The Hunt

14

The vacation ended too quickly. As always.

The fifteen days went with a blink. Dan's family went on an exclusive holiday tour to Hawaii. He called me sometimes and shared his exciting experiences, low-key making me envious. Here, Ruth's usual juicy gossips had killed much of my time. And the remaining hours were devoted to sleeping and ..... sleeping.

On the sixteenth day, I walked to school, with the tension of results hovering over my head. An audible sigh of relief came out of my mouth, as I glanced on the notice board. The results were the same again.
Shirlyn was at the top. My name appeared under hers. Dan & Ruth had their names after a dozen of students.

And Rio?
I rechecked the list.
His name flashed on fifth.
I missed it the first time. That's what he meant with his "So-So" exams.
Impressive.

The new class had nothing new though. The sitting arrangement was exactly the same as before. Even the homeroom teacher was the same Ms. Sterling. And Rio was sitting beside me for a whole another year. Sigh.
No betterment of my communication skills.

He was sitting at his desk when I reached my seat.

"Morning." He said, looking straight into my eyes.
"Morning Rio. Early today?"
He was usually the last person to arrive.

"Woke up early. Had nothing to do. Came here." He had the faintest grin. I smiled a bit in response and sat.

I knew one thing.
He was trying hard to be normal.
I didn't forget the way I made you sad.
The way I refused your expectation. This was your way to mend the situation right?

I still couldn't bring myself to accept his offer though. I didn't want to change anything in my life which led smoothly, like  my friendship with Ruth and Dan. I wanted to strengthen it more.
But the choice compelled me to think again.

Was I being selfish this time?
I'm not good at making friends, he isn't either. Still, he tried, from his side.
And I denied it so easily?

Thus, I literally brainstormed my mind the whole time, to get a perfect solution to this existing problem.
Even if I couldn't walk ALONE with him, I could still help him come out of his loneliness. Wasting no time, I took my food from the canteen and sat beside Rio during lunch.

He looked at me with utter surprise.
"Vanessa? You here? Won't you sit with them?"
"Nah, not today. I'll sit here. With you. Let Dan manage with Ruth." With that, I showed my shining teeth.
He was in disbelief. His smile came slow, as he munched his sandwich.

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

Ahh ....Maths could be such a pain!

I got stuck in a question yet again.

Mr. Henry, please don't look at me now.
I was not ready to solve it on the board this time. He usually called my name whenever he noticed my nervous glances, and if I was unable to solve, he smiled. Condescendingly.
And then he proceeded to show his superiority by solving it, and made me feel unworthy, every single time. The answer written on the board would be an easy one. Duh.

So, my situation wasn't good. I looked at Rio. He seemed to have solved it. But my pure lack of communication skills kept me mum. I could see Mr. Henry's gaze linger on me. My heartbeat accelerated.

"Hey! Are you alright?" Rio was looking at my face. He must have seen the nervousness it was glowing with.
"No. I'm not." I blurted.
"What happened?"
"This question....." I showed him my notebook, feeling a little embarrassed.

"I can show you how to do it. May I?"
"Really? Okay." I handed him my pen with a smile.

He started to solve it on my notebook, turning a bit towards me. His cuffed jacket slided a bit upward, and I could see his wrist clearly. There was something unusual. It was a tattoo on his right hand wrist, which looked like some Greek symbol.
I didn't expect him to be interested in tattoes. That too, something GREEK?

"Here, it's solved. Did you understand?"
He had successfully completed that one page solution. His voice dragged my head back to the class.

"Ya ya... I understood." I lied.
He gave a half smile, and turned. But my eyes didn't come off him. Curiosity overwhelmed me.
I waited for the next lunch break.