I just can't stand anything wrong.

This Harry boy dared to date my friend and dumped her in a snap of a finger. I just abhor boys who play with the heart of innocent girls.

I was proud of myself for being courageous enough to corner him and roast him in front of all. They should also know what a deceiving guy he was. Some of the students who couldn't raise their voices considered me their savior and I intended to keep up with their hopes.

"If you dare do this again...to any girl, I swear, I'll not spare you this easily. I will kick in the deep pit full of cockroaches with no way out!"

Well, that was one heck of a creative threat, wasn't it? I cringe and shuddered at the thought of crispy cockroaches. Eee.

"Amara, you don't have the right to come between us. You bloody stay out of this!" He hissed, pointing a finger at me.

I laughed at his pathetic effort of threatening me. "Who will stop me? You? Do it, I dare you!" My parents have raised me to be a daring and tough girl; these good-for-nothing boys could never intimidate me.

Amidst the commotion, through my peripheral vision, I saw Ryan stealthily walking past us. And that made me frown, wondering how could he effortlessly exclude himself even after seeing wrong? He too could not stand anything wrong, he too raised his voice, then why not now?

I kept my eyes on him until he had disappeared into another corridor. Snapping my gaze back to Harry, I narrowed my eyes.
I had already kicked him in his balls and drenched his pants in the water for being proud of his manhood, yet I had that stubborn itch to do something more to him.

I clapped two times to grab everyone's attention even though they all were watching the show. "All the girls here, now you know what he is." I pointed a finger at Harry while keeping my gaze on the crowd. "So, be alert to falling into his fake charms. He will play with you as well. Better find a worthy guy for yourself, not these low-lives."

Harry, who stood there glaring at me as if would kill me there and then, hissed. "You'll regret this, Amara. Mark my words." He then stormed away furiously.

"Stay alert, Amara. He might harm you." I heard Joshua, my friend say as he patted my shoulder.

"I ain't scared of anybody," I said confidently.

"I hope Sia is fine," Joshua muttered. Sia and Joshua were my classmates.

Sia was a sweet, naive girl who wanted to experience everything in her teenage because she didn't want to be tagged as naive and that led her to fall for that player, Harry. Joshua was on the school's basketball team and was quite popular amongst the female species of the school and had hots for Sia. He would eat every walking female's mouth but would never confess his feelings for Sia.

I turned to him. Tory my other friend, who was in his senior year was standing beside him. Tory and Joshua, both were heartthrobs of school. Girls welcomed them with their hands around the waistband of their panties, just to drop it on their one signal.

I said, "She'll be fine. I visited her yesterday to console her. And yeah, she said she won't be showing herself in school for quite a while."

"Why should she hide inside? It should be Harry." Joshua gritted his teeth.

"I honestly believe that you should talk to her," I said softly. It was only me with whom he had shared his feelings, it was now my responsibility to bring them closer. They both were my close friends.

"Heck, I will. I'll put some senses in her brain that she doesn't have to hide." He said. I nodded my head.

Students circling us had already dissipated in the corridor. The school was already over and Joshua had basketball practice, so Tory and I decided to tag along.

Inside the basketball court, Joshua went to his team while Tory and I sat on the audience stairs. Tory was the school's best athlete, a racer, and had won many prizes for school. Whereas me, I wasn't particularly interested in any club but since I liked doing kickboxing, I chose to give my time to the gymnasium.

"You're such a badass, Amara. I'm sure Harry must have learned his lesson." Tory chuckled.

"Hope so. If he hasn't, I'm all set to teach him again." I grinned.

I then leaned forward, placed my right elbow on my thigh, supported my face on my right palm, and fiddled with the piglet keychain on my knapsack zipper with my left hand. Dad brought the keychain for me. Once when on a business trip, he found a plushy piglet keychain in one of the stores and couldn't stop himself from buying one for me and one for mamma.

"So when is your next athletic competition?" I asked.

"The coach said there's some special school event on the way, but I don't know when." He replied, styling his hair back with his fingers. He was quite handsome with brown hair, a sharp nose, a chiseled jaw, and was a gym freak. Being an athlete, he had to be active and in proper health. As a matter of fact, we both became close friends in the gymnasium itself.

I hummed in response and focused my gaze on the boys playing the game. We then got involved in random conversations.

While we were laughing at a joke that I cracked, manicured fingers snapped in my face, which caused me to look at the intruder who dared to disturb us.

It was Grace Rogers- who wasn't graceful when it came to behavior, standing there with a scowl. Her minions, Piper and Ivy guarding her. Since the school hours were over, her denim jacket slipped to her waist, showing off her tank top, and her lips were highlighted with the darkest shade of red. She wouldn't have done that during school hours or she would have given a warning.

I could never play with my dress in school. My mamma would give me an earful for a month. According to her, at school, one should follow the dress code, school is not a runway show.

"What you did with my brother wasn't acceptable, Amara!" She seethed. She was one of the queen bees of the school and let's just say, we weren't fond of each other.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "And what your brother did with my friend wasn't acceptable either."

"You will regret messing with us." Her eyes threw icy daggers at me.

I faked a fear. "Oh goodness, your brother threatened me with the same. I'm terrified." I quickly unzipped my knapsack, took out a lollipop, unwrapped it, and shoved it in my mouth.

"By the way, could you enlighten me with what you'll do with me? I'll be prepared, you know?" I asked innocently as I sucked on my watermelon-flavored lollipop. I heard Tory snickering which clogged my throat with laughter as well.

This time she threw venomous daggers. "Whatever I do, will do it in front of everyone. I'll give you a good taste of humiliation."

I clamped the lollipop stick and pulled it out of my mouth with a pop, and blew her a flying kiss. "In that case, I'll be waiting."

Her nose scrunched and she eyes the lolly in my hand in disgust, which compelled me to bring the lolly to her face. "Want some?"

"Disgusting!" She muttered and faced Tory. "How could you hang out with a disgusting girl like her?"

"Mind your fucking tongue, Grace." Tory gave her a hard look. "Amara is every bit of class you can ever be."

She tried to say something, but chose to stomp her feet and walk away not before pointing a finger at me. Her minions followed her out.

"Nonsense!" I scoffed and turned to Tory and smiled. "Thank you for having my back."

"Anything for you, my gorgeous badass." He winked and shoulder bumped me. I playfully punched his bicep.

We again got involved in a conversation while waiting for Joshua's practice to get over. But he had to stay back for longer, hence, Tory and I decided to head home. We made our way out and went to the parking lot. Once in the parking lot, I saw Ryan and the team heading toward their respective vehicles. But before he could reach his motorbike, I called for him.

"What?" He asked irritatedly. What had I ever done to him to bear with his attitude?

"Why did you walk past stealthily instead of putting some sense into Harry's brain?" I asked, my arms crossed across my chest; the lollipop now in my hand.

"We have known each other since like forever. By now you must know that I don't poke my nose in someone's personal affairs," He replied rudely.

I uncrossed her arms and clutched both the straps of my knapsack, scowling. "But whatever he did was wrong. He played with Sia. You should have at least stood up for the right."

He glanced over my shoulder before speaking. "It's their matter, to begin with. You are not supposed to get involved in it too. Better mind your own business; it'll be good for you."

Oh c'mon, my friend's matter is my matter to solve. Why couldn't he understand that simple thing?

I was about to say something when Tory pulled me to him and flung his arm around my shoulder. "Leave him, Amara. He's such a pussy."

"Hey, no cussing, Tory." I shrugged away his arm from around my shoulder and frowned at him. "Use appropriate words. Call him a pickle if you want to. Not that, alright?"

Cussing was strictly prohibited in my household. I wasn't even supposed to learn any bad words. I did it regardless. And to compensate for that, I educated myself with some appropriate colorful words. I had to since I was surrounded by swear machines, my friends.

Tory laughed and Ryan clenched his jaw. God, these two never got along.

Ryan grimaced. "Why don't you hang out with people of your age? Or has your brain not evolved yet?" He mocked and I pursed my lips. He had a problem with Tory hanging out with me.

Tory being Ryan's nemesis couldn't take being mocked by him and tried to charge at him, but I stopped him."Tory, no fights."

I knew Ryan wouldn't start a fight, but Tory surely would.

He took a step back and Austin took the moment to talk to me, obviously trying to cool down the heavy atmosphere.

"Hey, Owen." I waved at Ryan's other friend, but he royally ignored me, which was pretty awkward. My smile dropped. I never understood what had I done to deserve the silent treatment from him.

"Oh, well, umm, where's Zoe?" I asked awkwardly.

"Giving tuition," Austin replied. I nodded my head and remembered I had a lolly in my hand. I shoved it in my mouth, only to be criticized by Ryan.

"Grow up, Amara. And stop wasting your time." He eyed Tory before marching to his bike, taking Austin and Owen with him.

Anger surged inside my veins. Narrowing my eyes at him, I punched in the air at his back, mentally exercising my kickboxing knocks at him. Tory circled one arm around my neck and another around my waist to stop me from charging at him.

"Hey, it was you who stopped me from fighting; now you are ready to pounce on him."

"I don't understand why he always chides me." I let out in anger.

"Why are you always so bothered by him?" He asked, not understanding my inner qualms.

"You won't understand," I mumbled, and removing his hand from around my neck, I marched out of the parking lot and out of the school gates, not paying heed to Tory shouting for me to stop. I immediately spotted the car that came to pick me up and not looking anywhere I sat inside it and shut the door with a bang, only to apologize to the chauffeur for my misconduct.

I couldn't wait to complain about Ryan to my mother, so I took out my phone from my bag and called her.

"Mammaaaa..." I whined as soon as she picked up my call.

"Oh goodness, what did Ryan do this time?" She questioned.

"How did you know it's about him?" I asked, astonished by her brilliant guess.

She laughed, her sweet voice calming my anger. "You don't whine unless it's about him."

"For how long do I have to keep trying to make him be friends with me?" My forehead creased.

"For as long as you can. Don't lose hope, Amara. He'll surely accept your friendship."

"But it's been like forever," I complained lowly, almost in a whisper.

"Are you giving up, my girl?" She asked a bit distracted. She must be busy with her work in the office. She's the CEO of the topmost software company, Softtech.

"Should I?" I asked warily. My heart wasn't happy with what I had asked my mother, it pumped the blood faster in protest.

"Your father and I have never taught you to give up, darling."

I hummed. "Are you free mamma? Can I come to your office?" I asked as I glanced outside the window. I smiled when I saw us passing by the familiar Street which led to dad's office.

"Yes, sure, you can." She answered.

"On second thought, I am somewhere near dad's office might as well visit him."

She agreed to that and I politely asked my chauffeur to drive me to dad's office. I sauntered inside the office, waving and smiling at everybody since I was a usual visitor.

Reaching the sixtieth floor, I smiled at dad's P.A. "Hello Miss Lilly. Is dad free?"

She returned the smile and said, "Yes, Amara, he is. You can enter right away."

Nodding my head, I trotted to dad's office, and knocked thrice before sticking my head inside. "Hey dad, can I come in?"

He did a double-take from his laptop. Surprised, he stood up from his chair, and I opened the door completely to let myself in.

He pulled me in a hug and kissed the top of my head. "What brought you here, sweetheart?"

"I happened to be nearby. Thought might as well spy on you for mamma." I grinned.

He pulled away and purses his lips. "Ah, mamma's spy. Why am I not surprised? Why would you visit your father just to meet him? You love your mother more than me, don't you?"

"Maybe." I shrugged, walking past him towards his desk. I carelessly dropped my knapsack on the desk and slumped on dad's chair.

"Then you'd be surprised to know that I love your mother more than you." His eyes sparkled in amusement as he came to lean against the desk in front of me.

"Ah, nothing new. I know it already." I tossed him a tight-lipped smile.

He laughed and poked my forehead. "My girl's smart."

"Are Uncle Daniel and Uncle Sean in office?" I asked.

"Nope. They have already left for home. And now, let me wrap up my work as well then we'll pick up your Mamma on way back home."

"Can we stop by a burger place on our way back home?" I asked hopefully, mentally praying for him not to deny my request for eating junk as he put it.

I saw his facial expressions turning sour. He repeated his usual dialogue and I robotically mimicked him since I had memorized it word by word.

"Amara...How many times do I have to tell you that the junk is not good for health and-" He stopped in the middle when he finally heard repeating him and he pulled my ear.

"Making fun of your dad, huh?" He laughed and ruffled my hair. Then he began doing his work.

It took him fifteen minutes to wrap up, then he drove me to mama's office. We found her standing outside, waiting for us.

Dad stepped out of the car, approached her and he kissed her straight on her lips. I laughed when she punched dad's arm, damp in blush. I could see her blushing from afar, that's how much I knew my mother.

I wish I had someone to love the way my parents loved each other. I huffed. Sure that it was not gonna be anytime soon.

When I saw them approaching the car, I internally slipped into the backseat from the front to vacant the seat for love birds to sit together. They both sat inside and I leaned forward to accept mama's kiss.

"You alright now, sweetie?" She asked, gently caressing my face. I blinked once and grinned in response.

"Why did you ask that, Ari? What happened, Amara?" Dad frowned while looking at me through the rearview mirror.

"Nothing. It's mother and daughter talk." Mamma replied in my place.

Well, it's not that dad wasn't aware of my slight rift with Ryan, but if we had told him, he would have offered to talk to Ryan or uncle Sean, which he had been offering for a very long now. And mamma would always stop him by saying it was kids' matter to resolve. And I liked that about my mother, not getting involved in my personal affairs. She only encouraged me to fight my own battles.

"I have a suspicion that you two are conspiring against me." Dad fake scowled. "I have to keep Xyler in my team."

Mum and I laughed in response. When we reached home, slow, soft, music was playing. And in an instant, we knew it was Xyler, my younger brother.

We all went to the area from where the melody emanated and found him engrossed in gliding his fingers on the piano. He was too lost that he didn't even notice when mamma approached him and placed a kiss on the top of his head. Dad too approached him and ruffled his hair.

Xyler was ten years old, six years younger than me. He was polite, sweet, and towards the sensitive side like our mother, while I was bold and badass like my father. Even though he was sweet, when it came to me, he was a monster.

I love him to death. I could do anything for him, like would give him my kidney, but would never allow him to have a TV remote. Period.

"Xyler, how was school?" Mamma asked. He stood up from the stool and hugged her. "It was good."

"You had a test today. So, how was it? Fail?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows.

He smirked at me. "Top! I am not dumb like you!"

Mom gasped and pulled his ear. "You did not just call your sister dumb! Apologize now!"

I smirked evilly as I crossed my arms. He unwillingly apologized. He had to or else he would not be hearing the end of it.

Narrowing my eyes at him, I slapped the back of his head. "And my dear brother, I never fail."

I was not a topper like my brother but I wasn't a failure either. I was, let's say, a little above average.

"Hey, stop you two," Dad said and pulled Xyler towards him. "I don't get it why you two always bicker?" Dad frowned.

Mamma scowled at dad, which made him gulp audibly. Uh oh!

"They have learned it watching you. You and your friends are always bickering for no reason. I'm going to have a word with Sean and Daniel regarding this."

"As if that's gonna stop us," Dad muttered under his breath, but all of us heard. Oops, bad move, dad.

"Xavier!" Mamma sighed in disbelief. Laughing, dad embraced her lovingly.

"How can I go against you? I love you, remember? But you've to accept our bickering entertain everybody." He kissed her forehead and I went Aww. They are so cute.

Mom chuckled, "That's a fact I can't deny."

I waved at Xyler, gesturing for him to leave the love birds alone. We both retired to our rooms, leaving our parents alone to have some moments with themselves. They have always prioritized us, not their work, not themselves, but us. They deserved every bit of love in the world.

I carelessly dropped my schoolbag on my study table. Just then my eyes landed on my journal titled-My heart's maze.

Slowly, I dragged the chair, sat on it, flipped open the journal, and a photograph of smiling Ryan appeared before my eyes.

And my heart went crazy.

He was my heart's maze. I had been lingering there in the maze for years in the hope to figure things out.

It was our parents who introduced us when we were still kids. It was our parents who wanted us to be the best of friends the way they were. I tried, but Ryan never accepted to be my friend, he never showed interest, instead, he would get annoyed upon seeing me. I never gave up though, my