Chapter Thirteen

He opened the front door while Rhea was still standing where he had seen her before from his window.

"Do it quickly," Rhea said, her breath falling on his back.

"What the…? When did you get here?" Hugo exclaimed in shock. He could swear even a second ago she was not there.

"We need to go," she said.

"You are creeping me out. Go where? It's midnight, Rhea!"

"We can travel even if it's midnight," she said.

"That's not the point!"

"But you said you are my friend," Rhea said.

"… I am, but…"

"Friends listen to each other. I want the kind of friend who will help me hide a corpse without a question. If you are not that, it's time to say goodbye."

"Do you want me to help you hide a corpse?"

"Not now, but maybe someday. Anyway, are you coming or not?"

Hugo observed her face for a while which was completely unreadable. "Haa, alright," he sighed. "Let me lock the door real quick."

"It's cool that you use an extra lock."

"I don't think the auto lock is protecting our house enough," he said.

"We do so as well," she said.

"There is one thing I forgot to mention," Hugo said, turning to her.

"Yes?"

"Friends don't talk this little."

"But I hate too many small talks."

"And I hate going out in the middle of the night somewhere I don't know," he said.

"… What do you want me to do?"

"Talk more. If I ask something, you should try to answer more. I also don't like to talk much, but I sure do talk more than you," Hugo said.

"I will try," Rhea said. She looked utterly disgusted with the idea of talking more, but she still agreed because she needed Hugo to go with her.

There were two reasons. Firstly, among the people Rhea suspected, Hugo was one of them. He had liked her for a long time, so it might not be just pure love, but a twisted one. He was the one who saw the stalker aside from Rhea. Although he had not seen his face that time, he might have recognized him from something else, or the three moles, which led Rhea to wonder if Hugo was the murderer. And secondly, if Hugo was not the murderer, he might be the murderer's target. So, Rhea wanted to keep him close either way.

The best way to do so was to ask him to be her friend. She knew he would not refuse.

"Is this your scooter?" Hugo asked. A purple scooter belonging to Rhea did not sit right with him.

"It's Mom's," she said and then remembered that she said she would try to talk more. "Uh… My scooter needs repairing, so I brought Mom's."

"I see."

"Well, hop on," she said and got on first, "behind me."

Hugo started to get uncomfortable and nervous. It was hard for him to even think of getting that close to the girl he liked. But he was not ready to let go of the opportunity as well.

He got on behind her. He got goosebumps at the vast amount of skinship.

"You might want to hold onto me," Rhea said.

"It's not like we are going at a supersonic speed."

Rhea glanced sideways at him and Hugo saw a small smirk. The next moment, he was glad he wrapped his arms around Rhea's small waist, despite all the voices in his mind that kept telling him to keep his physical distance from his crush to make sure he did not burst open.

Hugo never drove that fast or had been in a vehicle that went that fast. "What are you doing? We are gonna die!"

"We are not. It's me who is driving, not you," Rhea said.

Rhea had a bad habit of driving very fast. But the good part was she had amazing balance and was certain she would not kill someone or get killed.

"You are violating the traffic rules!"

Rhea did not say anything and slowed down because Hugo looked deeply concerned for his safety. She would not like it if he had a heart attack.

"Are you okay?"

"Just obey the rules without resisting. They are made for a reason," Hugo said.

"… I will try, even if it pains me."

"Where are we going anyway?"

"To two construction sites. We will reach the first one shortly."

"Are you using Google Maps?" he asked.

"Yes. How will I know otherwise?"

"It's not a big town, Rhea. Don't tell me you don't know where the construction sites are."

"… I cannot remember directions. I only know the route of our school from my place and my place from my school."

"How do you know mine?"

"I used my mom's diary. She also cannot remember directions, so she made a map which I followed."

"So, you randomly knew your mom has a map of the route to our place?"

"No, I secretly read it every week, because I don't like secrets."

"… I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to. I accept your silence and will enjoy it thoroughly."

Rhea took a turn to the right. "Do you know exactly where the supermarket is going to be?"

"Yeah. Do you want a shortcut?"

"Is there any?"

"There is always a shortcut."

Hugo gave her directions which she followed. It took them five more minutes to reach the construction site of the supermarket.

Hugo got down and Rhea followed. The construction was almost done. The coloring was all it needed.

"So, what are we doing here?" Hugo asked.

"The truck is not from here," Rhea mumbled. "It's from the other construction site."

"You are looking for the truck?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I might be able to find something out if I check the truck."

"Are you sure the truck will be there?" Hugo asked.

Never in his life, had he thought he would be looking for a truck in the middle of the night.

"There is a possibility. I need to check," she said.

Rhea looked around the place a bit. There was nothing unusual. She liked the calmness the place offered. The workers surely would not work until midnight, but if the sand and bricks were taken to the construction at midnight usually. That was the reason Rhea chose nighttime to take a look.

"It's cold," Hugo said, coming up from behind.

"Why didn't you wear a jacket or something?" Rhea asked.

"I was in a hurry," he said.

"Well, I can't control the weather. So, you have to stay that way," she said.

"So, do you want to go to the other construction site now?"

"You seem excited now," Rhea chuckled. "I thought you were the quiet type of guy who likes nothing but study."

"I might be a nerd, but I like a few more things every now and then," Hugo said with a smile. "What about you? What do you like?"

"I like my cat."

"No, what do you like to do?"

"I like to play with Silence."

"It's your cat, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she said.

"Is there nothing you like to do other than play with your cat?" he asked.

"I like to write."

"Write what?"

"Novel. I write novels on my blog. And I like to stay in my room, on my bed all day. I also like to make fun of people in my head and watch them make the mistake that I anticipated," she said. "I am fulfilling my part of our deal about being friends, ain't I?"

"You are. That's impressive," he said. "So, you like to write novels, stay in your room on your bed all day and make fun of people in your head… The last one is pretty unique, but I guess that makes you different."

"I am different."

"Right."

"People say I think I am better than everyone else," she added, turning to Hugo. "And I do think I am better than everyone else. I guess you have got a self-centered friend now."

"At least, what you think isn't really wrong. Everyone calls me a model student, but the top scorer is always you," Hugo said, staring deep into her eyes. "When the class doesn't know an answer, you know it. You are not wrong."

"What am I supposed to say now?"

"Just say thank you."

"Why? I know it's true."

"When someone praises you, you are supposed to say thank you."

"Alright. Thank you, then."

"You are welcome," he chuckled.

"…"

"What?"

Rhea's head seemed to not work for a while. She had no idea why she was chatting with him when she had more work to do. She always thought talking to someone for more than two minutes was a waste of time. How could she do something that was opposite to her morals? It must be the idiot boy's idea to mess with her and she fell into his trap.

"Let's go. We wasted a lot of time," Rhea said, quickly getting on her scooter.

Hugo started, "Let me drive this…"

"No. I will drive," Rhea cut him off sharply.

"Alright…," Hugo said.