Chereads / Playful Phantom / Chapter 16 - Chapter 16: Cutting Classes

Chapter 16 - Chapter 16: Cutting Classes

So, that basically means his daughter is the one I screamed at yesterday.

Cool…

"Oh… Please tell her thanks for the concern." There's nothing else I can really say except that and a thrifty nod. Although I'll admit guilt crept up my system, I chose to keep silent.

"By the way, I'll fix your phone this weekend. Don't worry." Harvey pitched in, and I felt my excitement rising, but it was short-lived. "Oh, but I don't have money to pay---"

"You don't have to worry about that. It's on me."

"Why don't you have money, kid? Are your family financially struggling?" Jim curiously asked.

I could only chuckle. I wish...

"Not really, I guess I'm just an idiot who bought excessive things instead of saving up the monthly allowance I'll be receiving from now on."

"Hey, don't be hard on yourself. Kids like you ought to enjoy things. Don't worry, you can come to us whenever you need anything, okay?"

Jim's words warmed me up on the inside. If only he knew that his daughter probably despised me after what I did yesterday. Still, I nodded and accepted their courtesy. Somehow, they seem genuine with their offer.

Wind thrashed and spiraled around the empty birch trees. The orange leaves nestled beneath us were carried around like wandering clouds.

After that, I helped Jim and Harvey gather some button mushrooms. "You gotta look at the base to see if it's good to go. Then, you…" Harvey dug the roots and removed the bunch completely, continuing his words with, "Remove it like this… Tadah! You got a mushroom that tastes good in creamy soups."

I didn't know why, but my hands clasped together and I ended up clapping in delight. I gotta admit that this is pretty entertaining. "Me, next! I wanna try…" I volunteered and ended up enjoying it all the way. About an hour later, we hopped on the tractor and they drove me back to my house.

Harvey taught me how to use the firewood as heater for the tub. It turns out that I just have to place it in this small space beneath the tub while the woods are smoking; not exactly burning, just scorching. Then, there's this knob that I can use to turn to keep myself from getting turned into a stew.

"Haa…" I heaved as I get in on the warm water. It eased the pain on my back and relaxed me a lot. I mean, I haven't taken a bath for quite a while so leave me alone.

Unfortunately, maybe I got too chill and ended up spending more time in the bath. It was too late when I noticed that I've been longing on the tub for an hour and a half. I'm late for school!

I splashed around and hurriedly put my uniform on. Don't get me wrong, I've never been this concerned about attending school early. In fact, I was always late before. It's just that I don't want to storm in the classroom last for now since that stupid principal probably has his eyes on me.

Cutting to the chase, I locked the shack and ran my way to the school. Thankfully, I didn't come across any nuisance today. 10 minutes later, I'm on the gate. I felt a mild hitch on my chest when I saw literally no students on the field. Classes started about 30 minutes ago; should I go to the classroom, or should I just cut class?

Okay, so I ended up… cutting class, on the rooftop, like a sore, depressed loser. To be fair, the view is quite amazing and though it's kind of cold, the sun showed up again, lighting up everything I see before the horizon. The weather here is dead-ass confusing.

The quiet stream of the river as it flows towards the sea somehow cheered me up, seeing the stupid white birds playing there and all. Some of the senior students going on and about at the main building caught my eye from here. They all look busy. Especially the ones in Class A. No kidding, Natasha and Dan are so focused on the books they're reading.

As I keep my eye jumping from room-to-room, I found myself searching for someone I shouldn't… Her words last night enraged me, but it also kept me awake, meaning to say… her gaslighting worked.

Still, no matter how much I roamed my eyes around, I didn't see her in one of the busy classrooms. "I mean, which class did she belong to, anyway?"

"Who?"

"What the—?!"

As it is, I almost fell to my back again, but I held the railing til the caps on my fingers popped just to avoid that from happening. Not now, not on her watch!

"Pft..." She tries to subdue her laughter, but that doesn't make things any better.

I closed my eyes, straightened my stance, and met her gaze. Right now, she's resting her back on the railings, arms crossed like a thug taunting its prey. She wore a cheeky grin, manifesting that annoying halo of dominion as she stared at me.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I asked with evident annoyance. Out of all times that she can pop right next to me like a ghost, why now? At the worst possible time?

"Who are you looking for? Maybe I can help," Avery replied instead.

"N—No one!" I nervously replied, not wanting to adhere to any of her thought-provoking notions. Unfortunately, I'm not the best at hiding my emotions. She squints her eyes and takes steps over me, as if examining my reaction.

Clouds hid the sun and I guess Princess Peach figured that at this moment is the perfect time to blow wind towards my direction.

The hairs on my nape stood in unison, and my insides were wilting like I'm in the midst of a tip-off. I can't really see myself, but I'm pretty sure I'm turning red.

"Bull… unless…" She stopped in front of me with her smirk growing like a satisfied tyrant. "You were looking for me, weren't you?"

Her stupid face is way too close that I had to back off in order to shake my mind and remain lucid. To keep my cool, I scoffed as if I found her words funny. "You're not that remarkable for me to think about you. I don't even know your name!"

"What? But I introduced myself to you."

I know, and I didn't care enough to remember." I clicked my tongue and looked back at the main building. "I was referring to… Dominic! I was referring to his class 'cause I forgot."

She stares at me for a few seconds and eventually nods her head in a slow manner. She extends her lower lips and mumbles, "Okay, I didn't know you swing that way."

I was taken aback by her words. "Hey! No, it's not like that. I'm straight!"

She furrows her brows, "That's kind of homophobic, dude. It's okay, there's nothing wrong with—"

"Shut up, Avery!"

"Bingo, so you do know my name."

My mind went blank and she immediately let out a chuckle. "I—whatever. You should stop assuming things about people, woman…" I muttered in defeat.

Turning my heel, I walked to a nearby bench and sat there. Rows of available seats were positioned up front the mountainside, which isn't in its best since clouds started to form aloft the sucker. Without a doubt, the nosy rat followed me, but she didn't sit and just skipped in front of me like a distracted toddler.

Eventually, she asks, "By the way, what are you doing here?"

"Why do you care? It's none of your business," I answered.

"Fine, but just know that every time you evade answering my questions, I think of a whole new reason that might cloud my mind. Hmm, let's see…" She paused amidst her joyous leaping and held her head high in deep thoughts.

I sneer and answer her initial question before she gets things wrong again. "I'm here because I'm late and I don't want to disrupt the class."

Don't blame me. What if she tells everyone about her distasteful assumptions and the next thing I know, people think I'm a cold-blooded homicidal maniac who's dyslexic and has parental issues?