Cascading questions

"I'll see you later tonight," Seth replied as he took leave and walked towards the school campus.

Ever since he spotted Lillian Grey running away, his mind couldn't rest in peace. He looked troubled.

His pace increased every step, as he took the final turn to see the campus spread out in front of him. Before stepping in, a voice pierced in from the sides, calling his name. Seth turned to see Lillian Grey standing outside the school gate. She held the list and the collected forms in her hands.

"I finished what you've asked," Lillian said.

Unbearable silence filled between these two. Lillian refused to face Seth directly, her vision, kept low and unsteady. Seth too struggled in conversing with her. With seconds passing by, either of them didn't react.

…

"That's wonderful," Seth thanked her for the help, finally releasing the tension.

Without any delay, Lillian Grey decides to leave the place. She had millions of questions on her mind but refused to ask any of them. She found it to be meddling into his personal life.

It is the first time she had seen Seth outside the school and that too with another guy, being intimate enough to portray a perception of his lifestyle. It frightened her at first, and she started behaving abnormally.

"Well, I'll take my leave then," Lillian answered and began to walk away.

"Ms. Grey," Seth called.

When Lillian turned, Seth continued his talk, "I would prefer if you can keep what you just saw a few minutes ago to yourself."

Lillian agreed. Seeing her weak response, Seth repeated his feelings one more time.

"It is my personal life, and I don't want to get unnecessarily involved in random gossips and receive judgmental looks. It is after all my own life I think you get what I'm trying to say here, don't you?"

"Mr. Seth, I understand. I will not share it with anyone. To the least, I'm not such type of person too. Don't stress and kindly check the list and let me know if there's any mistake. I worked my ass off to do perfectly."

"Language, Ms. Grey-" Seth warned.

"And, Ms. Grey?"

"Stay back and wait till I review the list," Seth informed.

...

'Crap, he is completely planning to kill me."

'Dad, I love you very much. I'm going to miss your cooking. I wish I could eat your grilled cheese sandwich for one last time.'

'Mom, I think I'll be coming to you very soon.'

'Anna, Diego – I love you guys always. I'll miss you very much. Diego, idiot, I'll haunt you forever. Anna, I will protect you even as a ghost.'

'And- Giselle, Giselle I wanted to spend more time with you, but it looks like I can't anymore. I like spending time with you, and I wish one day you could read the novel I write in the future. Don't worry, I will protect you, along with Anna. Oh yeah, if I become a ghost, then I'll scare the shit out of the gossip girls. I'll take revenge for you, Giselle.'

"Ms. Grey?"

Seth's voice finally reached Lillian's ears.

"Huh-" Lillian exclaimed at the surrounding.

"What happened?" she mumbled.

"You were day-dreaming even after school hours. I wonder if there's anyone who can daydream like you. Sit down and hold the forms for me as I go through the list. Let's cross-check the details."

Lillian looked dumbfounded hearing Seth's words. She quickly sat down on her seat, holding the forms as they both started to verify the information given by the students.

...

The sunset gave the sky a beautiful color with birds returning to their nests. The school looked empty without students. Moreover, the staff has left already.

The school's newspaper club was still actively working on their articles, while the sports teams have finished their practices.

Seth, with the help of Lillian Grey, was able to review the list and finalize the information present on the list. With that, the tour is all set to succeed.

"Thank you, Lillian."

"You did a great job. Now, we can all be enthusiastic about the trip. Thanks to you for collecting all the necessary details. You reduced my workload."

"Honestly, I didn't plan on giving the guys this task. Since you disturbed my class once again, I wanted to punish you. However, you did a fantastic job. I noticed you today, all serious and focused."

"See, if you want to focus, you can do it. Then, why do you always get caught during my class?"

Seth unleashed his endless lecture along with an appreciation for Lillian's hard work. Lillian Grey appeared stunned from his remarks. She always thought Seth had hated her because of her non-impressive marks and dumbly getting caught during class for being non-attentive.

"What are you standing there looking like that?" Seth commented.

"I- I never heard you complimenting me. I'm shocked right now. It feels as if you awarded me 100 marks on a test," Lillian rejoiced from the showering compliments.

"Only in your dreams Lillian, but I encourage you to study more to reach that goal of yours. After all, it isn't impossible. Anyone can score 100 if they try."

'Boring lecture again.' – Lillian wore a blank face.

"You are the worst actor, Ms. Grey I'll stop my boring lecture now, you can leave."

'Crap, he read my mind voice perfectly. Is he a psychic?' - Lillian's eyes swelled.

"Once again thank you for your hard work."

Seth requested that Lillian can take leave since the job got completed successfully.

Nonetheless, Lillian Grey hesitated to leave, wanting to hang around to ask the several million questions she had in her mind. However, she couldn't figure out a way to pose such questions without making him mad.

Lillian struggled.

Seth sighed from her inquisitive aura. He took a deep breath and allowed Lillian to ask if she had anything occupying in her mind.

"Spit it out, Lillian. I can't sit and work here with you squirming around."

Lillian struggled to frame her question in a non-controversial way. She just received Seth's compliment and didn't want to receive the hate on the very same day. However, after seeing her Math teacher with another guy being closer, Lillian can't put an end to the cascade of questions she wanted to seek answers.

It took her several minutes to process her exhausted brain and finally directed her first question.

"Are you married, Mr. Seth?"