Nathalia did not say a word to Anna, but instead, she hugged Anna tightly, then she poured her tears out.

Confused by the outburst of Nathalia, Anna glanced at the two people behind her. "What happened to her?" 

"I have no idea. When we asked her what was going on, she did not say anything." Zen replied. Nathalia knocked on his door and on Josh's, saying that she wants to go to school together with them. They both asked why, but Nathalia did not say a word.

Just like Anna, it also surprised them to see Nathalia crying all of a sudden.

Hearing that, Anna caresses Nathalia's back, then she asked, "Nathalia, what happened to you?" Apart from seeing Nathalia cry because of Elizabeth's arrival, this is the first time that Anna sees Nathalia crying like this.

Even after a few minutes have pa.s.sed, Nathalia is still crying and Anna's question remained unanswered. She wants to know what really happened to Nathalia but decided not to press on any longer and wait for Nathalia to be ready to tell her. 'It must be a sensitive matter.' 

Thankfully their cla.s.s has not yet started, but the people around are starting to wonder what is happening. It is rare for them to see that Nathalia is crying like a baby. Some of them even think that the reason why Nathalia is crying is that she and Aaron broke up.

Such a delusional conclusion is making Zen and Anna chuckled silently.

"Their imagination is so ridiculous. I can't believe this." Zen said in a low voice. He wants to loudly laugh it out, but seeing that Nathalia is still sobbing, he stopped himself. He did not want to look like he is being insensitive to the situation.

"Let them be. They are small-brained people anyway." Josh said with a straight face and Anna and Zen look at him in disbelief.

"Okay, smart man. There is no need for you to be this rude." Anna spoke sarcastically. Josh may not seem like he is not worried about Nathalia, but Anna is sure that is not the case. From what she observed from Josh, whenever he is worried about something, he likes to fiddle on anything that he is holding.

Nathalia finally stopped sobbing, and by that moment, Anna's brother suddenly showed up. Aaron saw how gloomy it is on his sister's side, and that made him frown. Usually, he would see his sister and Zen arguing about something.

He was about to ask why they are being so gloomy, but when his eyes set on Nathalia, his words couldn't come out. He is in shock to see Nathalia crying and also enraged at the person who made her cry.

"What happened?" Anna is slightly amused when she heard that from him. He is angry. Extremely angry. She never thought that Nathalia could bring this much anger out of her brother. Whoever is the culprit of Nathalia's tears, Anna already feels bad for that person.

"I don't know. She won't say a word about it." Zen repeated the same answer he said earlier to Aaron.

"Brother, you can ask Nathalia about it later. For now, let's give her some time to calm down. She needs it." From the way Nathalia was crying, it was as if Nathalia just experienced losing someone. Anna thinks that way because it is the same as her when the members of her family died one by one.

Before Aaron could even say a word, the bell already rang. Zen and Josh went to their cla.s.s while Anna and the rest went back to their seats silently.

From time to time, Anna felt irritated by the eyes glancing at them. She is much more irritated at the fact that she is sitting in between Nathalia and Aaron. Their cla.s.smates actually think that the cause of Nathalia's tears is because of the break up with Aaron. And since Aaron and Nathalia are not talking, it makes them believed in that speculation more.

'I really wish I could change cla.s.ses.' Anna inwardly said.

~~~

"So... are you ready to talk now?" Zen slowly asked. Nathalia has been gone for only a few days, and he didn't expect her to come back crying.

"Y-Yes," Nathalia replied. She already stopped crying, but her eyes are puffed. She wouldn't even dare to look at herself in the mirror because she's afraid of what she'll see. 'And here I thought that I already cried everything out the other day.' She inwardly said.

"What happened to you?" Anna asked as she held Nathalia's hand. She glanced at her brother and gave a glare. Her brother should be the one holding Nathalia's hand, not her.

She thought that the things between her brother and Nathalia are going smoothly, but why is it that she's the one doing that thing her brother should obviously be doing? 'Did I imagined the whole thing all this time?'

"My grandmother is dying..." She silently said but everyone in the table heard her.

"Your grandmother...?" Anna, Aaron, and Lannie have no idea who is this person Nathalia is talking about, so they don't have a clue what to ask. To add more, they never heard Nathalia mentioning her grandmother, the only grandparent that they heard from her is her grandfather.

"Grandpa Nathaniel's ex-wife, though Josh and I have a vague memory of her. Only Nathalia sees her much than we do." From what Zen knows, Nathalia and her grandmother are very close to each other, even if they rarely see each other. Whenever Nathalia's grandmother visits, Zen and Josh are not around to get to know her, much less greet the old lady.

So, Zen and Josh no particular towards her, however, they do feel bad that they can't do anything to relieve that sadness Nathalia's is feeling right now.

"Does she have a serious illness?" Lannie asked. Lannie did not want to pry on Nathalia's business, but she can't help herself because she wants to at least understand just how pressing the situation is.

"Yes. But I don't want to go into details." Just remembering the state her grandmother was when she saw her the other day, Nathalia feels like she's running out of air. Her grandmother has a very special place in her heart.

Although she doesn't like her grandfather that much, she is thankful to him that even though they are divorced with her grandmother, he still let her grandmother and her see each other. She is also sure that her grandfather is also having a hard time just she is now. After all, her grandparents did have a past together.

Nathalia is about to cry again, but she suddenly felt that Anna took her hand away and is replaced by another person. She looks at her side and she expected Anna to still be in her side, but Anna switched places with her brother.

She looks at him in the eyes, and somehow, she felt rea.s.sured that everything is going to be fine. Nathalia, then remembers that talk she had with Aaron before she left, her heart raced.

Although Aaron is not saying a word, Nathalia is thankful for him for staying at her side. Feeling that warmth in his hand is enough for her to calm down.

"Nathalia, you don't need to come to school for the next few days. I'll let the teachers know that there are some problems going with your family and that you are needed to be there." Josh suggested. If he were in Nathalia's shoes, he would stay at his grandmother's side until the end because even if it is painful to bear, every moment with his grandmother is precious and he does not want to miss one of those moments and have regrets in the end.

"Josh is right, Nathalia. I'm sure your grandmother would want her only grandchild to be by her side." Zen supported the idea.

Nathalia pursed her lips and is unable to say a word. That is what she wants to do, be at her grandmother's side until the end. However, she doesn't have enough courage to stay still at her grandmother's side. It is too much for her.

Noticing that Nathalia is hesitating, Aaron spoke to her, "If you want, I will come with you." He knows that Nathalia's family is gonna be there for her to cry on, but Aaron thinks that it's better for Nathalia to have someone outside of the family.

"What? I-I mean that it's nice of you to be there for Nathalia, and I would agree to it, but you know well that you can't skip school. Our mother won't allow it." Anna said. If she were in charge, then she will have no problem if her brother were to skip school because of Nathalia, but she is not. And she is worried about her brother if their mother were to know about this plan of his.

"You're the one to talk, you're going to leave tomorrow for uncle Alfonso's runway show." If his sister can go with that kind of excuse, why can't he go with this kind of excuse?