Girl Next Door

CHAPTER 13

"Hey! You there!" The Maths Professor called out, taking his eyes off his phone. He was already done with the call and was roaming through social media.

"What's going on there?" He asked as he walked towards where C-TENN sat.

Nolan and Nebula quickly sat up and feigned ignorance of what was going on. They hadn't switched back their papers but kept straight faces. They were the culprits and weren't planning on getting caught.

"I asked what's going on here" The Professor repeated, giving all five boys questionable eyes.

"Nothing, Sir. My pencil just dropped and I was about to pick it up" Eden replied, wearing the best composure he could afford.

"You better have nothing fishy going on here" The Professor said, eyes traveling to Eden's pencil and back to Eden.

"Noted, Sir" Eden replied, before reaching out for his pencil.

"Buddy, we almost got caught," Eden whispered to Tad, the moment the Math Professor was out of earshot.

"But we didn't, right?" Tad retorted.

"We almost dude. I mean, back there, there was just a thin line between us getting caught and us not getting caught"

"But we didn't get caught, Eden," Tad said, slowly becoming irritated, wondering why Eden was still insisting on what had just happened.

"What we should think of right now is how to salvage our situation" Tad continued, drumming his fingers on his temple.

"I have an idea" Chance who had been listening all along finally spoke up.

"And what's that?" Tad looked at him.

"Why don't you ask Tifa?" Chance suggested, using his head to gesture at Tifa who was still writing.

"Yes!" Eden almost pumped his fist in the air, but quickly restrained himself.

"Why didn't we think of that before now?" Eden asked no one in particular.

"Dude, you're not saying anything" Eden jabbed Tad who took a while to speak.

"Well…" Tad began.

"I do know we need help right now but we can always ask someone else. Mustn't be Tifa".

"Dude, are you being serious right now? Are you even listening to yourself?" Chance asked, trying his best not to flare up.

"We only have twenty minutes left and we don't have up to eight questions right. As it stands, we are DESPERADOS" Chance said, laying emphasis on Desperados.

"Buddy, we can always ask someone else. Tifa's not the only smart alec in class. There's Anna Simmons, there Joel Higgins, there's Wale, there's…" Tad was mentioning but Eden cut him short.

"Have you checked out how far those ones are from us right now? Tifa's the closest person to us and our only hope!" Eden pressed.

"So, what do you suggest we do? Or I do, rather?"

"What kind of dumb question is that, Tad?" Eden asked, close to flipping his lid, eyebrows furrowed.

"Call her attention dude. Whisper her name or something"

"You doing it or nah? I could do it, you know" Eden rapped, impatience in his voice, when Tad seemed to be hesitant.

"Shawty" Tad finally whispered, chin placed on his arms which were folded on his desk, face forward.

Tifa didn't reply.

"Shawty" Tad called again but got no response from Tifa.

"Okay, so I know you can hear me. I actually don't know why you chose to pay deaf ears. My gang and I need your help. Badly"

"Freckles!" Tad gritted his teeth, trying his possible best to make his voice still come out in a whisper.

"I said, my gang and I f*****g need your help!" He repeated, teeth still gritted.

"Okay, okay, I guess I'll just say why we need your help. What are the answers to questions 3, 5, 8 and 10? I'm sure you've answered all your questions" Tad said and waited for a response but got none.

"Scratch that! Let me have your script. You can have mine, then answer my unanswered questions. My gang could also copy out of your script that would be with me. Be a good girl and co-operate, will you? I'll pay you in whatever currency you choose, even if it has to be my d**k" He said, thinking talking dirty would arouse her but much to his surprise, it didn't.

"Freckles!" Tad called out again. Both palms had already been curled up into fists and his forehead creased in anger.

"I friggin' called you, Tifa, so answer me!" Tad reached out to her dress and pulled it.

"Let go of my dress!" Tifa finally spoke up, flinging his hand off. She restrained herself from calling him a moron.

"How nice!" Tad retreated. Sarcasm laced his voice.

"All pencils up! Turn in your scripts" The Math Professor announced walking in between desks to pick up the scripts of the students.

"I'm so gonna deal with you, you'll regret ever transferring to Regis High" Tad said, eyes blazing, rage coursing through his veins.

"Boy, she's so damn selfish with her knowledge," Nolan said after the Professor had walked away after picking the scripts of all five of them.

"Yeah, right," Chance affirmed.

"We'll have to deal with her" That was Nebula.

"Or course. We definitely will" Tad said with firm assurance in his voice.

"Nebula, Chance" He called out just before the bell for recess went.

"I have a job for you both".

"And what's that?" Nebula and Chance asked in unison.

~

It was recess time and students sauntered into the cafeteria, settling into different seats of their choices. Some who had already gotten ahead of the others were at the counter ordering for whatever snacks or food pleased them.

At one corner of the cafeteria, sat Tifa, munching her French fries and mayonnaise with delight. A smile broke across her lips as she remembered the Math test she had just written. She needed no seer to assure her that she was going to pass the test. She knew she would ace it.

As she chewed on her fries, she suddenly remembered C-TENN. The expression on her face dropped. Back in the classroom, she was stunned by their audacity to ask for her help, after all they had done to her.

She was grateful she hadn't paid them any attention. She hoped that was going to teach them some kind of lesson. Besides, she had been afraid that she was going to be caught by the Math Professor if she had dared turn around.

In no time, Tifa rounded up her meal, gulped down some water and got ready to exit the cafeteria. After trashing the wrapper of her French fries into the bin which was at a corner, she raised her head only for her eyes to come in contact with Tad's.

He was seated at a table close to the door and had a blank expression on his face. She wasn't sure what to think of his facial expression. He didn't have his friends with him which she considered strange.

On a normal day, all five of them stuck together as though some glue had been smeared on their bodies. Sometimes, she wondered if they were meant to be quintuplets but just came from different wombs.

Her stare on Tad lingered and she noticed that his eyes seemed to pierce into her very soul. She didn't also fail to notice the smirk which sat at the corner of his lips.

Her eyes darted from Tad's face to the door and back to Tad's face. She didn't know why but an uneasy feeling fluttered in her chest. The air around her shifted and she knew something was off but she couldn't place a finger exactly on what it was.

She inhaled and exhaled deeply trying to ward off every pessimistic thought in her head. Flipping her hair, she took a step forward and began to head towards the door. Tad's masculine cologne whiffed into her nostrils as she got closer to where he sat and she couldn't help but inhale the exquisite redolence.

Before Tifa could say Jack Robinson, her face came in contact with the floor. Her hair was also all over the floor. She stayed in that position for a while before gathering courage to raise her head.

The moment she raised her head, she darted her eyes to Tad's face only to meet a sly smile playing on his lips. She needed no one to tell her what had just happened. Tad had stretched his foot out, making her trip and fall.

As she stared at him, tears pooled in her eyes and no matter how brave she tried to act, a tear rolled down her cheek. Her jaw hurt as she had badly hit it during the fall. Her left elbow hurt too. As she made to stand, something else stopped her: droplets of a liquid which didn't stop raining on her.

First, it poured in dribs and drabs, next it poured in torrents. As much as she wanted to raise her head to locate the source of the liquid, she couldn't as the liquid rained non stop and she needed to protect her eyes.

As it rained on, the smell of the liquid filtered into her nostrils. She knew that smell. It wasn't just any kind of liquid. She had perceived it numerous times. It came with its typical rusty, metallic odor which she couldn't mistake for anything else.

Fresh pig blood.