Madeline’s POV

“That’s not the answer” I frown.

“Well, I almost got it right” Kabir says dropping his pen sharply.

“No, you didn’t and why do you look angry, I’m the one that’s supposed to be angry, I’ve been teaching you the same thing for almost an hour now and your big head still can’t grasp it. Tell me, is it just air in that head of yours?” I curl my fingers in anger.

“Relax Maddy” he says calmly like everything is alright.

“I’ve told you to stop calling me that” I give him a flat look.

“Why, Isn’t it your name?”

“It’s not, why can’t you just be normal like everyone and call me Madeline”

“Since when has normal been fun, I think normal is boring and performative and besides I like calling you Maddy it’s better than Madeline” he replies.

“Anyways, the answer you gave is wrong”

“Nope, almost right” he says proudly, like he had won a medal or something

“Almost does not get you a passing grade”

“You’re enjoying this”

“Enjoying what?” I stare at him.

“Watching me suffer or maybe even fail”

“Now why would I enjoy watching you fail, suffer…... maybe yes, but fail is just a stretch. If you fail, then it just proves I’m a bad tutor and I can’t let that happen” I smile thinly.

“Go and learn the module again, if you fail this exam, I’m never teaching you again” I reply confidently even though I don’t mean it.

“You say that every time and here we are still”

“You know, you are the strictest tutor Stanford has seen” he says while packing his bag in a hurry

“And yet you keep coming back” I raise an eyebrow.

“Unfortunately,”

Three months earlier, I was at my farm at Poland taking care of my sheep, riding my horse, cleaning my pigs. Just a typical farm girl and now I’m at Stanford. I still remember the day that scholarship letter came like it was yesterday.

And how I couldn’t sleep throughout the night, I packed only a suitcase as I don’t have many clothes. The flight was terrible but maybe that’s just because it was my first time ever being on one. I remember how I and my siblings would always talk about planes like they were ballons floating high up in the sky, I miss them.

I’m doing this all for them, to give them a better life. And that’s why I’m stuck with him, Kabir, a wealthy prince, who is literally my opposite.

First Day at Stanford.

“Hey, I’m Madeline, I’m new here, I’m looking for room 201” I say excitedly, smiling so hard, my face could rip.

“So are the other students here who found their room themselves” she looks at me as though I had asked the stupidest question in the world.

I freeze unable to process what I just heard.

“Oh, it’s actually my first time in America so I don’t really know much”

“Do you mind, I have work to do” her tone made it clear she had no interest in helping me.

“Well, that didn’t go as planned, if only I were in Poland, I would have smacked that grin off her face” I muttered to myself.

“Guess I have to do it on my own, like always” I exhaled slowly, knowing this is all I’ve been doing my entire life.

“Finally, room 201” I smile happily like I had just won a lottery. I opened the door, seeing suitcases realizing I’m not alone in the room.

“Can I help you?”

“Actually, this is my room” I stop mid step.

“Hi, my name is Karin and I’m your roommate” she says it like we have been friends for years.

“Madeline” I stretch out my hand for a handshake while she grabs me, hugging me tightly.

“Sorry. I’m not really a touchy person” I release myself forcefully.

“My bad”

I can see she’s hurt by my reaction.

“So where are you from?” I say trying to change the mood.

“Canada, you?”

“Poland”

“That’s nice, you know Poland is one of my favorite countries. I’ve never actually been there, but I know I will love it there.”

“Yes, it’s really lovely there” I give a fake smile knowing I didn’t grow up in the lovely side of Poland.

“So, what are you majoring in?” Karin asks.

“Business administration and Marketing, you?”

“Software engineering”

“Do you have a boyfriend?” she asks, a smile tugged at her lips.

“Yes, I do” I reply, wondering why and how it relates to the present conversation

“Well, I don’t have any class tomorrow, so I was thinking maybe we could take a walk around campus?”

“I also don’t, I’d love that”.

THE NEXT MORNING

The sound of alarm wakes me up at exactly 8 am, I have my bath after Karin, get dressed.

“I’m so excited about today, did I mention it’s my first time in America” my face lit up.

“Really? Then we must go everywhere”

She drags me over to the bus station where we were supposed to get a bus. The bus arrived and it was time to board, but we were having some difficulties.

“I don’t have a bus card” I whisper to Karin.

“Why didn’t you say so since” she whispers back.

“Well, you didn’t really tell me where we were going nor gave me the opportunity to speak” I stare back at her.

“It’s fine, I’ll cover for you” she replies.

She pays for both our ticket. I sit on the last seat at the back of the bus by the window as I watch the beautiful scenery. Who knew a place could have so much beauty I wondered to myself. I was amazed by the tall buildings and cars and graffiti on the walls. Back in Poland I didn’t go out much. My dad never allowed all the time what I saw were animals, but I knew deep down I was made for more. Still amazed by the beauty of California I could hear Karin speak to me, she talks a lot. I put on my headphones hoping she would stop talking or at least I could stop hearing her but to no avail. I could still hear her voice with the loud music blasting in my ears. I was dozing off when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“This is our stop” Karin taps me.

We get off the bus.

“This place is called a tennis court” Karin points at the court.

I tilted my head. I said I didn’t go out much not uneducated.

“I know what a tennis court looks like” I give her a pointed look.

“I’m sorry” she folds her lips together.

We walk inside the building while she shows me around.

“Do you know how to play tennis” she turns around.

“I grew up with pigs and goats of course I don’t know how to play tennis” I say in my mind.

“No” I reply to her.

“Then I’ll teach you” she clasps her hands together.

We started playing and I must admit I was having fun even though I was doing rubbish. About forty minutes into the game, a worker stopped us and told us we had to leave immediately that the court we were using was booked already.

“What do you mean booked” Karin’s jaw tightens.

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience” the worker replies.

“How does that even work, when we came here, we cross checked at the front desk and this court was free”

This is the first time I’m seeing her so angry.

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience miss”

“That’s what you’ve been saying since, and still, I don’t see any remorse”

“Can we at least get a refund because we paid for two hours, and we’ve just used forty minutes” I try to calm the situation down.

“No, it’s not even about the refund it’s about them having bad customer service”

As Karin and the worker are going back and forth, a group of guys walk in. I couldn’t help but notice how they walked in like they own the place.

“The place is ready for you sir” the worker says to one of the boys.

Me and Karin make eye contact unable to believe what we had just witnessed. The boys look within our age range so why is this worker calling him sir.

“Who are these?” one of the boys’ gestures to us.

“We are the ones supposed to be using this court right now” I interrupt, before Karin could answer.

“From what I’m seeing not anymore” he grins.

His voice smooth like he wasn’t doing anything wrong.

“I can see that and whose fault is that?” I give him a tight smile.

He scoffs then walks away completely ignoring us. His minions follow him.

“How rude” I mutter to myself.

Just while I was standing, I look towards Karin and realized she had been quiet all this while

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Do you even realize who you were talking to?” she asks.

“Umm the guy that just took our court” my eyebrows knit together.

“Oh, right your new here” she places her hand on her forehead.

“I’m so lost right now”

“That’s Kabir, he’s like super rich and runs Stanford”

“Okayyyy” I look unbothered.

“You don’t get it, if you get in his way he has so many connections that he will use against you” Karin replies seriously.

I couldn’t hold myself; I burst into laughter. Her serious face made it even worse

“What are we, high school students?” I smirk.

“You cannot be serious right now Karin” I laugh, I look at her and not even a smile, her face has no expression.

“Oh, you’re serious” my smile fades.

“Let’s just go somewhere else” she lowers her gaze.

We pack our stuff and are set to leave. I turn back, and from a distance I see his reflection on the side mirror of the lawn cart, he is staring at me, deep the kind that almost pierces your soul, and what’s more surprising is that I maintained eye contact. After about ten seconds Karin taps me.

“Come on, it’s time to go”

I snap out of whatever that was and leave. Inside the bus, I put on my headphones listening to music and staring at the beautiful scenery that was opposite my window. California is really a beautiful place.

“What are you listening to?” Karin asks

“Lana Del ray” I

“What’s your favorite Lana del ray song?”

“I’ll have to say young and beautiful”

“Why?”

“It’s just so good to me it’s about a girl who’s asking her lover if he would still love her when they’re old, when all her youth is gone. To me it’s about love being timeless”

“Wow, I never really thought about it that way” she looks surprised but in a good way.

“Well, they don’t call me master of music for nothing” I bow my head in mock admiration.

We both laugh. We got off at the next bus station and from there we walked to our dormitory. We got our room where we spent the rest of our day chatting and enjoying each other’s company.

At around 9 pm, while I was finishing up my school registration, I get a call.

My phone vibrates; I look at the screen and realize it’s from Dan my boyfriend

“Hey”

“Hi”

“How are you?” he asks.

“I’m okay”

“At least one of us is okay”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing much”

I could tell by the sound of his voice something was wrong, like he wanted to tell me something but couldn’t get the words out.

“Are you sure you’re good?” I ask.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” he stammers.

“Is it my sisters?” my stomach flutters with nerves.

“No no no, they’re good”

Just few minutes into the call, my phone buzzes. I receive a text from an unknown number. I open the chat and it’s not a text but pictures and a video. I load them so I could see them. When it loaded, I couldn’t believe what I saw. They were pictures of Dan and a girl. Apparently, Dan has been cheating on me right before I even moved to America. At first, I didn’t want to believe the picture, I thought maybe it could be AI or another person, but the video proved me wrong. It was Dan and he was all over that girl. As I was still looking at the pictures and video Dan was on the line still talking.

“Ummm earth to Madeline, are you still with me?”

Silence. I didn’t know what to say or how to react.

“Madeline, are you still there?” Dan asks again

“Sorry, I stepped out to get something” I respond to him, hoping my voice doesn’t sound shaky.

“I have to go right now, school tomorrow”

“Sure, text you tomorrow?” Dan asks.

“Yes”

I end the call. I was speechless, I couldn’t believe someone I had trusted so much would lie to my face for a very long time. He had the opportunity to tell me the truth, but he didn’t. He chose to continue lying to me.

“Why didn’t I confront him, I have all the evidence I need?”

But one question wouldn’t leave my mind. Who was the girl in those pictures?”