EPISODE FIFTEEN

Mom dropped me off and insisted she would follow me in but I refused. I was old enough to face my problems by myself.

Actually, usually, I would let my mom go in with me, but the fact that I didn't let her, the fact that I insisted on going in myself, told me that I was actually growing.

"Don't worry, dear. No one will ask you anything about your late coming." Mom assured me as I got down from the car.

I waved to her goodbye and watched as she drove off.

The school seemed normal. I was contemplating on going to see the principal first or just going straight to class when a loud voice stopped me.

"Stop there, young lady." A masculine voice said.

I froze.

"You are late." The man said and the sound of his voice told me that he was coming closer.

"I'm so sorry I'm late—"

"You are miss Lopez, right?" He asked.

"Yes, I am." I confirmed. I still hadn't turned to look at him. I was too terrified.

He was finally standing in front of me, but I had my eyes trained on his shoes. I couldn't look up. I knew I said that I wasn't scared but now that he was standing in front of me, I didn't know how to feel.

"Your mom called me already." He delivered, finally breaking the silence. "I hope you are feeling a lot better now."

That caused me to look up at him. He was an old man, probably in his late sixties. He was dark in complexion and his eyes looked too small for his face. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you."

"You can go to your class now. Your teacher has been informed about everything." He said, then he continued down the hallway, probably headed for his office.

Coming to school today might have been a bad idea, I thought as I walked into class.

They were all staring at me like it was normal to do that. Maybe it was due to the fact that I was late or the fact that my parents had informed the school that I was sick and news had gotten around.

The teacher paused in the middle of what she had been about to say and stared at me. "How are you feeling?" She surprised me by asking.

Was there anyone that didn't know about my predicament?

"I'm fine." I answered.

She smiled sympathetically. "The principal told us about your illness, and we made sure we all messaged you to wish you a quick recovery."

That explained why my phone had been so full with messages from numbers that I didn't recognize. All I'd had was a slight fever and they were all acting like I had been in a coma.

Now that I thought about it, how was Sebastian's name programmed in my phone when I didn't save it?

"I feel better now." I managed to say because at this point, I was getting irritated by all the attention I was getting over something so lottle. I knew that they cared about me, but still.

"You can go on and have your seat."

As I walked to my seat, my eyes met Victoria's and I caught the worry in them. I turned away immediately, deciding not to acknowledge it.

When I got to my seat, Sebastian touched my hand a little and asked if I was okay. I pulled my hand away and nodded at him in answer. It was quite obvious that he wasn't convinced because he kept staring at me intensely.

"That would be all for today." The teacher said.

Was she kidding me? I hadn't even witnessed a minute of her lecture.

"I really missed you." Sebastian said, hugging me, which caught me off guard. Surprisingly, I didn't push him away. I just didn't feel the need to do anything at this point and I didn't know why.

He pulled back from me, wiping at his eyes. "I'm so sorry I shouldn't have done that."

Was he crying?

I was so shocked when I saw his teary eyes that I didn't know what to do. It was just a fever. Why were they over reacting? And why was he acting like I was something important to him?

"Please don't scare me like that ever again. This isn't the first time" His eyes widened immediately.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing." He said quickly. "I just said that to make you feel special."

Then he smirked. As if he hadn't been crying a minute ago.

I frowned at him. "That wasn't cool, just so you know."

"I miss you so much." I heard the words before I felt two arms come around me. Victoria was hugging me from the back. "I'm so glad you're okay." She murmured into my shoulder.

Now, I was starting to wonder what my mom told the Principal. Had she exaggerated the extent of what happened to me? I had to wonder with the way they were acting.

"I'm okay. Really." I assured, breaking free from the hug.

"That's great. Why didn't you reply my messages?"

"Sorry about that. My mom switched off my phone so that my sleep wouldn't get interrupted." I explained.

"You are right. I should have considered that you would be resting."

I smiled at her. "It's fine. Honestly."

The only reason I was humouring her and answering her questions was because I knew that she was a genuinely nice person and she seemed to actually like me.

"When we're done, let's have lunch together." She said with hope filled eyes.

"I only have lunch with my boyfriend, sorry." I told her, hoping she wouldn't push the topic further.

She pouted. "You used to love having lunch with me."

"I love having lunch with you?" I asked her and creases formed on her brows, like she didn't know she had actually said something like that.

"Did I say that?"

I cocked a brow. "Yes, you did."

She shook her head quickly. "Oh. That's not what I meant to say." She continued. "What I wanted to say was that I would love to have lunch with you."

I was really starting to get suspicious of these people. How they would first say something then when I pointed it out, they would say something different. First, it was Sebastian, then my mom and now Victoria. They were starting to mess with my head.

"Maybe next time." I smiled.

"Really?" She squeaked.

"Yeah. Sure."

"Don't break your promise." She smiled at me and skipped away happily.

She was a really weird person. Acting like a friend when I barely knew her. Especially adding that to the fact that I once called her ugly in front of the whole class.

"When will I also get a chance to eat lunch?" Sebastian smiled at me.

"You and I would never eat lunch together." I snapped.

He laughed. "Ouch. That really hurt."

I couldn't tell whether he was genuinely hurt or if he was just being his usual playful self.

"A simple get well soon would have been nice, no need to spam me with so much messages." I told him.

Suddenly, he slipped my hands into his and stared at me solemnly. "You know you love me, right?"

"Trust me, I don't love you. Now, let go of my hands." I said, hoping I sounded convincing enough.

"I'm only joking with you." He laughed, letting of my hands.

"It's not funny." My words wiped the laughter off his face.

He looked so sad and so beautiful in that moment, my breath caught in my throat.

Then my heart stopped. Did I just call Sebastian beautiful in my head? I looked away immediately.

"Bye. I have to go find my boyfriend."

Then with a last glare at him, I walked out of the class.