It was at that point the teacher entered the classroom and everyone took their seats. Their little conversation was finally over.
Meanwhile, I was stuck with Rosa staring at me more intensely than usual as if she was making up for all the days she'd missed out on. It was either that, or she was just irritated about something. I didn't bother to look at her to try and figure it out.
It was extremely annoying though. Annoying to the point I was willing to do just about anything for her to stop staring at me. I couldn't put up with it anymore. It was driving me to the brink of insanity. I was ready to get down on my hands and knees prostrating in front of her to beg for her forgiveness.
I felt sick, wrought with anxiety from her gaze always directed toward me.
I had to talk to her and put an end to this.
It was only the first day since she resumed this little game of hers, but it had me on pins and needles. This had developed into something that was far from normal, unhealthy even.
If a person could kill someone by staring at them for long enough, I felt like Rosa could do it.
When lunch break arrived I did something rather uncharacteristic of me. I left the classroom for the first time ever. I wanted to get away from her for the time being and find somewhere I could be alone. A thought I'd never once had before even popped into my head. Skip. Why don't I just start skipping classes? It's not like I really need to be in class, right? My grades would be fine even if I don't go.
It was an action the old me would have never done.
Thus, for the first time ever in my life, I decided to skip out on classes for the rest of the day. During lunchtime, I left the school premises and decided to head over to my old university for a change of pace since I didn't know where else to go.
Before I got to my destination I'd changed out of my uniform into my casual clothes in my bag and I stored it in my bag. There was no uniform for the university I attended which made things easier to blend in as a student.
When I arrived on campus I headed over to the museum where there was a comfy couch that surrounded one of the larger displays that contained a reconstructed bone Tyrannosaurus. I went to the side of the couch that faced the windows that revealed the woods and river on the other side.
It was quite nostalgic as it brought back a lot of memories for me. A lot of my time in university was spent precisely on this couch.
I laid down on my back comfortably and used my bag as a pillow. I set an alarm on my phone for when it would be time for me to head to work.
I just kicked back and relaxed. No one I knew would ever find me here. This was a place where I could be completely alone. It was a safe haven for me. A paradise for me and me alone. Nobody would bother me. It was rare for anyone to ever pass by here.
It was an out-of-the-way building on the edge of the campus. With nature to my right, the bones of an extinct dinosaur watching over me on my left, and a series of large transparent see-through displays with various rocks and minerals to my rear, I closed my eyes and dozed off.
With how comfortable and at peace I felt right now I began to wonder why I was even bothering to go to high school anymore. When I thought about it, wasn't I just unnecessarily pushing myself so hard for no real reason? There was no reward I would acquire for finishing high school since I had no plans on going through university again.
If I really wanted, I could drop out of school, change to full-time at my job, then fully dedicate myself to writing. I'd unnecessarily gotten caught up in the false misconception that I had to continue with high school just because I woke up there.
Wouldn't a lifestyle like this suit me much better? I could come to this museum every day, write my stories, head to work, return to my apartment, then repeat. There was no need for anything else in my little closed-off world.
For the time being, I can probably skip school and occasionally show up whenever I feel like it. If they kick me out, then so be it. If I did things like this, Rosa would probably eventually lose interest and forget all about me as well.
High school truly was never that important or significant to me in life.
In my light sleep, these thoughts came to the surface of my mind on a subconscious level.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
I opened my eyes and immediately stopped my alarm from going off.
I stood up feeling rejuvenated with my body feeling extremely light. My shoulders weren't stiff and I felt refreshed. There wasn't any heavy feeling bearing down on me. I felt relieved from the bottom of my heart.
It seemed my secret hideaway had worked its magic the same way as ever.
I stretched out my body before I headed out to work.
Off-campus, I stopped in a public restroom, fixed my hair, and put in my decorative blue-colored contacts.
I arrived right on time and completed a shift with my book reading coworker. Once we were done, I returned home and did some editing and proofreading on the first volume of the story I would soon self-publish on Amazon.
Over the last month I'd also published other stories on a chapter by chapter basis while I worked on the first volume of the story I would self publish. This was all to build up a fan base for my writing. I didn't edit or proofread it nearly as much, but I still made sure there weren't any grammar mistakes and also ensured everything flowed well enough.
Writing was a long tedious process with many steps along the way. As people often said, Rome wasn't built in a day.
When I was satisfied with the progress I'd made for the day and it was sufficiently dark outside, I turned my phone off and finally called it a night.