Middle Child Syndrome - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Ch 4: Best friends
“Rika, wait! Don’t leave! We have a lot to talk about. Hey, Rika-!”

“Suzie, wait! Don’t run around. Your body has not recovered yet-! Rika, you wait as well!” The urgency in her voice was palpable, a clear indication of the seriousness of the situation.

Rika could hear the sound of hurried footsteps coming after her. It was clear that Suzie decided to go after her because Rika left their conversation in the middle.

On the other hand, Mark was only acting up because Suzie was acting up. Rika thought he would have gone after Rika if Suzie had acted.

She was almost out of the front gate when Suzie reached the door and opened it.

“Hey! Stop being such a troublesome person, Rika! Just because you cannot grasp how serious a situation is does not mean-”

Rika glared back, and Mark quickly touched Suzie’s mouth.

Even he had realised that Suzie was crossing the line.

Their family had tried to explain to Suzie what being a beta was like, but she did not understand the concept and did not want to understand it.

Suzie had bloomed into her secondary gender without that awkward phase in the middle of being a pseudo-beta. That was why she often said these words.

“I’ll handle her, Rika. But are you sure you want to go to school alone? I can drop you off if you wait a bit.”

Mark promised, but he looked a little guilty now.

Rika covered her neck with a high-neck jumper to hide what happened. But Mark must have remembered what he did to her neck.

“It’s okay! I do not need your help. Just get Suzie to school on time. I heard that she has a final today.”

Rika reminded her brother before she left for the last day of the school.

‘Knowing Suzie, she would bomb her finals for sure. But the school board would pass her anyway because of our parents and her condition. On the other hand, I had to work my ass off to make it through as the top student.’

Suzie sighed as she walked toward the school.

She felt bitter about all her time studying to get good grades. She had hoped that it would make her parents feel proud of her.

But it was too late when Rika realised her parents did not care about her. Her identity as a top student had been recognised, and people expected things from her.

Turning herself into a misbehaving student from this position forward was a burdensome task for Rika.

Finally, Rika reached her school and went to her class.

She had walked to school, and it had consumed all the extra time Rika had before her class.

People looked at her but did not pay her any special attention. It directly contrasted how her brother and sister were treated when they went anywhere.

“Rika, come here. I saved you a seat beside me. Will you sit with me today?”

Rika looked toward where her only friends sat. She could swear that the air around her friends shone brightly when she approached them.

“How was your weekend, Rika? Did you get your acceptance letter? I have so many choices that I can’t choose.”

The bubbly Alpha is sitting in front of Rika as one of her best friends, Emily. She was a gorgeous Alpha with silver hair and green eyes.

She was bright, strong, and capable of standing up against anyone else.

That was how Rika knew her – their families shared a history.

“I did get my letter of acceptance. What about you, Damian? Did you get your choices as well?”

Rika turned toward the other half of the pair in front of her.

Unlike Rika, Damian was an alpha who looked his part. He was strong-looking, handsome, and scary.

And yet, he looked like a spoilt cat at the moment.

“I don’t want to look at that list anymore. When he heard I had gotten it, my old man asked me where I wanted to apply. I want some peace.”

Damian looked tired, making Rika wonder if the reason behind his being tried was not his father but his nightly activities.

Like Rika and Emily, Damian belonged to a mafia family. But Rika had heard that he was active behind the scenes and violent.

Despite knowing this, she did not feel scared of him.

“Enough about Damian, Rika. I want to know where you are going. After this, we both need to go to the same university. That’s what we promised, right?”

Rika’s face broke into a smile at Emily’s cheerful and dominating voice.

Despite being female, Emily had moments of dominance where she was more dominant than anyone else. It was a wonder that both she and Damian had been able to keep their relationship going for as long as they did.

‘Maybe this is why they break up every other week, and I have to patch them up. Would they get a shared omega or break apart later?’

Rika shook her head, expressing that disturbing thought. She should not be thinking negative thoughts about her friends.

*snap*

“Hey, are you fine? Where did your mind disappear toward, Rika? I was still talking to you.”

Emily asked in a pouty tone. It made the young alpha look cute in Rika’s eyes.

“I was just thinking about my fight with my siblings last night. It was nothing major, so you have to worry about it. I did not even get hurt much.”

Sui bragged about it to her friends but did not notice how the pair tensed and exchanged a worried glance.

“Come with us for a minute. Don’t worry! We want to talk to you alone.”

Rika suddenly felt that she was in trouble, but she pushed her feelings down and followed her friends out.

After all, she was a beta, so she doubted something would happen to her. Most people were not interested in her anyway.

She did not even think of it much when Emily pushed her toward the wall and reached toward her jumper’s neckline.