Unknowingly crept into his head

Skye turned around to exit the class after making sure that Karina would not give the jacket to anyone. The last thing he wanted was to get a taste of Veron's wrath.

After taking a few steps away from her, she stopped him again and approached him.

"Where's your friend? He's supposed to be my research partner. We need to discuss how to go about it." Karina voiced her thoughts and Skye contemplated for a moment before dipping his hand into his pocket.

When he pulled his hand out, a piece of paper cut into the shape of a rectangle was resting between his thumb and index finger.

He extended the paper to her and when she received it, he spoke.

"He'll be there until nine. Have a nice day, Milady." Skye curtsied, then continued on his way.

Karina lowered her gaze to scrutinize the content of the paper he just gave her, only to realize it was a business card.

Her brows pulled together. Was she supposed to go to his office for schoolwork? This was one of the reasons why she didn't want to work with him.

"I can't do this." She muttered in dismay as she lifted her eyes to find Nori standing in front of her.

"What are you going to do?" Nori whisper asked, worry clearly written on her face.

"I don't know. I'll have to talk to Mr. Joel again." Karina answered, but in her heart, she knew taking that route was a lost cause.

Since he had already refused to change her partner when she had asked earlier, she was sure he would still refuse should she raise the matter again.

"Mr. Joel won't agree to change him unless there's a strong reason to do so," Nori said as if hearing her thoughts and confirming them.

"Is this..." Karina showed the card to Nori. "... Not a strong reason? Why do I have to go to his office? Why can't he make time and come here so we can do this like normal students? I know he's running a business, but I was not the one who asked him to come to school. Since he's here, he should make some sacrifices." Karina complained, not finding it funny that she had to go through this.

"I don't know, Rina. Maybe you should go first and see how it turns out. It may not be as bad as you think. If you still feel it won't work after that, then we'll plead with Mr. Joel to change your partner." Nori encouraged Karina, and the latter let out a tired breath.

This sure would be one of her most trying moments in school. Again she blamed her curse for putting her in such a position. Her life would be a lot easier if that stupid thing wasn't hovering above her head.

***

Just as Skye stepped out of the class, Sheila showed up in front of him and blocked his way.

"You lied to me, Skye. You didn't have to do that. It was so cheap of you." Sheila said while scowling at him.

"When did I lie to you?" Skye answered after gazing at her for a few seconds. His expression hardened as he wasn't ready to indulge her.

He had no idea why Veron was still putting up with her nonsense, but he was already tired of it.

"You said he would not be available for three days," Sheila revealed.

"I never said that. You assumed that on your own. And you should be grateful. Imagine what would have happened if I had let you see him yesterday, knowing you were bearing a false accusation."

Sheila became tongue-tied, understanding that Skye was right. However, before she could acknowledge that fact, Skye had walked past her and disappeared from her line of sight.

He had no time to indulge her. Already, he had stayed too long inside while Veron was waiting outside.

"What took you so long?" Veron asked the moment Skye reached the car.

"She wanted to know how to meet you to discuss how to go about your research," Skye answered, pressing on the remote to open the car.

"And?" Veron probed further, lifting a brow.

"I gave her your card. She will come to the office." After his response, they both got into the car with Veron saying nothing further.

When Skye started driving, Veron closed his eyes and leaned his head against the headrest.

"What are you so excited about?" He asked in his head, donning a small frown when he felt Gerrard's excitement, which the latter was trying to hide but failing miserably.

"What makes you think I'm excited?" Gerrard denied. Knowing Veron, he would rather not show that he was happy for any reason because Veron would find a way to ruin it.

Veron scoffed. "Stop being a dummy. You are a part of me. I can feel everything you do and feel."

"I don't know what you are talking about." Gerrard denied still.

"Just don't get your hopes up. I will not work with her." Veron dropped the bomb that exploded in Gerrard's heart, causing it to break into a million pieces.

"What is wrong with you? Why do you enjoy hurting yourself and me?" Gerrard suddenly lashed out, catching Veron by surprise.

"I thought you said you didn't know what I was talking about."

"That is not the question, Veron."

"Let me be, Gerrard. I don't want any added complexities in my life. I'm doing us a favor here." Veron intoned tiredly.

"You are doing yourself a favor. Not me. Go on and do whatever you like. Masochist." Gerrard disappeared from his head after saying this. If only there was a way he could punish Veron for his foolishness, he would.

Veron remained quiet, thinking about the last two days. His life had been going quite well until that night when she showed up and made him do something he normally wouldn't think of doing.

Since then, she had unknowingly crept her way into his head and filled up spaces in his mind without his consent.

That needed to stop. And the only way to stop it was to avoid further interaction with her.