An Endless Serenade

Chapter Eleven

"Don't get kidnapped!" he called after me in a lighthearted tone.

My heart skipped at his words. Not that I would've taken them seriously two days ago. But after Saturday night, the safeness of this area had reduced significantly. Of course, I couldn't be sure if someone, if anyone, had been following me. It could've been my imagination (probably not). Or someone who just happened to be walking in the same direction as me (all the way to the house?). Maybe I was just paranoid. Still, at the time, it sure as hell felt like that person had indeed been stalking me. And who knew how many times before— I'd always had my iPod in, music blasting in my ears and covering up any outside noise.

Either way, my earbuds were now staying out of my ears.

I arrived at the school at exactly quarter before five. Not to my surprise, the front doors were locked. So I scurried around to the back window I'd purposefully unlocked on Friday in case of that situation. It took little effort to heave myself through it and into the dark building. My footsteps echoed through the empty halls and I treaded more lightly, hoping to quiet them. The school was creepy with no one around.

After a quick sweep through the entire main building, I retreated to the stairs that led to the upper levels by my locker. This way I'd be able to keep a vigilant watch on both my locker and the stairs. And so I sat and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And even dozed off at some point.

The next thing I knew, I heard footsteps tapping down the hallway in a hurried fashion. Immediately springing to my feet, I snuck to the edge of the stairway, ready to pop out and take down whomever it was heading by. Balancing on the heels of my feet, I hunched my shoulders, ready to spring into action. The moment the new arrival's shadow, casted on the floor, met my gaze, I sprung out.

A masculine shout of surprise left the unknown person's mouth as I crashed into them. Shock flowed through me as I realized the person was a man, and a groan of pain left my lips as we hit the polished floor hard. My forehead bumped painfully against the other's and he groaned this time. Opening my eyes, I found myself staring at the person I least expected.

"Mr. Tucker? What are you doing here?" I questioned, my mouth running dry. There was no way he was the one sticking the notes in my locker... was there? No, that wouldn't make sense. Why would he be jealous of my piano skills? And the handwriting wasn't like his...

Propping himself up on his elbows, he grimaced. "Me? What are you doing here? You do realize it's five in the morning, right?"

"I came to catch Olivia putting notes in my locker."

"Ah, I see great minds think alike."

I blinked down at him, and at that moment, realized I was still on top of him, sitting on his stomach. Cheeks flaming red, I scrambled off of him and onto my feet, then offered out my hand. "What? You were trying to catch the person as well?"

"Yeah," he mumbled, allowing me to help him to his feet. He brushed off the back of his flannel, rubbing his forehead. "You have a hard head."

"You... you have a hard head," I grumbled back at him, unable to meet his eyes due to my embarrassment.

A quiet chuckle left his lips. "Good one."

Frowning, I finally turned my eyes to his incredibly blue ones. "Why?"

"Why? Because I figured your way of dealing with it was to not deal with it," he responded easily, shrugging. "I thought I might at least help. Even if you don't want it. It's hard to just sit by and watch, you know? I mean, since you're a student and all..."