My Words Are Law

Troubles Arise (4)

Amaryllis doesn't want to face Chryses just yet, so she did her best to avoid him entirely for the day. She immediately left the room as soon as the bell rang and escaped to her part-time work as soon as she finished her last class. She doesn't want to talk to him with so many people present as much as possible. In fact, she wondered if they could just talk about the project without meeting face to face to avoid the chances of that happening.

Still, Amaryllis will have to talk to him at least once in order to exchange contacts. Mr. Rowland said he'll allocate a portion of class hours for them to work on the project starting next meeting. She'll take care of it then. Never in her wildest dreams did she expect him to take the initiative to acquire her phone number.

She was now back home, busy doing her homework, when her phone started vibrating on top of the books piled up in the corner of her desk. It was an unknown number. The first time her phone rang, she didn't pick it up because there was no caller ID, although now that the person had called again, maybe it's someone she knows after all. The numbers on the clock read 11:36 pm. She frowned and hesitated to answer but thought it must be something important. The person had called her twice... What if it was an emergency?

"Hello? Who is this?" She asked, stifling a yawn as she stretched her legs under the desk while her free hand fixed the scattered papers that covered most of the table. She was in a rush to get some deserved rest, and she began grumbling mentally at the idea that the caller might have mistakenly dialed her number.

"Ah."

Ah? Her frown deepened. A nasty feeling formed in her gut as she guessed a much more annoying scenario when the person didn't speak again. Do people seriously think it's funny to do prank calls so late at night? "If you're not going to say something, I'm hanging up."

"No, I'm sorry... I just didn't expect you to pick up."

She straightened up when she heard the crisp sound of a low voice on the other side of the line. "Taylor?" How did he get her number? Could he have asked Mia? Knowing her friend, she wouldn't easily give it to him as she was well aware of Amaryllis' wariness towards Chryses.

He must have given her the project as an excuse...

Her drowsiness flew quickly as her heart started pounding with unbridled apprehension.

"Yes... I thought you'd recognize the number..." He drawled.

Amaryllis' lips formed a straight line as she pondered his words irritably. "...I must have forgotten to save your number... Anyway, do you have something important to say? I'm about to sleep-" She didn't intend for her voice to come out coldly, but her defense mechanism strongly affected her muddled state. She was exhausted, and she couldn't have a proper grip of herself. She sighed. "I mean... You must be preparing to sleep, as well." As soon as she said that, she heard a car engine roaring loudly in the background.

Right... As if her guesses would ever hit the mark.

"I saved your number."

"...Yes?" She blinked and focused her attention back on the conversation.

"Your old number. I still have it on my phone. I tried calling it, but it was no longer in use. Why did you change it?"

Her hands shook as she bit her lips to stop herself from spewing her honest thoughts. He's asking as if he doesn't know the reason... She opened her mouth to exhale, but a jeering huff came out instead. It took her a few seconds to realize what she just did. Almost instantly, she covered her mouth, surprised by her own reaction. Did he hear that..?

"...Did I say something wrong?"

Blood drained from her face as perspiration began to dot her forehead. "No- I... I dozed off for a minute... I- D-did you call because of the project? Don't worry. I'll do my best not to drag you down. If that's all, then I'm going to hang up. I need to sleep now or I won't be able to wake up early for my morning classes. G-good night." She panicked. She frantically spouted nonsense and hung up on him without giving him a chance to reply. Was that rude? Most probably. She groaned as she slumped in her chair.

How is she going to face him next meeting?

A notification bell echoed in the silence, distracting her. Thinking it was Mia, she quickly opened it, only to be spooked by Chryses' message.

'Good night.😊'

Is he taunting her..? There was even a smiley face. She put her phone away, stopping herself from replying. She's afraid she might end up digging a deeper grave for herself. Besides, the greeting probably meant nothing to Chryses. Everything is fake.

She stood up and quickly went under the covers of her blanket with a queasy stomach. When she closed her eyes, she dreamed about last year's class party.

She agreed to go, but who knows what might happen? Maybe an unexpected emergency might suddenly keep her from going. She nodded at her thoughts in agreement. After all that's said and done, most of them will be happier with her absence. However, she should have expected that things wouldn't go her way that easily. On the day of the party, Harrison, the self-proclaimed party organizer, called her out of the blue to ask for a favor. The way he talked to her as if they've become bosom buddies overnight made her cringe awkwardly. Even more so when he asked her to make a reservation asap. She asked if there was a problem with the restaurant he talked about before but Harrison gave a lousy excuse of actually forgetting to make a reservation.

"What..? I can't possibly make a reservation for a party that will happen tonight. Most places are probably already booked," Amaryllis muttered. "Besides, I won't be able to go to the party because I need to take care of something at home," She added, lying through her teeth, but the other person seems to suffer from selective hearing syndrome.

"No. It's still morning now, and the party's at night, so they could reconsider the reservation. Please, okay! Just this once! I'll owe you for the rest of my life!"

"No. I told you I can't-"

"I really can't do it because I'm swamped with morning classes. Oh, look! Our professor just entered the class- Bye!" Harrison wasn't taking a no for an answer.

"What-? I said no-... Hello?" Only the sound of the line going dead answered her frantic reply. She heard a ding later on, and when she looked at the screen, a message greeted her.

'Please, do it for me. Just this once. I'm really sorry for the trouble.'

She tried calling him back countless times after that, but the line was busy. She doesn't understand why she had to do it. It's not as if he's short on friends. Why would he ask her, someone he barely talked to, for a huge favor like this? She groaned, regretting when she gave her number to him. He said it was for information dissemination in case changes in their plan will be made. However, she didn't think it would be this big of a change! No wonder everyone was reluctant to give their phone numbers to him. Some even insisted he contact them via social media. Why didn't she think of that then?

She sighed as she kneaded her temple as if it would relieve her troubles. She really can't rely on her foresight...

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A/N: Beware of people like this. Thanks for the votes! :))