Chapter 6

Pauline ran down the corridors of the building. "Crap, crap, crap," she kept muttering under her breath for she was already ten minutes late for her first class. She barely slowed down enough to avoid bursting through the door to her English class. "Sorry, Sir," she said sheepishly as the lecturer turned to look at her. The class burst into laughter as she just stood at the door.

"...As I was saying class, before I was rudely interrupted," the lecturer continued as some students burst into new fits of laughter, "truancy will not be tolerated." The lecturer turned to Pauline. "Consider this your final warning. Now take your seat." He spoke with an air of arrogance.

Pauline quickly sat down at the front of the class. She would have preferred a seat at the middle of the class, but she did not really have a choice, seeing as most of the seats were already taken.

When class was dismissed, the students rushed out of class. As Pauline passed the lecturer's desk, he spoke, "You're not from around here." The statement hang in the air for a while. "Where are you from?"

Pauline was starting to get irritated. He wasn't even looking at her as he spoke. Instead, he was slowly flipping through the pages of his book while he addressed her. What's wrong with this fool? "I'm from Kenya," she replied, trying with all her might to keep her voice even.

"You'll like it here." He lifted his gaze to her and smirked. "You'll like my class," he drawled, then waved his hand dismissively as he returned his attention to his book.

She walked out as she rolled her eyes. Pauline headed straight for the school cafeteria, hoping to see a familiar face. She saw Nigel sitting by himself at a table as he read through a course text. She joined him at the table, taking a seat opposite him. "Hey."

"Hey. How was class?" he replied as he shut his book.

"Ugh," she said as she leaned back in her chair. "The lecturer is a bastard. He's so freaking condescending." Then she suddenly changed the topic as she doodled on the table with her index finger. "You have nice eyes. I rarely see you without your stunners. It's good that you didn't wear them today. You should make a point of losing them every so often."

Nigel gave a small laugh. "Thanks," he said. "Want some juice?" he asked as he offered her his drink.

"Nah," she replied. "So, what's your story?" she asked as she leaned forward in her seat.

He raised his eyebrow questioningly.

"You're always broody. You think too much. Let loose a little, relax. Is it a girl? I bet it's a girl," she said, looking him in the eye.

"Uh…"

"You don't have to tell me. But tell someone. Lighten your load. It's not good to be this young, this fine, and yet think so much."

"You're way too observant," he commented with a smile. He noticed Pauline was looking at someone behind him. He turned just as Abby was about to hit him on the back his head.

"Phooey, you turned," she said as she hit him anyway. Abby high-fived Pauline as she took a seat beside Nigel. "So, wassup?" she asked.

"My lecturer's a bastard," Pauline began.

"Who's he?"

"A certain Mr. Wyatt," she said with an ounce of disgust.

"Woah, the young one? He's hot!"

"That's beside the point. Can't you see I'm trying hate here? Get with the program," Pauline complained as she snapped her fingers at her friend .

"Ugh, he's an ass," Abby complied as she made a face.

"Thank you."

Nigel shook his head in disbelief.

xxx

Looking around at the living room of his new house, Kensei was satisfied with its appearance. Its décor was of expensive taste yet it was elegantly simple. His favourite piece of furniture was the plum red chaise lounge that was placed at the furthest wall from the TV, next to a yet to be filled bookshelf. From there one could see the kitchen with its open layout, and vice versa, which was a good thing since he loved to cook, and would love to see who he would be cooking for while he did it. A plush cream rug lay in the middle of the space between the black leather seats. The walls were painted beige, with beautiful flowered motifs of a slightly darker shade at the border. "This is nice," he said, giving the room a final once over before heading out the door. He removed his cell phone from his jacket pocket and dialed a number. Kensei listened to the tone as the phone rang on the other end a few times before the recipient picked up.

"Kensei," the deep voice said.

"We need to meet," Kensei replied.

"The club. VIP room. 11 p.m."

Kensei hang up.

xxx

The following day, Hoagie skipped breakfast at home so that he could meet Abby at a diner.

"Well, I wish you would have told me, then I wouldn't have made extra," his mom complained.

"Sorry," he said, looking truly apologetic. "It was kind of a last minute plan." He kissed her on the cheek and said, "Tommy can have my share anyway. He's a growing boy, right?"

She snorted as she thought of how her last born son was always used, or rather misused, by the rest of the family whenever anyone could not finish their meal. Hoagie picked up his guitar bag and back pack. "See you later, Mom," he said, walking out the kitchen door to the garage. He unlocked his car, a black old school Chevy convertible with red seats, and threw in his stuff, before getting into the driver's seat. He backed out of the garage onto the driveway and sped down the street, his mind fixed on his destination.

About twenty minutes later, he was seated across from Abby, munching on waffles and sausages and drinking hot cocoa, while the latter had white coffee and a huge chocolate donut. "So I'm going to go see her this afternoon," Hoagie said as he wiped his mouth with a serviette.

"I don't envy you at all, to be honest."

"Yeah," he said with a sigh. "It will hurt her, but it has got to be done. I love you, and I wanna be with you – more than you can imagine. But it can't happen till she's out of the picture." He gulped what little cocoa was left in his mug. "You've got a little something here," he added as he pointed at the corner of his mouth in reference to hers.

Abby tried but failed to successfully lick the chocolate off of the corner of her mouth. He gave a little laugh and said, "Well, that's very…ladylike of you." She felt her cheeks heat up with slight embarrassment.

Before she could wipe her mouth with her serviette, Hoagie had already used his extra one to gently wipe it clean. She looked down as she blushed even more. God, she thought, how can someone have this effect on me? "I'm Abby for heaven's sake .Freakin' Abigail Lincoln. You're not supposed to be able to make me all shy and embarrassed and take my breath away," she said with a drawl on the key verbs and phrases.

"Oh? And why is that?" he asked innocently as he lightly ran his finger along the length of her forearm.

"Because I am made of steel, dammit."

Hoagie tilted his head as he looked at her, waiting for her to look up again. When she finally did he said with a smile, his head still tilted, "You're very cute when you're all shy and embarrassed…and breathless."

Abby sighed. "You make my heart melt," she replied, looking him in the eye as she smiled back.

After their meal, Hoagie dropped Abby in school since he would have had to bypass it on his way to Chad's place. As she got out of the car she said, "Thanks for the ride." Then she spotted the guitar case in the back seat. "You play the guitar?" she asked, before adding, "Oh yeah, I remember you had a guitar as a kid."

"Yeah. I never played much back then, coz I had more interesting things to do," he replied with a wink. "But after we got decommissioned, I had time on my hands. So I learnt. It gets me paid, so hey."

"Awesome! You've gotta teach me. I've always wanted to learn. So what, you tutor?"

"Nah, I'm in a band. I'm actually going for a practice session right now. I'd love for you to come for one of our gigs some time."

"No doubt, I'm there," she said excitedly. "A'right, talk to you later," she said as she shut the door and headed for class.

xxx

Seated a few tables from Abby and Hoagie at the diner, she could not believe what she was seeing. Whatever the case, she had to tell her best friend. She quickly got her phone from her purse and typed a text before sending it.

Several blocks away, Eva's phone sounded as a message was received. She had been lounging on her bed listening to music as she checked her inbox. She sat up straight as she read the message, the rate of her heartbeat quickening as she imagined all sorts of things:

OMG, I've got to see you ASAP. It's about Hoagie!

From: Lizzie

02/09/2011 09:17 AM