Little Miss Author

Once Lisa and Edward had left the view of the teachers they strayed of the path to the medical room and went to the back of the school.

"Okay so the teachers or students outside of the hall should not notice us if we take off our badges, walk in places where it is hard to see our faces, change our hairstyles and not act suspicious. We should hopefully look like random year 12s or 13s just walking around", said Edward while slipping his badge into his pocket.

Afterwards he took off his glasses and placed them on Lisa as she asked, "um I know we are trying to not look like ourselves but don't you need these to see?"

"Those just make my vision sharper. I can still see fine without them", answered Edward while he changed his neat hairstyle from a well disciplined child hairstyle to a messy 'I don't give a damn' hairstyle. Once he was done with that he rearranged his clothes and put a silver chain necklace on.

Lisa's eyes widened as he looked like a completely different person despite only changing his hairstyle, taking off his glasses and moving his clothes around.

"Don't tell me you've done this before?" Asked Lisa with shock.

"A man needs a break once in a while", answered Edward.

"Then what about you?"

"Huh?"

"You're not a man so what about you. How come a boy needs to learn that?"

"You!"

Edward glared daggers at her and just sighed. "For goodness sake just wear these glasses and let us redo your hair before I do something to your father", said Edward.

"Excuse me but what did you just say?" Growled Lisa.

"We need to hurry up before Philip and Brittany finish what ever they are doing", hissed Edward while putting Lisa's hair into pigtails and using the bobby pins he had spotted in Lisa's pockets to pin back her side fringe.

"Come on let's go. I think I know where Philip might have brought Brittany to", said Edward while dragging Lisa to an old tree near an abandoned shed.

They tiptoed close to the shed and placed their ears against the wall to hear voices coming from the inside.

"Philip Lockwood why do you keep harassing me!" Shouted Brittany with a high pitched voice.

"Because you're cute to bully", replied Philip nonchalantly.

Edward and Lisa then heard a stomp and afterwards Philip's voice could be heard again. "Calm down. I am already being kind enough to not do other things right here and now to you. Plus I want to give you a generous offer".

"What?" Said Brittany in confusion.

"Your family is currently in a financial struggle right? How about I offer you a job that will put your family into a better financial stance and it won't even take up a lot of your time after school".

Silence followed his sentence for a few seconds and then: "What type of job is it and what is the pay and working conditions?" Asked Brittany.

She said it in a low voice so it was hard to hear but Edward and Lisa were still able to hear and their curiosity was instantly raised as they pressed their ears closer to the wall.

"Simple. During school hours you are to be my... Helper. When I need a drink you will bring it to me, when I need a massage you will give one to me, etc... You must sign a contract which will end at the end of the year and you must always be at my call no matter what", said Philip with in a commanding voice and before Brittany could erupt he added, "the pay will be $2000 a week (NZ currency; things here are pricey)".

"What!" Shouted Brittany.

Lisa too was shocked as her jaw dropped to the floor while she looked at Edward who simply said, "Philip has enough money in his bank account for that to not even cause a dent it it".

"But he's 15, not 25. Are you guys in the mafia or something wtf. Why is this too much like an a.d.u.l.t novel instead of a teenage novel", sighed Lisa as she thought about everything. They were just teenagers and this was definitely unexpected. She only thought a.d.u.l.ts do this crap; not a mega rich, crazy, teenage kid.

But at the same time Brittany had been acting as an a.d.u.l.t for money and Philip has always been told that he thought like an a.d.u.l.t ever since he was eight.

Lisa's mind once again went crazy as she thought about all of the money Philip is also using to pay Brittany and thought, 'these kids really aren't your typical rich kids. That money is even more than my mother's savings and salary combined when she still worked, and the pay Philip is giving Brittany could literally support an entire family!'

With that money Brittany's family would no longer have to worry about money for the rest of the year so after doing the math Brittany hastily said, "I accept!"

Lisa sighed since despite Philip being super rich; giving a large amount of money away just like that is way too suspicious and Edward smiled wryly.

"Good but for now I will have to prepare a contract and I will pay you via cheque every month. For now let's exchange contacts", said Philip.

Soon the door of the shed opened and Edward and Lisa quickly hid. Once Philip and Brittany were out of sight Lisa simply said, "what the f**k had just happened".

"Philip being the person he is", shrugged Edward.

"What is wrong with teenagers these days".

"You're one yourself".

"I know".

"..."

"Life is too unrealistic".

"..."

"Lisa", said Edward.

"Yes?" Responded Lisa.

"Would you ever take an offer like that?"

"Definitely no. Way too fishy".

"Well you are right. Philip is definitely going to take advantage of that girl's stupidity".

"But aren't his parents going to get mad for spending such a large amount of money".

"Philip has a lot of money and doesn't spend much. He prefers to spend his money on entertainment".

"Does that mean he has done this before?"

Edward stayed silent and Lisa thought, 'is this some fantasy world or something?!?!'

Well at least it makes a more interesting story? Lisa sighed and said, "so what do you think about this deal?"

"Meh. He'll probably stop using her once he's bored", replied Edward.

'What a b**ch', thought Lisa while also questioning Philip's age.

"Well now that's on and over with let's go", said Lisa as she stood up, but Edward pulled her hand again and brought her to another area.

"Hey, what in the world is going on here?" Asked Lisa.

"I still want to talk to you more about something", replied Edward.

Lisa threw a suspicious look at him and slowly said, "and what could that be?"

"I'll cut straight to the point. I know you're the reason why your father has a high position in his company. It is not only because he is a fast worker but also because you help him with big projects and problems", smiled Edward.

"Well they already know that and I don't give a damn. They pay my father enough money for my family to live as high middle class people so I don't need you to ask for a pay rise".

"I know you do not need money, but maybe you need something else".

Of course Edward could not say he would offer her writing help otherwise that might make her suspicious so he had to randomly mention it and get her attention with it.

"Come on. I am Edward Avington. I have many things which only some can access, tickets to great places, a lot of knowledge like in mathematics, science, english, definitely english after all I am a world renowned author. I can make you ace english with third place in the whole school after Philip and I of course", said Edward in an unusual sales man voice.

Lisa shot a weird look at Edward and said, "and why in the world would I need to ace english?"

Of course Lisa was even more suspicious now. Why was he emphasising english so much? Sure he is an amazing author but there this was just way too suspicious plus with him mentioning 'Travelling Through Time With A Story' to Lisa earlier with basically no reason at all was again... Too suspicious.

Lisa hid her fear as she asked, "tell me. What is the real reason why you are reading Travelling Through Time With A Story? It is a web novel with not a lot of recognition and I highly doubt any of your friends would recommend it, and you've said it before in an interview that you have no connection with them at all". (Weblight)

Edward looked at Lisa and said, "I wanted my books to reach more people henceforth I considered uploading onto Weblight, and while I was exploring I decided to look at the not so noticeable novels out of curiosity, and I spotted that book which I became quite interested in. Also... Why are you worked up about that one novel?"

Lisa pretended to look pissed and was about to say, 'because I thought you were suspicious of me of being the author', but decided that would lead to too many questions so instead she said, "because I'm still curious about why you had suddenly mentioned Travelling Through Time With A Story earlier without basically no reason, and since both english and that web novel involves writing I decided to connect the dots".

Edward just chuckled and decided that things would go a lot smoother if he just exposed that he knew she is Lily Tale so he said, "okay I'll be honest with you right here. I know you are Lily Tale".

It felt like as if everything around her had just shattered like glass for Lisa. She had felt this was coming but was still incredibly shocked. She knew denying would get her no where and thought back to what he said earlier about her dad's company and his offer then connected the dots. "So you will give me help in writing to help me rise while I give you help in business because you know nothing of it and can only help with simple stuff", said Lisa.

Lisa could sense a flame appearing in him and slowly stepped back until he grabbed her arm and said, "well you see my brother has always been groomed to be the next ceo, and while I too was given some training I mainly focus on writing. While I can do work like act as a manager-"

"With instructions from your elder brother on what to do", interrupted Lisa.

Edward's grip on her tightened and he said, "wow Miss Tael. You seem to know quite a lot".

Lisa looked away since she had tried to gather blackmail on Edward during lunch and visited a website which only existed for a few minutes. Lisa had her ways in getting information which is why she is always the information gatherer in group projects. Her information gathering is really useful when helping her father out.

"Okay then let's make a deal. We both have things we don't want others to know about and we need each other's help so in exchange for you to give me writing lessons I will give you lessons for the business world. We can decide more later and get a contract written up to ensure nothing fishy happens. We both write it together and we both sign it together with our lawyers present", said Lisa.

Edward couldn't help but smile. While it wouldn't matter much if Lily Tale's identity was revealed it would definitely effect Edward and his family a whole lot if it was revealed that Edward was just a puppet in the company and wasn't what he seemed. She knew that this would damage their image and she wanted to make Edward assured that she won't try to cheat him... But that is what Edward thought. In actuality she just didn't want to get cheated into something crazy as she felt that Edward is similar to Philip and after the earlier scene she grew a bit more paranoid of Edward.

They agreed with the terms and decided to meet on a later date to create the contract and discuss more details, but that would also involve having to involve each other's families as they could not keep this a secret from them.

Lisa also put her number into Edward's phone and as she looked at the person in front of her and she couldn't help but smile. If things went well she could really benefit from this and not only get an expert's help with writing but also get a stronger connection with the Avington family.

Edward couldn't help but feel his heartbeat at her smile and quickly walked towards the hall without a word; forgetting about his appearance. Lisa chased after him with a, "hey!" And made her way to the main hall with Edward.