Miriam was soon discharged after a few weeks of monitoring. She patiently waited at the parking lodge to be picked up by her parents. In about 15 minutes, her father's car pulled up in front of her.
Instead of her parents, Leo was scheduled to pick her up. Disappointed by his presence, she growled. She just wasn't ready for this trouble marker.
“ Where is Mum and Dad?~ Why are they not here with you?” she said with an unpleasant look.
“ Take a guess” he teased leaving the booth ajar. “ Are you coming or not ~you should be happy I'm the one picking you”. He said and Miriam snared.
“Whatever— Let's just get out of here” she added as they placed her stuff in the boot and stepped into her seat. Her eyes were shut the moment she leaned in her seat.
“ Just drive silently— I want to rest,” Miriam warned as he took his seat behind the wheel. Glancing back at her in the rearview mirror, he nodded with a smile.
“ Yes, ma'am... at your service”.
Slowly and steadily, their car hit the main road and soon they were already off.
**************
Due to her discharge, a congratulatory party was set with the whole Parker family present even their grandparents.
Miriam was kept in the dark about this. They wanted it to be a surprise— no one was allowed to spill the peas.
Sugar, now her best friend, and other friends were invited to grace the occasion. Just when she entered, a spark of jubilation was heard~Hades was also there.
To make things straight, he wasn't a close friend of hers so she was surprised. But then, she kind of owes him her life~ if not for him who would have saved her that faithful day, she wouldn't be having this party but rather a burial. For that reason, she'll forever remain grateful.
“ Hey, look who we have here,” she said as she approached Hades who was busy indulging with a friend.
“ Miriam~,” He said with a smile. He didn't know when she'd got to his end.
“ I didn't know I'll find you here, such a surprise.” She expressed.
“ Ah... well, I couldn't turn down your mother's invitation.” He said with a chuckle which made Miriam laugh as well.
“ She was so persistent.” He added.
“ Yeah...you can say that.”
Miriam felt comfortable as they chat on ~ making them bond more and more. Before they could know, the party had already hit zero O’clock~the pitch of the night was getting darker and darker.
Soon, the occasion was brought to a close. Everyone gradually bid their farewells as they saw them to the exit.
“ Hey... it was nice spending some time with you,” Hades said when he neared her.
“ Same here ” Miriam expressed, “ See you on campus~hope you won't ignore me.” She laughed as they hugged.
“ No~ trust me.” He said.
Miriam watched on as he pulled his car out of the house–he waved goodbye as he speed off and she waved back. The family later retired for the day after putting everything back to how they were.
*************
The night slowly drifted to the morning, welcoming a new day. It was just another normal day for Legend Smith as he scanned through a few pieces he had gathered so far from the case Hades had assigned him to ~ but found nothing yet to be suspicious about.
Things were not going as smoothly as he had thought. He needs to go the extra mile if he's to finish this in time — he implied.
“ Getting closer will get me what I need.” He mumbled.
Legend then decided to secure a job at the Parkers company to make tailing her more convenient and easy— with that, he can get more detailed information on Nina.
****************
It was soon Monday morning, another new week of adventure to explore what life got in store. Due to her accident, she got to work extra harder on her studies if she was to excel in the approaching end-of-semester exams.
Miriam had finally returned to school after a couple of weeks' break due to the incident~ she got a lot to catch up on and that means extra study hours for her, considering the exams which in 3 weeks ahead.
She was the first to knock off the bed and ready to hit the road before any else this time which wasn't so like her– that's a new version of Miriam Parker. Jane analyzed as she scanned at her from the top of the stairs.
“ Guess we have an early bird already,” Her mother said as she descended the flight of stairs. Miriam smiled, her head spun towards the direction of the voice.
“ Good morning— Mum,” she said and she sweetly responded. Just when she closed up on her, Miriam shot to her full length from the dining table and announced with a kiss on Jane's cheeks.
“ I'm off to school now— Sugar is picking me up.”
“ Oh?~ already?” Jane asked, looking surprised. Miriam just nodded with a smile and strode off.
“ Hey, already off?” Leo instinctively called on entering from his room, followed by their dad.
“ Yeah, see you guys later— Don't forget to pick me up today, Dad!!” she shouted as her back disappeared from the door.
“ Look how bubbly she looks~,” John said, and they all laughed.
*************
In about 40 minutes, their car rolled into the campus, threading its way to the parking lodge. Just when they pulled in Miriam noticed Gina chitchatting and sharing a hearty laugh with Hades. She didn't know what it was but for no reason, she felt raged.
“ Let me get off first~ got something to take care of,” she said and Sugar nodded, pulling the car to a stop for a moment.
Soon as she swung off the head, she trod off towards them.
“ I bet you'll soon be swung over with girls pretty soon.” Gina teased.
“ Gee ... are you sure you're not the first crashing on me.” Miriam heard him say as they both burst into laughter.
“ Are you kidding me?” Gina chuckled. Their fun was soon cut short with the clearing of Miriam's throat which drew their attention to the intruder.
“ Oh... Miriam~” Hades said on noticing her. She instinctively feigned a smile; her eyes stating her disgust and displeasure towards Gina—Gina's face spontaneously drawn into a sleepish grin as she drew back a little.
“ Hey, Hades ~ can I have a word with you?” Miriam stated and he nodded, excusing himself.
“ Sure ~ I'm taking the lead then,” Gina said as she picked her stuff from his car and sped off.
They both stared at her as her back faded in the distance— Miriam's gaze lined with a satisfactory smile.