11 Chapter Eleven

I added a few drops of dilute iodine solution to the bread. "The colour changed to blue-black. Starch is present. Write it down". Samson didn't move a muscle. I snapped my head in his direction ready to give him an earful but on seeing the look on his face, whatever it was that I was about to say got caught in my throat.

I knew he was not in the best of moods after I brushed him off but I was in no way prepared for the steely glare that met me.

His eyes in a face contorted with fury glinted dangerously. I expected him to reach out and hit me any second. All this anger because I did not happily welcome his advances? You gotta be kidding if you think I would cower in fear, I thought. Just like he had thought I would flirt back like other girls, he probably thought I would run away like a scared little rabbit.

I swallowed and smirked, "First time huh? You certainly don't expect every girl to fall for you. Word of advice, never flirt with a girl like me, who already has a devoted boyfriend she loves".

A vein popped out in his neck and my eyes widened in fear. He took a step towards me and I instinctively and quickly moved to the opposite side of the table. He looked so intimidating and hell he was because I felt so intimidated that I did not know when I stammared, "S-s-sorry", for no good reason. I did nothing wrong but apologizing to avoid a bruise was not so bad. Why else would he want to come closer if not to hit me? Before the teacher would come to my aid, I would already be sporting nothing less than ten bruises. As they say, prevention is better than cure.

Few seconds that felt like an eternity with his chest heaving with anger passed before he sneered, "I actually thought you were going to be worth my time but obviously I was wrong. You are rude and such a prude".

I snorted mentally. Rude maybe but prude, no. He knew nothing of the dirty things I've done with Sam. At the thought, a smile crept up my face.

"Am I being funny?" He queried. Insert eye roll here. Olive High's Ladies man was being a baby.

"No".

With the look on his face I could tell he was contemplating on whether to believe me or not. Suit yourself man. "I'm not writing down shit. Do it yourself".

I shrugged and mumbled; "Even better".

"I didn't quite catch that".

"Nothing". I bent and penned down my observation and inference for the test of starch I had performed. Having done that I brought forward an egg white solution along with sodium hydroxide, one percent copper(II) solution and proceeded to carry out the Biuret's test—test for proteins— ignoring Samson who was still glaring at me.

*******************

"Oh and Sam, nice prank you played on me this morning. I totally fell for it". I said drily and lifted myself up to sit on his car boot. School hours just got over, so you can guess how filled and noisy the parking lot was. Like us, some people were not ready to go home so they stood in groups or leant on cars talking. Sam came in between my legs and placed his hands on the boot on either sides of my butt. I wrapped my arms round his neck.

"What prank?"

"Don't play dumb, babe".

"I so love it when you call me that", he purred.

I smiled slightly at him and played with his hair. "So you admit that you put the note about the secret admirer crap in my locker right?"

Sam shot up with furrowed brows, completely serious now. "What did you say?"

I frowned, he wasn't the one. Then what did this mean? A true secret admirer or still a prank from someone else. Who would play such a prank on me? I tilted my head thinking, nobody came to mind.

"Show me the motherfucking note. You should've told me immediately". He angrily ran his hands through his hair.

"I don't have it, I threw it away immediately".

"The son of a bitch". He banged the car's boot and started pacing.

"Relax, babe, I'm sure it was nothing. The poor guy must've been so nervous he put the note in the wrong locker". I laughed like it was nothing.

"That had better be the case or I swear I'll hunt the son of a bitch down and mutilate him if actually he wrote that note for you".

"Whoa, lover boy, no one's mutilating anyone". I got down and hugged him from behind so he stayed still. Jealous boyfriend has been awakened, I smiled feeling special and I was to him. So this was how it felt to be someone that another someone does not want to lose. It felt good. A month ago I had been the one afraid to lose him. He turned around and tightened his arms around me in a close and affectionate embrace. He nuzzled my neck and I giggled, "Sam!"

"If you get that note a second time, you have to tell me ASAP alright?"

"Rest assured babe. No one can steal me from you". I pulled away briefly to kiss his cheek before wrapping my arms round him again. This was my favorite place to be, the most comfortable place on earth. I felt his hot lips kiss me on the neck and I melted into a puddle. I closed my eyes blushing like the fool I was. A fool for him. He chuckled like he knew what he just did to me and I playfully punched his side.

I opened my eyes and pulled away from Sam but not before seeing Samson and five of his friends on the opposite side of the parking lot. They were sharing canned drinks—beer most probably—between themselves and laughing. Only that Samson was not looking at them but at me, and I realized with a sudden thump of my heart that he has been watching me minutes before I even realized he was there.

"What are you looking at?" Sam's curious voice made me tear my eyes away from Samson.

"Nothing in particular".

Sam looked back, searching the parking lot for what had caught my attention. He looked back at me when he found nothing of interest, "Can we stop by MacDonald's? I'm craving their ice cream".

"Say, what aren't you craving?"

"Aw, babe don't be like that", He pouted and gave me the puppy look.

I looked heavenward and sighed. "Okay".

He rewarded me with his award winning grin and led me to the car. I walked with him while fighting the urge to turn back and see if Samson was still staring at me. Bet my ass he was, with that unreadable expression he had on his face earlier.

*********************

Tired and exhausted, I shut the front door behind me after Sam had driven off and announced, "I'm home!" I kicked my heels away and let my bag fall to the floor. I got no response, if anything the house had never been more quiet. "Mom? William?" I knew Dad would not be home but I still called out, "Dad?" No response. Good timing for everyone to be away. I was in dire need of a peaceful sleep.

I went to the kitchen for a cold bottle of water. I opened the fridge and after taking out one, I gulped down half of it before I recapped it and shut the fridge. Two fresh yellow papers pasted on the fridge caught my eye. The yellow one was Mom saying something about her having gone grocery shopping. The second one was William saying he's playing with Ben in his house. Ben was his friend and our neighbor. I wished I had telepathic powers so I could tell William not to come home until five hours later. Who was I kidding? He would come running home on receiving my message without even knowing why I wanted him to be away.

Better I enjoyed this quietness while it lasted. I placed the bottle on the table in the middle of the kitchen, the same one we usually ate breakfast on and made my way up the stairs, to my room.

On opening my bedroom door, I went still. I took a step backwards. And another. Someone had been in my room... and had been busy. This person had neatly made my bed with a white bedsheet and sprinkled red roses all over, except the middle, where a white note laid.

"Oh Lord". I gasped in horror as I realized without doubt that indeed, there was a secret admirer. On my bedside table there was a glass of something that looked like wine with a flat cover on it. Slowly I walked inside and took the note with shaky hands. It read;

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳'𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘚𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘳, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹.

—𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘈𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳.

My legs went weak, I pressed a hand on my mouth to keep myself from screaming. This was creepy, really creepy. He has been near me and watching. Was he watching me now? I looked round my room. Maybe he was hiding in my bathroom. Or under my bed! Scared to hell, I picked my slippers and ran out of my room, down the stairs and out the front door.