Chapter 9: Everything, but Luck

"I'll see you on Monday Julius," said Alice. After being taken away (but more like kidnapped) by Ace and saved by Gray, Alice was exhausted. It was just her luck to encounter Ace, Gray, and even Nightmare, all in the same day. How was she supposed to keep her identity under wraps if every guy from Aaron's school found her?!

Julius was hoping that they could hang out with each other a little bit longer, but alas, all things must come to an end. He sighed and shook his head. What was he thinking? He couldn't be with Alice… Not after what happened with their families…

"Julius?" Alice waved her hand in front of his face. He was in a daze, still lost in his thoughts. "Julius!" Alice shouted louder gave him a tap on his shoulder.

"Oh! Sorry," he mumbled. He blushed, but also waved back to Alice. "Well, good night Alice. I'll see you on Monday," he said, slightly disappointed that Alice would have to go back to being Aaron.

"Thanks for taking me to my home, bye," Alice waved again and gave him a sweet smile. Julius stood outside of the apartment complex and stood there until he saw Alice enter her apartment. "At least I know you're safe," he whispered. Hands in his pockets, he walked home, not noticing the Mercedes-Benz parked across the street.

Alice walked up the stairs to her apartment complex and noticed that Julius was still standing there. What a sweet guy… No wonder he's the president… He may seem cold and distant on the outside, but he really cares.

Alice smiled to herself. She started feeling this strange sensation in her chest, but ignored it. "Hm, maybe I should take some medicine before going to sleep," she said to herself. As she opened her door, she felt that something was wrong. "Bandy?" It was dead silent. Alice felt a chill down her spine. Something wasn't right.

"Bandy?" She called a little louder, trying to find her cat. Suddenly the lights turned on and standing right under the doorway of her bedroom was none other than Blood Dupre. Alice couldn't help but scream. "BLOOD?"

She ran back to the front door, hoping that Julius was still close by. I hope he's still there! I DON'T want to be caught by this freak!

Before Alice could make a dash to the door, Blood managed to grab her arm. He pulled her backwards and it was so forceful that the two of them ended up on the floor with Alice on top of him.

Alice screamed again and struggled to get out of his grip. "Why the hell are you in my apartment?! Get out!"

Blood smirked. "That's not for you to know Alice," he said smoothly. He and Alice struggled for a few more minutes and in the end, Blood won by pinning Alice underneath him.

Alice began panicking. Oh my god, he's on top of me!

Their position was a bit scandalous. Alice's skirt was pushed upwards and her hair was a mess while Blood's shirt was wrinkled. He held tightly onto her wrists and clamped his legs on either sides of Alice's body. She blushed and kept thinking about how similar he looked to her ex-boyfriend.

"Please get off of me!" she shouted again. Blood tightened his grip on her arms and gave a seductive smile. "Well, we finally get to meet Alice. I didn't expect our meeting to be like this, but I really wanted to see you," he said.

Alice gave a puzzled look and her brows furrowed. "What? You wanted to see… me?"

"After seeing your brother, Aaron, I wanted to see you," he said nonchalantly. Alice tried to play a poker face. Something's up… why would he want to see me now? Aaron's been in a school for a few months before that accident. Wait… how did this idiot even get into my…

"How did you open the door? I locked it before I left," deadpanned Alice. She gave him an angry look.

"That's… a secret," said Blood. He played it cool and finally loosened his grip on her wrists.

Alice frowned. "No, tell me. Or else I'll call the police."

Blood gave a low-rumbled laugh which made Alice feel nervous. "How can you call the police in this condition? Anyways, it wouldn't work."

"Why?"

"Do you not know who I am? Or did your brother not tell you about my family?"

Alice cursed under her breath. "Oh yeah… I guess I forgot," she gritted. "Now, will you at least let go of me? Since I'm not going to call the police."

Blood smiled. "I'll let you go under one condition," he said. Alice groaned and kicked her legs upwards, but it was useless. Blood's weight and height overpowered her tiny and petite body. "What condition?" she asked.

He moved closer and whispered to her ear, causing Alice to turn bright red.

"I want a date with you next Friday," he whispered. He blew into her ear and this made Alice close her eyes unconsciously.

"Please Alice," he asked. "I wanted to see today, but your brother lied." This time Alice came back to her senses. You're the liar! When did I ever promise you a date with me?

"No!" She lifted up her head and used her own head to bump into Blood's. "Argh!" Blood finally let Alice go and she scooted away to the farthest end of the living room.

"Why should I even go on a date with you? You hurt—" Alice closed her mouth. I forgot… Did Blood really hurt Aaron? Was he the one who put him in the hospital?

Blood's eyes narrowed and glared at Alice. "Hurt… what?" He seemed to emit a dangerous aura.

Geez, one moment he's all Mr. Cool Guy and next moment he wants to murder me! He's so bi-polar! Alice thought as she looked away from Blood.

"Um, it's nothing… I heard from Aaron that you hurt girls a lot… that you're um… a player," she lied. Aaron's never told her that, but judging from Blood's profile, it seemed like he was a player.

"Oh that? Hmph, it seems like your brother keeps up with gossip," he scoffed. "But never mind that. Those are just rumors. I really want to go on a date with you," he said. Blood stood up and made his way to Alice. As he did, he trapped her with his arms. "I'll let you go if you go on a date with me," he said with an ominous smile.

Alice looked away, trying not to compare him to her ex-boyfriend. But, she couldn't keep her ground. "F-fine, I'll go out with you next week. Just… just leave, now," she said wearily. She didn't want to fight with this guy and especially at night when she was defenseless. Blood stepped back and smiled.

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" he said. "Then I'll see you next week Miss Alice." And with that, he left quickly just as he came.

Alice gave a huge sigh of relief, but soon, worries and woes clouded her mind. "How am I supposed to pretend to be Aaron?" She wanted to cry. She never felt this confused and terrified in her life. Her parents weren't home, her brother was in the hospital, and she was just basically threatened to go on a date with Blood Dupre. As handsome as he was, his personality seemed to suck.

"Oh yeah, where's Bandy?" She looked around the room and her cat was nowhere to be found. "Bandy?"

Blood chuckled as he started the vehicle. "It was a good thing I had Elliot look her up. She's too easy to find, right Bandy?" Bandy gave a hiss to Blood. The feline was sitting in the backseat inside a cage.

"Oh whatever, at least I have you to keep," he said. Blood drove away as Alice opened the apartment door.

"BLOOD! YOU BASTARD! GIVE BACK MY CAT!"

Alice hit her alarm clock. "Ugh, I don't want to go to school… I don't want to see him," she muttered. It was Monday morning and Alice was still upset about how Blood just took her cat, Bandy. "And I can't even do anything about it!" she wailed.

Alice sighed as she put on the boys uniform. She fixed her hair and made sure she looked more boyish today. "I can't have them figure out I'm a girl," she said to herself. It was bad enough that she met most of the flowers of the school, minus Boris.

As Alice walked to the school entrance, somebody threw an egg at her uniform. "Ouch!" Although the egg was small, the impact was hard enough to bruise her shoulder.

She looked around trying to find the culprit, but brushed it off. It's not like I can do anything about the bullying…

Alice noticed Peter at the end of the hallway. Crap! I better go the other way…

She made a left turn, but accidentally bumped into a guy. And unfortunately that guy just had to be Boris Airay. "Oh! Boris, um… hey there?" she said. Alice tried to maintain her composure, but Boris was making her even more nervous as he glared.

"Watch it Liddell. And where's the calculus homework you were supposed to do for me? It's due third block," he demanded. Alice slapped herself inwardly. Shit! I forgot! I was too busy dealing with my brother and Blood… argh!

"Funny story, actually I—"

Boris slammed Alice against the lockers. "No excuses Liddell. Now where's my homework?" he demanded again.

Alice could deal with the small pranks, but a fight… impossible. She couldn't win against a guy moreover defend herself.

Boris smirked. "Well, I guess you're getting it today," he said.

Alice gave him a questioning look. "Huh?"

"Clear the boy's bathroom! We're going to teach Liddell here a lesson…"

WHAT?

I make Boris look such like a bully... I'm sorry to all the Boris fans out there! Don't worry, it'll be okay after a few more chapters :) Hmm... it seems a bit random how Blood entered Alice's apartment... What's the real reason anyways? (idk... just kidding I do know!) I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter of Hidden Beauty :) More updates will be coming soon! Oh yeah, I finally got a beta-reader (inner voice: about time!) I hope my beta-reader can help catch mistakes on some of the fanfictions I am writing.

Thanks for reading and please REVIEW :) I like reviews :D

~Seo Hyunee