"What did Auntie say?" Arahan messaged Selena after reaching home.
"I don't want to talk to you," Selena replied. She even thought, 'I am not an idiot, so I told what my mother said. Or else, you will without hesitation come at me.'
Arahan called her 4–5 times, but she didn't pick up.
"Selena, you're making me angry," He messaged her again.
"Okay, so your anger is valid anger, but what about what you did to me today? You kissed me in front of my mom. You claimed rights over me in front of the whole school. What will people think about me? Do you even care a little?" Selena replied.
"Call me. I want to talk to you," Arahan told her again.
A little while later, her call came. "Speak, what do you want to say?" Selena said.
"Have you ever spoken to any other boy like you do with me?" Arahan asked her.
"I've never even talked to any boy except you, also Victor asked me about some studies related matters," She replied back, but after knowing what she said, she regretted it a little.
"Good girl. See how loyal you are? You don't even talk to other guys besides me," Arahan teased over the phone. "And you know what else? Even when you're mad at me, you still talk politely instead of snapping at me. That totally sounds like wife behavior."
"You…" Selena said angrily, "what kind of nonsense logic is that? I'm polite with everyone. That's just how I talk."
"See? Even now you're acting all sweet and patient with me," Arahan laughed.
"I seriously don't want to talk to you right now!" she said before immediately hanging up.
Arahan tried calling her two or three more times, but she ignored every call.
"Oh, so now you're ignoring me?" he texted her afterward. "Fine. Tomorrow I'm getting payback."
Then he tossed the phone onto his bed and went to sleep.
---
The next day, when he reached near her house, he shouted loudly, "Selena, come out!"
In a little while Selena came out, but with her scooty. "I'm not going on your bike. I'll go on my own scooty."
Arahan drove his bike straight inside her house.
"What are you doing?" She asked, completely confused about what he was going to do next.
"Parking my bike. I'm going with you too," He said, and parked his bike right there in her house.
She just stared at him, and then positioned her scooty keys toward him, "You ride the scooty."
"I don't know how to ride it. You ride," Arahan replied.
She sat on the scooty. He sat behind her.
"You're such a shameless man. I don't want to go with you, yet you're still clinging to me," Selena said, while starting her scooty.
"How can one feel shy with his own wife?" Arahan said, grabbing her waist and pulling her tightly against his body.
"Ah! What are you doing?" She was startled; her balance almost slipped.
"I'm your husband. I can do anything. Just focus on the road."
Once she regained balance, his hands moved up from her waist to her chest. He grabbed her breasts over her clothes.
"Ah… remove your hands! Otherwise I'll tell Auntie," she said angrily.
"You mean my mother?" Arahan asked, still caressing her breasts. "Go ahead and tell her. What will happen after that? At most, your marriage will happen with me. And about the age difference, I don't care about that anymore."
She was stunned by all this, and then she became quiet. The entire way, he kept playing with her body, when they were about to enter the school gate.
"Please… take your hands off here," Selena whispered.
He removed his hands. Then they went inside the gate. Many people saw him and Selena.
---
"Then Selena, I've been hearing rumors that you're involved with some senior guy from 12th grade," Natalie asked teasingly.
She was another teacher at the school and also Selena's childhood friend. The two of them had studied together years ago before Selena's family moved to Las Vegas.
"Natalie, he's just a friend," Selena replied calmly. "Our moms have known each other for years, and our families are from the same area. That's how we got close."
"'Just a friend,' huh?" Natalie smirked knowingly. "The way you talk about him doesn't exactly sound casual."
Before Selena could explain further, Natalie laughed and walked away.
Meanwhile, rumors had already started spreading around school because of what Arahan had boldly said in front of Victor:
"She's mine."
By now, almost everyone had heard some version of the story, and eventually even the principal caught wind of it.
Back in Arahan's classroom, Sophia, Naomi, and Phoebe couldn't resist teasing him during the short break between periods.
The three girls, all of whom had been his girlfriends for years, gathered around his desk with obvious curiosity written across their faces.
Naomi leaned over his shoulder first, her voice playful and teasing.
"So, Mr. 'She's mine'… already found yourself a new girl?" she whispered dramatically. "That motorcycle ride looked pretty serious this morning. We saw how tightly she was holding onto you. Planning to add her to the collection"
Phoebe slid casually into the seat beside him, crossing her legs while grinning mischievously.
"Yeah, Arahan… next time at least introduce her properly," she teased. "Or are you planning to keep her all to yourself? Because honestly, ee might get jealous, you know. And when we get jealous…"
She lightly bumped his arm while laughing.
Sophia stayed quieter than the others, arms folded while watching him carefully. Still, there was obvious concern mixed with curiosity in her eyes.
She stepped closer and lightly tugged at the collar of his shirt.
"Arahan… are you seriously into her?" she asked softly. "Remeber, I am still a virgin, before you add extra collection, first make me woman."
Although Sophia has a shy personality. She also wants to compete for her position.
Arahan smirked, caught between amusement and the growing heat from their combined attention. He leaned back in his chair, letting his hand casually rest on Phoebe's knee under the desk for a brief squeeze. "Relax, girls. She's new, that's all. Nothing's changed with you three."
---
Meanwhile, the principal called a meeting with the teachers and strictly warned everyone not to discuss the rumour about Selena. Then he summoned Selena privately.
"Selena, I've heard all these things going around. Your father is a good friend of mine, so I've suppressed the matter. But it would be best if you stay away from Arahan. People won't blame him, they'll blame you. You're quite a bit older than him. If you want, I can expel him from the school right now."
"No, Uncle, please don't. I'll make sure to keep my distance. Expelling him would ruin his entire year," Selena said softly. The principal reluctantly agreed.