Book 4: Chapter Two - The Truth About Annalise

Nelson caught the cake and steadied it, saving it from falling. Annalise's pale, panicked face looked up at him with gratitude, but not a single word came out of her mouth.

"You worthless girl? Can't you do a single work? Why do these beggars come to work when they know nothing about the work that they've come for?" yelled Adam's mom, mad with fury. Annalise felt close to tears, but she didn't open her mouth to defend herself. Nelson felt too bad for her. He had seen the hurt in her ocean-blue eyes when she had just looked up at him momentarily.

"It's okay, Aunt Kelly. I saved your cake. Let it go," he told her, helping the visibly shaken girl push the trolley towards the kitchen.

"Thank you, my boy. Why don't you enjoy yourself? Let her do the job that she's getting paid for. Don't show any sympathy to them, stay away. These people can stoop to any level for money," said Adam's mom, rushing out of the dining room. Nelson breathed a sigh of relief that she was gone. He turned towards where Annalise was, but to his disappointment, she had already gone into the kitchen. He trudged back to the living room, but he couldn't erase those sad ocean-blue eyes from his mind. Although he wanted to help her, he could not.

The dance music stopped and uniformed attendants lay a buffet lunch out for them. Nelson's eyes searched for Annalise, but couldn't find her anywhere. The food was indeed delicious, and he wanted to thank her mom, who made it. "What's gotten into you, dude? You look lost," asked Carter as they sat down with their plates to eat.

"Nothing much. I didn't like Aunt Kelly's behavior towards their workers. It was rude," whispered Nelson. Carter nodded.

"She behaves that way, especially with Annalise and Greta," said Carter.

"But why?" asked Nelson.

"I don't know, dude," answered Carter. "Forget it, dude. Enjoy the food and we'll get out of here," said Carter. Nelson didn't want to leave so soon. He was curious to know what was going on with Annalise and her mom. As they went to get a slice of cake, a commotion got their attention. A girl from their batch was yelling at someone while everyone was supporting her. Nelson and Carter kept their plates on a chair and went to take a peek at what was going on. To their horror, a scared Annalise stood with a pale face as the girl who had pushed her earlier, Penny, was screaming at her. Suddenly, Penny's hand shot out, and she slapped Annalise across her cheek. Nelson rushed to Annalise and pulled her into his chest, hiding her from Penny's wrath.

"How dare you hit her, Penny? How dare you?" growled Nelson with such vehemence and ferocity that Penny's face paled. She had never seen her classmate, Nelson Taylor, so furious before.

"She purposely dropped my drink on my expensive dress, Nel," Penny whined.

"Just like you purposely bumped into her to drop the cake? Then she should slap you too, right?" growled Nelson, in the same tone.

"Nel, leave it dude. She's not worth fighting for," said Adam, coming towards Nelson to stop the fight and calm him, but Nelson held up his palm to stop him. Annalise struggled to break free and run, but Nelson held her tightly to himself and she couldn't even loosen his hold.

"Stop right there, Adam. I'm tired of watching everyone insult this girl here. So, Penny, I'm waiting for your answer," said Nelson. Penny looked at her feet.

Nelson looked at Annalise in his arms. "Slap her now just like she did to you," he told her, but her eyes widened and she shook her head.

"See the difference between you and her, Penny? Apologize now," he growled. Penny mumbled a vague apology to Annalise. Nelson released her slowly, and she ran into the kitchen. The crowd dispersed, and Levi and Carter clapped Nelson's back appreciatively.

"That was truly commendable, man," said Levi.

"Yeah, someone needed to teach Penny the bit*ch a lesson," said Carter. Nelson nodded. He didn't say a word. Adam had been avoiding him ever since the incident and Nelson didn't really want to break his friendship with him. The party was over and all their friends had left, except for Levi, Carter, and Nelson. Adam came over to them.

"No hard feelings, bro. I was just standing up for what's wrong, " said Nelson. Adam nodded and gave him a sideways hug, which they always did.

"Let's go upstairs to my room," suggested Adam. They all picked up a few beer cans and went upstairs. Adam led them to the open deck adjoining his room, and they sat sipping the chilled beer.

"You really had Penny so upset that she was crying badly," said Adam, looking at Nelson.

"She needed to be taught a lesson for being bit*hy," said Nelson.

"She's our friend Nel and we should support her," said Adam.

"I can't support someone who's wrong," said Nelson.

"How do you know Annalise isn't wrong? How much do you know about her? You just saw her today. Ask me. I know the mother and daughter duo so well that I feel they deserve what they get," said Adam, rendering Nelson speechless.

"They both are wh*res, selling themselves for money. Everyone here knows it. My dad's crazy about Greta Martin, do you know? He doesn't give a shit about my mom. It's because of him we can't throw them out," said Adam with hatred in his eyes while Nelson's jaws dropped. So did Carter's and Levi's.

"I'm sure there's some mistake, Adam. How can you point at someone's character with no proof?" asked Levi.

"I have proof. You want to see?" asked Adam eagerly. They all nodded except Nelson. He was too shocked to even move. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Surely Adam was mistaken.

"You see that BMW waiting there? It belongs to one of their customers. Every day, expensive cars wait for them in front of our house. Wait and watch, " said Adam, and surely after five minutes, Annalise and her mom walked out of Adam's house dejectedly and climbed into the car. As it sped off, Nelson saw a suit-clad, good-looking man in his early forties sitting inside the car.

"He might be her dad," said Carter, but Adam shook his head.

"No, way. Edwin Martin, her dad, is in the hospital for the last six years, battling leukemia," said Adam. "They're so poor yet they have the money to treat him at an excellent hospital. They earn the money this way," said Adam. "If I were you, I would be careful of Annalise, Nel. She uses her looks to trap guys. I've seen guys waiting for her outside our gate," informed Adam, and Nelson nodded. He didn't like what he heard, but couldn't ignore what he saw.

"I still think there's more to it than meets the eye," said Levi, shaking his head.

"No dude, it is what meets the eye. I've seen my mom so broken because of my dad. I go through it every day. Dad wouldn't even consider throwing them out. He likes them more than his own family," said Adam. Carter didn't say a word, just listened quietly. Levi shrugged and kept his mouth shut after that. They finished a can of beer each and went home.

Nelson lay on his bed thinking about what Adam had told him. He didn't want to believe him, but what about the man and those boys who waited for Annalise? There must be some truth in his words. The fact that Greta Martin had captured Adam's dad's heart was also something that couldn't be ignored. He sighed, thinking that it was best to forget her. For the first time in his life, he was interested in a girl and tried to protect her to the best of his abilities, only to find out that she was a wh*re. He felt disappointed in himself, but those ocean-blue eyes looked too innocent to be what Adam claimed she was. She didn't look that type at all. She looked melancholy, helpless, innocent, and scared. How could someone pretend so much?

Nick came into his room and they discussed what had happened. They were twins and very close to each other since birth. "I don't know what to think of it anymore, but judging by what Adam told you, it's best to stay away from her, bro," said Nick.

"You're right, I guess," said Nelson.

"I'm always right. Well, guess what? Mom told Dad we wish to join work from tomorrow and he's already proud of us," groaned Nick. "I don't remember saying any such thing to Mom," wailed Nick. Nelson chuckled.