Oleander

Chapter 7

Oleander : The Idiot

Oleander started by asking around the library but no one seemed to know Kenneth. He had almost lost all hope and was thinking of going to the school office as his last resort. He was in the habit of avoiding the school office and hence it was his last resort. When he was a freshman he had gotten into a ton of trouble for disrupting classes. Him along with Darren and his other friends. Sure it was fun but now it only made him cringe. He was just walking down the last aisle when his eyes caught the same two girls who were giggling the day he met Kenneth. They giggled again when they caught his eyes on them.

"Hey" he said cautiously walking towards them.

"Hi" they said in unison straightening up when they saw him approaching. Their smiles had died when they noticed Oleander walking towards them.

"Are you guys freshmen?"

"Um yes" the taller raven answered him nervously.

"Do you know Kenneth?"

They looked at each other questioningly. "Do you mean Kenny? Kenny Rogers?"

"Um he wears huge wire rimmed glasses?"

"Yeah that's Kenny. I have Art with him" the shorter blonde girl told him in a bubbly voice.

"Oh uh..... where do you think I could find him?" he asked scratching his head.

"Oh Kenny's absent today. Well he's absent most days. I don't know why but he transferred just last month and he's flamboyantly gay" the blondie giggled but stopped midway when the taller girl nudged her. Her pink lips immediately shut and she managed to give an awkward smile.

"Do you have his number?" he asked and the girl shook her head sadly.

"I do" Oleander looked at the dark haired girl almost surprised and with a tinge of hope in his eyes. She smiled at him and gave him her phone so that he could transfer it to his own phone.

"Thank you so much" he grinned at the girls who looked so shocked even their mouths parted in amazement. After all the most handsome senior boy in school had smiled at them and it didn't matter to them in the least that he was gay. He waved at them before he exited the library. The shorter one still looked surprised but the taller girl smiled faintly.

Oleander had a skip to his step as he crossed the school courtyard. The school library was just across the courtyard. It was lunch break but he didn't feel like eating so he sat down on the grass under a tree behind the school cafeteria. There were just a few girls and boys scattered on the grass. The rest preferred the seats inside or the wooden benches outside the cafeteria.

Oleander stared at the number on his phone. What should he do? Should he call him or text him or should he just wait for him to come back to school?He flipped his phone unto the grass and scratched his head in frustration. He shook his head again and took his phone into his hands resolutely. He pressed on call and waited with baited breath.

His voice hitched a little due to excess nervousness when he heard a "Hello" from the other side.

"Hello? hello, who's this" it clearly was Kenneth's voice but Oleander couldn't bring himself to speak.

"Hellooo?" Kenneth said one more time "Oh for God's sake stop it already Anise. I get it and I'm sorry I won't prank call you again. Heyyy.....  I can hear you breathe you know" he breathed a short sigh "Fine be that way!" he said dramatically and disconnected the call. Oleander stared at his phone. He didn't even have a single clue about what had just happened. He was beginning to feel like the biggest idiot.