The Twist In Life

Chapter 17_ Confronting the stalker

Struggling to know the unknown. To uncover the mysteries that surround him. Since the very beginning, man has tried to uncover the deepest and darkest secrets that involve him, or even if they don't involve him. From the family secrets, to the unknown things that lurk in the depth of the oceans, to what lies beyond the universe, man has always proved that curiosity is his middle name.

I'm a human being, and thus a curious species. And so, I need to know who saw me trick Mr. Collins. I mean I can't just let someone have something to blackmail me with.

It's more important to me than to know what kind of sand is found in the Amazon. And that's saying something. I put aside, 'The Quest' and closed my eyes to relax and think about my life, which is getting pretty complicated, pretty quickly.

The secret admirer. Harvey turning over a new leaf. Lucas wanting me to tutor him and then disappearing off the face of earth. A pair of blue eyes invading my personal thoughts. A stalker stalking my every move.

'Well, it can't get more complicated than that,' I thought as a got ready for school.

~~~

Hilda had struck again. As soon as my locker came into view, I saw a crowd of students gathered around it. I was sure it was the photo again. I guess Hilda found out that Lucas wasn't flirting with a cheerleader and that I had made it up. It was her way of showing me where I stood. Below her. And maybe she murdered Lucas and hid his body somewhere. That's why I couldn't find him anywhere.

I elbowed some students out of the way and went in the direction of my classroom. I had my books for the first lecture with me. And there was no need to go to the locker for anything. Let the idiots see what they wanted to. It wasn't anything new.

I tuned out the words thrown at me, inside the classroom. But I couldn't help sneaking glances at my sketch drawn on the whiteboard. It was hideous. I acted as if I hadn't noticed it was me on the board. For the first time, I wished Miss David would come early.

"Have you seen your sketch, Mary?" asked Hilda, pointing to the picture at the board.

"That's me?" I asked, in a surprised voice. "I thought it was you."

"Quit acting," she snapped.

"Are you sure? I mean, look at it," I said. "It's clearly a drawing of your second face. Ugly and all smudgy."

Before she could come up with a reply, Martin, who could see the hallway from his seat, said, "Miss David is coming."

I jumped up from my seat and ran to the board. I wiped my sketch with my hands before Miss David could could enter the classroom and see it.

The students laughed and I thought, 'so much for the don't care attitude before.'

Miss David entered the class seconds after I had cleaned the board. Phew! I wiped imaginary sweat from my forehead, flopping down on my seat.

There were about ten minutes till the bell, when Miss David ended the lecture and loudly tapped her table with the board eraser.

She cleared her throat, "Students. You all should know that I love all my students equally, and I don't do any kind of discrimination. Whenever I scold you, I do it for your own good. I like to push you forward. It doesn't mean that I have any kind of grudge against you. I always want my best pupils to excel and break their own records. That's why I'm a bit hard on them. For example," she paused for a moment and made a face, "Mary here. See, she is my star pupil and I focus on her more than all of you. Because I want her to try and use all her abilities to the fullest. But that doesn't mean that I ignore any of you."