Sweety took the chit from him, taking special care in not touching an inch of her skin with his. If she acted withdrawn he might give up on her.
But as she turned her body from him to get out of the room, he pulled her arm bringing her close to face him in the eye, surprising her completely.
"I did not even answer your question and you are leaving."
She was guilty because she was not repulsed from his touch. Could it be she was being this close to a man after a long time? Sweety shuddered at that incident.
Rob was preparing ways to get the girl comfortable with him where she will hand over the locket without so much as a fuss. After last night, he needed time before breaking another limb in his body.
"Please. F-Forget I said an-nything." She moved back trying to free her hand which was crumbling the chit she was holding.
He used to believe, girls wanted him for his natural charming aura which he inherited from his father but looking at the scared girl he couldn't help but compare himself as a monster.
As soon as he let go of her, watching her like a hawk, she stepped at least 5 steps back from him while rubbing her arms furiously.
"I'm sorry." He wanted her to meet his eyes but she refused to look up.
Sweety dashed out. Rob saw the girl going away, he knew she will be back here. But he decided on waiting for her to open up her mind.
"This will take longer than I anticipated." He concluded.
Four minutes later Sweety opened the door to classroom noisily, peeping in to find Mr. Wilson sitting cross legged on the teacher's table, sucking juice from straw.
He waved at her as if he knew she will come back here.
"It says 'classroom'." Sweety explained holding up the chit.
"Oh." He continued sucking in. She knew he was playing with her now. It was no coincidence for her to land up in the classroom where he was waiting here.
"You messed with my chit." She accused.
Rob licked his lips after drinking the last drop from packet, throwing it in bin perfectly from where he sat.
"That is no way of giving up, kid. Find your clue and go to your team."
The table was long enough for him to settle his back on it, with folded knees one above other. He closed his eyes resting his head on right elbow but his ears were actively following her.
Having left with no choice, she began searching for a clue. From corners of walls to bags of classmates, she was beginning to regret indulging in this game.
The room was thoroughly searched, according to her. Only place left was the teacher's table.
Staring at the lying man, his voice came to her mind, 'Kid'. Could she have been wrong all this time?
Call her a freak but his addressing for her was not to her liking.
He could have called Miss Roulette. A kid? She is not that small!
"Did you say anything?"
"Huh? No!"
Making up her mind she opened her mouth. "I need to check the table. Will you move?"
She was waiting to see him politely adhere her request, instead he did not react at all. Did he fall asleep? Oh no. Others must be waiting for her, yet she didn't find a clue to reach them.
Tip toeing close to table where he laid motionless, Sweety looked for cracks between wood or anything to get her hands on. She was so busy in getting her work done, her hand supported the edge of table where his head laid on to check the sides and edges.
"It's not here." The girl yelped, jolting suddenly from his voice, her leg slipped leading her to fall back. But his quick reflex caught her hand in time.
Sweety was lacking of breath, she was unaware if it was because of the almost fall she was going to have or from being an inch's difference from Mr. Wilson.
"W-What?"
"I said," he repeated slowly, "It's not near this table."
She was staring at his face all the time he was speaking, his lips, genuine eyes which reflected all that he said. Could her intuition be wrong of judging him like this?
On the realization, she recovered herself. Then her eyes went to his hand holding hers, she then met his eyes communicating him to let go. But he was being difficult as always.
"Um, my hand."
"I can help you." He said quickly. Sweety stared at him in confusion, he slid his legs down the table, fully facing her. His tall frame enveloped her in an overwhelming warmth.
Sweety was tugging her hand away from his hold but he didn't budge much to her chagrin.
"But you have to answer me something first."
"Sir, I need to complete this game. My team is waiting." Rob was irked by now. As much free and easy-to-be he was trying, she was running that much far.
His hold tightened, gaining her attention in surprise. "Tell me a truth you never said anyone before."
Silence passed between the two. Which could have continued if not for Mr. Wilson to break the flow. "Come on. Speak up." He bent his head close to hers, directly peeping in her eyes, like peeping through windows of her soul.
"Am I an experiment you are conducting?" Sweety asked the closest possibility making sense in the situation. It was Rob's turn to be dumbfounded.
Has this kid never been a romantic splutter? If he had reversed places with her and there was a female, hot teacher interested in him, he would have never left the chance considering it would help him score good marks and... ahem, bedtime helps as well.
He let go of her hand in disbelief, eyebrows knotting in thought as to how to reply this naïve kid.
"Why do you want to know a truth from me? As much I've studied, people say truth to the people they can trust it with. Is that what your experiment is?"
Rob was pulling his hair in frustration when he turned back at her only to find an intelligent woman. Sure, he didn't know her IQ or how much she scored in exams, he didn't care but her changed persona was so alluring to watch, he now understood why she appeared so different from others her age.
"Yeah... You got me." Deciding best to play the part with her, he took a seat on front linking his fingers in front of him wondering how to convince her to give him back his locket.
Sweety was unsure if she did the correct thing uttering out his plan. Why should she be worried when he obviously knew what he was planning to experiment? She just happened to solve the puzzle.
Coming over to face him, she disclosed, "I saw a thief yesterday night."
Now that was certainly not what he was expecting to hear in means of getting close to a girl. Rob gradually moved his neck up to the girl iterating her story, gulping twice in process.
"You d-did?"
She nodded.
Sitting upright, he told himself to focus. Focus on not getting caught. That was always the rule.
Clearing his throat he pretended smiling, "You saw a thief yesterday night? Are you sure you're telling me the truth? Because I didn't hear any such news..." Hopefully, she didn't complain to the authorities. Or he could go under serious trouble.
"I didn't say anyone of this but there was a thief yesterday in our hostel's backyard."
Rob sighed out in relief which earned a pair of suspicion towards him. Chuckling he added, "The thief must have been a lucky one. Well, that was a good truth you revealed. Anything else related to this thief?" He tried very hard for being uninterested but as he kept on opening his mouth, he was muttering gibberish.
"No."
"You have not searched my books yet." He kept his promise of helping her to which she acknowledged and searched.
Before heading out of classroom, she turned to him questioning, "What will you do with my truth now?"
"Huh? Oh, you'll know." He smiled brightly but she was able to catch the flickering in corner of his lips.