I leaned against the wall of the mine, taking a drink from the water that I brought with me. I had a few bottles with me since the newspaper warned about how hot it was going to turn. I didn't even bother trying to take my animals outside. I couldn't have them suffer in this heat. I almost wanted to splash water on them, but I didn't want to risk annoying them.
Once the bottle was empty, I placed it back into my sack and lifted my hammer back up. I was hoping that mining could distract me, but it didn't seem to be working. Yesterday's events still clouded my mind, taking away all of my focus.
"Oh you're back, Rio? He wasn't mad with me, right?" Rod seemed to jump once he spotted me.
"He wasn't mad. Don't worry," I reassured him, "But he wasn't there for the hair dryer. He told me that he was giving it to you."
Rod went uncharacteristicly pale at that, "Is that so? I can assure you that he was there to pick it up."
"Not according to Allen."
Rod scratched his cheek, "I see. I'm gonna go. I'm sure that you have a lot to do. Bye Rio."
It just didn't make much sense to me. Why Rod lie to me? Him out of all the villagers in town. And over a hair dryer at that? But I couldn't worry about that when the request for Witch Princess was much more important. There was no way I'd be able to mine with my current state of mind. Putting my hammer away, I took a breath.
When I exited the cave, I noticed Neil in deep conversation with Sanjay. I waved to them, but they didn't seem to notice. I had to use this to my advantage. Hopefully Sanjay would distract him long enough. I snuck over to the red brick house and put my hand on the doorknob.
"Hey Rio! Could you come in for a few?"
I sighed, "Not now, Allen. I'm busy right now."
"You don't look busy," Allen looked down at me, "I hope you know that Neil isn't home. Unless you are here to return something again."
I froze for a second before glaring at the gloating redhead, "It's none of your business."
I ignored him and entered Neil's place, feeling my face go red and my heart beat a bit faster.
I dropped my bag onto my bed as soon as I made it home from Neil's. Luckily he didn't come home and I wasn't spotted. I put Neil's boxers with the others and let out yet another sigh. I was relieved that I was almost done with this tedious task, but the next person I had to steal from was Allen. Oh my, this would be annoying.
Huh? I could have swore that I closed my underwear drawer. I went over to it and realized how messy that drawer was. It has been a while since I organized it. As I shuffled through it, I frowned. I remember my favorite orange pair was in there. I closed it and checked my whole place. It was nowhere to be found. Maybe I misplaced it. It couldn't have been stolen. No way.