Whopp! Chapter twelve guys! Happy reading :)
"Crystal".
Raymond snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Yeah", I said vaguely.
"Everything okay?"
"Yup", I said with a small smile.
He raised his eyebrows at me.
"Really? Care to explain why you were staring at the map then?"
Of course I knew this was about to happen. By hook or by crook spoilt-brat always figures out the truth. Or is it that I am too easy to read?
"Umm are you sure this is the world map?" I asked him nervously.
Raymond chuckled this time.
"Why? Don't you see Sparks right over here?"
"Of course I can see!" I said fuming which I don't know why seemed to amuse Raymond.
"Oh I didn't know you have eyes Miss Daydreamer", he said and winked at me.
Seriously? Did he just wink at me?
"Since you appear to be pretty good in Geography why don't you locate London for me now?" I said folding my arms.
He looked at me like I said something alien.
"What?" he said.
I was really beginning to get angry. Why the hell was he jokinh with me! He knew I didn't like jokes.
"Its a very famous place. Haven't you ever heard about it?" I asked to see him giving me a cute innocent look.
"Is it?" he raised his eyebrows. "Well seems I haven't heard of it before. Lets try to locate it."
He started scanning the entire map. When he couldn't spot, frustrated he gave up and faced me.
"Well seems this so called famous place of yours is too small to be shown on the map".
I pushed him aside and looked for myself to get a real shock. All the places were unfamiliar. There was no sign of USA, Europe, Australia or Asia. There were only islands throughout the map with weird names.
I felt pretty mad and frustrated. Everything that has happened so far seemed to be some kind of a nightmare. Who knows tommorrow I might wake up and everything will be back to normal?
For a brief moment I thought maybe Raymond was playing a prank on me but immediately dropped the idea. There was no reason for him to do something so weird. Unless he is the plane guy...
"Maybe", I said, still in a daze.
"Okay so how about we start our lesson", he said. I nodded with a brief smile and we started studying.
Raymond was actually a superb teacher. He wasn't any student or normal teenage boy. The way he spoke, moved his hand, his head, cracked jokes occassionally was something worthy of praise. He had his own style of explaining everything in a very intersting manner and I seem to like his way of teaching.
In the end he was actually impressed when he asked me a few questions based on the topic we learnt and I could answer every one of them correctly.
"I don't think you need any tutoring Miss Daydreamer", he said.
"No I need you to teach me. Its so much better and easier to understand than school. Thank you", I said with a sigh.
"Well don't thank me yet. You can thank me after you get an A in all your papers though", he said winking.
He was excellent in Maths and Literature, weird combination I know.
I checked my watch to find it was almost 2.
"Okay I gotta go! Its almost 2", I said and got up.
"Well you better hurry up then Crystal".
We made our way to the roof again. I climbed up the railing but stopped. I don't know why but felt a tad bit scared to hold the tree and climb all the way to my roof. Was it because no one was there to catch me in case I slipped on my roof?
"Umm Raymond.." , I was starting to say but he cut me off.
"Come on. You can do it. I'm holding you Crystal", he said and held my waist.
Is it weird that I actually felt butterflies in my stomach?
"But-"
"Do you trust me?" he asked me, his crystal blue eyes resting on mine.
I really didn't have an answer to that so I gave a half-hearted nod.
All the while I was making my way to my roof, I was trembling like hell.
"Okay see you tommorrow then", he said with a smile once I was on my roof.
"Yeah good-night."
"Good-night."
Once I was in my bedroom I sloughed down into my bed sleep overcoming my tired soul.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I am warning you. Tell me the code!" a girl shouted. She was tall and had curly hair, her face lilac almost honey-like. It was dark so her face wasn't exactly visible.
Lying on the floor was a very scared looking girl who was tormented and tortured. She seemed resolute though, ready to fight.
"Just kill me! I don't care", she shouted and stood up putting all her strength.
Suddenly a sound was heard. She looked down to find her orange stone-fitted bracelet lying on the floor.
Before she could grab it the other girl had already taken it like a jet plane.
"Wow! Is this yours?" she asked her, her evil eyes sparkling.
The tormented girl knelt down on her knees and almost begged the girl.
"Please don't do anything to that", she said.
The girl laughed at her cruelly. She twirled the bracelet around her fingers and crushed it.
"Why? Is this your soul?" she mock-laughed at her.
"No but its pretty important to keep me alive and you don't wanna kill me right now do you!" the miserable girl said.
"No not yet", she said, smirking.
"Where did you get it anyway?"
She didn't answer.
"Just give it back!"
However the arrogant, rude and mean girl laughed and put the bracelet inside her pocket and took out another bracelet. It was simple with a striking green stone studded in the middle.
She pressed the green stone and everything seemed to get blurr.
The miserable girl lying on the floor staggered back and fell down with a yell, screaming and shouting in agony and that's when I woke up from my sleep.
I was totally drenched with sweat. It felt as if I was the one who was being tortured back there. Quickly I checked my body from top to bottom and heaved a sigh to find I was okay.
Just a dream Claire, I said to myself. I stretched out my hand and fumbled for my bedside table only to remember once again that I wasn't at home.
How I wished for my mom to be here. She always comforted me whenever I had one of my frightful nightmares. But now I was all alone out here...
As I fluttered my eyes open, I saw it was already morning. The clock said 5:10am.
Too early to get up, I thought and as I was about to hit the sack again I remembered I was Crystal. Miss Wainscoat would be suspicious if she finds out I didn't go out for my morning walk even today so I reluctantly got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom.
After a steaming hot shower I put on some clothes and made my way downstairs.
Thankfully Mr and Mrs. Darton both were not there, probably out for work. Miss Wainscoat as usual greeted me with a warm smile and hug and I did the same.
Breakfast was the usual except I got ice-cream today and that too strawberry. My favourite! However I couldn't help the occasional yawns and my eyelids threatening to close shut any moment.
"Are you not well Crystal dear?" Miss Wainscoat asked me as she was going through the newspaper.
"Yeah I am alright. Why do you ask?" I asked her.
Of course I was okay! Just a bit tired I guess.
"Then why do I see dark circles under your eyes? You look frightening dear", she said.
Oh so that was the reason. It was natural. I had hardly got four hours of sleep last night.
I suddenly remembered I needed to take permission from Mrs Darton regarding my tutoring classes with Raymond.
"Umm do you know when mom will be back?" I asked her.
"Well next week. Didn't she tell you?" she asked me, surprised.
"No", I said softly and continued to eat.
How could she do that? I mean Crystal is her daughter afterall.
However time won't stop for anyone so instead I decide to take permission from Wenny.
"Ah Wenny do you mind if I take tutoring lessons from one of my classmates who stays next door for the next couple of days? Its for the upcoming exams", I said nervously, not sure what she might say.
She looked at me shocked.
"Are you okay Crystal? Since when did you start asking for permission to do stuff you pretty much do on your own?" she raised her eyes.
"Seriously Crystal you have changed a lot in the last two days. I mean you have stopped going out on parties, clubs, dates and most shockingly you have broken up with Nick whom you loved more than anything else. What's wrong?"
Did I have any explaination to that? Yes but no.
Never in my sixteen years of existense have I felt so confused as I was feeling then.
I quietly finished the rest of my breakfast and just as I was about to get up Miss Wainscoat cleared het throat.
"You can definately go Crystal but I need to know the name of the person who is tutoring you", she said.
"His name is Raymond. He stays next door".
"Raymond? Are you sure? I have never heard of any such neighbour before", she said looking confused.
"That's because he has moved down from Canberra few days ago", I explained.
"Oh I see".
"So like I said before we will be studying every evening except for Sundays and I'll be back before dinner time. Will that be okay?"
"Yeah that's fine by me. Just make sure you don't miss dinner", she said with a smile.
I smiled back and made my queue to finally go outside and finish my morning walk.
It was sunny outside and I wasn't in a mood to jog or work out. I almost walked like a zombie since sleep seemed to overcome me once again.
A loud barking sound interrupted me from my train of thoughts. I looked back to find a cute spaniel dog staring at me. However what scared me was the sight of two huge and pitch black hunting dogs glaring at me from far off.
Before giving a second thought to the situation I started running. The dogs started barking and I could hear their thump sound as they followed me in order to grab hold of me and probably tear up my flesh.
Well all thanks to my adrenal glands! The dogs could'nt outrun me and were soon left behind.
I ran almost like the wind, my hair whipping like a mad woman and kept a check for some sort of hiding place or shelter. It won't be long before the dogs would catch up with me again. And God seemed to hear my thought!
I saw a bungalow and ran towards it. Knocking loudly on the door, I kept on looking behind my back to see if the dogs were there. No response.
Sighing I decided to do the one thing which I shouldn't have done. I decided to break into the bungalow since my feet were already starting to hurt and I had no intention to run.
I took out my hairpin and started working on the lock. After about two minutes I managed to open the door. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me softly, waiting for the barking sound to cross the bungalow. I checked the looking glass but no one was outside.
Might as well wait for another couple of minutes before the dogs go away.
I scanned the house curiously. The house looked well-maintained but nobody bothered to open the door. Weird...
Suddenly I heard a growl. Quickly I made my way to the door and looked through the eye hole. The big dogs were sitting outside like two guards blocking the gate. I was scared to death! I waited for them to disappear but they didn't move even an inch.
Shit! I'm locked inside an unknown house...
No Claire you can't loose hope now. There must be some other way!
I observed the living room carefully. To my great disappointment, there wasn't even a hole big enough for a fly to go out, let alone a person. What ill-luck! And then my eyes fell on the shelf, on a particular picture...
Seems it wasn't my day at all. Staring at me right from the picture was none other than Raymond.
How could I have not recognized his house! It was then that I realised I haven't really seen his house. All I had seen was his room and of course the roof.
But why didn't he open the door?
I checked the time. It was close to 5:45am. I guessed he was out for his morning walk just like me, I thought and heaved a sigh.
Once more I checked the eye hole to find the dogs still sitting there.
Stupid creatures!
I made my way upstairs. There were three rooms on this floor along with a bathroom, a small kitchen and the flight of stairs probably leading to the roof.
Curiousity once again decided to get the better of me and so I decided to atleast check the rooms to see if he was actually outside or sleeping.
All the rooms were empty so at last I decided to head upstairs.
There slowly I peeked inside his room and stood still. A person was lying on the bed snoring. It was Raymond. Holy shit!
He looked so relaxed and peaceful while sleeping, a slight smile at the corner of his lips. His hair was messy and I had this sudden urge to run my hands through them. He wore a light blue sweat shirt over grey track pants. He was tightly holding the bedcover to his chest and his shirt was a little bit up, revealing his waist and tummy. His skin was flawless. He seemed to have the perfect figure of a model.
What the hell Claire! Are you crazy? You are supposed to plan your escape route, not check out how hot the spoilt-brat is!
However I couldn't take my eyes off his perfectness. Sleeping Raymond was so much different from the Raymond I see everyday. I moved a little close to get a quick view of his oh-si-adorable face. He was unfortunately too attractive.
Even more while he was sleeping...
It was probably the first time I checked out a guy that close. The slight smile on his red kissable lips, like an etereal creature, made me gulp my throat.
Unaware of what was going on I found my hands moving on their own accord towards his face and my own face followed suit. My hand was just a few centimetres away when he gave a frightful sneezem Hachooo!
What the hell!
I stumbled back and then once again was brought back to reality. My motive was to get the hell out of here before he wakes up, not to try any funny business.
Why was I so much attracted to this guy anyway? He wasn't any God! Or was he?
Well I left it for God to decide if he was a greek god or an asshole because right then Raymond shifted slightly and I ran for the door like a superwoman.
Unfortunately I didn't make it till the door because Raymond got up. Somehow I managed to crawl behind the dressing-table. It was stupid of me because to hide there because I was pretty sure Raymond would spot me but there wasn't any choice.
I had never seen a guy waking up as strange as Raymond Lavender. He rolled on his left side and sat up as swift as a deer with the biggest yawn. Then he stretched his arms, legs, swayed his head before going back to bed again.
Sunlight was streaming through the window and I could see his face from here. He looked at the clock and jumped out of bed.
It was 6am already.
Oh no...I will never be able to make it to school today!
Forget school! Will I ever escape without being caught spying, by Raymond once again? Because just after that I saw Raymond looking in the mirror at my direction, with an unknown expression on his face.
I was caught, I said to myself before closing my eyes.
Hahaaaa! Whoa cliffhanger ;) So what do you think will happen to Claire/Crystal now? God Claire is such a stalker lol!😂😅
I hope you guys liked this chapter because I pretty much enjoyed writing it😆
Anyways, I'll probably upload tomorrow again and you will soon find out what happens☺
The next chapter is pretty intersting though so don't miss it😉
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Lots of hugs
And kisses,
Meow😹