Chapter 20: Unveiled

"Who gave you this?"

Baldi asked, his tone low and his eyes narrowing, and I gulped as the scary atmosphere that was engulfing the entire room. Trying to stay calm, I replied nonchalantly, at least as nonchalantly as I was capable of.

"I don't know. I found it in my locker this aftern-"

"What did I tell you about receiving notes from strangers?"

He almost sounded like he was shouting at me. He was clearly not happy, which made me sweat as my heart thumped loudly in my chest. The fact that he had cut me off before I could finish my sentence further proved how screwed I was. No matter how angry he got, he always let me explain or at least say something before giving me a piece of his mind.

"I- I'm sorry…" I fiddled with my fingers in an apologetic manner. I wasn't pretending this time – I was actually frightened. "I… I was curious, so…"

He gave me a long, silent stare before continuing, and I could see the way he was gripping the letter so tightly that he could literally rip it apart at any given moment. "You're not planning on seeing him, are you?"

"N- No…"

I answered quietly, internally apologizing to Chloe for not following her advice, for which she scolded me the next day.

"What? You're supposed to say you were going to see that guy!" Jesse was saying it in a rather calm voice, but surprise and disappointment were written all over her face. "You have to make him anxious so that he'd have the urge to confess to you!"

"Jesse, I know that, it's just…" I let out an exasperated sigh, all the while letting my face lie on my desk. "Things weren't looking so good, so I didn't want to make him angrier."

"Wait…" Jesse said in a voice that made me hear her raising her eyebrows. "He got angry?"

"Yeah… He was almost pissed." I replied, sighing tiredly again as I lifted my face up and rested my chin on my desk. I'd be lying if I said I was exaggerating. That moment, had I said that I would go see that imaginary boy, he would have been enraged for sure. Yes, I would have still gotten a lecture otherwise, just like yesterday, but at least he wouldn't go destroy the entire universe out of anger. Again, I wasn't exaggerating. Last night was terrifying. Even though all he did in the end was letting it go with a sigh, as well as telling me to be careful, I was still scared nonetheless.

"Then he's definitely into you!"

And Jesse wasn't helping at all.

"How come?" I raised an eyebrow at her as I cursed my curiosity in my head. The last thing I should do right now was to not get involved in this again.

"If he doesn't like you, then he has no reason to get mad at you." Jesse said confidently as she crossed her arms, thinking as she looked up at the ceiling like a detective. "It seems strange, don't you think?"

"Yeah, she's right, April. A guy will never get mad at you for thinking of getting into a relationship unless he really likes you." Hannah added, and I didn't think there would be a day I would come to hate her. She, along with Jesse, was pulling me back into this again by fuelling my curiosity. But then, could I really blame them, as they never knew what exactly went down last night?

"My head hurts." I let my face fall back to the desk again. "Guys are impossible to read."

"Girls are too, you know." I heard Allen sighing before he spoke. "How about you just ask him out? Being clear is less troublesome than this."

"What-" I was sure that I had never lifted my head so fast in my entire life, but only after I had done so did I realize that there was nothing wrong with what he had just told me. All this time, the three of them didn't know it was Baldi that I was having troubles with. They all thought that it was just "a friend of mine", like I had told them, so it would be understandable if they suggested confessing to him. Still, the thought of me confessing to Baldi himself, it was something surreal, not what one could easily imagine. And I had yet to confirm how I felt toward him, so it was still too early to consider the other possibilities.

"No, I don't think he likes me." I waved my hand in the air. "He told me he was just worried that I'd end up with a bad guy-"

"That's the biggest lie I've ever heard." This time it didn't come from Jesse or Hannah, but from Allen himself, which was surprising to us girls. "Even if he's worried, he'll just tell you to stay away from that guy at most, not get mad at you. He was just trying to find an excuse to explain his anger."

Something clicked in my mind.

"Wow, spot on." Jesse emphasized each word in amazement. "I'm impressed you thought of that."

At that point, I had gone too deep into my own thoughts to hear what they were saying afterward. A part of me was literally yelling at me to ignore that ridiculous claim, but the other part said otherwise. What Allen just said… actually made sense - what if the whole "afraid that I'd be taken advantage of" thing from Baldi was actually just something to cover up his feelings? Of course, it didn't mean that it was unreasonable of him to worry for me, but what if there was something more to it? Millions of "what if" scenarios popped up in my head, causing me to forget to consider the consequences that might follow. Baldi said that he was just worried that bad guys might take advantage of me, so surely he wouldn't mind if I was with someone that he knew was trustworthy, would he?

The moment I started to try to figure out how to test that theory, I wasn't aware that I had dug a grave for myself.

"Baldi, I'll be coming home a bit late next Monday, so don't wait for me, okay?"

Baldi, who was on his way to his office, stopped in his track, though on his face was a rather calm expression right now. Hopefully it'll stay like that after this conversation was over. I still couldn't understand why I kept doing this to myself. Come on April, the last thing you should do now was testing his patience. But the other part of me couldn't help getting curious and wanting to make everything clear. Baldi obviously didn't have any feelings for me, so there was nothing I should be afraid of, was there? After all this, I would be able to confirm that he wasn't romantically interested in me, which would ease my mind, helping me forget about this whole thing and move on with my life.

"Why would you be home late?" He raised an eyebrow at me, and I tried to stay as calm as possible. Being nervous would definitely make me look suspicious.

"I'm going to study with Max at his house."

Baldi narrowed his eyes a little. "What for?"

I was aware of that fact that I was starting to sweat because of the increasing pressure, but I was still strong enough to keep going. Come on April, he just asked because he was curious, not because he was thinking of stopping you, so there was absolutely no need to fret. "We, uh, are having a Physics test next week, so I need his help."

As expected, silence passed through us as Baldi crossed his arms, seemingly thinking of something. What he was pondering, I did not know, but what he said next was a bolt from the blue for me.

"No, you can't go to his house."

"H- Huh?" I asked with wide eyes, not bothering to hide how stunned I was. "W- Why?"

He averted his gaze and stayed silent, which was very surprising to me. Was it because he was having a hard time coming up with an answer for me? But why would he have a hard time? I actually found it very strange that he couldn't reply right away. Surely, he had a reason in his head already. Was it a reason he couldn't say out loud? But if there was, what could it be? What could possibly make him feel unsafe about me being with Max, out of all the people he should worry about? These unanswered questions kept on popping up in my head, and soon the confusion escalated into frustration, making my voice almost sounded like a scream as I spoke up without waiting for his reply.

"Baldi!" My loud tone seemed to snap him out of his thoughts, though what he was pondering was out of my knowledge. "If you're worried that he'll try to do something bad to me, then I appreciate your concerns, but this is Max we're talking about. Even if he's annoying to you, you still know that he's a good guy, don't you?"

"April-" He looked like he was struggling to speak. "But-"

"Max's a good friend of mine. You do know that, right?" My voice had turned a little softer, though the exasperation could still be found in it. However, that wasn't my concern at the moment. I didn't like raising my voice like this, especially at Baldi, but this was too much for me to handle right now. I didn't just need an explanation – I demanded one. Like I've said, I was aware of how he was worried for my safety, but this had gone too far. If he wouldn't even allow me to go with a person as reliable as Max, then who was alright to be with at this point?

"April, I-"

I stayed silent to let him finish his sentence, but he kept cutting himself off, seemingly unable to explain his overprotectiveness, before groaning into his hand. Sighing, I tried to stay calm as I spoke again.

"Baldi…" I said, my eyes looking straight into his. "I can cancel it with Max if you want, but please tell me why you don't want me to go to his house. Is it because you're worried that someone will hurt me on my way there, or-"

"No, April, you…" It was only then that he was able to talk clearly again, not just gibberish like a few minutes before. However, his voice sounded very hesitant, and frustration could be seen on his face. "You don't understand… I- I can't say it…"

"Baldi, it's okay, you can say it to me."

"No, April, I… I…"

I proceeded to approach him and was about to take his hands into mine, thinking that by doing so, I could somehow ease his mind and help him say it more easily. But before I could move a single muscle, his words came out, making me stop in my track.

"I can't feel at ease when you're too close to other boys."

My eyes widened and my heart skipped a beat. My hands were shaking as I made every effort to speak.

"W- What do you mean, Baldi?"

There was no way he meant what I thought he meant, right?

His eyes were glued to the floor and his voice was barely audible, yet every word hit me hard as soon as it reached my ear.

"I- I like you, April, but- but more than a friend…"

A smile crept up my face, but I could feel that it was extremely forced, and my chuckle sounded exactly like it belonged to someone who was in utter denial. "D- Does that mean y- you like me a- as a sister? If so, then that's very sweet-"

"No."

In a matter of second, I had been pushed to the wall behind me, giving me no time to react at all. The next thing I knew was that a pair of crimson eyes was staring into my own, gleaming in a dark light. When I tried to move, I discovered that my wrists were pinned in place by his strong hands. His grip felt so forceful and tight that it seemed like he was afraid that I would disappear as soon as he loosened his hands. I was trapped. I should be struggling. I should be shouting at him and telling him to let me go, but I found myself incapable of doing anything. All I could do was staring back at those red bright eyes with my body slightly quivering.

"April, I like you even more than that." His voice was nearly a low growl. "I have feelings for you. I can't explain those feelings, but they make me uncomfortable whenever I see you smiling at other boys. They make me afraid of losing you so much that I've been hesitant to let you stay close to other guys. I know that one day, you'd choose someone other than me. I don't want that day to come and even I can't understand why-"

The moment he cut himself off, his eyes lost its red shade and slowly returned to their original dark color, telling me that he had snapped out of it. Having realized that he had pinned me to the wall, he quickly released my hand as he panicked, his face turning pale in the process.

"A- April, I'm sorry, I- I-"

My heart wanted me to stay there to listen to what he had to say, but my mind had already told my body to move. I ended up running to my room and slammed the door behind me.