Chapter 6
“Hey, Are you free tonight?” I grunted a response and chewed on the fresh slice of apple from the bowl.
“Is that a yes or no?” Ethan asked from the other side of the end.
“I think I am busy tonight,” I said with a sigh . I heard him scoff and a sigh of irritation.
“Please tell me you have friends, What are you doing the whole weekend except sleep and read!?” He asked, sounding incredulous like sleeping was a bad thing.
“What’s so bad about staying in my comfort zone? I like my life the way it is” I argued hoping he would stop asking me to spend my nights out of my apartment.
“Chloe…I don't want to sound rude but You gotta enjoy your life! Don't stay holed up in your room like a weirdo!”
“Staying in my room doesn't make me a weirdo!” There was his scoffing again which I chose to ignore.
“Get ready for tonight, I'll pick you up” He ended the call before I could retort with another excuse.
I looked at the time and noted that it was close to seven. If it was a week ago, My hands would have been busy peeling potatoes or onions while Mr Young did the cooking. Sighing in distress, I stood up from the couch and ten minutes later, I found myself standing under the shower,rinsing my misery off with warm water that soothes my tense muscles and scrawny arms and legs.
Ethan showed up twenty minutes later after I was dressed in a clean pair of fresh clothes.
“What happened to you? You look like a wounded puppy” My friend teased me the moment his gaze landed on my face.
“Where are you taking me? Please tell me there is food” I made my way towards his car and settled comfortably next to the driver seat.
“Of course, we are going for movies”
“Like a date!?” I sputtered in pure horror.
“Nah, I just feel sorry for your boring ass,might as well take you to enjoy horror movies” He grinned mischievously and ignored the look I was giving.
Despite my reluctance to enjoy a horror movie, I couldn't deny the fact that Ethan was a great person to hang out with.
****
“I can't believe you brought me here to watch Chucky! It's not even scary- Why are those humans scared of a ugly fat doll? I hate that he's perverted too” I stated my displeasure and chomped down on my delicious pasta.
Ethan chuckled and shook his head, slurping on his Lassi.
“Come to think of it, Your hair reminds of Chucky,” He teased. I gawked at him. “My red hair has got nothing to do with Chucky!” I scowled at him.
“Don't disappointment me by saying you hit on girls with those ridiculous lines”
“I don't disappoint them, I make them scream.” His smug face made me realise the meaning of his words. I shut my eyes and fake-gagged at him. Although Ethan looked nowhere as hot as our certain English teacher, I knew without a doubt that girls are crazy for him.
I went back to eating and slurping on my lemonade occasionally when I felt a sudden kick on my leg that made me yelp in pain.
“Why would you do that?” I whispered-yelled in shock.
“Isn’t that Mr Young?” Ethan's eyes are skidded towards the left direction. On Instinct my head snapped towards the direction and there I saw Mr Young who isn't hard to find, his face stood out everywhere among hundreds of crowds or a diner where there are low chances of meeting him.
“He looked hot” The words escaped my lips in a whisper and by the look on Ethan's face, he had heard it.
“I mean- the lady with him looked hot and beautiful, Don't you think?'' My pathetic excuse made him grin wider but he didn't comment on it, thankfully.
“Stop staring at them Ethan, He will see you! My god! He's looking this way” In my attempt to get hold of Ethan's shoulder, my frantic hands knocked over my glass of lemonade and it fell down on the tiled floor followed by a loud shattering of glasses.
“Holy Shit! CHLOE!” I might as well just hand him a microphone.
The waitress scurried over to us with a worried expression, my hands covered my cheeks and my red locks did a little help to cover my embarrassed blushing cheeks.
“I am so sorry, let you help you clean up” I got down from my seat and picked up the piece of glass and in my blushing state my movements were frantic and careless, the glass pricked the tip of my finger and blood oozed out, followed by a careless rubbing.
“Chloe,You are bleeding” the deep voice stiffened and immobilised my body. Mr Young stared down at me, lips tight and as usual stood in his glory.
“Come on get up, What is so interesting about the tiles?” I heard the amusement in his tone, Shakily I stood up, hiding my injured finger behind her Jean shorts.
“Uh-Mr Young,What are you doing here?” I asked, blinking back my confusion. He squinted his eyes as if trying to figure me out.
“I was having dinner with my old friend there and I saw that you were on a…. date” his eyes moved towards Ethan.
My eyes snapped towards Ethan who watched our exchange in complete curiosity. I frowned, he smiled.
“Please take care of your fingers, I don't want you lagging behind on assignments because of an infection” I sulked like a kid . He looked over his table and smiled at the brunette who he referred to as his old friend.
The sinking feeling in my stomach isn't unmistakable this time. I wanted to run and watch him interact with the attractive brunette at the same time.
“Nice to meet you here. I'll see you tomorrow at school” The smile never wavered from his face.
“Sure. See you tomorrow” I replied in a polite way. He narrowed his eyes but left with one last look towards Ethan.
“Come on, Let's get you to clean up and get you an ice cream. Ethan joined me within seconds, giving me a look that resembles sympathy and a brotherly love.
When we passed by Mr Young's table, I kept my head high and ignored the look of happiness on his face as he conversed with his girl-friend.
Asshole
“Britney,I should drop you home before it's too late”
“Yeah right”
The rest of the conversation cut off when the door shut behind me.
Ethan dragged me out of the diner and abruptly halted his steps in front of me. My feet stumbled a couple of steps backward and looked up at his tall height. There was an unmistakable grin on his face, he looked as if he was on cloud nine and riding on a wave of radiation.
“Will you tell me what that is about! You are so jealous” he exclaimed and clapped a little.
“What do you mean?” I pointed out, emphasizing my words loud and clear. He rolled his eyes.
“Don’t pretend like you don't know what I am talking about. You have the hots for Mr Young” He chortled and pinched my cheeks.
“You know that is wrong! Prohibited” I crossed my fingers, showing him how wrong it was.
“Whatever. From what I see, it's not exactly hopeless” he drew out, and tugged me away towards his car.
“Huh!?”
“Nothing” he shrugged and cranked up the music,almost making my ears bleed.
After an endless hour of driving around the city with ice-cream and mindless chatting, Ethan finally dropped me in my apartment.
“Oh! Just so you know, You have my blessings” He called out before he drove away.
I turned towards him, confused. He gave me a big grin.
“I don't need your blessing!” I called back.
“You love me” he blew me a kiss and laughed rather loudly.
Getting tired of his antics, I scoffed and mumbled ‘goodnight’ before hurrying and disappearing inside the building.
When the elevator dings, I walk out and meet Mr Young who was standing in the hallways. The sight made my heart clench.
“Mr Young, Is everything Okay? ” I moseyed towards where he stood.
He held out the small plastic bag which I tooked willingly.
“ I want to make sure your fingers don't get infected, clean the wound and wrap the band-aid neatly.” He instructed.
“Thank you, You don't have to do this”
“I should, You are my student and it is my job to take care of you” I rolled my eyes.
“Right! You are my teacher” I mumbled in distaste.
“Umm I should - I should go to sleep.. Goodnight Chloe” I nodded and turned to leave.
“Chloe”
“Yeah?”
“Are you dating that kid?”
“Kid? You mean Ethan?” I asked, confused.
“I guess, Good night” He gave me a tight smile and left abruptly, shutting his door with a bang.
Chapter 7The worst part of being an orphan is when you suddenly feel sick and there would be nobody to take care of you, no one to nurse you, check your temperature and make you soup. Thirteen years of being an orphan, and I should get used to this type of circumstances but as I walked up to the receptionist, grimacing because the movement worsened the pain on my lower right abdomen, I felt so lost and envied the people who had a family to take care of them.Twenty minutes passed, The nausea returned but I took a breath and waited for Dr Michael to call me. Ethan's text distracted me from my distressed condition, I rolled my eyes at his dramatic text asking me Why I wasn't at school and another ping of a mochi with an arrow in the heart.“Miss Green? Dr Mi
Chapter 8“Is She awake? How long does it take for a normal human to wake up after a surgery?”“Mr Young, it is only three hours.Why don't you rest and maybe sleep a bit? Please stop asking me the same question every ten minutes.”“But What if she stop breathing while she is-”“I’ll see you later.” With that, I heard a door slamming followed by Mr Young's cursing.Silence engulfed the air after Dr Michael left the room, I groaned and peek my eyes open. Mr Young's worried face is the first thing that came into my view, his iron shirt has creased all over and for once his hair is no
Chapter 9Mr Young walked ahead of me carrying the bags of groceries and medicine bags that we brought on our way earlier. My twenty-five years old landlord greeted our cat and rubbed his fur gently, which is a sight to behold. Mr Young and my beloved son together was something I didn't want to change. I knew whatever we had right was nothing permanent but I could allow myself to enjoy the moment which was what I always did.“Meet your mama, Bibi.” Mr Young announced. I chortled and moseyed my way towards them taking Bibi from him.“I was planning to murder you if he went dissapearing.” I teased with a serious face.
Chapter 10I walked into detention that following afternoon. While Mr Young might have been unhappy with me for disrupting his classes, Why was I the only one who got detention and not Ethan who was the main culprit?It wasn't fair, My first detention had to be given by my favourite teacher!I settled on the farthest corner of the classroom because Lord knows Mr Young's close proximity is something I couldn't handle. He appeared three minutes later after I had settled on the chair comfortably.I put on my earphones and pretended to get lost in the music and started doing my homework, failing miserably. I could feel his eyes on me and I looked up.“Why are you sitting there? It’s just the two of
Chapter 11Come morning, the humiliation I felt was still fresh and I cringed every time I recalled how rudely I was rejected by Mr Young. Literature class is just a step away and with a last minute decision, I texted Ethan and pivoted my heels towards the opposite direction of the literature class. I knew I was being a coward, an oddball but getting rejected does that to you. Don't try this at home.Ethan appeared five minutes later, he was grinning with mischief like cutting classes were the most adventurous thing I had ever done.“Wow! Miss Green cutting classes!?” he exclaimed mockingly.“Don’t make me regret this. I
Chapter 12My breath caught in my throat with Mr Young's words, the way he was staring into my soul like we were feeling and experiencing the same emotions making my knees buckled and my resolve weakening, I was sure that he felt the same thing until some emotions crossed over his face and then he step back, putting a decent distance between us.And I knew that whatever moment we had a few seconds ago was buried under his pretense of nothingness, like he hadn't just told me that I made him crazy. But crazy in what sense? He's making me crazy too.“Get back to your class” he dismisses, without looking at me.“Mr Young” He looked up, the look on his face showed despair and anger. It made me
Chapter 13 Beauty Pageant Beauty pageant The words couldn't stop ringing in my head, I just wanted to wallow in peace because five hours ago, I was closing the chapter of my one-sided love with my English teacher. Added to that, Aunt Shirley new’s of Mark's arrival made me want to howl and cry for many hours. Aunt Shirley heels clicked on the marbled floor as she walked ahead of me, assessing the rows of clothes with her keen eyes. Her way of visiting me is normally taking me shopping and stocking my fridge with heavy loads of healthy foods and fruits. Aunt Shirley loved me in her own ways although the two of us are both bad in expressing what we felt for each other.
Chapter 14Mr Young sprang away from me like he had been burnt which would have been amusing if not for Aunt watching us in a very suspicious way, with her brow arched and lips tugging up slightly.“I thought you went for dessert so I was thinking of helping you. Pardon me dear!” says aunt,fanning her face with her hands, dramatically.“I’ll be right there.” I informed, Blushing and not meeting her eyes. She barks out a loud laugh like she was so proud of what she had witnessed.When she left, tension filled the air. The moments which we had just a moment ago disappeared and all that was left was the after effect which might I add is filled with awkwardness