#17 Who's There?

In the morning, I got woken up by the intense notifications coming in. My phone was vibrating like there was an earthquake.

I got up from my bed and squinted at the clock. It was the time I would usually wake up. Ah, what a nice coincidence. I reached out my hand to my phone on my bedside table and was annoyed instantly when I saw who the sender was. He did annoy me but somehow, I was happy to hear from him.

"Reading it later won't hurt." I left my phone on the bed and went to take my morning shower. I've always loved showering in the morning as it awakens me from my sleepiness. The warm water that ran down my skin was soothing.

After I was done showering, I wiped my body and scrunched my wet hair with a dry towel. I've picked up this habit ever since the day I realized it was a suitable method to take care of my hair. It wasn't efficient for days when I woke up late but since it was still early, it was fine.

I randomly took a hair tie from the drawer of my table and tied my hair into a high ponytail. Mia would surely lecture me again for having such a simple hairstyle but that's just my style.

I reached out my hand to take a bobby pin and pinned my bangs to the side. It wasn't long enough to be added into my ponytail yet.

After I was done dressing up, I went to the dining room. My sister was already waiting for me with pancakes served on the dining table when I arrived. She gave me a pat on my head and told me to enjoy those nostalgic pancakes. After all, it's been a while since I last took a bite of it, I even thought of buying one when I hung out with my friends.

"Thank you."

I knew this day would surely come but I never expected it to be so soon.

I finished up the glass of milk in front of me and headed to my room. My bag was already packed last night so I just needed to grab-and-go.

"Alice, I'm ready."

I went to the door while Alice took the car keys from the top of the shelf, "Just a moment, Miss."

I hopped into the car when she opened the doors. As usual, she drove me in front of the school gate and I got out of the car.

I waved to her as she drove away, "Have fun in school, Miss."

It was still early so I took my time to walk to my classroom. While I was on my way, I suddenly remembered about the messages I received this morning. It's better to check it soon just in case it was something important.

Jeez. Eric always spams me in the morning and wakes me up. He better not waste my time just to see some 'good morning' images.

I reached my hand into my bag and took out my phone. He sent tons of pictures of him on his vacation so I needed some time until I've finished looking. Using my phone while walking has always been a bad habit of mine so I wasn't surprised at all when I bumped into someone.

"Ah, sorry." I quickly took a step back and walked away, when there was another guy who blocked my way.

"Hey, pretty girl," he walked towards me, "You didn't think we would just let it slide with a single 'sorry', would we?" The person who I bumped into earlier was approaching me and before I knew it, I was surrounded by four tough guys.

I sneaked a glance at them without being noticed and realized they were seniors. It wasn't a wise choice to face them head-on but fulfilling their wishes won't do either.

Just when I was thinking about my next action, my wrist was grabbed by one of the guys. His grip was too strong for me to shake it off and I was brought to the 'hidden' spot of the school, also known as 'the surveillance camera's blind spot'.

When he finally released my hand, I took a few steps back until I reached the wall. It was no use, they blocked my escape route and we were at a dead end.

"Now, how shall we punish her?" One of them asked.

"Not too rough," the person I bumped said, "She's a girl after all." His smirk really pissed me off more than Eric.

"Why don't you choose by yourself, Little Miss?"

They were waiting for my answer but I remained silent. Despite how calm and composed I looked on the outside, my hands and legs were trembling in fear. It was my first time experiencing something like this since I was never so careless.

My mouth was opened but words couldn't come out. I was hesitating whether or not to call for help since my phone was in my hand but the guys snatched it away while my grip was weak.

"Let us see what made this Little Miss so addicted on her phone, shall we?"

It was strange. Even though my phone was snatched away by some unfamiliar people, I was relieved that my phone was in their hands.

Why?

It was precisely because…

"Who is this? Your boyfriend?"

...I was on a call with Eric.

"Well, it's not surprising since she can lure any man with that body of hers."

The thought of no one would be able to help me cross my mind and I was prepared to force my legs to move when the time comes. Eric on the phone does not help me in anything at all because he was on vacation. However, hope came when I saw a shadow moving in the bushes behind the guys.

A familiar figure appeared in front of me and my knees weakened immediately. I was surprised I was able to be found in such a place. Not only that, he even took down the four guys single-handedly, not physically though.

He turned to look at me when my jaws was wide-opened.

"I was just away for a week and you miss me already?"