Chapter one

Zack's POV:

"Please grandma" I caressed her hands "I'm great like this"

"Honey, I brought you here because you need to find a wife, I'm starting to worry" She took a sip of her juice then put it back on the table "I'm leaving but I'd like you to stay"

"No way, I know you'll bring a creepy granddaughter of one of your high society friends" I spoke seriously because last time she set me up on date with an annoying girl who was clumsy and dropped her drink on my jeans.

The first thing I thought of was that I wished I had worn another outfit as I was wearing a white T-shirt with beige jeans matched with a blue jacket, and every time I went on one of my grandma's blind dates, something happened to my clothes so I wished for the best even thought I hated being there.

"Look young man, I don't want to repeat what I said" She narrowed her eyes "You're staying"

"Fine but if I don't like her, I'll leave right away" I stared at her trying to convince her "Deal?"

"Deal!" She kissed my cheek then hugged me tightly to the point that I couldn't breathe "Have fun"

"You know I won't" I waved at her as she was leaving the restaurant.

My grandma was an old fashion lady who thought that having a wife was the master key of life for any man, she kept setting me on dates with pretty silly girls who were not only dumb but annoying and drove me crazy so I had decided to stop listening to my grandma and there I was, having my last blind date.

I kept waiting and waiting in the restaurant for my mystery girl to show up but she didn't so I decided to call grandma and cancel everything because it was so unprofessional and such a waste of time; I called grandma to tell her I was heading out but she insisted that I had to wait ten more minutes so I accepted but things weren't quite good because I glanced Nadia coming-in as the waiter greeted her with a big smile on his face and he escorted her to my table.

"Oh god! Are you following me?" She sighed, throwing her hands in the air, exaggeratedly.

"No way! I wouldn't think of doing such thing" I smirked at her because she hated it more than anything "I mean look at you" I pointed at her.

"Why, I know I'm beautiful, thank you" She simpered as she stared at the waiter who pulled a chair for her "What are you doing? I'm supposed to meet someone"

Well, I guess I would never admit to Nadia that she was beautiful but that day she was stunning, wearing a white short dress which reached just beneath her knees, a red jacket, a red heeled sandal and a red leather mini bag. As the bold red lipstick, round glasses, and the blue Rolex, they totally added to the affect of her long black hair which reached her waist, a charm for another kind.

She looked amazing.!!!

Realizing that I was literally gawking at her, I diverted my attention to the waiter who stared at us, pretty confused of what to do, he was apparently debating with himself whether to interrupt us or leave us arguing.

"Madam" He stated but then, he lowered his head "Sorry I mean miss" He apologized immediately "Your grandfather asked me to show you your date"

"Wait a second, are you supposed to have a blind date?" I chuckled because the situation was pretty hilarious "Seriously?"

"Yeah, my grandpa insisted" She was clearly over thinking "Are you?"

"Yeah my grandma did" I answered her as I kept playing with my cup.

"Wow, Zack Collins is having blind dates now" She chuckled, containing her laughter.

"Well, I should say the same thing about you" I simpered at her, arrogantly.

"I assume you'll be having a date" The waiter pointed at the chair again, which Nadia took and started staring at me "What can I bring for you?" The waiter asked again.

"No need to, I'll call grandma to cancel it" I dialed grandma's number but as soon as I heard the first ring, I hanged up because I knew she was going to be mad at me so I turned my head and eyed Nadia "Or we can just leave and tell them that we didn't like each other"

What a coincidence, my grandma set me up with Nadia, the girl I hated for more than five years since she was quite annoying, arrogant and selfish; she thought that being smart was an advantage for her to be better than others and that was totally wrong so I had always fought with her because of it, I just couldn't handle seeing her, and having a date with her was totally a nightmare.

"You screwed it up" I stated.

"After you called me ugly" She spoke seriously but I could notice that she was hiding a devilish smile.

"You know what? I'm leaving enjoy your drink" I decided to leave but the moment I stood up, I hit another waiter who was holding a tray full of hot drinks which fell on my clothes making them all wet and dirty.

"Wow, you can say that I dropped it on you" She stood up and walked towards the door "Oh and, enjoy yourself when you talk badly about me because I'll do the same and you'll need a cold drink... it's pretty hot" She turned, winked at me devilishly then headed away.

I wouldn't even think that my day could be worse than it was minutes ago because I was stuck on a blind date with Nadia while my clothes were quite disgusting as my grandma kept calling me to get details about "The date" which we didn't have...

Cool life ha!

I put on my 'Ray-Ban Classic Clubmaster Sunglasses' on, leaving the restaurant behind, I got my car keys out of my pocket and jumped in my black Audi R8 which was my grandpa's birthday gift when I turned 21 three years ago, the coolest birthday gift ever.

I had always loved my grandpa even more than I loved grandma; not because of his fantasy gifts but because of his kindness and the way he treated me after my dad's betrayal, who ran away with another women after almost two months from my mom's death when I just turned seventeen. I felt so betrayed that I lost my trust towards everybody. However, my grandparents didn't leave my side, they made me live with them in New York and made sure I had everything I needed.

/*I appreciate having them*/

I was in the car when grandma called me quite upset and angry about something I had done but what had I done exactly? I got no idea on my mind because as far as I knew, I did nothing wrong; I got good marks in college, I didn't commit a crime and I was way far from drugs so I had to go back home to see what was happening.

As soon as I parked the car in the house's garage, I stepped out, wanting so badly to take a shower and maybe have a peaceful nap before going out with my friends. But I knew that I had to face my grandma before stepping foot put of the house again.

"I can't believe you did that!" Grandma yelled at me whilst I opened the door slowly, intending to skip the part of arguing with her "You're unbelievable"

"What have I done exactly?" I lifted my shoulders in defense.

"Mr. Mathews: Nadia's grandpa called" She let out a heavy breath as I did the same since I was relieved to hear that it was all about the date. Or in better words: The fake date.

"Oh" I closed the door behind me then walked toward her cautiously.

"He told me that you called his granddaughter psychopath and other nicknames..." She raised her eyebrow at me as I sat on the edge on the couch.

"Yeah after she poured both of our drinks on my clothes" I gestured at my dirty T-shirt.

"But why?"

"How would I know?" I stared at her trying to look as serious as ever because she had always blown my cover whenever I tried to lie so as long as I skipped the situation sooner, I would be fine "I have to take a shower, I'll see you later" I stood up and went upstairs.

"Okay but we'll have a serious talk later" She yelled back at me.

Thank god she didn't insist too much on me because I wouldn't handle it if she kept asking questions about it, I would crack down and tell her entire truth. However, she would be upset, if she found out what really happened so I had better close my mouth for good.

I took a cold shower since it has always made feel better and it was kind of relaxing but I kept thinking about Nadia and wondered what she told her grandpa and made grandma that angry so I thought that I had to speak with her to see what we were going to do if they insisted that we should be together.

Nadia and I, we never tried to be friends because it was a hate from the first sight; it all happened a month after my dad's betrayal when I moved to live with my grandparents in New York, intending to start a new life maybe and for an entire week, I didn't think about anything but my studies until that day, when I met Nadia...

Five years ago:

"I can't believe it, you're stupid" I heard a girl yelling and when I rushed to see what was happening, I saw a girl wearing a big black cardigan with big glasses, who looked quite weird yelling at one of the cheerleaders "You'll never learn !Lara"

"Sorry but I tried" Lara, the cheerleader cried "I'll try to be careful next time, Nadia"

"I don't know about that" Nadia, the weird one looked at Lara arrogantly.

"I can't fail in this too; my dad will tear me up if he finds out" Lara's tears kept flowing on the face "I'll do anything you want"

"Okay then fine" Nadia raised her hand and slapped Lara aggressively "Sorry for the slap but it will bring you back to sanity"

I thought that Nadia was overreacting when she slapped Lara because they could argue without using force and what drove me insane is that Lara didn't even fight back, she didn't even complain as she just wiped her tears and left the gym; but curiosity hunted me so I had to step-in since what Nadia did was rude and disrespectful.

"What was happening here?" I asked her seriously "I saw everything"

"It's none of your business" Nadia frowned at me as she started walking away "Who are you again?"

"None of your business" I retorted following her up.

"Yeah mommy's boy" She mumbled as soon as we reached the door.

"What? Don't even dare to say it again" Rage started boiling in my veins as soon as she spelled those words.

"Why? Your mommy didn't give your candy this morning" She chuckled, putting her hands on her hips"Shame on her"

"I said don't" I hit the wall with my hand which made my knuckles bleed immediately "I don't care about what happened back there but trust me, don't even think of crossing roads with me"

I couldn't even think or even tell that Nadia was a bully because I thought that she was hiding a sweet girl under those baggy clothes like it used to happen on "Plain Jane" and "Made" but it turned out that she was mean and annoying.

Quite the opposite.

How could she speak like that about my mother? How could she treat Lara that way? And how could she be so disrespectful and impolite? I just knew that I would hate her and I wouldn't even think of liking her, and throughout years, we always had fights and arguments which only fed our hate even more.

I sighed at myself for letting Nadia intrude my thoughts so I just rested my head back and let the water sooth my mood. In moments like that under water, I always thought of my mother because she used to do the same whenever she fought with my father, in order to let go of her problems and try to solve them.

"Sir! Dinner is served" Our chef: Oliver knocked on my door, bringing me back to reality.

"Call me Zack" I retorted right away "Not sir"

I hated when Oliver called me "Sir" because he was like a father to me, he defended me when I had fights on my senior year in high school, he had always known what was really bothering me and most importantly, I could rely on him in everything I did and I absolutely trusted him.

Grandpa was on a business trip, which meant that I would deal with my grandma's endless speech alone without remorse. However, I couldn't leave her eat alone because for a women her age, grandma had managed to be a a great company to anyone with a brain, and we all knew that she hated sitting on an empty table but no one mentioned it in front of her, therefore we always made sure that she's accompanied with someone.

"I asked Oliver to cook your favorite meal, sit" Grandma had a huge smile on her face as I reached the table "And your favorite desert too"

"Is today my birthday?" I stared at her amusingly because I knew that she was planning for something "Seriously, what's happening grandma?"

"I didn't like what happened today in the restaurant so I set you up in another date with Nadia" She spelled these words slowly, looking at everything but me.

"You what?" I managed to process what she said "No way! I already told you that it was my last blind date"

"Yeah but since you already know her, it's not blind anymore" She grinned at me devilishly.

"I'm not going, I'm just telling you" I lifted my eyebrows at her, skeptically.

"Who said you have to" She stared at me for few seconds, without saying anything until I spotted Oliver walking-in with Nadia and an old man that I assumed, he was Mr. Mathews.

"Hello my dear" Grandma pulled Nadia in a tight hug.

"Hi..." Nadia simpered at her "What are we doing here? I guess you said that we'll be eating out" She pulled away, and asked Mr. Mathews as soon as she glimpsed me, standing beside the table.

"We are" Mr. Mathews kissed my grandma's hand, what a gentleman "And here's the one who called my lovely granddaughter a crazy maniac" He diverted his attention to me and he started walking towards me as I met him midway and offered him my hand to shake that he squeezed a bit before he let go of it.

"Yeah, excuse me for few minutes, I'll go change my clothes" I excused my best trying the best as I could to look serious.

"Why? You look perfectly fine"

"I know but I kind of love this shirt and I'm afraid Nadia will ruin it for me" I nodded as I pointed at my white shirt then winked at Nadia.

"Nadia? Why?" Mr. Mathews questioned confusingly.

"The thing is that I called her maniac only because she poured both of our drinks on my clothes" I clarified, impressed of my own acting skills.

"Really?" He darted his eyes to her.

"Sorry but I thought he was trying to touch me" She answered him shyly.

I can't believe that she couldn't come up with something else because what she said was totally not happening even after million years because it was out of question that I was going to touch her even if I was dying in a desert alone with her, and that's how much I hated her.

"Were you?" He faced me with intensity held in his eyes, as he clenched and gritted his teeth at me.

"Me? Nadia? No way!" I lifted my shoulders in defense.

Mr. Mathews and grandma, they didn't seem to believe me so they made it their goal to get the truth one way or another. They kept questioning us a lot of things that were mostly based on the way we were treating one another, maybe because they saw hate we held for each other so the only pass out I thought would help us was accepting to go on another date with Nadia although I had no mood to and it was the last thing I wanted to do. I hated to see grandmother upset...

Dinner was absolutely boring as I had a serious intention of sleeping. However, Creating stories about what happened in the restaurant and trying to show them how much we hated each other was hilarious even though they wouldn't back off as they kept talking about my future with Nadia, how cute our children would be and our beautiful apartment which was near college.

/*Absurdity*/

What were they trying to do? It was pretty obvious that I hated her and Nadia felt the same about me but grandma and Mr. Mathews, couldn't see that so I had to speak with Nadia to plan for something useful in order to take off the idea of me and Nadia together out of their minds for good, or even worse talk with my grandpa if my plan didn't work out.

Nadia's POV:

That entire day was a big mess because I had never thought that I would be in Zack's Mansion, eating dinner with his grandma and planning for a date with him; for god's sake I couldn't even bear seeing him and they were talking about how cute we would be as a married couple, where did their brains go? Couldn't they see that we hated each other? How could they miss the one and only common thing between Zack and I: Hate ?

"Nadia, can you please come with me?" Zack stood up and asked me "I'll show you my Jane Austen's book collection"

"How did you know that she has one?" Grandpa pushed his drink aside and lifted his head to look at Zack who was defiantly simpering at grandpa.

"Has she?" Zack walked away as I followed him slowly, feeling their eyes on me all the way till I disappeared in the corner.

As soon as we walked in the library, Zack closed the door behind us and turned to face me, with an annoyed face and raised eyebrows "What the hell is happening there?"

"How would I know? It's annoying" I sighed at him since I didn't want to be in that position just like him "What should we do?"

"Look, we'll go on that date and pretend that we were happy but we didn't like each other" He started talking with a low and deep voice "We can use some crap about not being soulmates, okay?"

"Crap?" I eyed him, amusingly "Good idea" I diverted my attention to my surroundings "I hope it works for us because being around you, is defiantly a nightmare"

"Thank you, offence non taken" He grinned at me, annoyingly.

The library was huge, book shelves covered the beige walls with books alphabetically ordered, and with the beige curtains, the chandelier that hanged from the ceiling and the brown couches and wooden tables, it offered the right spirit to read, and I have to admit that they had an interesting books' collections, almost similar to grandpa's. However, one collection caught my gaze right away: Jane Austen's.

"You have an impressive collection" I walked around the I reached for 'Sense and Sensibility' and played with the pages since I loved the feeling I got when fingertips stroke the paper "But you miss one" I added.

"It's in my room" He spoke confidently "You want to see it" He smirked at me, mischievously.

"You'd be honored to have me in your room" I stared at him devilishly.

"You know that if we follow them, you'd be there sooner" He winked before staring deeply in my eyes with raised eyebrows.

Even when hate took its place between us, we had our own language, our eyes', we could share eye contact for few minutes without diverting our attention to anything else. But not because of unspoken love like most books and movies have spoken about, but because of rage and dislike we shared.

We stared at each other for a while, challenge hidden in our eyes and just like any other time we were in that position, I was mesmerized by the beauty of his eyes; they were that kind of eyes that looked brown in the dark, but when light hit them, they turn into shades of green. The same color as my grandpa's.

Nevertheless, I could see the hate he held for me in them because he was watching me with sparkly eyes and clenched teeth just like I gazed back at him, with no intention of being in that position with him. Thus, I took a step back and headed to the door.

We left the library acting like we had a fight up there because we wanted them to see how much we were different and even we if both loved books, it wouldn't mean that we should be getting married like they