"You alright there?" Robin mocked, glancing at me in slight amusement. I narrowed my eyes.

"Yes," I replied, crossing my arms. Turns out Asher had asked his three friends for a favour, which was to allow him to use the space in the trunks of their cars to put all of the shopping bags. Why couldn't he just hire a driver to deliver it all back to the academy? Does he enjoy making his friends watch as he tortures people?

"Can you please just take me back?" I muttered, picking at the skin on my thumb, a bad habit I had developed ever since I was little.

Without a word, Robin turned on the engine and began the drive back to Meilleur.

"I heard about what happened to your family," Robin murmured after a while, and I whipped my head to the side so fast I almost gave myself whiplash.

"What did you just say?" I breathed, not believing the words he had just uttered to me. Robin kept his mouth shut.

"H-how do you know this?" I stuttered, my fists clenching together tightly. I felt my throat constrict uncomfortably as I waited for him to answer.

"How do you know this, Robin?" I asked again, raising my voice and wincing when it cracked at the last word. Robin frowned slightly, and shook his head. I felt my lips tremble, the memory of my family shooting spikes into my heart. It was like I was a badly wrapped present and my wrapper was beginning to fall apart.

I was sad, because the thought of my family, deceased and six feet under always brings my mood down. But most importantly, I was angry. How did Robin know this? Did he stalk me? He had no right to go snooping around in my business. None at all.

I stared out the window, willing myself not to cry in front of him, my hands clenching into a fist. I watched as the buildings pass by in a blur, and hoped it wasn't due to the tears in my eyes. I stubbornly wiped my eyes, refusing to let him see me cry.

"You shouldn't go snooping in other people's pasts, you know?" I whispered. I heard him sigh.

"Well?" I raised my voice, staring at him. His jaw clenched tightly.

"You know, just because you're rich and popular doesn't give you any right to walk over anyone and everyone!"

"Fine. Look, I'll make it up to you right now. Is dinner alright, instead of lunch?" Robin asked.

I didn't answer, but after a few minutes of tense silence he took my silence as consent. With one hand on the steering wheel, he used the other to retrieve the phone out of his pocket.

He dialled a number, in which the receiver picked up the phone almost immediately.

"Good evening, Mr. Clair. What can I do for you?" I heard the receiver say.

"Cancel my meeting with Alfred Kross and dinner with Adam O'Haley. I want a reservation for two at Fukū for seven o'clock," Robin said, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

"Noted, Mr. Clair. Anything else?"

"No. Thank you, Mira," Robin said, before hanging up. He placed his phone back into his pocket, and glanced at me.

"How does Japanese sound? Emily's always going on about how you enjoy Japanese food," Robin asked quietly. I nodded hesitantly, too surprised to offer any words. He was cancelling work to take me out for dinner. I was still angry, but I wasn't going to turn down free dinner. Besides, this is probably his idea of an apology, right? He might not be so bad after all, I thought to myself.

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A/N: Hey everyone! I'm so sorry for the lack of updates here. I was extremely busy with assignments in January and I guess I overestimated myself. Thank you for the patience and all the encouraging posts. I will try to upload as many chapters as possible to make up for the lost time :) Please be understanding that although the old edition is completed, it takes some time for me to transfer the chapters to Wattpad. Cheers!

Song of the Chapter: Bad Blood // Bastille