Chapter 10

"Did you hear?" Chloe said to Stella. "How can he be so calm after what has just happened?" 

"Keep your voice down, he might hear us," Stella whispered to Chloe. "I do think it's not a good idea to reject the article. We put so much effort into it and even worked the whole evening. What did the teacher say?" 

"He says it needs more paragraphs on the rivers," Chloe said. 

"How come? I wrote a lot on what I found in the book." 

"I don't exactly know," Chloe said. "But it probably meant that there are too less paragraphs on them and most of the article was about plants and stuff." 

"Shall I help you, again?" 

"It's okay," Chloe said. 

He glanced at them sideways and then buried his head into his notebook and took notes silently. "Shall we talk to him?" Stella asked. 

"No, it's okay. Let's just leave him alone for a while," Chloe said. 

Ian took out a correction tape and erased some words. "What are you whispering about?" He asked. 

"You don't have to be unhappy," Chloe said. "We were saying that we all worked hard for it." 

"I wasn't feeling unhappy or annoyed, just disappointed," he said. 

"You spent the whole afternoon with us and we were all searching for notes on the topic," Stella said. "I think it was very close, we could of made it, if we had worked a bit more." 

"That's possible," he said. 

"Are you coming with us to the shopping centre this weekend?" Stella asked. "Chloe and me will go to have a look at the clothes there and see if there is a good dress for our graduation." 

"You're going this weekend?" He asked. "Isn't the graduation in one month?" 

"It is, but we decided to go now, because we have to learn a lot in the next few weeks." 

"Okay, count me in." 

"Great, it's at 1 o'clock by Pines shopping centre." 

After school, Stella went back to her dormitory and unlocked the door. The hairs on her back stood up as she walked in. A book was missing on the table, but all the other things were in place. She looked around and made sure that the person isn't in the living room, then she used her skill to open the lock to her room. She quickly closed it before anyone could look inside. She layed on her bed and thought about the day. It was a pity that Ian couldn't make it. She had wished that he would pass with the article, because she had also worked for it. Now, it seems that it wasn't enough and some corrections need to be made. She turned to her side and wondered if Chloe had felt the same. She didn't write that much, but stayed the whole time in the library with him as he worked with her. 

A gentle knock came from the door. She got up quickly and opened it. "Hi, what is it?" She asked. 

The person who took the book was standing in front of her door. "Were you searching for this book?" He asked and held up the book. 

Stella glanced quickly at his hand and said, "No, I don't need it anymore." 

"I thought you wanted it, because you were searching for it." 

"I was just looking," she said plainly. 

"Then what about the box you put in there the day before yesterday?" He asked. 

"It's not for decoration, because you can't see it," she said. "It's just that it'll get all dusty if I leave it in my room." 

"Oh, sorry for the inconvenience." 

"It's okay," and she went back to her room.