11:50 am
"It's a real market place there".
I said as i queued up with Eva in the line.
The cafeteria was a cacophony of loud chatter on each table a cosseted huddle of people raising their voices to be heard above the other. It's the only time we can clearly distinct the group we have there. On one side there's the popular group with its barbie like girls chattering in an exaggerate posture. On the other, the sweaty, robust men of football club who were screaming more than talking. In the left corner, far from those clattering, there's the nerd. They don't indulge much with the other students keeping their circle small and mysterious. I wondered what they're talking about ; the invasion of E.T on earth or even about how to land on Mars. Lastly, there's people like us who are neither weirdos nor eccentric. We usually filled the space left in the cafeteria never bothering to act more or less.
She sighed. "You should have seen my previous school's one."
She seemed to have recover from the P. E classes.
"I guess it's the same scene in every school."
"Not in Japan though."
I laughed. "Yeah. Definitely not there."
At last it was our turn on the counter. It was run by an old lady maybe in her fifty. She was short with grey hair falling off her pin. The map of wrinkles on her face tell much about the life journey she had. Despite that she's really kind.
"What's for you my dear ?" she said, a smile on her face.
I smiled back. "Umm... I will take a mini bun, 2 chocolate mousse, 1 fudge brownie and a bottle of juice."
"For me, a chicken sandwich, an apple and a bottle of water", and to me. "You really like sweets," she said more like a statement than a question.
I grinned. "The only thing I will never get over."
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We managed to find a place in the middle. Eva let herself slide in the chair.
"Do you think the world could ever adopt Japanese culture into theirs?"
"Between the political, social and not skipping the lost of culture in ones own country, yeah right sure." she said biting her sandwich.
"Well, the world did adopt westernization," i said pecking on my fudge.
"Was it without consequences?," she uttered. "Considering the tolls lost of..."
I laughed. "Oh i see the geek side of you rising up."
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever," and then laughed.
It was jolly great to have her by my side. I've always pictured her as an arrogant, sassy princess before i met her. But every time spent with her get this perception away from my head. It's now a totally different image i have of her.She had a kind of understated beauty, maybe because she was disarmingly unaware of her prettiness. She had a warm chestnut colour hair and pastel white skin which made her beautiful pink lips noticeable. The main feature which stand out though was her brown eyes. It was filled with kindness and compassion.
In all those noises, i could hear a faint sound of my ringtone. I rummaged through my bag and caught it before it stopped ringing. It was Vladimir.
"Hello", i said as i picked it up.
All i could hear was a small voice trying hard to speak and then it was silenced.
"Hello?"
And then the dial went off leaving me perplexed. What was he trying to say and more than that what was that voice. He seemed tired. Or maybe hurt.
"Who was it?", Eva asked. She has stopped eating and was staring at me.
I couldn't possibly tell her that it was his brother.
"A wrong number," i said laughing nervously hoping that she bought it.
"Ah okay."
She seemed convinced and took a bite in her sandwich. Due to this confusion, i have lost my appetite but not to arise doubt in Eva, i pecked here and there a bit of my fudge. In the meantime, i tried to reprocessed what he had said. It was something about a cliff and then i heard Ford. What was the link? Maybe it was an address and he wanted me to meet him at the cliff in Ford. However, as far as i know, there was no cliff in this town called Ford. Was it in another town or country? Am really going to become mad with this riddle. This time i will need someone or rather something more competent than me.
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12:15
"Aren't you coming to class?"
"Am getting a stomach ache after eating too much sweets. I will go to the infirmary and then go to class afterwards."
I really need an excuse to be alone.
"Is it serious? I will accompany you then."
"No no.You go ahead so that i can take notes from you. "
"Are you sure?", she asked rather worried.
I feel guilty that I'm lying to her and taking her concern for granted.
"Sure."
"Okay then I'll go forward. If you need me I'll just be one call away."
I watched as she walked in to the class and then reached for the toilet. As expected, it was empty. Everyone should be in class or skipping it. I took out my phone and press the middle button.
" How can i help you? ", said an automated female voice.
" Hi Siri, could you please locate the Cliff in Ford near my runabout?"
I saw it processing the data on the GPS. It turned in a blank page.
"There was no cliff called Ford near you. Instead i have locate a cliff called Clifford."
It took time for me to realize that Vladimir had mumbled the word cliff twice.
"Locate the route to Clifford cliff from Iris High School."
From the information given, it would be 45 minutes of travel if there is no traffic. I quickly ran to my car and start the engine.
