CHAPTER 12:Strange behaviors

I was confused, what had gone wrong? Did I annoy him? I mean he seemed okay with what I was doing. I looked at my clock and realized that I was running late so I hurried up.

For some strange reason, Gwen didn't show up at my house, and when I went over to her place to check if she slept in, I discovered that she had already left for school which was a first.

I hurried off to school, buried in thought at why Igris had left and why Gwen had gone to school without me. Unexpectedly I bumped into someone, causing my victim to stumble and fall.

I gasped at the mess I made, coffee and books had spilled and at the center of the mess was a dashing young guy whose ash blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail, "wow you've got the strength of a bull to knock me to the ground" he said groaning, " my goodness, I'm so sorry I was preoccupied with my thoughts so I wasn't looking" I said helping him up.

When he rose to his full height, I realized he was tall but as someone used to Igris' domineering height, it felt puny but I can't compare every human male with a god right?

I helped him pick up his books which by some stroke of luck hadn't been ruined by coffee, "I'm Hayden and you're?" He asked, "I'm Alleya…sorry Elena," I said blushing, how the heck had I messed my name up, Igris was starting to leave his mark on me.

"Which should I pick? I think Alleya suits you" he said thoughtfully, "um…" I started to say, "I will call you Alleya" he decided, Please I'd prefer you call me Elena", I said tersely since only the one who gave me the name had the right to call me by that name.

Funny how I was getting worked up over a name which I had no idea what it meant, but I always felt a certain flutter in my stomach whenever Igris called me Alleya. I was satisfied when Hayden agreed to call me by my name and we introduced ourselves properly.

According to him, he was a transfer student at my school and would be joining my grade. I was excited that I got to meet him first since he had admitted that it was his first day, he was handsome and I couldn't wait to watch that bitch Selena stew over the fact that I got to know him first.

I must admit, he was cuter than Jason. As we walked to school, I discovered that he was fun to be with, I kept laughing at his jokes and completely forgot what had been eating me up.

We got to school but since our first classes were different, we parted ways. I sighed wistfully, knowing Selena, she would have him obsessed with her in a matter of minutes and he would forget the boring girl who had knocked him down to the ground.

However, I needed to find Gwen and give her this yummy tea. We had our first classes together so I rushed to class, hoping to talk to her before our teacher arrived.

I saw her at the back poring over a book which was typical of Gwen, "Hey poppy the pumpkin" I called cheerily, she startled, then looked up at me with such contempt that had me freezing, was that a trick of light?

I sat beside her and dumped my books, turning to tell her what had happened, excitement oozing out of my pores. On the contrary and to my amazement Gwen packed her books and left for a different seat leaving me befuddled.

I don't remember us getting into a fight yesterday, I mean her grandma tried to kill me and she didn't bother warning me about it, so if anyone should be ghosting the other person, it should be me, not her.

I decided to be the bigger person and find out why she was sulking. I approached her with caution not wanting to irritate her, "Poppy what's wrong?" I asked tentatively, She acted like no one was talking which started to irk me.

I grabbed the book and stood firmly daring her to ignore me, but what happened next left me speechless, Gwen landed a deafening slap on my cheek before snatching the book away from me, " Stay away from me you wicked soul" she spat before pushing me aside and running from the class.

I stood there dazed, the class was quiet because of something bizarre as Gwen slapped Elena, the class recovered quickly and was soon abuzz with speculations. I walked back to my seat with leaden legs too stunned and heartbroken to talk.

The class ended quickly and I decided to skip the next class and head for the grounds to think. Things were getting out of hand and I felt disheartened by it all. I just wanted him here, my safe zone, what would happen if I summoned him now? This was school and I didn't want to have to explain who he was to everyone.

But I didn't care, "Igris are you there, come to me please" I begged, no response. I called 5 times but nothing happened. I decided to wait since he always took his sweet time before answering my summons.

I had been waiting for a while when a shadow fell over me, "Igris!" I called out, standing quickly to embrace him then paused when I saw it was Hayden, "Oh" I, said letting my hands drop, "Ouch! Lena don't bruise my ego like that, I can't be that ugly" he said gripping his chest in mock pain.

I smiled softly, banishing thoughts of Igris from my mind " I'm sorry I thought you were someone else" I said apologetically, " your boyfriend Dennis?" He asked Huh?" I asked confused, "that's who you were calling right?" He asked and I frowned, who the hell was Dennis?

Then it clicked, he had misheard the name I called out, well I wasn't about to blab about Igris to him. I laughed and shook my head, "I was lost in thought and I do not have a boyfriend" I said grinning "You seemed disappointed to see me though" he shrugged, "I was surprised not disappointed" I said.

The bell rang interrupting our conversation, "why are you out here?" I asked him, "I saw you walk away from class looking like someone kidnapped your cat" Hayden replied picking a twig out of my hair "oh, I just needed to breathe" I explained dumbly, " wow didn't know oxygen was sold here" he teased, " Stop it, you know what I mean," I said grinning.

"That's what I want to see Alleya, smiles not tears," he said smiling and I frowned, what did he just call me?