"Are you not afraid? Is it not unsettling that you had a stalker for… five years?" Hugo asked. He still had trouble thinking of the matter. It was no light matter, no matter how trouble-free Rhea looked.
"The unknown is scary," she said. She was used to having the things around her known to her. She thought she could see everything. Her eyes always saw through everyone and everything. But she had been wrong. She was not used to being wronged and because of that, she had developed a habit of overconfidence and arrogance in herself. Now, she doubted her own ability. There was more to learn, more to see.
"A kid cannot know that a creepy old man stalked her," Hugo said. The gloom in Rhea's voice made him want to try to cheer her up and possibly get the body parts of that stalker and cut them into even smaller pieces just for satisfaction.
She did not say anything. Hugo could not read her, but he was pretty sure that she believed she could know it if she was careful enough. His father had said many times that after Rhea's father died in the car accident when she was seven, she had become too gloomy. She had become less like a kid, and more like an old wise woman, who lived beyond the human life span, and knew beyond her years.
"I always wondered how you are always almost late, or late," he said as they entered the school ground and made their way to their classroom. There were just five minutes left for their class to start and Rhea was walking awfully slowly. "Now, I know."
"I would do anything to stay away from this chaotic place even for five extra minutes," she said.
"I hate chaos too, but…."
He stopped and sighed. Rhea was not beside him anymore. It was as if she had vanished into thin air. But he knew better. She could walk silently like a cat. That said, why did he not see her cat? She should have shown it to him.
He entered his classroom and took a seat by Verdell. He had his mouth open as he stared at Hugo. Clara also looked pretty shocked and even stopped putting her hair in her mouth, to Hugo's internal relief.
"No way! Did something happen?" he asked.
"I'm just late," I replied as I put my phone on airplane mode.
"You and late?" Clara laughed. "Oh, please, dude, something surely happened. Did you ask Rose out? She is not here today, I see."
"Who is Rose?" I asked and then remembered that Rose was Ronan's secret girlfriend.
"Your crush," Verdell said. "Why do you act so oblivious when it comes to her?"
"I don't."
Rhea entered only a moment later, right before the teacher entered. She did not even look at him as she found an empty seat. It was like she did not even know him. He knew she would act that way, but it hurt him more than he thought.
She got more eyes on her than usual because of the stalker incident. No one dared to ask her anything as they kind of feared her because of her expression.
She was the least interested in any class, but still always got better than anyone in the class. Hugo, who studied almost all day, rarely could get a point more than her. I once heard our English teacher telling our biology teacher that he got a migraine because of how Rhea showed disinterest in all of his classes openly and that he still could not say anything to her as she was the best student in the class anyway. Did she always get the right answer in class? No, not always. However, in the exams, no one could surpass her. Even if it was a surprise exam.
The class had started and the teacher was collecting homework. Hugo was not sure if it was because he watched Rhea too much, or if he was in general observing, but he noticed some kind of red stain on Rhea's right palm. He was pretty sure it was not there when they were together just a while ago. Was it red ink?
As always, Rhea's face betrayed nothing. He would have to ask her.
"Why do you care?" Maybe she would say and walk away, but he would ask anyway. It looked like he had almost no self-respect when it came to her.
Maybe it was just ink and he was being dumb. But he could not shake off the feeling. He knew a lot better than most people what blood looked like, and how stained someone's hand would be with blood. He damn well knew the difference between blood and red ink.
"What did you do with the cat?" Verdell asked and he had to make sure he did not look too startled.
"What cat?" Hugo asked.
"The one you saw in the forest that day," Verdell said.
"Ah, that one… I gave it to the animal shelter. It had a broken leg," Hugo said. "They would treat it."
"Why do you care so much for those little things anyway?" he asked.
Hugo did not know exactly why, but he loved animals, especially cats. He had a soft spot for them. He never thought why he loved them as there was no reason needed anyway. Cats were meant to be loved.
"That girl is ogling you with her eyes," Clara nudged Verdell. "I never thought I would see the day a girl pays attention to you."
"She is new here. She will get over it soon enough," Hugo said. "Or, maybe she has just fallen in love at first sight."
"I never thought I would hear such things related to love from your mouth," Verdell gasped. "That's progress I suppose."
"I know about love," Hugo defended himself. "I have read romance novels."
"Oh, come on, you need real-life experience," Clara threw her hands in the air. "Go to the club with me tonight? What do you say?"
"We are underage," Hugo said.
"I can just get one of the sugar daddies to help me…"
"Gross. That's… a crime, you know, for those old men to have a sexual relationship with a minor," Hugo said. Clara just rolled her eyes. "Even if you say you like older men, it is still a crime on their part. And you are dumb enough to allow it. At least, wait until you are an adult and then, go out with an old man, or someone on his deathbed."
"You act like you are my dad," she shrugged.
"I believe even your dad can't do shit about this," Hugo said. He had always told her against her actions. Anything could happen any day. Better safe than sorry. But she never listened. Hugo did not have the ability, nor the intention of begging her to listen to him. If she wanted to destroy herself despite Hugo's warning, she was free to do so.
"You have no idea what he is like," Clara let out a hollow laugh. "If he wanted to help, he could."
"If he wanted to help, he would have come by now," Hugo said. He looked away as he saw Clara's face. He was being cruel.
Clara did not have a family. She was an orphan. But for some reason, she believed her father was alive and was near her. It was a delusion, an orphan's desperate belief. But Hugo was tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. Every time he would tell her to try better, she would tell him that he was acting her like her dead. The conversation was always the same. Even with Hugo's father in his life, he did not receive the warmth he wanted from a father. He hated every time Clara talked about having a dad. Sometimes he wanted to tell her it was better that she did not have a father. Better have no father than a father who did not care.
Verdell decided to break the cold between them. But it failed and no more word passed between any of them the whole time. After the final bell rang, Hugo quickly followed Rhea out as she was one of the first ones to leave. His eyes met hers and he signaled for her to stop, but she ignored him and just kept walking.
He sighed and caught up to her and to his surprise, she spoke first.
"I wish people would stop staring. It must be because of you."
She was not ignoring her, Hugo realized. She just knew he would be there anyway.
"It is mostly because of you," he said. "You had a stalker who was also this school's assistant headmaster. People are curious."
"Mostly, not entirely," she said. "I would rather have the eyes on me because of myself and not because of a random boy."
"Come on now, dearest Riri. You might as well be a little proud. I am quite wanted by girls."