Upset

"Were you waiting for me?" Danny asked her.

"No," Taaliyah replied.

"I thought you would waiting for me, since everyone else had left," he said and smiled.

"Let's go down together then, where are the girls?"

"They are in discussions, they will take time,"

"Then come, let's go,"

"Oh," she looked at him. "Okay, go," she said and asked him to walk first.

But what she failed to notice was Derek standing at the end of the corridor behind her. He forgot to give her the gift and hurried back to the class from the parking lot but what he witnessed instead was Taaliyah talking with Danny and leaving with him. He turned away and hid instantly to not get noticed by the two. He did not know what to. So he chose to leave. Min Ah was waiting for him. He did not wish to ruin his chance. He hurried back.

"Where were you?" she asked him.

"Went to collect the book I forgot to pick up from the desk," he lied.

"Get in, let's go," she said and opened the door for him.

"Okay,"

The driver stepped on the accelerator and they drove out of the campus. In front the main gate he saw her getting on the back of her father's scooter. She was smiling wife while her father looked like telling her something important.

'I hope your grand father is well and restored his health,' he thought and looked away.

"Are you okay? Are you sick?" Min Ah asked who sat beside him in the back.

"Am.. am good," he said.

"Can we get ice cream I know you like ice cream," she said and asked the driver to stop in front of a super market.

She got him his favourite chocolate and nuts bar and she got the same for herself.

"Thanks," he said. And sat feeling troubled as he licked his ice cream.

"Derek, did you think?" Min Ah tried to keep him engaged in a conversation.

"Yes," he said without hesitation. "I did,"

"So what is it?"

"It's a yes, we will do it, let's learn some guitar," he said and smiled. He had nothing to worry about any longer with what had happened recently. Derek looked down at his arms and took a deep breath.

"It's melting, lick it," she said and the ice cream fell and Min Ah moved forward and took it in her hand before it fell down on his shirt.

The driver stepped on the break and she slipped. Derek helped her and caught her with his left hand sticking his ice cream into his mouth.

"Thanks," she uttered looking at his face. He let go of her and went back to eating. She corrected her skirt and sat straight. She cleared her throat.

"When should I call the sir?" she asked him.

"Soon after the finals," he told her.

"Great," she was excited. "We will meet everyday then, would we not?" she asked.

"I guess," he was not dense at all. He could see the happiness in her face. He understood the intention well. But he had no choice but receive the help to learn what he needs to.

Taaliyah who had no idea that Derek caught her with Danny after school though it was nothing texted him the moment she reached home. Her father went to hospital with her grand mother and she was all alone. She decided to quickly take a shower and have the bakery food Zahir bought her on their way from school.

She got no reply. She waited. Still no reply. She took out her books and decided to revise for the exam coming up the next week. She had a lot of worksheets to do. She took them one by one. And kept checking the phone. Still she had no replies. She wondered if her phone has any issues and tried texting the girls. They received them and replied her. There were no issues in the phone at all. She texted once again asking a doubt.

"What happened?" she wondered. "Could something have happened in the family? Did he go out for check up or something? Did he not reach home? Could Min Ah have kidnapped him? She went overboard with her thoughts. She tried to contact him some way. She took Fred's chatbox and texted him.

"Hey, did you see Derek online?"

"Yes am talking to him, why?" he asked back.

"Nothing," she replied and stopped.

'So he is avoiding me then.' She thought inside her head and got angry. 'Avoid all you want, one moment with Min Ah and you have the heart to avoid me, wow, I was not wrong a bit, great,' she kept talking to herself. She deleted that chats and started doing her work. And she saw her phone ringing. To her surprise he saw his number flashing on her screen. But she chose not to pick up. She was that upset about him. Her ego made her ignore him like he did to her.

At that time, her doorbell rang. Taaliyah was shocked and got up, running to the living room. 'Did he come or something? Could it be him, We do live in 2 kilometres distance but did he really come here?' she kept thinking and stood near the door, with her heart pounding loud. "No no no, Noway " Her phone kept ringing in the back.