Whispers of us

Chapter 7: Strangers.

Jasmine

"..So, don't get any ideas. It's for your own good. Keep your distance." That girl, Lia, said, her voice dripping with a mixture of concern and warning.

As if Noah wasn't enough of a nuisance to deal with at school. Now I have to deal with such inconvenience. I don't know why I have to listen to whatever nonsense they were throwing at me. They were obviously some obsessed, insecure girls. I really don't know what they see in Noah, but a playboy. It's like choosing to be played.

"That includes Liam." One of the girls says with a squeaky voice.

As soon as she lets out the name my eyes find him. He was standing there on the other end of the hallway, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, watching me. He was watching me.

"Oh no, jules, Liam is Natalie's. We don't want trouble here." Lia scolds, moving a warning finger between me and that girl.

My eyes meet his and they freeze for a moment. A shiver runs down my spine. A growing feeling of curiosity mixed with something deeper. Something I couldn't point.

Liam is Natalie's.

I know who Natalie is. She's the most beautiful girl on campus. Pretty, tall, smart, confident, she's it. But she's also kinda scary. She's not nice. Not at all. She's mean to everyone and she just gets what she wants, whatever it is. And somehow, this now, includes Liam?

But why does it make me sad, though? I don't know him. We're not friends. He doesn't know me and I don't know him. We're basically nothing.

It was like, something inside of me wanted this to be wrong. Wished that we could be something... anything. It's weird. Some kind of a weird attraction. A weird attachment. It's like he's the only one on this campus and maybe actually in my life that holds a sense of safety. And when he's gone, this sense of safety is too. It's complicated.

Maybe it's just my mind. I just turned him into something that I could draw some safety from. Having lived the past three years of my life with no safety or comfort, my mind was looking for a rope to hang on and when it found it, it held to it and now it's refusing to let go.

I nod at them and they walk away. I glance at where he's been standing to find him already gone. I start walking in the opposite direction to my class, scolding myself for being too pity that I created some kind of an attachment to a stranger. A complete stranger.

And that stranger is conveniently everywhere now.

When I enter the class and see him already seated, I let out a sigh. Was he really always in this class? Did his schedule change? Why is he suddenly in all of my classes?

I walk in to my seat, taking out my stuff. I was about to take my phone out to turn it off, when it suddenly buzzed. I look at the notification to find my dad has sent a message. Taking a deep breath, I open it, bracing myself for whatever was coming.

Hi, baby.

How are you?

I miss you.

Hope you're coming home this weekend. We can have a barbecue.

I open the chat and type away hurriedly.

Hi, dad. Miss you too. I'm sorry, I wish I could come. I actually have an exam this monday, so yeah... maybe later.

All in one text. As soon as I press the send button, I turn off the phone placing it on my desk with shaky hands.

I didn't think he would reach out that soon. After last time's incident I thought he would try to be more careful. I wasn't about to meet mom anytime soon. I still couldn't get over what she said that time. I'm not sure if I can face her too soon.

Sometimes I feel so sorry for him. My dad has been trying so hard to pull the strings together and to make the ends meet. It's so hard, having to deal with such a broken family. Having to walk around on eggshells because your wife and daughter are too broken and could give away any moment. Way too broken that they just can't let the past go. But how could we let go? How could we forget? When what we lost have left us a big empty void, that no matter what, nothing can fill.

The sound of footsteps entering the class pulled me out of my thoughts. I look up to find professor william walking in, with a hyper realistic model of the heart in his hand. Anatomy is one of my favourite subjects. It's hard to study with too much information that you have to know by heart, but it's fun.

______________

When the class was over professor william put down his pen and the heart model on his table, before he straightened up, looking at the class calmly, waiting for them to settle down for a moment so he could speak.

An exam. Now my lie is no longer a lie.

He announced that we would have an exam on the first four chapters on monday and that it would add up to our final results.

So to the library it is.

Having an exam on Monday means that I would have to start studying from today and the library is actually the best place for long study sessions. So I would be spending the next few days there. Simple.

________________

The next day I was walking through the dim lit hallway after spending most of the evening studying at the library. I was walking lazily rubbing my eyes out of tiredness, when suddenly I heard some hurried footsteps.

I halt on my way, listening closely as fear starts creeping up my body. Suddenly I hear them again and when I look around I see him. Liam. He was looking around suspiciously, before opening the door to one of the laps and slipping in. As curiosity took over me I followed him in, my heart poundingin my chest.

"What are you doing?" I ask

Surprised he jumps a little but quickly regains his composure.

"Oh, isn't it the blind little kitten?!" He says sarcastically.

It took me a moment to actually get in my surroundings. There were papers splayed on the counter where he was standing. Professor william was working here on the final layout of the exam. I just saw him walking to the rest room. He must have though that no one would be here at this time. That's why he let his guard down.

But why was Liam doing that? He can't be here for the papers, right? He isn't such a person.

"Were you trying to steal those papers?" My voice came out stronger than I felt, laced with a mix of shock and disbelief.

"Not so blind after all, huh?"

"You can't do that." I said firmly.

"Oh so righteous you are. How virtuous." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

So he actually was doing that. But why?!