Good Girl

From inside, suddenly the door opened slowly, a boy with light brown hair appeared behind the door. He peeked out after hearing strange voices.

Soledad, who was talking to a stocky man, didn't notice, only Rachel saw a boy peeking behind the door.

"Soledad !" Rachel called Soledad who was still chatting intimately with the man who seemed to be the caretaker of this big house.

"What is it ?" Soledad asked.

"There, look at that!" Rachel said, pointing inside.

Soledad was shocked, it was indeed the face of the boy she saw this morning. Even though it looks vague, the hair color and eye color are very similar.

"You guys see what?" the man asked.

"Who is that child, sir?" Soledad asked.

"Oh, that's Count William Der Lijn's youngest son," he answered.

"How many children do Count William have?" Rachel asked.

"There are five people, four of them are women, only one is the youngest man,"

"Oh I see?" Soledad and Rachel said while looking at each other.

"You know young master Alexei?" The man asked while looking at the two girls.

Rachel didn't dare answer because she felt like she didn't know him, while Soledad, with a happy and confident face, was ready to give an answer.

"Do not know her!" Soledad answered innocently. The man and Rachel immediately laughed at his very honest answer.

"Oh, I don't know, that's okay. Young master Alexei also recently moved here with his mother,"

"Not long? But hasn't Count William lived here for a long time?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, Count William and his four daughters have lived here for a long time. But his wife and sons didn't stay here before, they only stayed here for a month." He answered patiently to the questions of small children like Soledad and Rachel.

Soledad and Rachel nodded simultaneously, a few moments later they looked at each other.

"Then shall we excuse ourselves, sir? Sorry for disturbing you," Soledad said goodbye.

"Oh yeah, okay, be careful on the road, okay?"

"Yes, sir. We'll excuse ourselves first!" Rachel said politely while bowing.

Soledad and Rachel walked out of the big house. Soledad, still curious, occasionally glanced back to see the boy who still hadn't moved from his place.

The boy was aware of the presence of the two little girls, that's why he remained where he was while watching them walk away.

"How? Are you satisfied?" Rachel asked, Soledad chuckled.

"Yes, at least I know a little,"

"Still curious too?"

"No,"

Suddenly the sound of a car engine was heard from behind. Soledad and Rachel turned around, what they saw was the luxury car belonging to Duke Robert Walter's grandson, Nicholas Walter.

Soledad and Rachel tried to ignore the car passing by, especially Soledad who had assured herself that she didn't want to get involved in anything else with Nicholas.

The car stopped about 1 meter next to the two little girls. The window in the passenger seat opened and revealed the face Soledad hated most.

"Rachel, want to come home with me?" Nicholas asked offering Rachel a lift.

A shocked Rachel didn't expect Nicholas to offer her a ride. As far as he knew, Nicholas had never behaved badly towards him. They had spoken in class occasionally to talk about music.

"N-no thanks, Soledad and I will just walk!" The answer was reluctant. Rachel looked at Soledad who seemed indifferent to Nicholas' presence.

"It's okay Rachel, you can just go home in his car. Besides, I also want to go somewhere for a while,"

"Somewhere? Where?"

"I'm going to the river!"

"Alone ?"

"Yeah, your mother definitely won't let you. I'll just go alone, you just go home with her!"

"Is that okay?" Rachel asked to confirm.

"Yeah, that's fine, okay? See you tomorrow!" Soledad said as she walked quickly, she passed a faster cutting road to the river.

Rachel finally went home with Nicholas. In the car, Nicholas kept asking about Soledad which he thought was very strange.

"Where is he going?" Nicholas asked.

"To the river!"

"Is there a river around here?"

"Yes, there is, the river is very beautiful and the water is very clear. The scenery around the river is also very beautiful," answered Rachel innocently.

"He went to the river alone?"

"Yes, Soledad really likes going there. Sometimes I also go with her, but mother forbids me because she's afraid I'll drown."

"You can't swim?"

"No, I can't. Soledad often teaches me, but I'm afraid. So, every time I go to the river with Soledad, I just sit on the edge and watch her swim alone,"

The two boys were silent for a while until Nicholas reopened the conversation.

"Rachel!"

"Yes ?"

"Why would you want to be friends with someone like him?"

"Why Soledad?"

"He's really strange. Apart from that, he's also rude, dirty and smelly. I can't stop thinking there are people like him in this world," said Nicholas conveying his hatred.

"Soledad is very nice."

Hearing Rachel's words, Nicholas immediately looked at the girl beside him.

"What? Okay?"

"Soledad is actually very smart, even Miss Anne and the principal said so."

"I'm smart too!" said Nicholas disapprovingly.

"Apart from that, her voice is also very beautiful, my father said Soledad's voice was very good when she sang,"

"I can sing too, I can play the piano and violin. He definitely can't, how could he possibly!"

"The first time I met her on the first day of school, I still remember that it was Duke Robert who took Soledad to school. Soledad was actually a cheerful child, even though she was naughty. But she was smart and also very kind. Even though she was often insulted, if her friends got into trouble, He always helps even if it's someone who treats him badly."

"But why is he evil to me?"

"That's because you insulted her, if you treat her well. Soledad will definitely want to be friends with you!"

"I don't want to meet him, besides who cares whether he's good or not. I still hate him!" said the stubborn Nicholas.

Rachel sighed, it seemed like trying to make these two very stubborn people friends didn't seem easy enough. Because both of them have left a bad impression on each other since they first met.

                                ***