3 3. The emptiness

Stacy scoffed a laugh and bends forward towards me. "He always stares at you, you know." She said to me in a low voice. This time, I turned my head in a more attentive way. The boy suddenly bends his head down and started rolling his spoon on his plate.

"Idiot," Stacy said and hit my hand with her's.

Max did the same he stretched his head higher to look through me. "Where? Who?" He said.

"You too," Stacy said. She then face-palmed her head.

I took a bite of my food and looked at Stacy. "So," I said then pointed my finger at the gang of boys and drool over Stacy. "What about them?" I said.

She exhaled a breath and faced me. "There are dozens of eyes that die over me. It's doesn't matter. But those pair of eyes had always followed you." She grins at me.

I lethargically looked in the direction of the boy. My dull gaze widened when my eyes sighted his shoes. Those were the sneakers with ankle-length socks. There was another girl beside her who was wearing the same sneakers and socks. I looked at them thoroughly from bottom to top. 'Could they be? They were staring thought.' I thought. Max cleared his throat which made me face him.

"The unchewed food in your mouth shows that you are thinking," Max said.

"Huh?" I said and faced him. His words then registered in my head and then I realized the food in my mouth. I chewed and swallowed it. I again looked at them with the side of my eyes then focused back on the food. My mind was still thinking. 'Was it sixth sense that making me suspect them?' I thought. 'I don't trust sixth sense.' There were many people that passed by wearing the same thing but these two particular people took my attention. Was it because they were staring at us? But according to Stacy he was staring at me not Stacy. And the incident that happened was with Stacy. I yawned and scratched the back of my head. My shoulder length-wavy chocolate hair ruffled as I rubbed the back of my head.

"So?" Max asked a question after waiting until I finished my thinking.

"What?" I said and took another bite of my food.

Stacy placed her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her palm. "You guys are boring me. I am going." She said and stood from her chair.

"Where?" I asked. She already turned around to leave.

She looked at me through her shoulder and winked. "For sometime special." She said.

"Wait." I stood from my chain with a sudden moment. "Are you making something?" I said with twinkled eyes

Max slammed his head down on the table. "Not again." She murmured loud enough for both of us to hear.

Stacy ignored my question and continued her walk. I followed her back with a quick bye to Max. He sadly waved at me with his hand being played in a slow motion. I chuckled and rushed towards Stacy. I wrapped her hand in my arms and faced her with my brightest smile.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Nothing." She said in a teasing manner.

"Hey you, stop playing." I tried to act serious which in turn made her burst into laughter.

While we were discussing along with walking, my shoulder hit a person who walked passed by me.

"Ouch," I said and turned to the left to look at the bumper. It was the same person who helped Stacy from falling this morning.

He waved his hand with an apology and walked passed by us. I shrugged and ignored, we then continued our talk in tech.

Soon our college ended after another tiring day. I yawned while Walking out of the class. At the end of the class, there was a fifteen minutes lecture on how people with phoenix are protecting us. Those blah blah praising words just made me sick. Because of the morning telecast on the projector, it is mandatory for our dear teachers to praise them, bruh.

"Let's continue our investigation tomorrow," Max said, making me face him. The thoughts of phoenix broke in my head.

"If we continue like this, we are never going to find him," I said.

"Of course. Do you know how many people are there in our college?" Stacy said. "So let's just drop the investigation." She then added with a smile.

"I know," Max said with a huge grin on his face. "We will break into the CCTV room tomorrow." Max then added.

"Definitely," I added with more enthusiasm. Stacy rolled her eyes and walked forward. Max and I glanced at each other and shrugged. We then followed her to the sides and I held her arm.

"C'mon, let's have food together. And I am not paying." I said.

Stacy knitted her brows at me, whilst Max furrowed too. "I forget my wallet," I said nonchalantly. They both then burst into laughter.

Later, we were in a nearby restaurant. I ordered fried rice, so did Stacy. Max was on a fat-free diet, so he declined to eat rice. He ordered some kind of lemon-corn soup and green tea as a drink. I ordered my favorite drink mojito, I just love the mint and lemon combination. Stacy ordered a cup of ice cream. She doesn't care about being fat. She has a good figure with a slim waist. Even after eating a lot of junk, I don't know, how did she maintain herself. Whereas, I am the skinny one who skips a lot of meals and ends up never gaining weight.

"So, when can I come to your house," I asked Stacy after taking a sip from my drink.

"Why?" Stacy said and took a bite of her ice cream. She exactly knows why I was asking, though she was pretending to be ignorant.

"Hey! Don't play ok. Or else I'll show up anytime." I said.

"No way." Stacy protested. She is in a leaving relationship with her boyfriend. She hates any interruptions when she's with him. Even her best friends that are us are not allowed to brag into her house without prior information.

She placed her ice-cream spoon back in the cup and faced me. "Listen, you just can't show up at anyone's place. Ok. She waved her finger at me.

"I am not coming at anyone's place. I am coming to my best friend's place." I  said innocently and took a sip of my drink.

"No no no no.... You can't." She waved the finger again.

I chuckled at her action. "Ok ok let me know when you are free," I said. While we're having our conversation, Max already finished his meal and tea. "Shall we go. Or you guys want to stay here still night." He said and stood from the chair. I quickly finished my drink and then realized Stacy already finished her ice-cream.

When we were out of the restaurant, we parted our way and went to our own houses. Max rode her motorbike and Stacy went in her car. She lives with her boyfriend while Max lives with her mother. And I... Well, it's been like this for a long time. And I like to take a long walk not to reach house early. The less time I spend at my house, the better I feel.

Finally, I reached my house. A double story small building of which only a ground floor is occupied by me. I took out the keys and unlock the door. The door click opened. I turned the knob and pushed the door to the side. As usual, I faced the complete darkness in the house. I lifted my leg to the back and pulled out my shoe. My right hand automatically found the switch on the right wall. The lights of the hall brighten up and welcome me to the bright emptiness.

"I am home," I murmured and lifted the right leg to push out the shoe. I took a deep breath and walked in with my socks on. The hall of my house was huge with a square center table and three side couches arranged around it. I walked directly to the left into the kitchen and washed my hands. I then walked forward towards the fridge. On opening the door, the cold air splashed on my face. The empty fridge mocked me on my face. I then realized I already ate at a restaurant. The usual habit came in handy which made me open the fridge. With a sigh, I shut the fridge and decided to take a nap. Coming back to the hall I jumped backward on the couch and laid there with my legs hanging down the armrest. My virtual assistant speaker greeted me, sensing my arrival near it.

"Welcome home, Helene." The black circle speaker on my table turned towards me and spoke. You can not find which is its face until it gets on and the blue line of light blinks twice before it speaks. This is the only family that welcomes me.

...........

H. LOCKHART.