Chapter 10
Chapter 10 already, I'm going like a burning stuntman
over here.
I'm happy you guys like this story of mine too! Luv
luv luv!
,Lunchbreak,
I hate lunchbreaks." Rie mutters under her breath, slowly packing
her bag.
Seth observering her every move with the greatest
security.
,You know what." He finally says, cuz he hasn't
talked to her all morning, since there were so many people around.
Rie looks up in an answer.
,You would look great in a tight
shirt or a short skirt." Seth breaths, like the idea is elavating
his brain to it's maximum.
The next moment Rie has thrown her
Biology-book right at his head. Ofcourse it doesn't hit Seth, but
goes right through him. With a stunned look Seth stares at her.
Not
daring to shout at him, since there are still people in class, she
gives him deadly looks.
,Ehm, Mrs. Stalker, your book, please
don't throw it around." The teacher picks it up from the floor
and hands it over to Rie. ,You oughta be more careful with your
schoolsupplies, Mrs. Stalker."
Rie puts up her innocent face.
,I'm really sorry, thank you." With the book clenched in her
hands she hurries out of the classroom, cursing Seth in her head. She
wonders if he looks at her like that all day. Picturing her in more
daring outfits or maybe naked, that stupid, perverted idiot. She
hides under the staircase, like usual and crashes down on the floor.
Just as she is dumping her lunch into the bin, Seth arrives,
looking really upset. ,What's wrong with you?"
,Me! Wrong
with me?" Rie cries out furiously. ,You are the perverted
one!"
,What do you mean perverted!" Seth cries back.
,Picturing me in tight and short clothes! Thanks a lot, you
crazy perverted asshole!" Rie breaths. ,You are not allowed in my
bedroom anymore! And you do not tell a girl how to dress!"
,I
was only saying you are pretty!" Seth says, grabbing her wrists and
urgeing her back.
And for an invisible guy he sure is strong.
Rie
isn't going to let him push her away like that and with red cheeks
she unscrews her wrists from his hands. ,Shut up! You are saying I
should dress up and show of my body! Like all those other nitwits!
While… while you said I was good the way I was, because I wasn't
like all the others!"
,I…you…" Seth falls back and looks
at her, not knowing how to react on this.
Rie, at the other hand,
stand up and looks down at Seth, feeling really pissed of. And she
hates to admit it, but she didn't like Seth telling her she should
dress up to be pretty. Somehow that hit her very hard.
,You know
what, Seth, I may not be the prettiest of all. I don't put on the
latest fashion, only wear dark clothes and my hair is straight and
dull, but I'm the only access for you to the real world. I don't
think you want to waste that, right?" She says, she wishes her
voice wouldn't tremble so much. ,So shut up about my looks. You
won't get anything done with it! I'm not like the others,
okay?"
Seth, still too stunned to say anything, looks up at her.
,And if you don't mind, I don't want you around me anymore
today. I will see you tomorrow." And with these words, before Seth
has a chance to say anything at all, she runs away. Her cheeks wet
and nothing she can do about it.
How
can you feel so bad about such a stupid matter? Rie rocks herself
back and forth on her chair in the library. She has been here all
day, not went to class, because she felt so miserable.
And she
questioned herself over and over again for the last 3 classes, why
she feels so miserable about Seth telling her she could look much
prettier if she changed her looks.
She never used to mind people
telling her she looks dull, her outfit wasn't acceptable anymore
these days, or that she had to get a haircut linea recta. She didn't
care, she burried her nose in her book and shut herself of from the
world.
But why
does this bother her so much now? It's stupid, it doesn't make
any sense.
At least Seth has respected her wish to be alone for
today. She couldn't face him at the moment, even if she wanted to.
,Why did you hang up on me?"
Rie freezes.
Marten!
What is Marten doing here? Talking to her!
She slowly turns
around, Marten is standing there completely solo.
,You hang up
on me yesterday." Marten says, he doesn't look annoyed.
Rie
turns her back on him, focusing on her books, which lay open on the
same page for the last few hours, without Rie reading them.
,Now
you do it again. You ignore me!" Marten takes a seat next to her,
one hand supporting his head. Rie doesn't want to look up, so she
keeps her eyes focused on her english book.
She hopes for Marten
to leave, because she doesn't feel comfortable at all.
But
Marten lifts up his hand and touches her hair, puts it behind her
ear. ,Such a shame you hide your face behind your hair like
that."
,Keep those words to yourself, please." Rie mumbles,
finally facing him, her cheeks getting red for the second time that
day. One more time and it's a record.
,Ah! You can talk."
Marten smiles in a way like only a pretty boy can.
,I'm not
going to help you in maths or anything." Rie quickly spits out. ,I
prefer not to talk to you at all, so leave me alone, thank you."
And she shakes the hair back in her face.
He's right, she hides
her face. This way she doesn't have to go through much trouble not
to look at people.
,Why not?" Marten asks.
Rie keeps her
mouth shut. Ignore him girl, ignore him.
,Did you put on the
mute? Come on, why won't you help me?" Marten puts her hair back
her ear again and lifts up her chin, forcing her to look at him.
She
doesn't try anything to stop him and she hates herself for it.
,I
don't like you." She says. ,You are popular, I'm the freak.
Let me go, please."
,Why don't you like me?" Marten asks,
not letting go of her face.
Rie clenches her teeth. Damn Marten.
She narrows her eyes. ,Why are you so desperate in making contact
with me, huh? Did you get knocked over the head by a windmill or
something? Got a couple of screws lose up there? Whatever it is, stop
bothering me. I have more important stuff to deal with without you
around! Please remove youself!"
With her hair back in front of
her eyes, she grabs her books and replaces herself a few seats away
from Marten. But he follows her stubborn.
,I'm not crazy? I
think I like you?" Marten whispers.
A chill runs over Rie's
spine, she forces her cheeks not to go red. Why is she feeling so
uncomfortable? Why is he making her feel so unfocused? She has the
feeling she wants to run away far away from him.
Deciding to
follow the urge, she scoops up her books again, turns on her heels
and hurriesherself out of the library, bumping into Fanny in the
hallway.
,Was Marten talking to you?" Fanny says, watching Rie
picking up the books she dropped.
Fanny sounds amused, like she
expected Marten to talk to her. And it hits Rie. Marten talks to her,
wants her attention, because he and Fanny set something up to
embarres her.
Ofcourse they did. Now she is known as the freak,
it's become legal to make fun of her like that.
Gaining her
trust and then lure her into a trap, so she would be a public joke.
Nothing is more fun then to play a prank on the schoolloser.
Rie
looks up at Fanny from below and she wishes she could inflict some
serious pain on her.
Fanny and her gang of loyal friends decide
to ignore Rie and pass her, walking over her books while trespassing.
Clenching her fists, Rie ignores them in return, whipes her books
clean with her hands, picks them all up, stuff them under her arms
and hurries away through the corridor. Her goal: right outside, going
straight home.
Rie is laying in her bed, gazing at the
ceiling. It's so quiet. She can hear everything.
Passing cars
out on the streets. A dog barking a few blocks away. The baby from
next door crying. The movements upstairs. The sounds of footsteps on
the staircase to her basement.
The door of her bedroom opening.
And finally the soft voice of her father,,Are you asleep yet?"
Rie
takes a silent breath. ,No."
,It's 9… I figured you would
be awake. It's too early." Her father says, sitting next to her
on her bed. Rie turns around to him, wrapping her arms around his
waist.
,I was surprised you said you went to bed at 7.30, Rie."
Stroking her head softly with his hands, pulling his legs up on the
bed too, laying down next to her, enclosing her into a hug.
Rie
hugs him back, so happy she has him as her father. So happy he is
willing to be with her.
It takes her a while to find the
explanation of her early bedtime.
,I… I didn't know what
else to do…" she finally mumbles. ,I already picked on Aye
during dinner… so that job was done…"
,Isn't Seth here
then?" Her father asks. ,Normally he is around, you talk to him
until you fall asleep."
,He talks too much." And Rie burries
her face into her father's chest. ,Doesn't know when to shut up
or when to talk."
,Nobody is perfect." Her father says
wisely. ,I mean, when I am excited about a subject, I tend to talk
about it non stop, driving a lot of people crazy."
,Yeah, but
you can't help it. You aren't mentally normal." Rie says,
hugging her father tightly. ,But that's okay. I still like you,
okay?"
,Well, as long as you do, I'm not complaining." He
kisses her hair, pushes her back in her pillow and covers her up.
,Now you go to sleep and not worry about Seth talking too much,
okay? Just go to sleep."
,Yeah, I'll try." Rie mumbles,
feeling extremely exhausted for some reason now. She yawns, pulls up
her legs and claws her hands into her blanket, pulling them close to
her.
Wishing her dad a goodnight, she closes her eyes and falls
asleep almost immediately. It's weird, it's like she has been
waiting for something like her father to bid her goodnight, before
she could actually fall asleep.
A soft stirring feeling wakes
Rie up from her sleep. Disturbed in her rest, she lifts up her head
and tries to focus her eyes on the world around her. A big shadow is
sitting in front of her, outlined by the moonlight outside. A hand
moves towards her, touching her cheek.
,Rie. It's tomorrow…
so I can come back right?" An insecure voice says, trembling
slighty.
Blinking, trying to gain back her concience, she turns
her head around, inspecting her room, being disorientated.
Her
eyes end on her alarmclock, showing a big 0:06 AM in flashing red
light. Scratching her eyes, she turns now to look at Seth. Being used
to the light now, she can see Seth's eyes glimmering with tears.
Still being really sleeping, not being able to process the
information, she drops herself back into her bed, covering herself up
with her blankets.
Why is Seth waking her up in the middle of the
night? She thinks, almost drifting of in a sleep again. Stupid idiot
waking her up! Maybe he doesn't need to sleep, but she does! Why
didn't he say what he had to say before she went to bed, or saved
it for tomorrow?
Tomorrow?
Rie stops breathing. She throws the
blankets back and target her eyes back on her alarmclock.
It's
tomorrow. She told him to come back tomorrow.
She looks up at
Seth. ,You're…"
Seth bows his head. ,I have been outside
all day, wondering around in the mall… checking out boxes with
screws…watching people eat icecream…" he reports with a
monotone voice.
Rubbing her eyes, Rie casts another look on her
alarm again. ,You're…"
,You told me to stay away from you…
come back tomorrow. So I did. I did what you asked, because I thought
I had hurt you really bad…" Seth mumbles, not looking at her, but
staring at his hands. ,And whole day long I was afraid… that you
would still be mad… and that you didn't want to see me
again…"
Her alarmclock now saying: 0:11 AM, she once again
says,,You're…"
Seth looks up at her finally, his eyes
still shimmering. ,I'm what?" His voice is so breakable, it
makes her feel so weak. To avoid his eyes, Rie falls back in her bed.
,You're late, asshole."
She can hear him breathe in and
out. ,I'm …late?"
,Six minutes late." Rie mumbles. ,Now
shut up and let me sleep. You're so cruel waking me up in the
middle of my sleep." She turns her back on him and huggles her
pillow. A happy feeling crawls up in her chest. He's back! He has
come back!
He bends over her, his breath tickles her face, and his
voice whispers in her ear,,You're not mad at me?"
Uncomfortably Rie moves away from him, to the other side of her
bed. ,Leave me alone, I wanna sleep."
But Seth follows her,
crawling upon her bed, his mouth once again close to her ear, almost
touching it. ,Rie, can I still stay with you?"
His voice sends
shivers up her spine, making her legs feel like jelly. She is so
happy she isnt standing up, but is laying safely in her bed. She
snorts, pulls up her blankets.
Ofcourse he can stay with her. He
has to! She likes him around.
But she doesn't speak out the
words.
Pretending to be asleep, Rie relaxes her face. She lays
there for several minutes, Seth sitting close behind her, when a warm
sleep creeps in her eyes, pushing her back in the soft and relaxing
feeling you always have before sleep comes.
She is only slighty
aware of Seth's lips kissing the shell of her ear, whispering one
more thing before she drifts of.
,I think I'm in love with
you…"
