My College Life | ✓

Chapter 26

Cover to the right is made by xoxotori :)

(NOT EDITED)

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Amanda's POV~

“John.”

“Ah—yeah?” He still sounded abash from our-almost kiss moments before.

Neal's figure still stood in the middle of the driveway, as he watched us with calculating eyes. I couldn't help but stare at the panda in his hands. It reminded me of my own. It was the same size and everything.

It was then that my eyes widened. Could it be . . .? He smile, knowing he's got my attention.

“Stop the car.”

I could tell at this point, John was staring at the back of my head, wondering what I was up to. “Why? Don't you want to go ho—”

“Stop the car right now!” I ended my sentence with an alarming scream.

John immediately slammed the brakes, causing us to rocked forward from the sudden movement. Forgetting about the slight dizziness my head was feeling at the moment, my eyes automatically went to my seat-belt. Seeing John's hand pulling the lever, stopping at 'P' for park, he looked over at me, his aqua blue eyes filled with puzzlement.

“What's wrong?”

“My panda! Where is it?” I shouted, ignoring his question.

He gave me a weird look, but answered it anyways. “Didn't you have it?”

“No.” I shook my head, searching my brain as I tried to remember where I had it left.

Crap! The Ferris wheel.

My hand shot out, as I tried to push the red click, frantically trying to get it to undo.

“Amanda, what are you doing?”

When the stupid buckle finally un-clicked, I pushed open the door, rushing out of the car. As my foot pounded against the cement-covered ground, I faintly heard John's voice calling me, telling me to stop. But I didn't listen to him, instead I pushed myself to run faster. I needed to talk to Neal and to find my panda.

“Looking for this?” he asked, once I was a few feet away from him. I halt my movements. Seeing him up close—it was different. There was something off about him, but I couldn't exactly pinpoint what.

Shaking that weird thought out of my head, my eyes stayed glued to the panda in his hands as he held it up—or whatever left of it anyways. The stuff instead of it's head was coming out, and landing on the ground in between Neal and I, but it didn't look like he cared.

“Is-s that mine?” I asked, not quite believing it. Why would he do that!?

The corners of his lips lifted upwards. “Well,” he began his voice a bit strange. It wasn't like the voice I knew from him—sweet and kind. It was deeper, less kinder, if that even made any sense, “it was an accident.”

“An accident?” What kind of accident would involved ripping off a panda's head?

“Um yeah.” He nodded, swinging the body of the animal around. “The little girl I was with sort of fell and the head caught on something, and when she tried to get it back, she accidentally pulled the head off.”

“Little girl?” Does he mean Britt; the orphan girl he takes care of?

“Yeah. Little girl. She's not here though.”