Afternoon class finally ended.
I'm kinda excited.
And scared.
But mostly excited.
...
I quickly left the room, bringing my bag with me.
I greeted Shaina at her classroom.
"I should really go with you guys. If he's after me, I could really work as bait."
"I told you. Just go home. I won't let you join in this."
"Saying sweet and caring things won't work now, Josh."
"I didn't mean it to be sweet."
...
Why did I add that? It should've been fine without denying it.
Well, it's kinda weird that I didn't mean it to be sweet. I mean, I should be meaning it because that's exactly what I'm after.
Sigh. I won't even bother thinking about this anymore.
I just can't stop myself I guess.
...
"Riiight." Shaina looked at me with doubt.
"Yeah. If he sees me walking with you outside the school, he'll get even mad and go after me."
"Are you sure making him mad is the better option?"
"I don't know. If I just wait for my time to go home and leave you, I don't know what will happen to you and me as well."
"I can manage this on my own, Josh."
"Yeah, but he's after me. Not you. And if I'll do things normally, he'll continue his actions. It's better to engage with him early."
"Just let me stop him."
"If you think about it, if you punish him, that's probably what he exactly wants."
"A masochist?"
"Hm. Probably."
As we argued, Paul arrived.
"Alright. Let's go." I carried Shaina's bag.
"Is this really necessary?"
"Hey, one can rarely touch your things. If he sees me carrying your stuff, he'll get even more mad."
"Are you sure you want to make him mad? Or do you just wanna brag?"
"Whatever my reason is, it'll work."
"This is so cute." Paul whispered under his breath.
"Give me your jacket."
"Oh, right." Paul hands me his jacket.
...
We left the building.
I looked around, and saw the guy at the school field.
We left the school, and waited for a bus to come.
...
"Alright. I'll head there first. Don't let her join in dude."
"Right."
I ran back to the school, putting the hood on Paul's jacket.
...
Alright.
What exactly is my plan here?
You know what? I actually haven't really thought it out. I just want to talk to the guy I guess.
...
I arrived at the school field, with this stalker looking at me.
"What do you want?"
"Probably a conversation. Got any topics to talk about?"
"You're the one who came here! You start it!"
"Ah, right."
He grunted.
"Oh yeah, why were you creepily looking at Shaina behind the school building earlier?"
"I was looking at you."
"Uhh..."
"It's not like that! I'm angry at you!" The guy spoke, hesitating.
"Heh. It feels awkward to be confronted about this huh?"
"Y-yeah."
"Yeah. A face-off usually happens when the one who's mad confronts the other who's not."
He puts his hand inside his pocket.
"So, why are you mad at me?"
"I should be the one beside Shaina, not you!"
"Oh nooo, it's a generic trope of the villain from a romance manga."
"Oh, SHUT UP!" He aggressively runs towards me.
He then pulls out something in his pocket.
...
Oh no. It's the strongest weapon known to man: the box cutter.
...
As he tries to grab me, I move sideways.
I have to gain distance from him so I just pushed him down.
He fell onto the ground, but he still has the cutter in hand.
...
Dammit, I wasn't able to stop action from happening.
...
I gotta run.
...
I immediately ran away, and headed towards the school gym.
His footsteps get closer. I turned to see where he is, and he's already an arm length away from me.
A detour. I have to detour. He'll catch up if I run straight.
Beside the gym is the canteen, so I turned left into the entrance.
Since the class if over, the food hall is already closed, giving me the space outside the hall the only place I can run around.
Outside the food hall, there are chairs and tables.
I grabbed a table and pulled it, placing it behind me.
I kept doing this to the chairs I pass by as obstacles.
...
My legs are getting tired. By breathing becomes faster.
I have to rest somehow.
...
We just ran around the canteen, until i reached the entrance/exit again, and left.
I saw a stone drop at the ground aggressively.
It was as if someone threw it.
I turned to see who it was, and it was Paul.
...
Thank you.
...
He's behind the walls of the student building, and I ran towards there.
I looked behind, and saw that the guy chasing me did get left behind because of my obstacles.
He wasn't too far though.
I arrived beside Paul, both of us hiding behind the building wall.
"I'll need to stop him somehow." I held the wall in exhaustion.
"If he really intended to stab you, he needs a beating." (Paul)
"Let's not do that. We just have to find some way to trap him or not let him move. 'Cuz I just wanna talk to him dude."
"You think a conversation with a psycho can prevent him from stabbing you?"
"Are you sure he is? His anger probably just got the best of him."
"How the hell can you be optimistic about this?! He's about to kill you dude, and possibly me too!"
"Oh, no. I'm just as scared as you. I'm just way too good at hiding myself panicking."
"Whatever! What do we do?!"
"Alright. Wear this. Let him chase you around the campus. I'll find you guys later. I'll go to the gym. I'll probably find something that can stop him there."
"Probably?!" Paul aggressively whispered as I left the building and ran."
I gave him the jacket. I ran as fast as I could towards the gym.
The sky is starting to darken.
I turned around to see what happened, and I was right.
...
The guy mistook Paul as me because of that light-green jacket.
Damn. That jacket is a very useful plot device.
...
I arrived at the gym, and thankfully, it wasn't closed yet.
"Alright. What can I use here?"
...
I'm in panic.