"Are you sure?" Jonathan asked again, his eyebrows meeting at some point. The caller, one of Stefani's bodyguards, answered the same response making Jonathan heavily sighed out.
Stefani was missing. The kid clearly didn't like the idea of Jonathan picking her up at school every day. Jonathan already knew that but he still didn't expect Stefani to actually run away from him like Jonathan was a bad person. It was just the second day of fetching the younger and she already ran away. Why was this kid so hard to tame?
Jonathan shoved his phone back into his pocket as he drove slowly down the street. He was checking the street carefully where he hoped he can find Stefani walking on it. As much as he hated Stefani's bad behavior, he didn't want Stefani to be in danger. After all, Stefani's father entrusted her to him. If something bad happened to Stefani, Jonathan might as well bury himself under the ground.
Jonathan sighed for the fiftieth time of the day and was about to turn the car around when someone along the street caught his attention.
The teenager, still in her uniform and wearing her black and pink backpack, was helping an old lady cross the street. Curious, Jonathan intently watched her grab the grocery bags from the old lady then flashed a smile on her as they continued passing by the pedestrian lane. For a second, Jonathan thought it was his vision deceiving him. There was no way that girl could be Stefani, right?
Suddenly, something fell from the bags of the old woman. The girl in uniform, Stefani, quickly went to pick it up and cheerfully returned it to the old lady. The action made the old lady's smile wider which was being mirrored by Stefani herself.
It was the first time Jonathan saw Stefani smile like that. Usually, the smiles he'd get from the younger were smug and not friendly at all. The Stefani he knew was always frowning, glaring, complaining, whining, and shouting names at people. Yet here she was, flashing her smiles to the old lady she didn't even know the name of.
Unconsciously, Jonathan smiled and felt a thud on his heart. He couldn't help but look at the scene before him, particularly staring at the teenager and her smiles that shone brightly under the sun...
Before he knew it, Stefani was already waving her hand goodbye to the old lady she had helped. Jonathan woke up from his reverie, pressed and made a loud honk, startling Stefani who had her arm up waving.
Stefani turned her head to Jonathan's car, her eyes squinting, thinking she had seen it from somewhere but could not exactly remember where.
Jonathan got out of the car and walked towards her.
Stefani's eyes widened as she found Jonathan walking to her, and she was about to sprint away from Jonathan when Jonathan grabbed her upper arm, stopping her from escaping.
"Let me go!" Stefani tried to get Jonathan's hand off of her arm. "I said let go, you monkey!"
Jonathan bit his lower lip, annoyed at the fact that Stefani was trying to escape from him again. Jonathan wanted some answers to his questions. Why was it that Stefani was treating him this bad when she can give a smile to a stranger? Thinking about it, Jonathan was not even a stranger, so how come Stefani could treat other people well but not him?
Sighing out in annoyance, he dragged Stefani to his car and pushed the complaining, resisting the younger inside. Jonathan quickly went to the driver's seat, though didn't start the engine.
"Now you're going to force me to come with you? Don't you know I could sue you for kidnapping? I'm 17 you know! I can-" Stefani's words were muffled when Jonathan placed his hand on her mouth. Seriously, this mouth needed to stop. Stefani talked too much and it was starting to annoy Jonathan.
"Why do you hate me?" Jonathan, finally, asked.
Stefani was shocked to hear the question from Jonathan all of a sudden.
"Stefani," Jonathan whispered, making another beat skip his heart. His eyes were focused on Stefani as he removed his hand slowly from the younger's mouth. He badly needed to hear why this person hated him to the core. To his disappointment, however, Stefani did not give him an answer.
"Let's... just go home," Stefani said almost in a whisper, eyes now suddenly staring down her lap. Jonathan thought it was like déjà vu. He intently watched Stefani's eyes waver, her hands clutching tightly on her uniform as if letting go of the cloth would finally reveal her emotions. She hated to say what she felt inside.
Jonathan knew Stefani had a reason for her hatred towards him and he wanted to know it. He badly wanted to hear it... So that he would be able to fix it and make Stefani accept him and love him.
... Did he just think that? No... No way.
Jonathan's grip on the steering wheel tightened, desperately trying his best to stay focused and not turn to look at the person sitting on the passenger seat.