EVA
"Jesus Christ. " the boy groaned for the seventh time today, within the last thirty minutes. "Can we leave already? "
"You're not the only one here. You know that, right? " an exasperated voice retorted and that was obviously the wrong thing to do because the frustrated boy wasted no time in channeling all his anger at the speaker, which made me think he probably had been looking for an outlet all along.
"Did you not hear the 'we' in the statement I just made? "
"Wasn't a statement, Destiny. It was a question. " Another voice piped in. This one, belonging to a girl. "You would know the difference if you ever paid attention to a single thing that's said in English class. Just like you're not paying attention right now. "
It was Natasha, the queen of sarcasm. A vibrant, quick-witted girl who had a smart-ass reply at the tip of her tongue, always ready to launch. I envied her the talent.
"No one asked you, Natasha. " The boy —Destiny— bit out, his jaw tightening in anger and embarrassment.
"Of course. " Natasha replied smoothly, her mocking tone unmistakeable. "I like to help however I can. "
A round of laughter rang out and Mrs Philomena's eyes widened in alarm at the disturbance. We shouldn't be talking, not when we were supposed to be taking notes as we listened to the Tour Guide.
We quieted down and after throwing a menacing look our way—that was actually more funny than menacing—our Principal turned back to the Tour Guide, her hands at her back in that stance people in control wielded. A quick glance at my jotter told me that I hadn't written nearly enough to make an essay out of. Because apparently, we were making one.
It was hard to blame Destiny for wanting to leave, really. We'd spent over an hour and a half on our feet, walking from one section to another and just before we entered the section before this one, I'd asked myself if the tour was ever going to end. I was starting to believe it would go on forever.
I, for one, didn't find the mesuem particularly interesting. It was more the location that did it for me. I didn't think staring at Dorothy's shoes or equally uninteresting artifacts was a great idea of spending my day, so, yes, this excursion was in fact, terribly boring.
We were all asked to turn our phones on silent before coming in and a lot of people had resorted to texting, doing it conspicuously to avoid getting caught by Mrs Philomena. Whiling away their time this way, obviously alleviated some of the boredom seeing as no one was complaining as bitterly as Destiny, which led me to believe that his problem was hunger.
Judging by his incessant complaints, it was a nagging one. And that didn't make sense because we all ate our fill before coming here, just two hours ago. He was probably one of those always-eating people, like Laura, but while Laura had an ass to show for it, he had nothing. He was skinny.
A phone beeped and I unconsciously reached into the back pocket of my jeans, thinking it was mine. I heard a muttered 'shit' and I might have uttered the word, I wasn't sure. I wasn't cognizant of a lot of things happening around me as I watched my hand come back out of my pocket. Empty.
My blood ran cold.
Mrs Philomena was whispering furiously at someone, scolding them for disobeying her, but it all seemed to be happening at a distance. My heart beat faster and my hands started to shake. I shoved my hand into my left back pocket, wondering if my phone had, by some miracle, grown legs and jumped into the other pocket, but I had no such luck. It wasn't in there either.
My phone was gone!
Had someone slipped it out of my pocket when I wasn't looking?
I dismissed the thought immediately. I would have felt it if someone had and it's not like there were thieves amongst us.
Or were they?
The girl beside me shifted, sensing the shift in my body language and I glanced at her with slitted eyes as if she was the cause of my predicament. Her eyes widened and she shifted farther away from me, no doubt thinking I was a psycho. I was far from caring.
Beads of perspiration settled on my forehead and I wiped it off with the back of my hand.
How did this happen?
I had my phone with me all through breakfast at the hotel restaurant, I'd even taken some pictures. From there, we had gone outside to the bus and come straight here, but I couldn't remember it being with me during the bus ride. Could it be that I might have misplaced it at the hotel?
I had to find it. I had to—
Laura!
I'd given it to her when I went back upstairs to make quick use of the restroom. Oh, God. What if she lost it? Laura wasn't the most careful person.
My excitement gave way to fear and I searched for her in the crowd, my movements frantic. Despite her lack of height, she was quite easy to spot and it wasn't just because of the hot pink sweater top she wore, it had something to do with her energy.
"Laura. " I tugged on her arm impatiently when I reached her. Her head whipped around and by the irritated scowl on her face, I could tell she didn't appreciate being approached in such a manner. However, her frown smoothened when she saw it was me.
"Dammit, Eva. Don't do that again. " she whispered. "I was just about to slap you. "
"A slap wouldn't be a bad idea right now, except I'm not sure who's going to be on the receiving end. " If it was another time, I would relish the surprise my words evoked in her. "Where's my phone? " I asked urgently, going straight to the point.
She rolled her eyes leisurely, no doubt thinking I was overreacting. "Calm down, will you. It's in my pocket right.... " her voice trailed off, a confused frown settling on her face.
My stomach dropped.
Lines appeared on her forehead when she checked her sweater pocket and saw that it wasn't there either.
"I don't understand. I had it right here. " her eyes were two pools of worry when she glanced at me. "I swear I was holding it. Ever since you gave it to me, I haven't dropped it once. I swear, I—" she stopped abruptly and her eyes narrowed.
"What? What is it? "
It felt silly, whispering like this when we were talking about something so important, but we couldn't risk getting caught by Mrs Philomena who seemed to want to bite our ears off for doing something even as basic as sneezing.
"Laura... " I pressed when she just kept staring at me with a look of utmost concentration on her face. If perhaps she remembered where she left my phone, then we had greater chances of finding it before someone else did.
"When you guys came down from the vehicle, I stayed back to make an impromptu video call. But I wanted somewhere private so I used the back seat. " Her eyes met mine. "And I think I might have left it on the back seat when I was leaving. "
Mrs Philomena caught us talking then and she fixed us with an admonishing glare. Laura scoffed, muttering, "Fuck you. " At my gasp of surprise, she said, "If not for her, your phone wouldn't be missing in the first place. "
"How is it her fault? "
"She didn't let us bring our bags in. Lord knows I would have kept your phone in there and not a damn thing would have happened to it. " she fumed.
It would be so easy to put all the blame squarely on Mrs Philomena, but I couldn't ignore Laura's carelessness either. She was the one that had decided to stay back for a video call and ended up totally forgetting about my phone. And it was my fault for asking her of all people to keep my phone safe. The word safe and Laura couldn't be used in the same sentence.
How on earth could we possibly find out who could have gone into the bus and taken my phone? Where would we start from?
....Or what if it was still in there?
My heart leapt at the thought.
"Maybe it's still on the bus? "
She shook her head as she whispered. "Could be, but I don't think so. Some of the guys came back in just as I was leaving and I think they hung in there for a while. "
The little flare of hope I had felt, dissipated into dust. If my phone had been in the bus before the guys went in, then it definitely wasn't in there anymore. I knew Ivacy High boys. They treated everything like a joke. They would want the owner, whoever it was, to suffer a great deal before giving it back. And in this case, it was me.
Which meant I was in for it.
"I know what to do. " Laura said, dragging my attention readily back to her. "Did you put your phone on silent? "
"Yes, I think so. "
My phone was almost always on silent –because what was the point in turning the volume up when no-one ever called or texted? Once in a while, Laura and I engaged in back and forth texting but that was on rare occasions.
"Shit. " she cursed in obvious frustration, then her eyes lit up again. "No, wait, that works too. " she tugged me closer to her, bringing her lips to my ear as if anyone was paying attention to us. "I'm going to call your phone and if anyone here has it, we're going to know. If not, then we'll know that it's still on the bus. "
Okay, that was smart. But she forgot one little detail.
"My phone is on silent, Laura! " I whispered harshly.
She glared at me. "I know that, but it must be on vibrate or something, right? "
"Or something. " I agreed. "Silent. "
"Oh, shush. Whoever has it, they're going to feel it when it rings so let's hope they'll bring it out to see who's calling." She pulled her phone from her pocket, unlocking it and scrolling to find my contact. "Jeez. I've never met someone so pessimistic. "
More like realistic.
"I'm not being pessimistic. My phone has never vibrated once in all the times I've put it on silent. Why would it start now? That's just wishful thinking. "
But what did I know about a phone I'd only been using for a month anyway?
Enough to know that this plan was pointless.
She pressed her index finger to her lips, telling me to shut up as she flipped her phone around, showing me that she was already calling my number.
"Observe. " She twirled her fingers in a circular motion and I assumed she wanted to watch everyone closely.
I had a strong belief that my phone was still on that bus, but I also didn't want her to think I had dismissed her idea without giving it a try. Sighing, I glanced around warily. I guess it didn't hurt to be thorough.
My eyes moved from one person to the other in the hopes that my phone might be in the possession of one of them while at the same time, knowing and praying that it wasn't. If my phone had been found by one of the Ivacy High boys, especially the notorious ones, then I was going to go through hell to get it back —and that was if I did.
As I surveyed the crowd, I paused briefly on Destiny. His eyes were red-rimmed, signaling that he was nearing his breaking point. I wondered what I would do if he happened to be the one that had found my phone. My pulse raced in trepidation at the mere thought of having to speak to him. I would just forget about it, to be honest. The phone wasn't worth the trauma I would go through.
After a few seconds of watching and waiting with no progress, I turned back to Laura with a brow arched. "I told you this wouldn't work. "
"Don't give up so soon. I'm calling again. "
Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. It was obvious that we were just wasting our time, but Laura was too hard headed to admit it. The Tour Guide rambled on, gesturing wildly with animated expressions.
Only a few people were actually paying attention to her. Some of these people were Abi and Phoebe.
Abi wasn't one to miss out on a single moment especially at a museum like this. She was an Arts student to the core. One of the few times I went into her room, I noticed a small shelf of novels just beside her bed. Me being a book freak, I had wanted to take a peek but she stopped me before I could get close enough and that had increased my curiosity ten fold.
What was she hiding?
Phoebe stood off to the side in front of the group, just a few feet away from the Tour Guide and Mrs Philomena, making notes on her jotter ever so often. I didn't know if she was just making notes simply because we ought to or she was actually enjoying the discussion.
I knew I wasn't.
She was surprisingly easy to talk to, even if just a little confusing with her half jokes and the laughs that didn't quite reach her eyes. She was a mystery to me.
Deciding I was done with this, I turned back to Laura. "Are you done wasting our time? It's not.... "
And her plan actually worked.
Standing a few feet away from Laura, was Axel. It all seemed to happen in slow motion as he frowned, dipped his hand into his front pocket, and pulled out a phone with a black pouch. My black pouch. He frowned at the screen, probably after seeing the caller ID, and his head swiveled in my and Laura's direction.
Of all the boys in Ivacy High, it just had to be him. Axel freaking Arthur.
He stared at us blankly for a bit, seeming to see only Laura, then his head moved infinitesimally and he was looking at me. His frown deepened and his eyes darted back to the phone in his hand. Instantly, his eyes flew back to mine, finally putting two and two together.
I expected him to scowl at me or look away, basically anything that portrayed anger. I had been ignoring him for the past two weeks, after all. I sure as hell wasn't expecting—or prepared for the breathtaking smile that spread across his face.
Butterflies rioted violently in my stomach, almost making me dizzy with the force. It had been so long since the last time I saw his smile and it felt like I had been starved for it. Unable to look away, I whispered to Laura, "It's Axel. "
"Huh? "
With a great deal of effort, I turned to her. "Axel. He's the one that took my phone. "
Her eyes widened and she located him in the crowd instantly, boring holes into his head with the force of her glare. "I guess you know what to do then. "
"Me?! " I gaped at her. "You're not going? "
"Why would I? " she looked genuinely appalled.
"Weren't you the one that lost the phone? "
"I didn't 'lost' it. It's with Axel. "
"And whose fault is it that it got into his hands in the first place? "
"Mine. " She admitted easily. "But I helped you find it. Isn't that enough? "
No. No, it wasn't.
Narrowed eyes faced me. "Why don't you want to go to him? What are you not telling me? "
I sucked in a breath. How quickly she turned the tables on me.
"What do you mean? "
"You like him, don't you? "
My eyes darted away. "No, I do not. You were the same person that warned me to stay away from him. I'm only doing what you asked. "
A brow lifted. "Right. Okay, I'm telling you to go get your phone from him now. "
Was that how she wanted to play it?
Why had I even listened to her in the first place?
Because, despite everything, you know she's right.
Still.
"You're a hypocrite. "
Her jaw dropped, surprise stealing into her features. "Um, " she blinked. "Is it 2030? When did you get this bold? "
I shook my head, turning away to stare at Axel who was watching us with rapt attention. When he looked at me, there was too much satisfaction on his face. It annoyed me that I was going to have to go to him.
"Go get your phone, Eva. " Laura whispered in my ear like a little witch.
"I will. " I bit out.
"Of course you will. " she said, a cunning smile playing on her lips.
I couldn't focus on anything for the remainder of the excursion. My eyes kept drifting to Axel. I kept asking myself how I was going to get my phone back.
Opportunity presented itself, however, when we went back to the hotel and everyone relocated to their rooms after a brief stern talking-to from Mrs Philomena. She wasn't exactly happy with us.
Laura did some work and got his room number for me and I made the walk to his room like a prisoner headed for death row. I stopped several times and almost turned around. But there was no running away forever. I was going to have to talk to him one way or the other.
Steeling my spine, I lifted my hand to the door and knocked twice. There was some shuffling on the other side and then voices like they were arguing on who was going to get the door. After a beat, said door flew open.
I blinked once, then twice, color rising to my cheeks instantly, my skin tone be damned. There was no hiding the blush on my face.
Vaughn's cold grey eyes assessed me —there was no other word to describe the way with which his eyes bored into my soul— as though I were a tiny bug that had ventured onto his path and he wasn't quite happy about that.
He didn't speak; I couldn't speak. I couldn't find my voice.
Was I in the wrong room?
I took an involuntary step back, stopping short when I collided into a hard body.
What the—
"The fuck are y'all doing staring at each other in the hallway like fucking creeps? "
I swiveled on my heel at the sound of the new voice, coming face-to-face with Alexander. He stood so close to me that my nose was mere inches from his chest and when I looked up at him, it felt like I was staring at a mountain.
Okay, I was definitely in the wrong room.
The amount of testosterone I got from them standing in my personal space like that, one in front and the other behind me, was too much for me to bear. It felt like they were caging me in. I felt suffocated and overheated. It was an overload to my senses that made proper thinking impossible.
"I-I think I'm in the wrong room. "
I made to side-step Alexander but he must have seen the move coming. He easily caught me, flipping me around with his hands on my shoulders, and gave me a light shove into the room —and right into Vaughn.
"You're not. "
The door slammed shut behind me.
Same time next week? ;)