The Hunt

13

The Finals were close. Due to the unrealistic cacophony of weird events around me, I wasn't able to study for quite long. The days were bearable, but the nights made me paranoid. The feeling of being watched never got off my head. So here, in a free period with no teacher taking the class, I indulged deeply into the ultimate key to Finals, self study.

After an hour or so, I stretched my arms and back, and just took my headphones off my ears. Ahh....the bliss of silence is too harmonic to break.

"Hey Vinnie, busy?" I turned to see Shirlyn standing near me, clearly breaking the harmonious bliss.
"Nope."
I waited for her response.
"Wanna walk around for a bit? The Drama club is practising their special piece. Shakespeare, they say. We can be the audience."
She smiled.
She really was majestic.

I had studied quite enough, so a break wouldn't hurt.
"Alright. I'm in."
She held my hand and walked towards the corridor.
By and by, we reached the club. Some viewers were already standing before us.
The practice was over soon.
"Umm... let's go back to class." I spoke.
She nodded. We made our way back.

***********************************

The Finals went smoothly. Everyday was nearly the same. I walked with my assembled exam kit to school. Daniel and Ruth joined me in the way, carrying their weary faces. They must have pulled all-nighters.

After the exams, we met in the hallways, and walked home together.
Today was the last exam, and I had attended most of the questions correctly. Smiling to myself, I packed the exam kit in my backpack.

"Hey, how's the exam?" Rio stood in front of me.
"Nice. Gonna get an A for sure." And I beamed all my teeth at him.
He smiled a bit.
"How was yours?" I picked up my bag and looked at him.
"So-so. Just that."
"Ah... let's see the results later. We'll know what your So-So means."
"Yeah....we will."
But the way he looked, he wanted to say more.

"Umm.... Vanessa?"
"Yes?"
"Where do you live?"
"At the end of Marconi Street. Why?"
His eyes widened in surprise.

"Really? Then why haven't I seen you? My house's right behind the Cake shop."
"Seriously? That's close! I always go there to buy snacks for home."

"So, can we walk home together?"

I wasn't expecting that. Too straightforward.

Rio's expectant eyes were hard to refuse.
"Of course we can. I walk home with Dan and Ruth. You can come too. The more, the merrier." I smiled widely.
But he shrugged.

"Those two....are slow. I always reach before you all. So I don't know about your homes too. I just wanted to...."
He stopped, and lowered his eyes.
"Walk alone with you."

What the ACTUAL hell!
Walk alone? With me? We weren't even friends! And he was way too introvert to ask me out.
I couldn't understand the situation AT ALL.
I looked at his face, and all I could see was nervousness.

Before the whirlpool inside my mind could me tamed, I blurted.
"Alone is just not safe."
Oh no. This wasn't the answer he wanted.

"You don't feel safe with me?" He asked, well, not with the nicest tone. Anyone would feel bad with that answer.

"You are wrong. I just mean......"
I meant what? I didn't know how to end the sentence. It was the truth, Rio eerily reminded me of that Red eyed guy. And I could never neglect that feeling.

I was in serious dilemma.

The awkward silence made it unbearable.
"It's okay though. I'll go by myself. You can catch up later with them. It's fine. See ya."
His head hung lower as he slowly walked away.

*********ATTENTION PLEASE********

The next part comes soon. Keep reading!｡◕‿◕｡
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