Chances of Fate

VII- The Red Herring

I reluctantly headed back to our classroom with Laura behind me. We already discussed that she'd meet me at the willow tree after twenty minutes.

"Oh, Amirah! I thought you already left." He greeted with an innocent face as soon as he saw me enter the room.

Goodness, give me a break at least. I can't bear to look at him for even just a second.

Doing the same expression as his, I replied, "That's silly of you to think even though my bag's still here."

He mumbled something under his breath as he scratched the back of his neck.

Laura faked a cough and politely bid her farewell to the two of us since we were the only people left in the room.

That reminds me, Laura's the one who's assigned to lock the doors-but that doesn't matter. I know she'll come back. That was our plan after all.

We didn't speak a word after my assistant left. In my head, I started counting from one to thirty, waiting for him to start talking.

When I reached twenty, he decided to break the ice with, "I knew you looked familiar."

I immediately snapped out from my thoughts and slowly began walking towards him.

"You," I called, glaring at him. "Why did you lie?"

He hesitantly backed off as I drew near him until there was no space left to move. "I don't-"

"You don't know what I'm talking about?" I continued, sounding a little more menacing than what I expected, leaving him a stuttering mess.

Aha! I found his weak spot! He sounds so cocky whenever we talk but that attitude's completely drained now that I'm near to headbutting him. I feel so powerful!

Noticing him inching away from me, I absentmindedly blocked his movement by slamming my hand on the wall. His eyes widened at my reaction and opened his mouth as if wanting to talk but I could tell that he was too confused and afraid to even let out a word.

"Tell me, are you here to expose my real identity to the whole school?" I asked, continuing with more questions, "Did my sister hire you? Is that why you lied to me? Was this all her plan all along?"

"What-"

"Tell me the truth!"

I stopped after hearing the door open. We both turned to the see one of our classmate who suddenly barged in the room.

It was Ember Sinclair. She sits beside Laura in the back. I don't really talk to her that much but I can say that we're near to being friends.

"I just... forgot my pen." She slowly walked towards her desk and dashed back out of the room with, "I'm sorry for the interruption."

"E-Ember, it's not what you-" I stopped after spitting out something so distasteful. I should slap my face after saying something like that.

"Did you just cuss?"

"Shut your obscene pie hole. You heard nothing." I finally let him go after realizing that we were in that position for way too long.

He watched me as I stepped away from him, both crossing my arms.

Isn't he going to speak or something? There's no way I'm talking after what I did. T-things just got out of hand!

He raised a brow with a confused expression on his face. "Okay? I'm gonna pretend that I didn't see you go crazy-but what do you mean by 'expose' you?"

"Take a wild guess." I replied, trying not to roll my eyes. I swear, this guy is somewhat connected to my family. Maybe a secret spy? Or my sister's personal assistant?

I mean, we can't be meeting by d-destiny, right? N-no! That's gross! I shook my head, attempting to erase my idiotic thoughts.

There's always an explanation behind everything and I know for a fact that this situation isn't different. Yes, that's right! An explanation!

His eyes widened as I stared at him nonchalantly. "Oh, that's why you were acting weird! Do people not know about who you really are? That's..." I can perfectly see him even with my broken sight that he was trying hard not to laugh. "...interesting. It's like from a movie or something."

"You wanted to talk to me, right?" I sighed. I just wanna read my book and go home but why do I have to deal with this guy? "Spit it out already."

"Aren't you gonna ask me why we're classmates?"

Do I even have to?

Again, I sighed, walking towards my chair to grab my bag. "Why?" The last time I said something so stupid was back at-

"It's because of the red strings of fate!"

Him and his nonsense again.

I placed my pointing finger beside my head. "You're crazy." I replied. "You know, I was hoping you'd change but all that ever did was your name, Zodel."

He titled his head and squinted his eyes at me like he was examining me or something.

I thought this was gonna be some nice talk but of course nothing out of the ordinary would happen whenever I'm with this guy. The magnet of unluckiness really got to me this time.

Since he wasn't talking to me, I decided to get the heck out and retreat myself to one of my favorite spots at school.

The willow tree.

Students usually go here to confess or something like that and others would think of this place as a haunted or creepy spot but I love this tree.

I looked around to see if a certain someone was following me but maybe he was in deep thought and didn't realize that I ran out from the place.

After letting out a deep sigh, I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a book. Forget homework, I'm finishing this chapter first. As I was about to read the first few words, something unfortunate happened.

"Hey, why'd you leave me hanging? I could barely find my way back to you!"

What he just said seemed familiar. Maybe it was because of the book that I was supposed to be reading or my patience towards him.

"I left you figuratively hanging. If you want, I'd be glad to literally hang you up on the ceiling."

He clung into my arm, preventing me from doing my business. "You're so mean! I just wanted you to show me around the campus since no one's around anymore!"

Wow, he just dug his own grave with a red flag sticking out of his skull. Why would I want to tour him around with nobody in the school?! This guy is really a nutjob.

"No way! What if you suddenly kidnap me and do weird things to me? Creep."

"Ow! Then what am I supposed to do after school ends? I don't want to go home yet."

"Join a club or something." I wiggled my arm to get away from his grasp but instantly failed so I mumbled at him to let me go and thankfully, he wasn't being recalcitrant in this matter.

"Hmm? Like what?" He asked as I started reading.

I shrugged uninterestedly without looking at him. "I don't know, ask your friends whom you gave your real name to."

"Are you still salty about that? Why are you so salty? That's not fair." Yet again, he clung to my arm, annoying me even more.

Agh! Who's child is this and why is he here?!

"Gah! Stop being so childish and go away! I hate you!" I snatched my arm away from him and expected a frown. "What do you want from me anyway? If you want money, go ask my parents. I don't use those stupid credit cards."

"You're being delusional."

"So you're here to blackmail me? Kidnap me? Strap me on a chair in my sister's t*****e room?"

"Your sister has a t*****e room?"

"No, but I think she's that type of person who has one." I crossed my arms, thinking if it was actually possible that my sister has one.

Wait-I got distracted!

Thinking logically in this type of situation is just gonna make my brain lobes gush out from my skull. I have to think of something fast.

"L-let me just think for a second." I uttered as I started to return my book in my bag.

He now knows that I'm a secret heiress that my family doesn't wish for everyone else to find out or else I'm doomed and I didn't even deny the fact that he figured it out!

It's my fault, isn't it?

I wanna slap my head.

What's the only way to keep his mouth shut? Obviously, he doesn't need money... if I ask him again, he'd think that I crashed my head on the wall or something.

Alright, that's it. There's nothing that I can think of. For now, I'll just observe him.

"Think about what?"

I was about to answer him but another voice interrupted us.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought the two of you were done."

My saviour is here! I didn't even notice her presence.

"Laura! Thank God, you're here!"

"My apologies. I'll be back after ten minutes."

Tch, saviour my a*s!

"No! Take me with you!"

After dragging Laura back to the willow tree, I started to share my secrets to him while Laura listened. If I just lie, I know it'll cause more trouble in the future.

Now that he knows, I might as well keep him close to prevent him from telling it to other people because I still don't trust him! Why would I trust someone so easily who just lied to me?

---

I can hear the two casually chatting after the long conversation that we had back at the school.

Geez, do they ever get tired of talking? I'm surprised that Laura even acknowledged his existence in the car.

"Do you want some chocolates?" She offered, her voice coming out from the front seat of the car.

"Yes, thank you!"

Why is he being so polite all of a sudden?

With my head facing the window as always, all I could hear was their faint conversation so I can't really tell if Laura was being friendly or what.

How did we end up in the same car again?

Oh right, I invited him for a ride because of how persuading my assistant is. Okay, am I the assistant now?

Well, I did enjoy the look on my chauffeur's face when me and Laura brought him with us. So maybe it's not so bad having him around?

"Hey, aren't you getting some?"

I jumped at the sudden tap on my shoulder. It was Zodel who was holding a piece of candy that he just received from my assistant.

With hesitation, I gave in on his offer and took the chocolate from his hand.

We remained silent for a few minutes, waiting to drop off Zodel. It wasn't really that hard to find his street since he just lived two streets away from my house.

Wait-no, what? He lives two streets away from us?!

Great.

This is going to be a long year.

"Thanks for the ride!" He smiled after getting out of the car.

"Yeah, whatever." I crossed my arms, mimicking Luke's usual response.

As we drove off, I started to think that I should learn how to adapt by now since he's here.

Ever since that jerk turned up, my life started to get even messier-oh God, this is starting to turn into some cheesy romance novel.

"Laura, why'd you do that?!" I started to whine when I saw us nearing the manor.

Dang it, I'm being informal again! Lately, I've been avoiding talking like that whenever I'm outside school but what do you know, Laura summoned my inner improperness again.

"Do what, my lady?"

"Stop acting like you didn't set this up!"

---

Surprisingly, me and Connie met outside the school gates early in the morning. I mean, it's no shock since she comes to school as early as me.

She said that it was just a coincidence but I'm pretty sure that she waited for me.

I-It's too cute! She's too cute!

Maybe she wants to talk about something?

I noticed that she was wearing our uniform instead of the white dress that I usually see her in. M-maybe she isn't really a ghost...

We stopped by the vending machine on the second floor of the main building to buy some chips. The only chips they sell here in this floor are healthy and bizarre ones like carrot chips, bean chips, kale chips and so on. It wasn't really the kind of chips that I would eat everyday because of its "uniqueness".

I bought carrot chips and an unsweetened tea in a bottle. A weird combination, I know.

As we sat by the stairwell, waiting for students to crowd the halls, Connie turned to me with a smile.

"Just so you know, I know your secret."

Well-that escalated quickly.

"Hmm, what secret?" I have a lot of secrets. Did she see me throw up yesterday or something?

"You being the heiress of Lilac Valley's Hospital."

I placed my bottle on the floor and threw my trash on the bin while I mentally panicked.

"It's okay, Miss Heiress. I'm not telling anyone."

Hearing her say that is a relief but that doesn't mean that I should calm down!

"Please, don't call me that." I awkwardly smiled, sitting beside her again. "I can't assure you that I believe your words though."

"That's fine. You'll believe me soon, I'm sure of that!" Connie smiled and lets out a peace sign.

"Please, stop." My voice shaked. "Y-you're too cute..." I mumbled but she heard it anyway.

"I know!" She replied, chuckling.

I ended up dragging her wherever I went because I was not letting her out of my sight-for the time being of course.

We parted ways when we heard the bell ring. I had fun with her just like the last time and hoped that we could hang out again. She seems to be telling the truth about shutting up. I'll keep her words for now.

I opened the classroom's door that revealed a rather empty room.

Wait, isn't it time for class?

"Amirah, what took you so long?" Everleigh rushed towards me with a worried face. "Don't tell me you're depressed again?" She squeezed me in a hug.

"I-I just ran into a friend and hung out with her." I answered, barely breathing.

"You have a friend outside from our class?" Luke casually piped in with his arms crosed-as usual.

"Of course!" I snorted as I broke free from Leigh. "By the way, where is everybody?"

The only people left here were my friends and Owen-oh yeah, but I'm still calling him Zodel nevertheless.

"The student council president and vice-president were looking for you. Everybody followed them as soon as they left." Everleigh chuckled. "Our homeroom teacher would be surprised to see only five students out of twenty four."

Even Laura isn't here...

I turned to where my desk was at and found Owen staring at me. He quickly looked the other way after I caught him.

"Let me place my bag first." I said and headed to my seat.

Peeking at Zodel, I saw him blankly staring at his desk before looking at me again, earning a little jump from me.

G-geez, this guy is really unpredictable.

"I-is there something wrong?" I asked uneasily.

"Hmm? No. I just wanted to greet you a good morning, that's all." He looked down, drawing invisible circles on his desk.

What? "Oh, uh, good morning." I awkwardly greeted back.

We never really had a proper conversation inside the classroom before because the last time I saw him in here was people crowding around him.

Since he's sitting behind me and is probably going to stick with me for the rest of my life, I should learn how to be comfortable around him.

"Say, after school-" He was cut off when a the door opened again.

All of our classmates who went outside was back with our homeroom teacher. Mr. Arrow had a dissapointed look written on his face.

"I'm having a meeting today so everyone gets a free time for one hour but that doesn't mean you guys can go outside." Our teacher announced. He was just standing in the doorway, his hands on his hips. "Class president, since you're the one who led the class outside, I'm not counting on you. Class Muse, Miss Miracle, you're in-charge."

Everyone, including me, stared at Everleigh in disbelief. Someone's going to get their position removed and I know very well that it isn't Leigh.

Big ouch on our president.

Mr. Arrow left the room after that and just left us a little bewildered.

"Oh, Owen! Did you see our student council president?" A classmate of ours headed towards his seat, smiling like nothing happened. "Isn't she pretty?"

"I didn't see her because of all the ruckus, sorry."

And just like that, a few other students approached him until a crowd formed and eventually had me completely pushed away.

Wait, wasn't he supposed to tell me something?

"Amirah, someone's looking for you. It's a junior." Ash announced across the room.

Trying my hardest to ignore my classmates' stares, I turned my head towards the door where a certain blondie was waving at me.

I waved back, confused. Isn't she supposed to be back downstairs in her class?

"Hey, w-what are you doing here?" I asked confusingly as soon as I reached the doorway. "Are you skipping classes?"

But she's too pretty to be rebellious!

"I would never!" She exclaimed. "I just went to see you because we also have free time! I heard that the homeroom teachers will have some kind of meeting in the morning!"

And we have the same homeroom time coincidentally?

Why didn't she just hung out with her friends?

But wait, could it be? N-no! Connie's too pretty to not have friends!

Maybe she's too pretty that people think that they're out of her league so that's why no one really tried to approach her? Is this why she's here!?

That's too sad! I must entertain her and maybe find her some friends! Yes, that's right!

"Let's hang out!" I smiled, leaving her quite stunned.

She must've been shocked by my weird face.

Oh, well, I can't do anything with that.

I turned to Everleigh who was busy talking to Ash in the other side of the room. "Everleigh! is it alright if I go outside for a bit?"

She nodded as a reply, making our classmates flip out because it was unfair.

Leigh let out a spine-chilling giggle and smiled. "You're not the one who's in charge here." She replied so elegantly like it was nothing and continued her conversation with Ash.

"C-come on, Connie." I lightly pushed her away from the door so that I can exit the room.

We talked for a bit as we got down the stairs, not realizing what's gonna happen next.

"Amirah, do you think I'll look good in a pink dress?" Connie asked out of the blue as she clinged on my arm.

What's with that sudden question?

With no doubt, I answered, "Y-you look good in any dress, I'm sure of that!"

She cupped her face and smiled. "I know!"

"I finally found you! Stop right there!"

We both froze at the familiar voice and hesitantly turned our backs to confirm if it was really him who we just heard and what do you know, the two of us were right.

It was Azure. He was a first year just like Connie.

His blue orbs were piercing through her's as he cautiously walked towards us. "Don't even dare-"

"Amirah, run!"