#18 He is Back?

Those four tough guys were too indulged in the person on call until they did not notice someone was coming behind them. They apologized when they realized he was a son of the Frederick clan.

"Four on one? Not bad. But aren't you guys too much of a coward?" Eric smirked when the guys flinched, "If you need four guys just to face a girl, might as well consider yourselves as weaklings."

They gritted their teeth to control their anger from exploding. They clenched their fists and gulped when Eric stared at them fiercely. It wasn't long until they decided to walk away while trying to hold their composure.

Strength left my legs and my knees fell to the ground. I couldn't imagine what I would do to them if they were to take action on me. It was a frightening experience for a protected lady like me until I could barely breathe.

I couldn't put how relieved I was into words. The fact that I didn't need to experience any more of this has made tears stream down my face. Eric panicked when he saw my silent tears as he didn't know what made me in this state.

"Wh-what's wrong?" He knelt and looked at me with a worried face.

My eyes started to sting as my tears wouldn't stop flowing out. The warmth of a hand on my head was really soothing, like it's telling me everything was fine.

"Hey, are you alright?" He wiped off my tears with the tip of his fingers, "Are you hurt anywhere?"

I shook my head slightly and I could hear him breathe a sigh of relief. He aided me to stand after I've calmed down. The hand on my arm was big in my point of view that it made me chuckle.

"Your hands really are big."

Eric seemed confused by my statement but it wasn't important anyway so I didn't care to explain more.

We went to the classroom together when Mia suddenly jumped on me the moment I stepped foot in. She was worried about my swollen eyes and glared at Eric hardly.

"Mia, I'm fine and it's not his fault."

I could tell she wasn't pleased with my answer at all. It was difficult to persuade her until she finally stopped asking more. She accompanied me to the washroom to wash my face.

While I was at it, I told Mia about what happened. She was relieved to hear that I wasn't hurt anywhere.

"I'm glad you're safe and all but you shouldn't let them take you as they please," she was quite pissed off by my actions, "Yelling for help would have been better."

She nearly burst out in tears and I had to give her a pat on the back. Mia knew I've never been in such a situation before so she understood a little.

"Then, what did you do when someone approached you like that last time?" Curiosity overwhelmed me since she was lecturing me like an experienced person.

Mia froze and her cheeks reddened a little.

"W-well," she stuttered while averting her gaze from mine. "I was just lucky that they weren't the type to hit girls."

Considering her way of speech, it is most likely she was hiding something. Not like I wanted to meddle any further, but I was really curious about that blush on her cheeks.

"So, what's the truth?" She never hid anything behind her words but this had me wondering which part of her story did she change.

Mia turned on the water tap to wash her face before speaking.

"...ce." Her murmur was so soft that I bet even ants couldn't hear it. She repeated what she said when I asked her.

"My fiance."

I tried to combine her words together and got to a conclusion of her fiance saving her back then.

"Wait, but… since when did you have a fiance?"

"Yesterday..." Mia hid her red face in her palms. It wasn't too obvious since she covered it but her face was as red as a tomato.

"A-anyway, we should head back." She stood up and left the washroom. I looked into the mirror to adjust by hair a little and followed her back to our classroom.

During break time, Mia and I went to the cafeteria together while Eric and his friends accompanied us. We told them it was fine but they insisted.

I don't really want to admit it but they're really over-protective of us. Just because four boys came up to me this morning doesn't mean danger in the future, but I guess it's not too bad to take such measures into consideration once in a while.

As usual, I bought a red bean paste bun and a cup of honeydew juice. We shared the same table and exchanged our food so we could try everything.

"Come to think of it, how was it a coincidence that Eric called you this morning, Amanda?" Mia asked with her mouth full of food but her words were still audible.

"It was a usual morning call," Eric overheard us and answered for me.

I used to ask him not to call me but he just wouldn't listen. Who knew it would come to use this time?

While I was eating, I kept feeling like I'd forgotten something, something that I shouldn't have forgotten of. Just then, Eric said he wanted to talk to me personally once we were done eating so his friends accompanied Mia around the school while waiting.

We went to the classroom to talk since there was no one there.

"So," Eric leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, "Seems like you haven't visited my mother yet?"

I blinked my eyes rapidly, trying to figure out how I could forget that. Deciding for a gift must have been difficult for me to the point that I fell asleep without knowing and have completely left the event behind.

Eric seemed to have understood my reply and sighed.

"Well, that wouldn't change the fact that I will be visiting your mother after school."