Chapter 5: His

"Well, you're looking extremely happy today," Isriel commented, looking at me through the rear view mirror of the car.

It was true I was extremely happy. I could almost see that girl's face glowing with absolute joy I had left my phone number. She was probably dancing around her room with her phone in her hands, wondering what she should type in her message. "I bet I'd get a text from her soon," I sniggered.

"Pretty bold move, Ans, giving someone your number, And a girl too," said Iriel, turning into a lane. "Are you, by any chance, giving the girls an opportunity to capture your heart?"

"Unlikely, Isriel, very unlikely. For a girl to capture my heart, she must first capture my eye."

I heard my sister sigh. "Ans, dear, you probably don't see eye to eye with me on this, but when you meet the person you want to spend your whole life with, even if the person's not the prettiest, you'll think she is."

"How can I say she's the prettiest if she's not?" I raised an eyebrow. "You confuse me, Isriel, you honestly do. You're always so wrapped up in making me change my mind. Just you wait, that girl will call me in a while."

Saw Isriel shaking her head and muttering, "You'll understand some time soon, Ansel, you will."

I ignored her and continued clutching my phone. What the hell was taking her so long anyway? Oh, perhaps she didn't have enough money in her phone to call.

"Well, then, I'll just call her."

Dialled her house and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello, Zurier residence," a guy's voice answered.

The grip on my phone tightened. No way... There wasn't anyone in the house when I was there. I doubted her father would sound this young, and she never mentioned a brother either.

Could that be her boy-?

Nahh, that couldn't be it. She couldn't have a boyfriend. She doesn't look like she could attract anyone, not even a fly. That was definitely not her boyfriend.

"Hello? Is this a prank call?" he asked again.

Should I answer?

"For? Who's on the phone?" I heard her voice. 'For'? A preposition? What the hell did that stand for? Even if it was a name, it would sound weird, wouldn't it?

Heard the guy answer again, "No friggin' idea. The bastard's not answerin-"

He hung up. Inside, I was boiling. How dare he call me a bastard? Did he even know me? I've never known to hate someone even before I knew his name. His full name. I looked at the phone and felt something weird inside prodding me. Like it was telling me to redial.

What if that guy picked up again? That couldn't really be her boyfriend, right?

"No way, not in a million years would she get a boyfriend, unless he looks like her. Otherwise, I won't believe it," the little voice in my head rang in my mind.

"Who were you on the phone with?" Isriel asked, looking at me, "And why did you hang up?"

I wasn't about to let her know I tried to call a girl and did not succeed, so I answered, "I wasn't calling anyone. I just wanted to test the speakers of the phone. I think it's getting faulty. I haven't changed my phone for half a year."

Spotted my sister rolling her eyes the way our family always did perfectly.

All the same, I wasn't satisfied at all with the lack of attention. She was obviously staring at me. Wasn't she interesting in me? The idea of her having a boyfriend - although doubtful - was also considered. Even with a lover, she'd still fall for me. She'd at least try to flirt before I let her drown in guilt.

"Like the other taken girls who fell for me," the right side of my mouth went up.

Back at home, I barricaded myself in my room and continued looking at my phone. "Maybe she misplaced the piece of paper," I thought for an excuse again. "I guess I can give her another call, just in case."

My thumb was already on the 'call' button but for some reason, I just stopped. Looking at the full-body mirror in my room, I saw myself on the bed, legs waving about and a phone in my hand.

That's when I realized, I looked like a desperate love sick puppy waiting to be pampered by a stranger.

"Stop it, Ansel Saint James. You're a man of class, style and grace. Do not let yourself be dragged around like an unwanted dish rag!" I scolded myself.

This time, with a look of utter repulse - of my ghastly actions prior to my realization - I kept my phone in my room and stormed downstairs to the hall. Moments later, Lucas came over and checked over my Latin homework for both Ms Emily and our school teacher, Mrs Beatrice, which became a common practice since we found about my weakness in Latin.

To be truthful, the only reason I could speak relatively fluently during the 2-hour recording was because we practically had a Latin dialogue written for us. Well, she wrote the phrases, I just tried to make it sound as Latin as possible.

"So how was your first session with the girl?" Lucas asked, looking through my books and various exercises.

"It was alright. She had her eyes stuck on me, obviously, but we managed to keep it going," I said.

"Modest, as always," Lucas smirked. "How is she? Good looking?"

I nearly choked on air. There was no way she was good looking. "I can name a few hundred people right now who're better looking than her, Luke. Can you believe it? I heard from someone in class that she skipped one hundred and two Latin lessons last year. It's like she's sick all the time!"

"You might never know, Ans. She could have a legitimate reason for skipping lessons."

"Not as excessively as that, Luke."

Lucas didn't reply, so we remained silent for the short period of time. He joined us for dinner that evening and then returned home when 10 o'clock came.

The next morning, Lucas came over in the morning and we left to school together in my father's car.

"How was your Latin session yesterday, Ansel? I heard from Isriel that you actually passed your number to someone other than Luke and your close relatives."

"It was a treat from me, Father. She was quite glad to receive it, too. The look on her face was certainly priceless," I said. "At least, I'm sure that's what it must've looked like."

"Are you sure she won't give it to other people? In that case, you'd be quite a prize."

I thought about it for a moment then shook my head saying, "With all due respect, she doesn't really have anyone whom she can give it to. She's quite the anti-social character."

My father gave a dissatisfied noise then said, "Do not judge a book by its cover, Ansel. She might seem anti-social but she also might be fun to hang around once you get to know her."

"What's the point of telling him that, Mr SJ? Given his current attitude, it's highly doubtful he'd even try to get to know her," said Lucas, with good humour. "They are, after all, only seeing each other because of Latin lessons."

I nodded in agreement. I'd only have to stand seeing her for one week before we have nothing to do with each other again.

After I got down the car, I said goodbye to my father and then proceeded to the assembly hall. The headmistress gave a short speech and then dismissed us with a curt "Thank you."

However, something stopped me dead in my tracks. As I followed my class to homeroom, I thought I saw her.

"Couldn't be, right? Aren't we from different schools?" I thought, straining to see if it was really her. No doubt about it, she didn't have any friends, she had a glum look on her face and most importantly, nobody else I knew was that big in size.

But why was she here? And why haven't I seen her before if she schooled in Mort HIGH? Behind me, I nudged Lucas and said, "That girl's from my Latin class at Nurturing Minds!"

"Which one?"

"That one!"

"Ans, there are a lot of 'ones' here. Can you be a little more specific?" Lucas asked, giving me a certain look. "What's her name? You do know her name, right?"

"Of course I do!" I said, scowling. Honestly, I was trying to remember her name. Why couldn't I remember? Was it Danielle? Dolly? Dominique? "Oh never mind. Can't you see her?"

Lucas said, "Too late. We've reached homeroom. You can show me during recess."

I had to settle for that. However, when recess came, she was nowhere to be seen. I searched high and low for her - without making it obvious I was - but had no luck.

"She can't have just disappeared, Ans," Lucas said, after he told me to stop searching. "You've already searched the entire school. You probably thought you saw her, but saw someone else instead."

My voice told him I was just a little insulted, "I don't hallucinate, if that's what you're implying. I saw who I saw, and I won't let it go till I prove it to you."

Lucas sighed, shook his head and continued to follow me as I scoured the area. "Come on, Ansel! Find her! How hard can it be? She's so big!" I yelled in my head.

Unfortunately, recess wasn't forever, so I had to give up in the end. "You can find her after school or something," Lucas said, trying in vain to cheer me up.

"If it weren't for those annoying girls trying to flirt with me, I would have found her," I snarled, referring to three girls who were hanging about wherever I went, using the lamest pick up lines ever.

Reluctantly, I went back to class with Lucas. It was English, and Ms Lamburgh was in a pleasant mood. She gave us some homework to do whilst she busied herself with some other stuff.

Knock knock...

"Come in," Ms Lamburgh said, her voice singing with her usual happy tone.

The door opened, but I didn't bother to see who had come in. That is, until I heard my classmates starting to whisper and laugh under their voices. Tried to ignore them and continue my work, but then I heard a hoarse, but much too familiar, voice.

"You wanted to see me?"

My head shot up and there she was, standing by Ms Lamburgh's table. The whispering and backbiting continued, much to my annoyance. I looked around to tell Lucas, but he had left earlier to the washroom. Turning back to the girl, I noticed she was already out of the room.

At once, I jumped off my seat and flew to Ms Lamburgh's table. "Washroom, please?"

"S-S-Sure," her voice stumbled, as usual, but I was too disturbed to care. Once I saw her outside, about to disappear around the corner, I yelled, "Wait!"