“Be my Muse,” He said.

For a second there, I couldn’t comprehend what he just said. There were sparks in my brain, desperately trying to connect the dots and instead just causing a short circuit. I stared at him as if he’d just produced a bunny from his pocket. His comment was so out of character, so far from what I knew of him, I just gaped at him open mouthed. My brain formulated no thoughts other than to register that I was shocked. I knew what I must’ve looked like, a pop-eyed toy from one of those claw machines at the fun fair. Perfectly funny. I closed my mouth, then looked at my toes before glancing back up to catch his eye. “I think I’ll just go now,” was all I could say.

He grabbed my arm once more to stop me, “Wait, I didn’t say you could leave yet.”

I swallowed hard and had half the mind to push him off me and make a run for it, but then the door slammed open and in came Miss Helen.

“You kids are cutting classes again?” She passed us a stern look, “How many times have I told you Mr. Warnard, if your absentees cross the red you’ll be expelled. And you too Miss Valdez, I don’t suppose you want to accompany Mr. Warnard to his doom now, do you?” I frantically shook my head from side to side.

“Keep your threats to yourself Helen, I’m in no mood to listen to your bickering,” Eric Warnard huffed in irritation. Miss Helen just glared at him venomously as she hinted for us to leave the room. For a minute there, his words stunned me. How could he speak to an instructor in such a manner, no less Miss Helen. The Viper. (That’s what I named her, after her evil glares.) But then, we were talking about Eric Warnard here. The school’s founder’s great great something grandson. This guy could get away with anything. Since I concluded that it would be safe to leave the room and get off Miss Helen’s hit list, I walked out and away from the scene as fast as my legs could carry me. I really needed a good long nap.

‘I should walk slower. I shouldn’t draw any attention to me. I shouldn’t look flustered. I shouldn’t run,’ that’s what my mind was screaming at me, but my body was failing to comply with it. I couldn’t believe the irony; I was running away from the guy I was stalking out of curiosity just a week ago. But I just couldn’t help it. Eric Warnard just didn’t feel right.

I looked back once to check if he was still following me, hence I failed to see what was in front of me. I bumped into something...rather someone tall and strong and in shock of the event I found myself falling. I could feel gravity pulling me towards it and in consequence I was about to kiss the school floor. In a desperate attempt to keep myself from head butting the floor I grabbed onto the nearest thing in my reach. Then there was the thud! The loud noise created by the collision of heavy bodies with the ground.

“God damn it! That hurts.” I heard the grumble of the something, rather someone who took the fall for me. ‘Damn! I shouldn’t have done that.’

For a moment I was scared to look up, but I couldn’t keep huddled up on top of the guy forever. So I looked up and I instantly wished I didn’t.

Oliver Brown. The school’s bad boy. Blond hair, blue eyes and cheeky smiles. But no! Not the kind of drool worthy, crazy but kind, mysterious and cool sort of bad boy. After being in Verona High for a week, I had learnt one thing; and that was to steer clear of Oliver Brown’s radar. This guy was bad news. He was a self-serving narcissist who thought every walking female that laid eyes on him fell madly in love with him and therefore became his plaything. And no! I am not saying this because he was misunderstood or I was prejudiced. He was everything I described above and more. But sadly, he was going to defile this earth with his wickedness for the next forty years. Why do the bad guys always get to live longer?

“I-I’m sorry,” I bounced up and got off the floor faster than lightening, not wanting to gain his attention.

“Oh! Maybe next time you...” I didn’t wait to listen to him whine; I scrammed from the scene as if my life depended on it. Frankly, it did. I just wanted an anonymous existence who could breeze through high school with minimal damage. I had too much on my plate to add more pickle to it.

These past few days had been hectic for me. But today took the cake. I was dog tired since all the subdued exhaustion was getting to me, I could easily pull off being a walking zombie, dead on the inside but subconsciously awake. Lena hadn’t come back yet, probably had her face stuck into a book somewhere around and all I wanted was to get under the covers and snore off the tiredness away.

Without bothering to change I fell back onto my bed, the mattress sunk under my weight and I felt as though all the energy was being drained out of me as I snuggled deeper into the silken duvet. In an instant the world became distorted to me and I fell into a deep slumber.

“Be my Muse!” He muttered into my ears, his voice as soft as velvet.

“What!” I could hardly retort.

“Be my Muse!” He uttered again, pretending as if my shocked expression was not at all known to him.

“What do you mean?”

“It means I want you,” he smiled at me. His smile held such genuine affection and the right amount of shyness that an unexpected warmth creped to my cheeks, making me blush.

“H-How can that be? As far as I know you, you hated my guts just until yesterday. What changed?” I couldn’t help but frown; yet feel all squirmy inside.

The way his lips lifted upwards, the way his one dimple crinkled, the way his teeth were perfectly aligned; all of it made me turn into a secret admirer of his. I couldn’t deny the attraction I felt for him, the kind of heady trance that brings a butterfly to nectar. And I think he was aware of it all; because his cheshire grin and approaching closeness to me were giving away all of his thoughts.

“Nothing really. I guess I just wasn’t expressive enough,” he grabbed my arms and leaned in closer, and my heart skipped a beat. I stood there frozen from both fear and excitement as he got closer still, his breath tickling the tip of my nose.

I was in hysterics now. Was he going to do what I think he was gonna do? No way! No freaking way!

His hand drifted to my hip and I flinched. It settled there and pulled me in closer. I in turn, inhaled sharply; his closeness addicting. I sprayed my hand against his chest, intending to push him away, but instead I couldn’t do it and hence left it there. His head, angled slightly to the side as his lips came closer to mine. I had gone limp in his arms and our breaths mingled in. We were just a few centimeters apart, then two, then one, then...THUD!

The pain instigating on my back woke me up good. My face twisted in pain as I got off the floor, and sighed as I realized it was just had a dream. A wet dream. Sweat dripped through my forehead; I couldn’t believe I just had a wet dream, nevertheless a wet dream about Eric Warnard. What was wrong with me? That guy was messing with me even when he was not really there with me.

Mindlessly, I got back on the bed and pulled up the duvet and rolled towards the darker end of my bed. I knew sleep was unlikely to grace me tonight but I still tried to summon some sleep to me as I closed my tired lids. I tossed from one side to the other, my bed as a result becoming a tangle of covers, but still couldn’t find the right position. For an instance, I considered the sleeping pills the doctor had prescribed. They worked well alright, but the last time I took them I had been groggy the next day and my mouth tasted of metal. The night wore on; thoughts tumbled through my mind in rapid succession. Problems I had already solved reemerged for another examination, things I mustn’t forget for the next day nagged at me, and amidst all, thoughts of Eric Warnard and his strangeness pestered me. And then I tried counting sheep. One sheep, two sheep, why do we count sheep? Why not cats or... mice? Why are mice afraid of cats? Maybe because mice are smaller than cats. Then why are elephants afraid of mice? Maybe because...God! Wasn’t I supposed to count sheep! After a tortured eternity the room began to get lighter and the birds chirped, I threw back the covers and stumbled out. Sleepless.

Oliver appeared by my locker while I switched out one heavy, useless book for another heavy, useless book. I knew I was going to have a hard day ahead after my sleepless night but being wedged between the locker and Oliver Brown was the worst case scenario. I was caught between wanting to crawl into my locker and crawl under the ground. “Hey bunny!” Eewww!

I could hardly stop myself from hurling. This sweet talk was ... well gross. I pretended to not hear the word ‘bunny’ and reluctantly turned to face the guy I recently had come to resent.

“Why did you run away from me that day? I missed my chance to introduce myself.” He smiled a smile that showed he had me where he wanted. “I am Oliver Brown. Star quarterback and do I know you? You look a lot like my next girlfriend.” He grinned from eye to eye.

Crap!

This was so not the development I was hoping for. How does my life keep getting worse with each passing second, I had no idea. And that pickup line was just gross. I wondered, was being stupid a profession of this guy?

But I could only think, I never had the guts to say the things I thought out loud. A big downside on my part, I know. So what do I do now?

And then it hit me; I could always run.

Without another thought I took to my heel, Oliver Brown was another guy I did not want anything to do with.

You would think after such a rejection the guy would recoil a bit, but Oliver Brown was a specimen on his own. He was almost a foot away from me, chasing me like a madman. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I ran, away from him. I didn’t look back but I could hear him running after me. I was not a slow runner, but compared to him, I was slow enough. Sweat roll down my skin in thick salty beads and my clothes and hair clung to my skin. I could feel my heart throbbing inside my chest as I was wearing off. I was running through the hallway as I could now feel my feet giving away. Not much longer! I thought. I had to find a place to hide, else I was dead meat.

I barged into the first door that came into view. Anything to get away from Oliver Brown; is what I thought. But I would pick Oliver Brown any time of the day instead of what graced my view when I opened the door.

It was Eric Warnard. Peeing!

No! I am not a pervert. Nor was I desperate. But I hardly think any of that would matter now as I stood in the middle of the boy’s lavatory, staring at Eric Warnard peeing. And I saw it. A scene reserved only for those close enough to be confined in a room. I could see that I would forever be scared by the memory of it.

“Shit! What the Ooff!” He stumbled back while trying to zip his pants in haste and consequently hit his knee in the process. Ouch! That must’ve hurt. Not that I blame him, anyone would freak out when they find someone ogling at them as they are answering to nature’s call.

I stood there, petrified. And Eric Warnard stared back at me like I left all my sanity at home. Maybe I had.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He screeched.

“Eh..Err...it’s not what you think! I... I ...”

“Seriously! I know you are a stalker but to stalk a person to such lengths...something really must be wrong with your head,” He eyed me with pity, and that kind of ticked me off.

“I...I am not crazy!” I yelled and he raised a brow begging to differ.

Thumping of footsteps and Oliver Brown’s bellowing voice outside broke me of my stupor and I desperately looked around for a place to hide. Getting out of this place was out of the question now that the evil giant#OliverBrown was just around the corner and in a few minutes boys other than Eric Warnard would come in to find me slumped in the boys lavatory. What do I do! What do I do!

Eric looked at me in curiosity and then looked the way Oliver Brown’s bellows were hailing from; understanding dawned on him and he smiled. Not the kind of smile I dreamt of him, below the unmoving eyes was a wicked sneer that showed almost every tooth. I took a step back in fear as he spoke, “How about I help hide you.” And my eyes were as big as an owl’s in alarm. “Don’t look so shocked. I’m not helping you for free.”

“What do you want?” I couldn’t help but scowl. The guy was definitely planning something.

“Oh nothing you can’t offer,” He had a placid demeanor on, no care of the world. As if he knew I couldn’t refuse him. And he was right. What were my other options anyway?

“Okay!” I agreed begrudgingly. “What is your plan?”

A slow, cat-got-the-canary grin pulled at his lips as he said, “Nothing out of the ordinary. Just go sit on top of the toilet seat and lock the door.”

I could hear Oliver’s panting from inside. “Where is she? Where is she?" I heard him grumble.

“God! Your voice is so annoying it puts Helen’s to shame,” Eric chirped in and I couldn’t hold back a snicker. That was a good one.

“Huh?” I imagined Oliver frowning, probably confused?

“Forget I said anything. If I ever wanna kill myself I’d climb your ego and jump to your IQ,” I heard Eric sighing.

“Are you insulting me?” Oliver questioned.

“No I am describing you,” Eric retaliated much to my mirth.

There was a minute’s silence before Oliver Brown spoke again, “Anyways, have you seen a brunette in a pony tail running around here?”

“See what I mean?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that it’s better to let someone think you are an idiot than to open your mouth and prove it,” Eric groused.

“Are you making fun of me Eric? Who do you think you are, just because you are the sponsor’s son that doesn’t give you the right to insult me.” Oliver’s angry voice boomed throughout the bathroom walls.

Eric just sighed as if he had been through this cycle a million times over and said in a nonchalant tone, “I don’t insult people who don’t deserve to be insulted Brown. Because I can see that in your case brains are nothing, if they were something you would’ve realized that you can’t find a brunette in ponytails in the boy’s lavatory.”

“You could’ve said so in the first place,” Oliver grunted.

“Now where is the fun in that!” I could literally hear Eric smirking. I couldn’t deny that he had got Oliver good.

“YOU!” Oliver growled in fury and I could feel an impending fight brewing between them. I just didn’t know what I would do if they were to partake in the fight.

“Be careful now. Don’t push your luck Brown,” Eric still had his composed demeanor on, which was good.

“You won’t get away with this Warnard, I will see you later.” Oliver bit back as he withdrew.

“You should hope you don’t.” There was a threat in his voice that could even freeze the coldest of hearts. And I think Oliver Brown felt it too, because the boy retreated in bitter silence.

“You can come out now.” Eric said.

I poked my neck out to see if there was anyone other than Eric lurking around and then slowly came out of the toilet. “So, what do you want?” I asked the imminent question in hand.

There at the corner of his would-be somber lips, was a crease of amusement. A smirk that bloomed on his beautiful lips as he spoke, “I want you to play the piano for me.”

TO BE CONTINUED...