My Words Are Law

Troubles Arise (2)

"At least he didn't chew you out the entire class." Mia patted Amaryllis' back to console her friend.

"Because I answered his questions correctly... Imagine if I didn't do advanced readings?" Amaryllis groaned as she recalled the grueling queries their professor made her answer. It was only after she got all five of them correct that he finally gave up and focused on discussing the lesson instead.

Mia cackled at the memory. "Everyone was secretly cheering you on, you know! They were whispering about how you totally K.O'ed, Mr. Jovannie- Oh, look! It's Chryses, and he's looking over here... At you!" Mia pointed somewhere in front of them.

What's with all the strange coincidences? Amaryllis willed herself not to look in reflex as she began to think of a reason to escape. She thought she wouldn't see him today since the only class they were both attending doesn't fall on MWFs.

And yet she met her on the way to Mr. Jovannie's class.

Which could just be a mere coincidence.

She'd been rationalizing what happened earlier as one of the mere freak accidents of fate, but now that they had crossed paths again, she couldn't help but wonder if he was orchestrating it to make trouble for her. It's exhausting handling the aftermaths of his provocations. She'd better escape quickly.

Amaryllis smacked her forehead. "Oh my! I just remembered I need to return a book!"

"Hey, Chrys- What?" Mia frowned at her friend.

"How forgetful of me! Ha-ha-ha! Oh my god! Would you look at the time? I need to hurry. Bye, Mia!" Amaryllis quickly turned about, her footsteps not at all subtle in hiding her desire to leave the premises.

"What? Why would you even need to hurry-? It's still early- Lis!" The library closes at 10 pm, and it was still 4 pm, so there's no way her reason was valid. Mia called out to her friend twice, but Amaryllis was long gone, her figure fading behind the bushes of the pathway when she took the turn towards the library's direction. Could she still be avoiding Chryses until now..?

"She looks like she's in a rush," Chryses muttered when he finally closed the distance. Oh, he'd be surprised if he knew the reason why. The woman gazed up at him and nodded wryly, wondering about the people that usually trailed behind him but chose not to ask. After all, no matter how nice you are, there are times you'd rather not be around some people.

"Yeah. She needed to return some books." In the end, she muttered the lame excuse Amaryllis provided before she set off running away like a cornered rabbit. Mia hesitated whether she should tell the real reason or not, but she remembered Amaryllis made her promise countless times not to probe Chryses for answers about what happened first semester of last year, saying it must've been just stress accumulating when she muttered Chryses hated her.

She was concerned for her friend because she knew what Amaryllis had gone through in high school. So she observed him from afar and noted how his actions and behavior were surprisingly... contradictory to Amaryllis' statement. Eventually, her suspicions were cleared.

Regardless, Mia still wanted to know details. She doesn't know much of what transpired during those six months because Amaryllis had enrolled late, and by the time she was awake, all the schedules Mia had chosen were already unavailable. At that time, Amaryllis was alone most of the time. It didn't help that she kept secrets from Mia, but she couldn't just force it out of her. Mia will have to wait for Amaryllis to talk about it on her own.

"I see," Chryses uttered softly, his eyes staring into the distance as if he could still see Amaryllis' figure. "I was going to talk to her about something important," he added.

"Hm? Would you like me to relay it to her?" Mia offered.

Chryses smiled down at her. "I wouldn't want to bother you. Anyway, she'll know about it in class tomorrow."

"Oh." The girl nodded. It was about a school matter. "Okay."

He responded with a curt nod, and the conversation came to an end. Mia began to feel awkward standing without anything to say while Chryses stood smiling beside her. She didn't know he was actually the silent type. She wondered what those people were always talking about with him whenever they surrounded him like bees to honey.

"The weather seems nice today..." At last, she muttered a random phrase after racking her brain. Still, she couldn't help wincing at how dull it sounded in her ears. Who was she kidding? It would sound dull to anyone's ears. Probably, even duller in Chryses' ears. She wondered how often it was uttered out of nervousness as a conversation starter.

"Indeed." Once again, the conversation came to a halt.

Mia chuckled dryly, not knowing what to say anymore. Fortunately for her, Chryses seemed to have somewhere to go as he bid her goodbye after glancing at his phone.

She sighed. Those people are amazing for managing to carry a conversation with a guy like that. She shook her head and fished out her phone to message Amaryllis.

'Where are you, rn?'

It was immediately read.

'He's already gone. You're welcome.' She sent another message, which was also read immediately.

Amaryllis' reply popped up a second later. 'Sorry, 'bout that... I forgot I already returned the books this morning. Must be stress messing with my memory again...'

Mia rolled her eyes as she typed her response. 'I totally believe you. By the way, I'm sleeping over at your apartment tonight. I'll bring chicken curry.'

'Thanks! Your dad's chicken curry is the best!' Mia grinned at her friend's reply before tucking her phone inside her pocket.

Ah... She must be the bestest friend in the world. Amaryllis is very lucky to have her, indeed. She thought about these words gloatingly before finally moving away from her spot.

***