The Twist In Life

Chapter 29_ I put the tulip!

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"Where on earth were you yesterday?" Harvey asked me, dragging a chair towards my desk.

"My phone's battery died," I lied.

"Liar," he rolled his eyes, flopping down on the chair. I texted and called, but you had turned off your phone.

"I was angry because..." I started.

"Because you missed your date with Ralph," Harvey finished my sentence.

"I was going to say, because I was grounded," I scowled.

"Yeah, because you were grounded, so you missed your date with Ralph," he smirked.

I glared at him, "it's none of your business."

"I know," Harvey said. "And I'm guessing Ralph didn't reply to your texts."

I couldn't think of a suitable reply.

"Am I right, or am I right?" he gave me a smug look.

"You're wrong, in fact, Ralph rescheduled our date for three weeks later," I replied.

"You got grounded for three weeks only?" asked Harvey.

"Yeah," it was my turn to smirk.

He sighed.

"How come your dad didn't kill you?" I asked.

"Because your aunt only told him that we skipped school for a picnic breakfast. She didn't mention anything about the boatmen or the chief or the jail cell," Harvey said.

"Oh! Jamie got grounded too?" I asked.

"Obviously. He was with us too," Harvey replied.

The tick tick of Miss David's heels on the tiled floor, interrupted our conversation. Harvey dragged his chair back to his desk, and I turned my face towards the classroom door, waiting for her to enter.

***

I had already started eating my lunch in the cafeteria, when Harvey and Jamie showed up.

"Hey," they both called out in unison.

"Hey," I replied.

"We'll just be back with our lunches," said Harvey.

I nodded, my mouth full of spaghetti.

Someone sat on the seat beside me. I turned and saw that it was Ralph. I stopped my annoyance from resurfacing.

"Hey," he said.

I swallowed my spaghetti and replied, "hey."

"Uh..." he scratched the back of his neck. "I was waiting for you last night."

"You were?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied.

"But I texted you that I couldn't come because I was grounded," I told him.

"Oh, right. I should have told you that I lost my phone day before yesterday," he replied.

"Oh," I couldn't think of anything else to say.

I was annoyed at him for ignoring me, without hearing out his side of the story. And he was good enough to ask me why I had ditched him, again.

"So, why did you get grounded?" he asked.

"I..." I hesitated, "skipped school."

"Wow," he said, looking impressed.

He was looking at me like he was seeing me in new light.