CHAPTER 37: THE SHADOW
1139 Words
Zane was going to meet Aera in thirty minutes. They were planning to see Eurus to let him know about the status of their relationship. He wouldn't want to keep it a secret from him. He saw him as his second father and his best friend.
He was busy thinking about how to tell Eurus about his and Aera's relationship. He didn't want him to think he was taking advantage of his daughter and their friendship. He has been busy practising the words, even at home. He even stood in front of the mirror to see what he would look like while telling Eurus that he is now Aera's boyfriend. He felt nervous just thinking about it. Eurus is his friend and teacher, but he is now the father of his girlfriend. He shook his head while breathing hard. "I'm so dead later. Eurus would kill me!"
He suddenly felt someone was looking at him intently from behind. It was intense and deadly aura. He looked around, but he saw nothing; he could still feel it. He has been feeling it since yesterday after thearchery practice. "Someone was watching me. I am sure of it." He continued walking without letting his guard down.
"Zane, buddy!" Tommy shouted while he was running on the campus ground.
"What's up?" he asked.
"You are damn famous, Zane!"
"What? How come? What happened?" He got confused. He had no idea what Tommy was saying.
"Look." He handed him his phone and let him watch his video shooting the target using two arrows. The video received over ten million views in just twenty-four hours.
"What?" He chuckled. "Why do they make a big deal over shooting two arrows at the same time?"
"Because I think it is impossible to hit a score of ten for both arrows?" He shrugged. "People go crazy over people doing amazing things, or almost impossible for them to do."
"Glad I didn't use three or more arrows, or people might start stalking me." He sighed. " I might see my face on the news."
"You can shoot more than two arrows at once?" Tommy said loudly, can't believe what he just said.
"Keep quiet." He covered Tommy's mouth.
"I'm sorry." He raised both his hands as a sign of surrender. "Do you have any plans today?"
"Yeah, I'm seeing Aera. We're going to meet her Dad later."
Tommy's jaw dropped. "Wow, she will introduce you to her family?"
"I already know her father, we just need to tell him formally." He grinned. "Aera's class will end in thirty minutes. I still have time to hang out."
"Let's go to the basketball club and watch them. They have a practice match with our sister school Royal Ace Institute. Do you know how to play basketball?"
He shook his head. "I never tried it, but I do watch basketball games."
"Me neither. It's tiring to run back and forth just to defend the ball and shoot it in the basket. It's fun to watch them though." He laughed. "It is the same feeling for some of your fans. They do not know how to play archery but they liked seeing you doing it perfectly."
"Maybe. Let's go to their court first." They both went to the practice match.
They were walking towards the basketball court when he felt that someone was looking at him intently from behind again. It was uncomfortable for him, knowing that someone was watching him everywhere. "Am I just being paranoid?" he asked himself.
They entered the indoor basketball court. They heard shouting and cheering from the audience. The left side was for their team's supporters and the other side was for the sister school's team's supporters.
He saw cheerleaders from both teams performing their routines, cheering the players.
"Wow! They are so gorgeous!" Tommy exclaimed, referring to the sexy cheerleaders of their school.
"Are you sure you want to watch the basketball team to support them, or you just want to see girls in skirts?" He shook his head.
"Can I say both?" He grinned. "My cousin is in our team, too. He is older than me. Let's go and sit down there."
They sat on the two available chairs in front, just right at the back of their team's bench area.
"I wish I was as cool as them. I would probably have pretty fans like them," Tommy said while daydreaming.
They were busy watching the game when the girls from the other team screamed.
"Oh my gosh, is that Zane?" One girl pointed at him.
"Holy molly, it was him!" the girl screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Zane!" a group of girls shouted his name.
"I told you, you're so famous now!" Tommy laughed while seeing Zane's pale face. "Calm down, they were just admiring you."
"You know I'm not used to this kind of attention." He held the hood of his jacket and wore it. "Let's just go out. The players could not concentrate on their game." The players were all looking at him, and they looked mad.
"You should go first to see Aera. I'll stay here for a while," Tommy said while busy watching his cousin's game.
"Okay, I'll go ahead now. See you later." He stood up and left the basketball court. He went straight to the meeting place, the first restaurant they dined in.
Aera was already waiting outside the restaurant.
"I'm sorry I was late. I went to the basketball court with Tommy." She kissed her on the cheek. "Aera, there's something I need to tell you," he said.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I'm not sure if I was just being paranoid or there was someone who's been following me since yesterday." He looked around. He felt that again just now. "It's creeping me out."
"Don't ignore your intuition. That's one of the most useful abilities of immortals and demigods." She stopped walking. She went closer to Zane, pretending she was kissing him on his cheek. She whispered in his ear. "I can feel that, too. Someone is observing us. Pathetic. He doesn't know how to conceal his power." She was planning to find the mysterious person watching them, but the aura disappeared.
"He just left," he said. "I can't feel him anymore."
"Probably, or masked his power to hide from us. I'm not at ease knowing someone was watching us." Her knuckles clenched. "I will find him, don't worry."
"Don't do something that would hurt you, okay? Your safety is my utmost priority. Whoever spying on me will leave me alone one day. I don't have money or anything."
"Don't worry, I am immortal, right?" she said. "I can manage."
"If you say so. Let's go now." Zane just shrugged it off. He did not want to ruin the day because of that stalker.
- Writer
