Sword 6: Neighbor

SCARLETTE'S POINT OF VIEW

The bell rang which was my signal to silently cheer up. It was lunchtime! Yippee! I could finally straighten my neck! Uh, wrong move. When I straightened, my face was up and not lowered, it made a cracking sound. Wrong move. I tried to turn my face to Asher but I could not. It hurt. It was indeed a wrong move.

"A-Asher?" I called him. "Yes?" I felt him stand up and wear his backpack.

"I-I cannot move my neck . . . " I breathed deeply. Instead of worrying, he laughed. I just rolled my eyes. Gladly, there were only two of us left in the room.

"What am I going to d-do?" I nervously asked. I felt him walk behind me. "H-hey!"

"Stay still," he told, no longer laughing. "What are you going to do?"

"Just stay still."

"I will not until you tell me what are you going to do." I moved my body to stop him from doing so but he held my shoulders. "Just stay still if you do not want to get your neck to be broken." My eyes widened when he touched my nape with his fingers. "What will you do?"

"Just stay still and do not scream."

"Answer me first." I swallowed hard in fear. "Y-you are scaring me."

"Shush. I will just massage your neck. There is nothing to be afraid of."

"It will hurt you know."

"Come on. It is not. Trust me, okay?" Then, he chuckled.

"Do not use that line to me. I am not a kid anymore. Try to be more convincing. It will hurt!" I shouted, "And why would you do that? You are not a professional!"

"So?" I felt his face near my right ear that gave me chills. "Do not underestimate me, partner."

And the next thing I knew, he pressed his two fingers on my nape in a split of a second. I did not feel any pain aside from the fact that after it, I felt a cool sensation on the part that he touched. I looked at him with surprise in my eyes.

"What did you do?" He gave me a sweet smile before answering, "I just touched your nape and pressed it." My eyes narrowed into slits. "I know. What I am talking about is the cool feeling. Did you put something on your fingers?"

"None . . . maybe, it is just you and your weird senses. Come on. I am starving." He tried to hold my hand but I took it away. His smile faded because of that. "Why?" he asked as he frowned.

"I just want to say this first." I wore my backpack and held the right strap as I stood up. "Thank you, partner." The realization hit me that being friends with him was not bad at all.

He smiled sweetly once again. "Anything for you, partner."

While eating my cheeseburger, I kept on lowering my face to avoid the sharp gazes of the girls inside the cafeteria.

"Hey. Do you want to get another stiffed neck again?" Asher asked. I shot him a sharp look. "Of course, not."

"Then why to lower your face again?" he innocently asked. Acting like he did not know, huh? I already told him earlier. I frowned. "I already told you."

"Ah . . . " He took a bite of his one slice Hawaiian pizza. "Oh yeah, because of the sharp gazes or should I say, jealous gazes that you are receiving. Oh well, it is my handsome face's fault again."

"Yes, so do something," I hissed.

"Come on. Relax." He chuckled. "So, what should I do?" Dumb! Just ruin your so-called handsome face! I rolled my eyes. "Use your head, Mister Lucero. Think."

"I cannot think of any possible things that I should do to remove their attention from us."

Again, I could not help but roll my eyes. "Just ruin your handsome face."

"You know what?" He swallowed. "It is impossible."

'It is possible! I can easily ruin it! I can easily ruin it in many ways! I can cut your face using your fork right now. I can punch your face until it can be unidentified. And I can burn your face using the stove at the counter!' I just sighed at what I realized. The plans I was thinking of were all illegal.

"Just sit comfortably there and get used to it," he said as he pushed my forehead using his right forefinger. "Those sharp gazes, do not mind them. Just mind me as your friend, partner."

"You are deep, huh." I smiled in amusement. "I know. No need to tell me."

Just like what he said, I sat comfortably. This was better than my position in our room earlier which lasted for four hours! I would never repeat it!

In just a day, I knew a lot of things about Asher. He and my aunt met in a mall here in our province. He did not mention the mall's name because according to him, it was their secret. How did they meet? He did not mention it. Why did he transfer? He said that it was a secret. That was all. Stupid me. These pieces of information are just a few but why did I call it a lot?

I brought out my phone from my jogging pants pocket to check if there were messages. I shut it off this morning so I did not know if there were.

A new message came from Asher that was only sent right now. What a coincidence. He texted, "From being a good stalker to a friend, now, I am your friend plus, a neighbor!" After reading it, surprise had filled my system. I immediately dialed his number and made a call.

"Good evening, partner!" he happily greeted.

"You are kidding, right?"

"I am not."

"I do not believe you."

"Then go here." My eyebrows furrowed. "What here?"

"The house that was just sold out last week." My eyes widened upon hearing it. "Are you the one who bought it?"

"My mom. Go here now if you still do not believe me." I smirked. "I will go there right away."

I quickly ended the call and wore my red slippers. I did not bother to wear my jacket that was placed on my study table because my black T-shirt was enough to keep me warm.

I ran towards the big blue house on the right side of my home. Unlike the past several days, the lights inside were on and the sale sign was gone.

I inhaled and exhaled before knocking three times on the dark blue gate. I heard footsteps come near. Someone opened the gate from the inside.

His so-called handsome face greeted me with a smile on his lips.