The Bad Boy's Muse

Just a bit infatuated...

Rohan’s POV

It was the weekend and I lay on my bed twirling my cell phone that had all of Grace’s details. She didn’t have a phone number; so, she was using that of her guardian, Harriet. I didn’t know all of this. Her address was boldly written at the address section of the file and I was toying with the idea of going there, it was a relatively known neighbourhood. So, If I go there, what will be my reason for visiting? I toyed with the idea of confessing that I was really worried about her but I didn’t want to come off as weak either and I couldn’t bear to be that. Alternatively, I could just leave off going to see her and enjoy Sunday evening with my family. A knock on the door shook me out of my reverie.

“Come in” I shouted.

Priyanka popped her head through the door “May I come in?” She asked with a smile. She had piles of book.

I nodded my acceptance and sat up, since I arrived, I had willingly agreed to be helping out with tutoring Priyanka who wasn’t too good at maths but she has improved a lot; in return for a little token which was more than enough considering I had basically everything I needed. So, the money went into buying art materials. Since coming to New York, my dad had sent money just once to me and since then stopped entirely, I knew he wanted me to call home and ask myself but pigs would fly before I do that.

“You won’t believe what happened” she waved a paper at me “I score an A+ in my Maths test. The teacher didn’t believe me and insisted I solve some questions on the board and I did that and got it all right. You’re truly God-sent, Han” she smiled at me.

Han was short for Rohan; it was a nickname that was given to me by Chioma the baby of the house.

“That’s so good, Priyanka. I am actually glad my tutoring is paying off. I think I should ask for a raise, No?” I smirked.

“You totally should” she smiled beautifully at me and opened her books.

It was algebra and I explained basically what the topic was all about and after a while, I asked her to explain how she understood the topic. As usual, my mind trailed off.

What if Grace had truly gone back to England without informing me? I frowned. That would be like the greatest betrayals ever and I didn’t want to think about it. What if she was sick? Perhaps, due to the change in environment and weather condition. I could just call her guardian and ask to speak to Grace, right? My head was a mess.

“Rohan?” Priyanka was shaking my arms violently.

“Hey!” I removed my arms from her grip “don’t do that”.

“Well, I won’t if you had just replied when I first called you. I have been trying to reach you for the past two minutes. You went totally off” she crossed her arms “what are you thinking? She asked.

“I am thinking of nothing important. Now let’s continue” I urged her opening her book.

“C’mon, Han. You’ve been acting strangely this weekend. I overheard my parents saying the same. They think you don’t like it here” Priyanka stared at me.

“That’s not true, Priyanka. I love it here” I protested.

“Well, you’ve not been showing it off late. You’ve basically walked about with a morose expression since this week and it got worst on Friday. What’s going on with you? Is it girl issues?” Priyanka asked.

“It’s really nothing. I am just worried about something but I’ll be fine. I only need time to understand and sort it out but else, I am fine” I muttered lowering my gaze.

“So, it’s girl issue?” she chuckled.

“I never said so” I protested again.

“Yea, you never did but you didn’t deny it either so it means it’s a girl issue then” she burst out laughing.

I shrugged my shoulders “C’mon let’s get back to learning” I told her.

“You can teach me in this state. You have to balance and free your emotion else you’ll end up teaching me an entirely different thing. So spill, I am all ears” Priyanka closed her book and stared curiously at me.

I stared at her in amusement.

“Okay! I know!” she rolled her eyes “I am only 14 but you’ll be surprised at the number of things I know and since it’s a girl problem you could ask me as I would be in the best position to help you out because I am a girl” she eyed me.

“Okay! But you have to promise me this stay between us” I regarded her wondering what in hell’s name I was doing. I had never shared any problem with anyone, not even a therapist but here I was already seeking advice from a 14-year-old.

“C’mon, you know I am not a tat-tale” she rolled her eyes again.

I continued staring at her remembering occasions when she brought tales from her school to her parents especially during dinner time.

“Okay!” she sighed “I’ll tell you a secret of mine first so you can trust me”.

“That’s better” I nodded my head, agreeing to the bargain.

“I have a boyfriend as against my Dad’s wish. His name is Edmund and I am crazy for him. Now, you have incriminating information about me. So spill” she said.

“You could have made it up, I need proof” I replied.

“Gosh! you’re so difficult” she sighed bringing out her phone and dialled a number.

She placed the phone in between us as she put it hands-free. Babe was displayed on the screen with three love emojis at the end.

“Hey babe,” he picked on the second ring. His voice sounded nice.

“Hey darling, how are you doing?” Priyanka asked with a smile on her face.

“I am fine, just lounging around. How about you? How’s your weekend going?” Edmund asked.

“Very fine, I am studying but decided to call you before my head gets buried in algebra” she chuckled.

“Yeah, I am so proud of you babe, I heard the Maths teacher was forced to give you an A+ which he never does. Keep it up girl” Edmund gushed on phone.

“Thank you. How was the rematch? I heard it was a close one” Priyanka said.

“Yeah! it was a tie so we’ll definitely be playing a rematch only this time around we would have a home advantage” Edmund sighed.

“I know you’ll do well. I am super proud of you” Priyanka told him.

I found myself rolling my eyes at the way they were displaying affection. I was beginning to be bored.

“Yeah! any chance we could meet up today. I’ve missed you so much, babe. It feels like a millennium since I last saw you” Edmund sighed.

“I’ll try to. My cousin will be going out later in the evening, maybe I could sneak out with him, but I’ll call you with the details alright?” she said.

“Okay, babe. Let me leave you to your Algebra. I love you” Edmund said.

“Love you too,” Priyanka ended the call.

“I hope you’re satisfied now. So spill” she crossed her arms.

“Yeah! in a moment. Your boyfriend doesn’t sound like a peer” I frowned.

“Yeah! I don’t do my mates” she arched her brow “he’s a senior and pleases if you’re about to give me any speech related to dating early or dating someone ahead of me, just keep it to yourself” she warned.

“I was never planning to that” I eyed her warily. “Now, for my own story, she isn’t a girlfriend, just a friend but she wasn’t in school on Friday and no word from her either”.

“O-okay” Priyanka listened attentively at me “have you tried calling?” she asked.

“I wanted to do that originally but she doesn’t have a phone. Uses her guidance’s own”.

“Wait! Who doesn’t have a phone at this age?” Priyanka’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Some people actually don’t but that will be a topic for another day. In the meantime, let’s concentrate” I didn’t want to go into details.

“However, I was able to lay my hands on her house address, I am just confused if I should go there or not. I don’t want her to feel I am weak or…”.

“Head-over-heels?” Priyanka finished up for me.

“Listen” she started “that’s the first mistake some persons make. You feel, the other person will think you’re too weak and all of that meanwhile reverse may be the case. The other person will be genuinely happy that you cared enough. What if she was sick? Or in some kind of distress. You cannot claim to like someone if you don’t make yourself available in their times of needs. Since you have her address, I suggest you go see her or if you’re really scared, I could go with you” she offered.

“No, that won’t be necessary” I sighed “but if I could there what will I say is the reason for my visit?” I asked worriedly.

“Simple” she looked at me strangely “Tell her that you came to check up on her that since you didn’t see her at school on Friday that you came to see how she is doing. Is that not reason enough?” She eyed me.

“I guess so” I shrugged.

“Thankfully, you’re already handsome, just put on something nice and spray some nice scents and viola. You’re ready”.

“Thanks, Priyanka” I smiled at her.

“Yeah! don’t thank me yet. You’ve got to tell mom and dad that we’re going out together and then we would leave the house at the same time and meet at a bus top too so, we can come home together” she explained.

“Isn’t that lying?” I raised my brows.

“No, it’s not. I really need to see Edmund, please” she clasped her hands together making puppy eyes at me. It was so hard to resist.

“I would if you promise me that nothing would go wrong and you will keep to time” I eyed her.

“I Promise, I cross my heart,” she said excitedly “I and Edmund would not be going far just around the neighbourhood but I promise to be very careful and keep to time”.

“Alright. I guess we can start going after we’re done with today’s lesson” I reopened the book.

“By the time we’ll be done, it’ll be too late to go and wouldn’t you like to spend time with this person?” she asked me patronizingly.

“I would, of course”.

“Good, so let’s go now. I’ll go up to my room and change my clothes. I think mom and dad are in the garden. You could go tell them now and come back to change” she instructed.

I stood regarding her in amusement as she dished out orders.

“Is there something else ma’am” I mocked.

“Yes, move your feet” she chuckled and left my room. Plopping back on my bed, I wondered if I was doing the right thing. I tried to picture Grace’s face when she sees me; would she be happy? I was bothered about how receptive she would be of me and that was really bothering and sounded scary. I had never felt this way for any person.

Maybe, I was just a bit infatuated with her beautiful features or obsessed with the fact that I wanted to draw her and place a picture of her on my canvas.

The door of my room opened again, as Priyanka squeezed her face through the tiny crack.

“I forgot to ask, what is the name of your girlfriend?” she panted.

“She’s not my girlfriend. Her name is Grace” I told her.

“Alright, Grace. Please hurry up, I wouldn’t want us to delay any further, so we would be back on time” she advised before slipping out again.

I was going to see Miss Grace.