"Leave Kawaki alone then," Yodo continues before I can completely move away from her. I stop and turn to face her, our eyes meet. "Is that an order?" I chuckle. I don't care if she has something for the jerk but I guess stopping me from something that doesn't concern me at all is pretty much of a different story and besides, I can't do it.
"Yes, it's an order from me or else," now she is portending me about something without my knowledge. "Or else what?" I raise a brow at her statement wondering what she has hidden on her sleeves. She gives me a smirk that seems like dodging my question.
"I won't tell you unless you can't comply with my only order," she says and flips her long blonde hair.
"You know I am his tutor, right? So, I can't avoid him otherwise you can fix that problem," I may sound like making suggestions to her. It sounds ridiculous, to be honest.
"I don't think our adviser would change her mind. I'll make it pass but don't cross the line, okay?" she says and it looks like she also got a trump card against me.
"Tell me what you are planning to do against me," I insist but she seems not to tell me.
"No, no, no. I am not going to tell you. It's a secret for now," she says and moves closer to me. Sweats drop on my forehead.
"Just stay away from Kawaki," she whispers in my ear. I think I stop breathing for like three seconds then finally words come to mind.
"I can't do that. That's out of my control," I say and she stares at me.
"But whatever it is, it's sure appalling and I didn't expect it to come from you. It's up to you if you still want to do it but you must be prepared for the consequences," I continue and she is left astounded. Her eyes are wide open and she then grits her teeth of anger.
I turn my back at her and walk downstairs. She doesn't make a sound until I completely vanish from her sight. I sigh in relief when her presence disappears. I leave the Grade 10 building and aims to return to our classroom.
"Sarada!" Chocho calls out to me and she runs in my direction.
"Chocho..." I mutter and she looks tired. She pants and falls to her knees.
"You know I search for you everywhere and you are just here," she says still catching her breath.
"I talked to the jerk," I say and she stands up straight and looks at me.
"So, what did you discuss?" she asks, and I pout. She wrinkles her forehead in confusion.
"He doesn't look like helping me with this," I faintly say and she gestures, 'what?' at me.
"He is not alarmed about this at all because he doesn't have a phone," I tell her and she hangs her mouth up.
"Are you serious about that? How boring his life could be?" she shrugs and smirks.
"He might be lying or something so he won't get involved in this but I don't think he was. This is driving me crazy," I take back what I said, and Chocho gives me a wry smile.
"Don't stress yourself much in this. Get some rest and heal your wounds. I think you should go home now," she suggests to me. I think she is right. I need to rest and forget about the world for now. And I am guessing that I need to skip all my subjects for today but it's not a big deal. I'll just ask for notes from Chocho.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," we both get back to our classroom and grab my bag and leave to the doorway.
"Take care," Chocho waves at me and I respond to her with, "See you tomorrow Chocho," I wave goodbye at her and leave.
I grab my phone and scroll through it. I decided to deactivate all my social media accounts so I won't get disturbed until the pre-final examination. I think I have to agree with the jerk this one time.
The next morning...
"My wounds are such a drag," I mutter as I put the bandaids on both my knees. My mom worries extremely about them. I take the medicines as prescribed by our school physician. They don't hurt much today. I can't skip school too because I am worried that my absence will affect my pre-final examination.
"I am off to school, " I tell mom and rush outside the house.
"Be careful, okay?" she says and I shout 'yes' at her as I make steps outside the gate.
I am a meter away from the corner where Chocho and I usually meet.
"She's late," I comment. She is usually early and waits for me here.
"Sorry, I am late," she yells running in my direction. She breathes quickly upon her arrival.
"What happened?" I ask so confusedly.
"What do you mean?" she asks still gasping for air.
"It's strange for you to be late," I tell her and her head tilts a little to the side. She gives me an unsure smile and scratches the back of her head.
"I woke up late today," she laughs awkwardly.
"Now it makes me wonder why," I sound suspicious to this one so I can catch her off-guard. I know she will tell me the reason.
"I stayed up late last night," she admits and I narrow my eyes. I think I knew it already.
"You stayed up texting him last night," I say and keep my eyes on her.
"Come on, let's go," she grabs my arm and pulls me to walk after her.
"You know I won't stop until you tell me what happened," I remind her and she tells me to stop but I keep teasing her.
"Just random things," she tells me and I grin.
"What random things? Be specific," you know I am persistent.
"Like, um, I don't want to tell it's embarrassing," she shakes her head.
"I won't laugh," I say trying to hold my laughter back. She looks like a tomato her face is entirely red.
"Stop it. I will tell you if I am confident enough to reveal it," she says still dodging my question.
"Okay, okay. Forget about it. Let's just focus on today's class. I have missed it yesterday," I sigh and she wraps her arms around me and speaks, "a genius like you should not worry. Nothing great happened yesterday. It's boring as usual," she says while rubbing her nose.
"I am more worried about it now," I say and smile awkwardly.
"Well, this pre-final examination is approaching and my idleness hits me already," she says apathetically.
"And I am worried about it too," I say and she looks at me with furrowed brows.
"What do you mean?" she obliviously asks.
"I am going to help the jerk pass the exams, remember?" I say and my face sure shows annoyance she scoffs when I said it.
"Well good luck, unlucky girl," she says to me and I sigh. What a helpless girl!
"Let me remind you of your pre-final examination which is due in less than two weeks," our adviser speaks after she has settled. Indistinct chatter takes place. I look around and observe the class.
"Sarada," she calls out to me and I immediately turn to face her.
"Yes, ma'am?" I respond politely and she smiles.
"I think you should start on your sessions with Kawaki. It's better if you'll start early so no rushing with the discussion," she says and I think I am astonished for a moment.
"Huh?" I am unaware of my action.
"Is there any problem?" she asks while wrinkling her forehead. I shake my head to refuse and she nods. She gets back to her lesson for the day and I irritably utter annoyance in my head. I coincidentally turn to my right and see Yodo's flaming eyes staring at me. I stared back not showing any fear. She looks away while pouting and then I focus my eyes on the book in front of me.
After two hours of class in two subjects, we finally got our break and Chocho and I, as always, went to the cafeteria to fill our empty stomach.
Boruto and Sumire followed and settle in a nearby table. They both smile at us when they notice our presence.
"Do you still like him?" I fluster when Chocho suddenly asks a strange question.
"What do you mean by that?" I stammer and she raises one brow.
"It's obvious that the two are having a mutual relationship. I think you should start moving on," she says and sips on her juice.
"As far as I can remember, you are the one who pushes me to not give up on my feelings for him and even write him a new letter now you are telling me to just move on?" I retaliate and she is slightly shocked but immediately gets back to her usual demeanor.
"Calm down, I was just joking and besides, I was asking a serious question," she shrugs then sips on her juice again.
"I think feelings don't fade easily," I mumble and she asks, "Huh?" she seems not to hear what I said.
"I don't know. Maybe one day I will forget about my feelings for him. What life brings is uncertainty and we should not cling to it," I say while watching them laugh together.
"You sound like me a few weeks ago," she teases me and I chuckle.
"I have a bigger problem coming than this and I am not sure what kind of hell awaits me," I say helplessly. Her face saddens knowing what I am scheming right now. My problem is how to deal with the jerk this time.
We return to class after our break. Once our History class is dismissed, I take a look at my knees and remove the bandaids for a change. My wounds look awful.
I clean the area with alcohol on a cotton ball. I make a bad face when the wound stings. It hurts you know. I put new bandaids on both knees and now they look clean but before I could completely get up from bending my head down, the image of the jerk cleaning my wounds suddenly appears in my mind. I shake my head to erase that picture of him. Maybe I was just engrossed with the thought that I will spend my extra time with him.
Instead of stressing myself out with the task, I stand up from my seat and moves in his direction.
"Hey, jerk. Meet me at the back of the Grade 10 building after class. We will discussthe setup of our after-class session," I tell him and he gives me a boring look. He did not respond to my instruction instead look away and I leave him pouting in disgust.
The class dismissed and I tell Chocho to go home without me because I need to talk to the jerk and she approves. I proceed to our meeting place and when I get there, the place is clear. No traces of him. Will he come though?
"What kind of discussion do you want?" I startle when a very familiar voice speaks behind me. I turn to face him. I stare at the jerk for a while. Gauging the situation, maybe?
I clear my throat before speaking, "I want to tell you that our first after-class session is on Saturday and our meeting place is at the school library," I say. Our school library is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Saturday.
"And as for the weekdays, this place will do," I continue and he did not make any comments instead smirks at me after I speak. What a jerk!
"You are being bossy again. I don't want to come on Saturday," he declines and he leaves me in awe.
"What? And why not? It's the perfect place for you to learn,"I retaliate.
"I am not coming," he says and aims to leave but I stop him.
"So where are we going to discuss then?" I ask. He leaves me no choice.
"At my place, anytime you want,"
What did he just say? At his place? (o)
"What?! Are you serious?" I squeak and he tilts his head a little.
"Do you have objections?" he says and stares coldly at me.
"Of course, you know it's inappropriate for a girl to go to a guy's house alone you know?" I yell at him. I think my face turns tomato red.
"Well, let's not discuss then," he says boldly and makes a step backwards and turns to leave.
"Hey, you can't do this to me," I stop him.
"As I told you, you're not the boss here, I am," he says arrogantly.
"So, you are going to threaten me with the letter again, huh?" I scoff and he did not respond.
"The thirty-day grace period is far from now," he reminds me of his crap again.
"I'm so done with you using my letter to blackmail me and use it against my will. I can't take this worthless game of yours. I don't care about it anymore," I'm so upset right now. This jerk is playing with my temper.
"If you want to end it right now, it's my pleasure to deliver your letter to your idiotic prince charming," he says sarcastically. I want to choke this jerk to death. Argh! He walks off without uttering words anymore.
"Damn you jerk!" I yell at him and then he totally vanishes in my eyes. I panic. I don't know if what I did is right. What if he really gives the letter to Boruto? What should I do about it then? Can I handle the consequences? Oh my goodness! Will Boruto think I am one of those desperate girls who want his attention?
I walk back and forth and think but nothing comes to mind. Damn it!
I don't think I am ready to let Boruto know. So, I run after the jerk to stop him from meeting Boruto. Where did he go? I thought while searching for the jerk. Wait, at the stadium. So, I head straight to the stadium.
I just got at the entrance and I see the jerk walking in Boruto's direction. So, he was serious about delivering it? I run as fast as I could to catch up to him before it's too late for me.
"Hey!" I shout and everyone inside glances at me in surprise. Even the jerk stops and turns his back to face me. He is a few inches away from Boruto. I run in his direction.
"Sarada?" I hear Boruto utter in confusion.
"I'm sorry. I was looking for Kawaki," I say and give him an awkward laugh.
"What are you doing here?" the jerk asks me and I glare at him.
"To stop you from doing it," I say still glaring at him.
"I thought you want me to personally deliver your letter," he taunts me.
"By the way, why are you here? What's the matter?" Boruto asks while wrinkling his forehead.
"Well, um, (clears throat) Kawaki and I had a misunderstanding earlier. He thought that I don't want to help him out with our lessons anymore so he is here to ask for your help instead," I lie and Boruto looks so puzzled.
"Hey, stop lyi-" I cut the jerk off by speaking again, "But, don't worry it's fine now. I apologize for interrupting you," I say and laugh uncomfortably.
"No problem. It's okay you know," Boruto smiles. I feel awful for lying to him.
"I think we'll leave now," I say and pulls the jerk away.
"Let's go," I say and drags him out of the stadium.
"You're a terrible liar," he remarks and I frown at him.
"You know what? You're a monkey face jerk and I hate you," I tell him and he just stares at me.
"So, you want to try me out again?" he is mocking me because he knew I could not win against him.
"Give me your pen and notebook," he orders.
"Why?" I scowl.
"Just give me what I ask you," he says impatiently so I take out a pen and notebook from my bag and hand them over to him. He is writing something on the paper. When he's finished, he gives it back to me and leaves right away. I look at his writing and it seems to be his home address.
"Don't get lost," he says and leaves me standing there. I'm so pissed at him that I smash my notebook back in my bag.
The hell is he planning to do?
To be continued...