Stout Little Heart

Chapter 8

And vanish I did. Only for a day. Hah! Luckily, it was a Friday when I passed out and I woke up on a Saturday inside Len's room so I spent the whole Sunday moping around in my room. You may be wondering how come my parents didn't punish me for "disappearing" for a night. Well, thanks to Meiko, I got out of that. She told my parents that I'm having a sleepover at their house. She knew about Len's little escapade and to my annoyance, she agreed to help him excuse me for a night. Because of that, I didn't talk to her for a whole day. Gaaaah, damn them. What do they think of me, a guinea pig in an experiment?

Well, you certainly look like one, my mind said. Pssshh… you're just my mind, why would I get angry at you?

Monday morning, while walking to school, Meiko caught up with me to say sorry. I forgave her. What's the point of delaying? It would just lead to forgiveness anyway. Plus, I can't ignore my best friend forever. So with a hug, we reconciled and walked to school happily.

"So…. Tell me about Len's home. Is it big?" Meiko inquired.

"Well," I thought about the closet and the bathroom. "Nope."

"What?" She replied, clearly disappointed.

I smiled. "It's HUGE. From what I observed from the room alone." I shrugged.

"Room? So you didn't have the chance to explore every corner of it?"

"No, I didn't." I answered quietly.

Silence ruled. We walked quietly all the way to school. I knew she sensed something was wrong but I didn't bother explaining it. She would understand.

When we arrived at school, I noticed something was different. I don't know but it seems the students were avoiding me. Yeah, they're always avoiding me but now, they seem avoid me more. The girls are giving me rude glances as if to say I don't belong here. I tried to ignore them but then a girl approached me, slapped me hard and said. "You slut!" and walked away. I stood there speechless. Did she just call me a slut? What did I do?

Meiko beside me whispered, "Maybe they knew already that you slept at Len's house and made up some stories about it."

"But.. but.. nothing happened!" I shrieked. Hell, why are people so malicious?

She shrugged and started towards the lockers. I followed her, aware of all the people whispering and looking at me, but I didn't care. Let them think what they want to think!

I was placing my books inside my locker when I heard a sob somewhere near. I looked around and saw Miku looking at me accusingly. Gakupo was beside her, his arms around her. I expected my heart to hurt but surprisingly, it didn't. Maybe I didn't love him at all.

"Hey slut! How dare you steal my boyfriend!" Miku said and raised her hand as if to slap me. I closed my eyes and waited for her hand to touch my cheek but it didn't come. Instead, someone touched my hand and squeezed my hand. I opened my eyes and saw Len holding Miku's wrist.

"Stop it Miku! Leave Rin out of this!" Len said, his muscles tensed. The crowd was staring to gather around us.

Miku stood there in awe. "How dare you Len?" Len smirked at her and released her.

"You better watch out Miku. You don't know who you're messing up with." He warned her and walked away, dragging me with him. In that very same moment, the bell rang and the students spread out, hurrying towards their first class. Meiko glanced at me, her eyes apologetic. I nodded back and smiled. It seemed to calm her and she made her way towards her first class.

Meanwhile, Len doesn't seem to have any plans of attending his first class. I stopped. He looked at me with questions in his eyes. I scoffed at him.

"Don't you have any plans of attending your first class?" I said, annoyed.

"Not now. The gossips are still too raw." He replied.

"You need to Len. My future depends on you." I pleaded. Shocks, this is embarrassing.

He seem to think over what I said and then sighed. "Okay. Let's go. What our first class?"

"Physics." I answered quietly, aware of the warmth of his hand.

He smiled. "We do really need to attend that class."

We walked back to our first class hand in hand. It felt right. I sighed inwardly.

"So, the two lovebirds managed to attend our class." The teacher greeted us when we arrived the room. "Please be seated. The class will begin in," He looked at his wristwatch. "5 minutes."

We took our usual seats, ignoring the looks our classmates gave us. By the time my butt hit the chair, whispers started to buzz. I focused my mind on what the teacher was talking about. I need to ace this subject. All subjects. Damn, I still need to tutor Len. I sighed. I looked at the teacher again, absorbing what he was saying.

I was already engrossed in listening when something hit me. I looked down and saw a crumpled paper. I picked it up and looked around, finding who threw it. Inside, it says:

Hey slut! You don't know who you're messing up with. Let's see who the tougher gal is now. Meet me at the park, 4:00 sharp. See you there pig-faced slut.

I looked behind me and saw Miku smiling. I nodded towards her to indicate I accepted her challenge. She looked at me blankly and stared at the teacher once again.

After that little exchange, I hardly can focus on anything. I keep on thinking what the challenge is. Even Meiko noticed my absentmindedness but she dismissed it as a temporary case. She talked nonstop over lunch and it really did help me. It gave me time to think and analyze things.

Last subject. I fidgeted in my seat biting my nails nervously, an indication that I'm getting impatient already. I looked at my watch, 3:45 PM. Last class ends at 3:50 PM. Almost. I took a deep breath then tried to concentrate to what the teacher was saying. I looked at my watch again. 3:48 PM. Two minutes more. I bit my nails harder. After a while I looked at my watch again. 3:49:10 PM. Ten.. Nine.. I counted inside my head. Five.. Four.. Three.. Two.. One..

RIIIIIIIIIIING!

I hurriedly gathered my things and made my way towards the door. Before going out the door completely, Len called me.

"Hey Rin! You're gonna tutor me right? When and where will me meet?" He asked.

I looked at him. "Uhm.. uhm.. 5:00, my house. That's okay?" I asked.

He beamed at me. "Great. You want to grab some snacks?"

I hesitated. "Uhm.. I'm really in a great hurry right now. Maybe later okay?" I said.

His smiled dimmed a little. "Okay. See you there then."

"Okay, bye." I waved at him and ran.

I reached the park, panting. I looked at my watch. 5:00 sharp. Right on time.

"So, you did manage to come." A voice spoke. I turned around and saw Miku. I shrugged.

"What's the big deal?"

"I thought you were going to chicken out." She laughed mockingly.

"Me? Chicken out? Hah! As if." I laughed without amusement.

"Okay then. Let's get started. Boys." She said, looking behind her as if talking to someone.

Right then, two big-bodied males came out of the shadows. They both looked threatening. They advanced towards me. Holy cow. They're going to kidnap me!

Miku laughed devilishly. "Hah! Let's see how tough you are! Get her boys!"

I ran as fast as I can. But they were faster and much stronger. One grabbed me from behind and held me. The other one placed a hanky on my nose. I struggled but it was a hopeless case. I felt my vision dim and my strength fading. Before darkness took me, I heard Miku laugh devilishly. Len… I whispered before blacking out…