Unravelled

[CHAPTER 11]

CHAPTER 11

Charlotte's POV

Ever since lunch last week, Daniel and I were not on really good terms. It was obvious that the guy with the black eyes and Daniel knew each other. The thing I was worried about was not that I had caught on this but how easy and obvious it was. Usually if there is something off, normal protocol would be to avoid causing any suspicious inklings for a third party to notice. When he was glaring at him like that, it was as if he wanted me to know. By my instincts, it looked like he wanted me to look into it myself because it was something to be seen and not told.

I shook my head brushing off the thought before I went too deep and concentrated on my homework. The quiz we had last week was a killer and I knew I had to buck up, or else the teachers would come hunting me down. They were already unimpressed when they found out I was an exchange student. If they were to report me with my weak results, they would be sure to send me back and everything I have done to get here would be all for naught.

Less than ten minutes later, I was massaging my temples because I was still stuck on the same question that I had been trying to solve an hour ago. I flipped through the papers. 'Twenty questions?! I barely finished two!' I screamed in my head.

I picked up my phone, dialling Daniel's number knowing he would help. The phone rang and that was when I realised again that we were not speaking to each other, but before I could put down the down he answered gruffly, "Yeah?"

"I need help with homework, can I come over?"

"I'm at the café," he said and immediately hung up. The conversation went smoother than I had thought but I keep that thought at the back of my mind.

I packed up my stationeries and stuffed them into my bag along with my papers and soon I was out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~

"I still don't get it," I sighed.

It had been hours and Daniel was still going through the same kind of questions but I still could not solve it.

"Remember, you need to complete the square for this. Do you know how to do that?" he said.

"I do but how come we didn't need to square it last time?" I asked.

"Because it could be factorised with the formula and it's called completing the square. Squaring means something else," he explained.

"Okay..."

"Sometimes I wonder how you're in the AP class but still fail to understand the basics," he said shaking his head.

"I have more important things to do other than this you know, like solving a case," I bickered.

"Then how about asking Lara for help? She's those studious ones, right?" he suggested.

"She's our lead to the culprit. I can't possibly involve my academic issues. It'll just be a distraction," I told him.

"Or you could not be so rigid and learn how to split work and have a social life," he argued.

"Well it's not easy when the only reason I'm here for is that!" I snapped.

"Now you're just being childish," he said rolling his eyes.

I pursed my lips and said monotonously, "Says the one getting so annoyed because of a broken friendship."

He stared at me with blank eyes. That must have hit a soft spot but I kept my eyes on him as if hoping he would give me an answer. Instead of that, he stood up and said, "Come on. I'll send you back."

I agreed obviously giving up my chance to find out the reason why. I shrugged off my lack of persistency and left the cafe. We were not very far from Wilson High Accommodation but it still took a good five minutes to get there.

"Thanks for today," I said. He nodded and drove off.

When I entered my room, the clock showed 14:22. I decided to work on my other subjects but before that I made myself a cup of English breakfast tea.

I was sipping my tea when my phone buzzed. 'Miss me?' it read. I grinned and opted to call him instead of replying.

"Did you miss me that much?" my brother's familiar low pitch voice came through the phone.

"Nah, just bored. So how are you in school, Andrew? Please tell me you are doing your homework," I said.

"School's alright and yes I am. What about you? How are things over there?"

I paused at his question. It was then I realised that I had not been acting like myself these days. I was not the kind to interfere with other people's problems but yet I did, with Daniel's. And I had never doubted someone that I have given my trust to but still I felt like I lost some with my own partner. I might have become too demanding, probably because of the change in environment. I was not used to have things that I did not know around me.

Before my thoughts could bring me any deeper, Andrew's voice vibrated in my ear, "You don't have to answer that. I know things are tough over there. I mean you barely call and you don't sound like you anymore."

I sighed. "Everything's alright. Just a few things I need to straighten out. How's mum and dad?" I said, trying to change the topic.

"They're fine. Still human doing human things. By the way, I just finished a case," he said proudly.

"Yeah? You sure it's alright to be talking about it on the phone?"

"Yeah yeah, it was a couple of weeks back anyway."

"What was it about?"

"Arms dealers. Mum almost caught me when I was hacking into their system. Fortunately, I was quick enough to switch desktop, thank the lord for the new update for Windows," he said in relief.

"Didn't you install a sensor in your doorknob before I left?" I asked.

"I guess it wasn't sensitive enough. It runs on battery and it's a chore to keep checking it so I removed the sensor and changed it into the clicker instead."

"That was a brilliant idea but won't mum or dad think that something is broken? But I'm sure you've thought of that, right?" I said.

"Yeah, I told them I made it myself because it was cool and they fell for it," he said chuckling.

I let out a light laugh, "Now back to what you were saying, what about the arm dealers?"

"Oh, yeah. It was easy, though I think that's not the end of it. I have to say, that guy is powerful," he said.

"Powerful? I thought you caught him," I asked, slightly confused.

"Not exactly. He has multiple factions from what I heard and we only caught the one that was here. He's somewhere moving about with his son and another friend I think. But those were just rumours can't say if they are real or not but it was reasonable enough for me to believe," he explained.

"Sounds interesting. Are you planning to get into the fields anytime soon?"

"Don't think so. I like it here. I prefer to be behind the computer than fighting with people, because, too much energy," he said.

"Right, well, thanks for the interesting story. Also, say hi to mum and dad for me. Maybe I'll skype them this weekend."

He clicked his tongue, "You better get yourself straightened out. You sound so different now, it's giving me the chills."

"Right, I'll try my best you rascal," I said, grinning.

I felt him grinning too and he said, "Alright, cheers."

I sighed and lean back on my chair, staring out the window and I then smiled.

'Right, now time to get back on track,' I told myself and got into work.

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