her disappearance

18

CREIGHTON

Anoushka has been avoiding me. More than usual. If I see her in the hallways, she turns around and walks the other way. The only time she actually speaks to me is whenever we're discussing something about the case or at dinner with Wren. Kai and I decided to go to the underground ring tonight. I needed to blow off some steam and apparently so did he.

Sweat gleams on my forehead as I punch the punching bag harder. I was pissed off.

"Who pissed you off?" I hear Kai ask, amused.

I pull off the strap and shake my hand out of the boxing glove. I head to my water bottle and downed some water. "No one." I reply.

He laughs. "That punching bag can beg to differ."

How could I tell him I was pissed off at Anoushka for avoiding me? He wouldn't understand.

"Did you find the footage outside the dorm?" I ask him instead.

He clears his throat. "Yes I checked but it seems to be deleted."

I furrow my brows. "How could it be deleted? Those cameras are on all day."

"Not too sure." he replies.

"Who else has access to the camera systems?"

"Besides me, security, headteacher and a few other teachers."

That was strange. Who the fuck would have deleted the footage? Unless they were trying to hide something.

"Anyway, wanna have a match in the ring? I think Adrian's here somewhere." he says.

I smirk at him. "Adrian can't beat me even if he tried." I tell him.

He matches my smirk with his own. "Exactly."

"I'm not fighting tonight." I say instead.

The thing is I stopped competing in matches ever since Anoushka saw the bruises on my eye. She somehow knows I do underground boxing and I don't plan on confirming her assumption.  She is strangely overprotective of me and its ador- Wait.

A smile tugs at my lips as I nod my head at Kai. I know the perfect solution to get Anoushka to talk to me, outside of tutoring and Isabella.

"Actually find Adrian," I tell him.

I rip my shirt off as I get into the ring.

•••

It was Friday and it was 8 pm, which meant Anoushka would be sitting in the living room with her ice cream and watching her documentary. This was perfect.

I may have allowed Adrian to hit me harder than usual. I blamed it on my plan to get Anoushka to speak to me again because I knew I could beat Adrian fair and square.

My lip was bleeding and I had a bruise on my jaw. Unlocking the dorm door, I already heard the distant voices from the TV. I walk into the living room, avoiding Anoushka's stare but I could feel her watching me.

"Creighton." she quietly says.

I ignore her and keep walking to my room.

3

2

1

"Don't ignore me, asshole." she exclaims.

I wipe my smirk off my lips before turning around to face her. She was standing there. Her arms crossed. Her brows furrowed. Her hair was thrown in a high ponytail. She just looked so effortlessly perfect. My gaze wanders over her purple shorts and matching tank top. Oh God.