12 Chapter 12

I stayed in bed for as long as I could. How could I say that I felt the same way!? Ugh! I'm such an idiot! Idiot, idiot, idiot! I paused for a moment….thinking that a part of me liked it…. No! How could I think like this!? Landon and I are just friends! Right? And besides, if he knew about this (In which he never will) I can already tell he would feel disgusted and that would be the most embarrassing thing ever! I pouted my legs, kicking against the mattress. Later that evening, Landon and I walked around the neighborhood. I couldn't keep my mind off that dream. "You've been acting a little odd today," Landon asked. "Who me?". "Who else would I be asking?". "Oh… Have I?". "Yeah. It's like you're contemplating your life right now." I laughed hysterically, "Of course not!" I lied. I suddenly saw a park and ran to sit on the bench. "Hey!! Stop running!! You're gonna hurt yourself!!" Landon yelled behind me. I ignored him and found my way to the bench. Landon ran after me and caught his breath once he made it to the bench. "You are crazy!". "Maybe so". "I don't know about you but I need to take a leak". "I'm good, and there's a portable washroom over there!" I pointed, "Good luck in there" I said knowing that those bathrooms are the absolute worst and disgusting in all humanity. "You must be double crazy if you think I would ever go in there". I laughed, "Well call me double crazy!". "Come on, let's go find a place where there are public restrooms" Landon said. "Ok, lead the way," I said. We soon passed by many other shops, like an old tailoring shop, a dress shop, a grocery store--we went there yesterday, a library, and even a small café. The only place that had a public bathroom was the library. When we entered I could feel all the eyes staring at me. Landon asked around to find the bathroom and someone gave him directions. I was too distracted to pay attention to who it was. Landon took me by the hand and led the way. Then we arrived at the bathroom. "Stay within this area" he said. "Ok". He went inside the boys bathroom and I walked around. I was never much of a reader but something about the library felt nice. Then a blue book caught my eye in the fantasy section. I tried to reach for it but it happened to be a little too high up. Then a hand came out from nowhere and got it for me. I turned around and a familiar face appeared. "Liam!?" I yelled. "Shhh" he said and handed me the book. "Oh right sorry" I whispered, "So what are you doing here?". "I was going to ask you the same thing," he said and smiled. "I moved here," I said. "Nice. What a coincidence, I live here too". "But I saw you working in the city". "Correct. I went to go help out since my grandmother owns the shop". "Ohh". "So how do you like Pesca?". "Pesca?". "Yes, it's the name of the town we live in". "Ohh...Haha my bad". "You're fine". "I like it so far," I said. He walked to the other shelf and asked me if I had any favorite books. "Not really, but I do like the library for some odd reason". He slipped some books out of the shelf. "These are some books that I've read and were really cool", he handed them to me. Then I saw Landon pass by me and then he walked backwards and walked towards me. He looked at Liam in the eye. Liam smiled and waved to him, "Hello nice to meet you again". Landon didn't seem so happy to see him, and he looked toward me and said, "Let's go". He grabbed me by the arm and all the books fell down. As he pulled me away I looked at Liam and whispered sorry. He smiled and gave me a thumbs up and he proceeded to pick up the books on the floor. We went outside and I stopped. "Why were you being so rude?" I yelled. His expression changed, and he came closer to me and held both of my hands. "I'm sorry. I just...I don't like him". "Why? He's a nice guy" I said. He said nothing. He let go of my hands and said, "Ok. I'll be nicer from now on. But I'm only doing this for you. Got it?". I nodded my head, "Okay!". I looked back at the library. Maybe I'll come back here again soon. Who knew Liam would be here? How odd. We were supposed to be on a tour of a school I'll be attending, Sandalwood High. Finally, a normal school. I will be attending my last and final year here, hopefully I can make some friends and have the best time of my life. The last three years in that private High School were absolutely boring and stressful. Landon said I would attend Sandalwood High as soon as I recovered and healed. Guess that won't be anytime soon. Unfortunately Landon graduated 2 years ago, so I will be all alone. I began to feel nervous although the day is far away. What if no one likes me? What if I turn out to be the weird one? How will I make friends when I only made one? What if I become an outcast? I suddenly feel a bucket of worry splash on me. "Don't worry, you'll be fine" Landon said and patted my head with a smile. All the worry shifted away. "Okay". We arrived at the entrance of the school. The school looks huge and a little old. We opened the heavy glass doors and a woman appeared behind the front desk. "Welcome. How can I help you?" She asked. "We're here for a tour of the school," Landon said. The woman looked confused for a second. "Oh! That's right! I knew I was forgetting something. Follow me and we shall begin" she said. She moved her way out of the front desk. We proceeded to follow her through the hallway. The walls were colored white but a little dull and the hallways were decorated with pictures of students, clubs, and activities. "This hall is known for its English classes". I could tell that they are by reading the signs on the door that all relate to writing or reading. Then we headed down a set of stairs. We walked through another hallway which appeared to be the science side. "This is where most science classes are, but there are some further down. Now these classes here are all different but all teach a category regarding life skills, like this one is Child Care and this is Home Economics" she says and she points to the doors. She stopped in the middle of walking and turned to us. "When will you guys start?" She asked. "Oh well she starts a bit later, I'd say in a month or less until she gets better. And I've already graduated" Landon explained. It's as if I can't speak or something since he's always speaking for me. "Well if you graduated, why are you here then?" She asked. Landon was caught by surprise. "Ah yes. Well I couldn't just leave her here in this condition" he said and rubbed his neck with his right hand. She looked at me and then looked at him. "I suppose you're right, very well then. Let's continue" she said. She showed us the cafeteria, the gym, the theater and where the other special classes are. Well they aren't exactly classes but I guess help stations? Like the counselor's office, social workers office, the nurse's office, etc. It took us about an hour and a half to see the whole entire school. I'm glad that there isn't school today for the students because then I'd probably feel all weird with all of the stares... "So this is Sandalwood High, I hope you will enjoy your stay here when you begin next month. If you ever need help you can always find me here in my office" she said as she pointed at her door. "Ok. Thank you for showing me around ma'am" I said. "Anytime". Landon and I walked out of the school and felt the heat from the sun. I suddenly felt like a burnt chicken. "It's hot out here" I said as I covered my eyes from the sun. "Yea, surprisingly. Let's go for some ice-cream" Landon said. I smiled and agreed with him. Landon seems to know the neighborhood very well. He's like a walking GPS and occasionally brings things out randomly from unknown origins. After a few minutes of walking, we arrived at an ice-cream shop. My feet began to feel tired and sore and I took a seat on a nearby chair. As I sat, Landon stayed in line to order. Meanwhile I looked around the shop. The walls were a light shade of pink, decorated with different colored  ice-creams. The place felt exactly what its purpose was supposed to be...it felt sweet. Sweet like an ice-cream cone. It also felt cool here which felt good given that it was hot outside. And from the corner of my eye, I felt a stare. A stare that felt somewhat eery. I looked around and there I saw. A hideous man who is sitting all the way in the back. He didn't seem to be eating anything. His eyes looking toward me made me feel anxious. And the memory of that night returned. I looked away and immediately tried to think of something else. Why was that old man staring at me like that!? What does he want with me!? I couldn't speak or move. I felt completely frozen. The feeling of if I moved I might just die.  And then I felt someone walk towards me. But this person was wearing blue jeans.  I looked up and Landon looked at me all worried. He placed the ice creams on the table and immediately hugged me. I didn't say a word. At that moment I felt like I wanted to cry but at the same time I also wanted to laugh because I probably look like a weird person with some kind of mental illness. Not that having a mental illness is funny but the fact that I applied it to me makes it funny. After a while, Landon let go of me and took a look at my face. "Are you ok now? What happened?" He asked. I smiled and laughed. "I'm fine now. Thanks". Landon took a seat in front of me and passed my ice cream to me. It was strawberry cheesecake flavored. I smiled. Landon knows exactly what I want when I need it. "So what happened?" He asked me again. I took a deep breath. "Some old guy was staring at me. And I felt….scared..". Landon looked around and then back at me. "I'm sorry that happened. But don't worry. I will always be by your side and protect you with my life". I couldn't help but feel flushed. "Okay". I looked back at the area where the creep once was, but he wasn't there. I ate my ice cream and wondered how old Liam was. Will he be attending Sandalwood High too? Or not? Anyhow it would be nice to see him again….