Memories: Cleaning Duty

Have you guys seen those huge castles in Disney movies? No? Well surely you must have seen Oxford or Harvard University, right? Still no? Okayyyy, um, all of you have gone to school right? Just imagine it as twice, no thrice the size of that prison place. You got the image? If still no, then your a dumbass and I have no solution for you whatsoever.

So back to me standing at the entrance of the university, staring like a hawk with my eyes wide and mouth hanging open. And guess what? I think I'm starting to feel something wet oozing out of my mouth as well. Ewww, I'm drooling. AGAIN.

And suddenly I felt large hands on my shoulders forcing me to push my feet forward which were glued to the ground. I snapped my neck behind to glare at whoever it was even though the movement made me slightly dizzy. I think if you'd seen me turn right there and then you'd probably think I broke my neck or at least a bone or maybe two. But whatever.

I stared directly in Kieran's face. Upon seeing my expression, a challenging smirk made it's way onto his lips and I started shooting daggers at him. The kind that could kill. His eyes were already gleaming in excitement. He was clearly enjoying this. I mentally face-palmed myself.

The one thing that I noticed about Marcus was that he was really easy to read and was always smiling excluding that one time in the car when he looked like he was staring right into my soul. I shivered at the thought. I'll admit he looked kinda scary.

I started shaking my head from side to side as if to clear up my thoughts. It was only then that I noticed how close we were standing and that his face was inches away from mine. I took the opportunity to study his features more closely. Now that I stared into his eyes, I noticed they were brown and not black but since his long lashes covered most of them, they looked black when noticed from a far. His nose was slightly edgy and light freckles covered it.

While I was busy observing his facial features, I noticed a shift in his expression. His once bright eyes were now dark and his smile was gone replaced with that calculating gaze of his. The one from the car. I shivered as a lump formed in my throat. I looked away and focused on whatever I could find as I tried to ignore his intimating gaze.

Actually doing so, as if I noticed the world around me for the first time, I saw passersby (or passerbys, confirm please?) giving us strange looks and I quickly stepped away from Marcus, somehow managing to shake off his hands on my shoulder. He gave me a confused look and I felt heat rush to my cheeks. I quickly looked away trying to hide my flushed cheeks. And then I heard laughter. I turned my head in his direction to see him rolling on the floor while laughing. Okay, he did kind of look funny and the passersby that were giving us strange looks before were now fully staring at the two of us - mostly Marcus. I bit my lip to control my laughter and then quickly cleared my throat. Surprisingly, he heard it and tried sitting up while wiping away the tears. Keyword: Tried. He fell back flat on his back and I burst out laughing not able to control it anymore. He glared at me as he stood up from the floor, rubbing his back.

"Meanie." He said as he crossed his arm and stuck his bottom lip out, pouting like a cute 8 year old.

"You look cute." I took a step forward and pinched his cheeks and he quickly uncrossed his arms and started swatting them as if I was some bee annoying the fuck out of him. The thought made me angry and I snapped.

"Hey, THAT was rude too." I huffed and mirrored his actions.

"You know you look cute like that too but I won't pinch your cheeks since we have to get inside that building and we're getting late." He started walking and I stood there watching him to see if he was being serious right now or not? He stopped and turned to look at me. "So are you gonna move your feet or-" I saw a smirk make its way on his face as he was fully turned around now. Trust me, that smirk is a sign of evilness. "Should I carry you?"

I gave him a bored look that screamed 'Not impressed AT ALL!!' and rolled my eyes as I took my bags and started walking. "You know you can do better than that." I said once I was standing beside him.

He leaned in and whispered in my ear, "Trust me princess, I know." And before I could question him, he started walking again so it probably went like this: I swallowed air like fishes swallow water or drink it, I don't know.

I didn't wanted to be left behind and get lost alone since I know almost no one in here and losing Kieran means losing hope too so I quickly followed him behind while screaming:

"Hey! Wait for me!"

"So, um, can I ask u something?" We'd been walking down these old corridors that looked liked they'd been transported from the 60's for what seemed like hours and WITHOUT stopping, AT ALL. So I finally decided to man up, I mean woman up and speak for myself. Okay, that was too dramatic.

"Sure." His voice sounded a bit distant as I heard him reply, so I looked up to see that he was AGAIN a good 3 feet ahead of me. I groaned loudly hoping he would hear that and then pushed my feet faster so I could at least be a bit closer to him. You know I really don't wanna get lost in this vast fortress. The white house would even look smaller compared to this.

"Can we please stop?" I emphasized more on 'please', hoping that he would listen to my pleas and then I'd be able to rest.....for a minute. So I continued, "My pretty little legs are killing me!"

I sounded exactly like Cady from Mean Girls, all whiny and pampered. I cringed at the thought.

"You do know that we're already late, right?" His voice was sharp and I could clearly see that he was annoyed. I don't know why but I was glad that he didn't look up but I couldn't afford to deal with an 'Annoyed Kieran" right now.

"It's first day Kieran, classes aren't starting from today so they don't give a damn if we get their late OR on time. Now can we please stop?" I pleaded.

"No." And I groaned. AGAIN.

"I hate you..."

"Come on princess, we both know you don't mean that."

I ignored his cocky remark and continued walking when all of a sudden I bumped into a wall. I stumbled but before I could collapse right on my butt, strong hands were around my arms, holding me in place and that's when I realized 'The Wall' was actually 'A Someone'. I looked up with a confused expression and met eyes with dark black-brown ones. Too familiar ones actually. 'The Wall' had a smirk plastered on his face and I glared daggers into his soul, if that was even possible somehow.

"You know you could've just said if you wanted me to carry you. Why make excuses, huh?" I huffed at his remark.

"Yeah keep dreaming, lover boy."

And then I pushed him away with all my might which actually didn't do me much good but his grip on my arms loosened and I saw that as my opportunity and went to take a step forward which AGAIN did me no good and I slipped with a squeak. I closed my eyes, wrapping my arms around myself to somehow protect myself (which of course wasn't possible) and prepared to take the blow that was about to come but surprisingly, it never did.

I slowly peeked an eye open and saw his face which was just mere inches away from mine although his smirk was now gone replaced with that calculating gaze of his and all at once, I felt the air around us go palpable. The air was so thick that people within 10 radius of us would be able to feel it. I don't know if Kieran could feel it or not but I knew something was wrong. It felt as if something or more like someone bad was around us. And just as it all happened, there was a blur and then I was standing directly in front of Kieran and he had that easy smile on his face. Plus, the atmosphere didn't feel tense anymore.

"Kie-"

"You've rested enough, so we should start moving-"

"Wait, b-"

"And no excuses now or I'm throwing you over my shoulder right here and I don't care if anyone's looking or not." I shut my mouth at that because no matter what, I didn't want him to lift me up on his shoulder now. After all, it would be really embarrassing and I'll be mortified by then.

"Come on!" I was dragged out of my thoughts at his loud voice and I turned around to see him already in motion so I took my bags and started following him quickly.

As I continued walking, my mind wandered back to the strange scene that occurred minutes ago. I looked over at Kieran for any sign of our previous encounters and wasn't surprised at all when I found nothing. Clearly the guy was a master in poker.

Although I did notice something... He didn't speed up this time, instead he stayed right beside me and his eyes wandered around, not focusing on anything in particular but...just....looking around for....something. I wonder what?

'Knock Knock!'

"Who's there?"

"Jake Austin."

"Jake Aus-wait, WHAT?" I started chuckling at that but Kieran quickly shushed me.

A few seconds went by as we stood standing outside the door waiting for something or anything at all to happen. And then we finally heard what we were waiting for. A loud high pitched squeal from the other side of the door and before we could plan our next move, the door burst open revealing an old lady probably of 40. Her cobalt-blue eyes were wide and the pile of shredded paper on her head was hung low in a bun. She was short with a lean built while dressed in professional clothes, mostly red and grey.

"What is going on here?" Her face was twisted in disgust as she took us in. It was like she wanted to be anywhere but here. Tsk. It's not like we want to be here as well.

"With all due respect Mam, we're here to collect our room keys." He had a smile so wide on his face that I thought his face was gonna break if he stretches it any longer. Anyone with eyes could tell it was fake, clearly the lady in front of us didn't.

"You are new here?" Her face was contorted in confusion as if it was the first time she was hearing this. I guess she must be new to her job. That can be a possibility now, right?

"Aren't all students?" His smile was now gone and he too had a confused look on her face but I didn't miss the playful glint in his eyes.

"Oh, uh, yes. Come in please, I'll get you your keys and all the necessary things that you require." She turned around and walked inside her room gesturing for us to follow behind.

I froze when I saw the room. It was a mess. Papers, files, pens, everything was lying here and there, on the floor, on the table, on the cabinets, wherever place you could find. Cabinet doors were open and the windows too, oh and yeah there were some papers lying on the window too. A wooden table lay in the middle of the room with a broken leg, tied up with a piece of cloth and scratches all over it. I think some more parts were broken too. An old rocking chair from the 19th century lay right behind it. The paint that could be barely seen was gray and well it was scratched. If not for the papers and files, the room would have been a chokey like the one from Matilda. Has anyone even seen that movie? I think I'm the only one here who still likes watching it.

Oh and by the way, the 2 lamps that were hanging from the ceiling were flickering like the ones from horror movie. I swear I think I'm in some old witch's room from the 18th century. Too cliché.

"Do you smell that?" Kieran whispered lowly in my ear from behind me.

"Smell what?" I sniffed. As soon as I did, a raw, stinky smell entered my nose, filling up my nostrils and I slammed a hand on my mouth and nose, all the while gasping for some fresh air. This room is not only messy but it also reeks of...of.....ROTTEN POTATOES!!

"WHA-" Kieran placed his large hand, covering my mouth all the while looking around frantically to see if anyone saw us or maybe...heard us? I was trying to scream under his hands but all that came out were some old muffled sounds and a lot of M's. And then slowly he removed it.

"Keep your voice low. We don't want the old lady to hear us. Who knows what would happen if she does." His voice was hushed, barely audible for only me to hear.

"Where is she by the way?" I glanced around the room and spotted a rusty metal door in the far corner of the room on my right. I bet there's huge pile of papers and files in that room as well, all waiting to be sorted out. I snorted.

"I don't know, inside that room?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess, that could be a possibility." I shrugged my shoulders too.

✴3 mins later✴

"Is she dead?" I spoke up again as I rested my head on his shoulder. It's been 3 minutes (according to Marcus) since the lady disappeared into that room and we know that because we heard shuffling from inside.

"Not possible."

"Should we go and check?"

"What if she comes out?"

"How much longer are we supposed to wait here?"

"Probably 2 to 3 minutes more."

"Ughhhhh!!! Why can't you answer a simple yes to ANY of my questions?" Honestly I was starting to get frustrated; at the lady and the calm attitude of the guy beside me and since I had no one else to take my frustration out on, I decided I'll just take it out on him.

"Well for one, I'd be lying to you if she comes out 3 minutes later and two if I do lie to you, then the next minute you'll be again whining about 'when she'll come out?' or 'should we go inside and check' et cetera, et cetera." He made air quotes with his hand to prove his point.

"You're no fun!" I huffed and crossed my arms like a child.

"And you're cute." I felt his breath fan the side of my face and I knew that if I turned around then we'll be having an awkward situation with our faces inches away from each other. Although the desperation that I had for turning around was too strong, I contorted myself.

That's when the old, rusty metal door creaked as it was pushed open from the inside and the old lady stepped out holding 2 huge files full of white sheets.

"Alright, so what are your names?" I rolled my eyes. Does she even know her own name?

"Kieran Evans and Alicia Sullivan,"

The only thing I heard him say was his name and then I tuned out. Hudgson....so his name is Hodgson. I wonder why it feels so familiar when I'm 100% sure I haven't heard that name before at all. Strange.

I was dragged out of my thoughts at the sound of shuffling papers. I looked up and saw the woman was shuffling with the bundle of papers she was holding earlier beside the table, while we were watching and waiting for her to hurry the hell up. She's too slow for her own good.

"Alright, here you go." She handed the two of us 3 papers each which were...well not very neatly arranged. "I wonder why you two are the only ones to come here and ask for your information?"

Kieran and me looked at each other with confused looks. We were thinking the same thing that she had a valid point. While I was thinking for some reason, I heard Marcus speak up from beside me.

"I bet they forgot to come here and now they'll be running around in the morning here and there to get these." He said holding up his papers for emphasis. Although his theory was somehow correct, I still felt a pang of doubt.

"Oh no dear Lord, please don't let it be true. I can't bear having a crowd of students outside my office that early in morning. No no no..." She started panicking as her hands reached up to the side of her head and she started shaking it as if in denial with herself. And then all of a sudden WHOOSH! She started collecting the files from the floor that were lying almost everywhere. Has the old lady finally gone crazy?

"Should we help?" I heard a deep, resonate voice in my ear that send shivers down my spine. I took a minute to finally process what he was saying before answering.

"You mean help her clean this dirty prison cell?" I lowered my voice as I said that so she won't hear it.

"Yeah. After all, she's a senior citizen and it's our responsibility to help one if we're, unfortunately, stuck with them. Like right now. So, what do you say?" I felt his burning gaze on me so I turned my face and locked eyes with him. The intensity in his eyes was so high I couldn't look away. It felt as if I was trapped in his gaze. I couldn't move, speak, think. I was frozen in my spot. And then the sound of metal clinking broke the spell and I felt normal again. Trying to make the situation less awkward for me, I spoke up first.

"Oh, um, yeah, come on, we should definitely help her." My voice sounded hoarse and I think even Kieran noticed it as he suddenly looked at me with a weird face. I cleared my throat 2 times and then spoke again. "Don't worry, I'm fine. So let's help her out."

He nodded and we walked up to the old lady who was running around the room like a mad woman.

"Umm, I think you might need some help cleaning up this...room. We can help if you want." Kieran said while trying to catch up to her as she was running around. I think she actually heard him because all of a sudden she stopped mid step and faced Marcus with narrowed eyes while he gave her that easy million dollar smile of his. She narrowed his eyes more at him and studied him I guess.

"You're lying, aren't you?"

"Of course not Mam. Me and my friend here would love to help you out. Isn't that right, Eva?" He looked at me and winked. I gave the lady the best fake smile I could conjure up.

"Yup. We really wish to help you out." My fake smile grew wider and wider to the point I could feel my cheeks hurting. Honestly anyone with half a brain could tell it was as fake as those fake boobs the girl's wear these days.

"Fine! But if anyone of you messes up, I'm kicking the both of you out."

"Yes Mam!" Kieran and me saluted at her at the same time and then we looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Come on, that's all fun for today. If you want to help me then you need to start working now."

She started walking towards that ugly metal door and we followed her.

"WHAT THE HELL KIERAN???" I started running to the other side of the room as fast as I could although I could hear his footsteps getting closer and closer. Ms Whiffpiff (Yeah that's what's her name is, explains the mess hehe ^-^) had left the room to do 'something' as soon as she finished explaining us the work. We'd been peacefully working with a few cocky remarks from Kieran for half an hour when all of a sudden, he threw a pile of neatly arranged papers (by me of course) into my face. Yeah, right into my face and I snapped my attention at him as I started hitting him with the broom all over as hard as I could. As soon as I stopped, Marcus stood up holding his back and then suddenly, I don't know what came over him, he started chasing after me and so here we are running around the room like toddlers. I was the one who stole his candy and so he was chasing after me.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!! Y-YOU CRE - AHHHHH!" Kieran had somehow managed to catch up to me as I was collecting my thoughts and he had now grabbed me by my waist, holding me tight while I struggled against him. Boy, he IS strong.

"Come on, PUT. ME. DOWN." We were both laughing hysterically by now and I was thankful that Ms Whiffpiff wasn't here otherwise she would've been screaming at us on the top of her lungs, no actually, she really would have kicked us out. And then suddenly the door opened. And the next thing I know is that I'm on the floor and Kieran is on top of me.

"What is going...." I didn't hear her as I tuned into Kieran's intense gaze that was staring right into my soul. At least that's what I feel about that look of his. His eyes were dark and there was no trace of that playfulness that I felt earlier. Where is my Kieran? Oh lord, who's this stranger? Jesus, give me my Kieran back please, he's my only friend here.

I felt something shift on top of me and it was enough to drag me out of my thoughts. I looked over and found Kieran had stood up and was now hovering over my tiny figure while holding out a hand for me. I eyed his hand for a millisecond before taking it. He lifted me up easily like I weighed nothing. Well the last one can't be true because really I weigh more 150 lbs. All thanks to those jars of nutella that I used to finish in a day.

"What was going on in here? Don't you 2 know the rules? No PDA in corridors, classrooms OR offices. And if I see you two in that position once again, you're heading to the head mistresses office. Understand?"

I looked down and tried to hide my face in my hairs which I knew was bright red by now.

"Yes Mam." We both muttered at the same time but I didn't bother looking in his direction although I could feel his eyes on me.

"Come on now, we need to finish cleaning up by night and it's almost evening now. If you two would have worked instead of jumping on each other, we would have finished by now." She had an accusatory look on her face when I looked up. And I scowled. Come on, it wasn't intentional, it just...it just happened.

I wonder why we're helping her even? I huffed and started picking up the papers that were on the floor.

"Ugh, finally." I said and crashed down onto the floor. Kieran came up a minute later and crashed down beside me too, more like fell down. I looked over at him and let out a small shriek.

"Why are you screaming?" He murmured lazily while resting his head on my shoulder.

"You actually look like a zombie." I was still horrified at the fact so I kept myself a few inches away from him. Wouldn't want myself to become a zombie too. I shivered at the thought.

"I feel like a zombie." He adjusted himself on me while closing up the space that I had created but this time I didn't move away.

"By the way, what did you even think before helping her?" The question had stuck me the moment she had seen me and Kieran on the floor. And no I'm not gonna use the word 'caught' because we really weren't doing any PDA, truth be told.

"I really have no idea what I was thinking. I maybe high on drugs...yeah that can be possible."

I froze.

"Wait.. You. Do. DRUGS????!!"

"What? No!" He suddenly jolted up his head and started looking around frantically like a mad man. If not for his eyes wide open right now, I'd seriously think he did take drugs. The guy's mad.

"Are you okay?" I asked slowly while placing my hand on his shoulder, he flinched and faced me as I quickly removed my hand from his shoulder in surprise.

"Oh, it's just you..."

"Pft, who else would it be?"

"I don't know. Maybe the old lady decided to come back and help us?" I looked over at him in disbelief.

"Are you serious? After all the torture you just went through for HER, you still think she'd COME BACK and HELP us?"

"Yeah..." He murmured lazily as he once again rested his head on my shoulder but I pushed him away this time and he stumbled on the floor. He gave out a muffled 'owww' from the floor and I chuckled before he looked over at me in disbelief.

"What was that for? And where did you get that energy from all of a sudden?" He rubbed his back as he sat up straight beside me.

"We need to get out of here before the daredevil gets back!" I waved my hands in the air to make a point but I don't think Marcus noticed that as he was too busy rubbing his back. Wait...why is he still rubbing his back? I didn't push him that hard? Or did I?

"Yes, you did push me that hard. I'll show you once I feel better."

"Did I just say that out loud?"

"Yup."

I face palmed myself. "Alright, whatever. But still, We. Need. To. Get. Out. Of. Here. Right. Now." I stood up and dusted off my clothes on instinct. I was about to turn around when I felt his huge duckhead on my knees. Yup, you heard me right, On. My. Fucking. Knees.

"Kieran Evans, GET UP NOW OR I'M DRAGGING YOU OUT OF HERE!"

"Noooooooooooo!" He started whining like a baby and I had to restrain myself from smacking him HARD, right on his face.

"I'll count to 3 only and then I'm dragging you." I closed my eyes and tuned out of all his protest below me before I began counting.

"1..."

"2..."

"And....."

"3." I opened my eyes while pulling up the sleeves of my jacket ready to drag him out.

"Alrig-" I stopped mid-sentence as I saw that Kieran was gone. I looked around the room but there was no trace of him. The room looked just as it had been. Not even a single paper had moved from its place even. Wait, is he gone? Did he just leave me here....alone....all by myself. No, it can't be true. He can't just leave my like that.

I pushed aside all the negative thoughts as I moved towards the rusty, metal door and pushed it open only to be met by darkness. Not here. Closing the door behind me, I went to the main door of the office and grabbed the knob on it. I twisted it all the way around slowly as I pulled the door open and peeked through before taking a step outside.

Aha!

Found him!

He was lying right beside the potted plant outside the door in an awkward position. And mind me, but he looked too cute to be true. Seriously? What was that? Mental face-palm.

I tiptoed out of the room and closed the room behind me as slowly as I could. I went over and sat beside him as I rested my head on his shoulder. Lucky for me he was asleep so he didn't push me aside.

The last thing I remember was his head resting on mine as I let darkness succumb me.