Ten

Ruby

It still haunted my mind how Bryan's face instantly wore a grim look. It made me want to somewhat agree with my friends about his scary personality.

But his expression change might not mean he is trying to keep an eye on me, that he thinks I know something.

Right?

Or, am I overreacting?

Groaning loudly, my face looking up at the sky afterwards, I soon began to regret telling Jake to drop me off three junctions away from my house.

I must look insane for talking to myself and wearing different thinking expressions while walking down the street.

But then... I should tell the police what I know, right?

I gave myself a small nod and soon stood straighter before resuming my steps. As I slung my bag over my shoulder, I assured myself, "I don't care if he goes to jail. He is not my friend. Why should I feel bad for him?"

"I must say, you look cute talking to yourself on the street."

I jumped to the side, absolutely startled at the masculine voice that sprung out of nowhere. When I looked to my side, a large, beautiful grin that belonged to no other person but the English substitute teacher greeted me.

Immediately wearing a frown, I adjusted my stance, squared my chin and asked, "Are you following me?"

"Why?" His hands went behind him in a way that gathered the flapping ends of his coat and he moved a step closer, his grin now a smirk. "Would you call me a stalker now?"

"Who knows, you can be both a pervert and a stalker. The two kind of go hand in hand."

"Hmm." His nose scrunched as he took another step and teased my nose with his unforgettable scent. "Sorry to disappoint you, Ruby Powers, I am neither. But, do you want to tell me why you are dramatically talking to yourself on such a lovely day?"

"Do you want to tell me what you are doing here?" My arms crossed after I asked my question. "I can't help but feel like I have been followed."

" Hmm." He wore another thoughtful look, his eyes darting here and there. "I have a question for you."

"I asked a question first," I retorted.

"Do you play the piano?" He easily avoided my question and I felt annoyed a bit. But I wasn't going to show it. I even hid my fisted hands behind me and gave him a small smile before giving him an answer in negative.

Musical instruments are not really my thing. I love listening to someone play them but doing it myself doesn't appeal to me. The violin lessons I used to take were just a distraction and a way to escape from home for some minutes, I really sucked at playing it.

"I see." The man interrupted my thoughts and took another step closer in a way that caused me to frown.

Does he intend to enter me? Or what's with the annoying body shift he keeps doing? As I took a step backwards to avoid colliding with him, he dropped a statement that made me feel crazy inside for a second. "I want you."

Like earlier, I found it hard to form my words and to make it worse, I began to feel hot like before. Argh! What is wrong with me? And why is this man dropping such heart-turning comments?

"I want you," he repeated.

"Uh?" I finally found a response.

His shoes scratched the cemented floor. His hands unclasped and fell to his sides. "That is the name of the piece playing. It is a message from a pianist whose name I have forgotten to a woman he liked."

It was at that moment it occurred to me that a fine tune had filled the air and it was most probably from a piano. How I didn't hear it made me wonder if I was that deep in thought.

"It does sound lovely," I gently commented as I craned my ears towards the direction of the tune. "It sounds sad yet beautiful."

"So what were you thinking about?"

I was about to give him another sassy reply when it occurred to me that I could ask him for a piece of advice. That is if he will be able to give one.

"I am in a fix."

"A fix?" He fell to my side and soon, we began to walk.

"There is something I know in relation to something crazy that happened recently. But I am worried that if I say it, I might be wrong."

"You don't think you might be right?" I looked up at him and shrugged. "If you are wrong or right, why does it matter? What matters is that you do your part and talk about whatever it is you know. Especially if it is related to something important."

Nodding my head slowly, I began to feel more at ease with my first decision. "Thanks, Mr. English teacher."

"You just love making me sound old, don't you?" He nudged me with his shoulder and I glared at him.

"Why are you following me again?" I asked.

"What?"

"You were following me, weren't you?" My brows questioned him even more. As he scratched the back of his head, I became certain that was the case. "What do you want from me?"

He wore a smile and I glared even more.

"You are a very fascinating lady and I would love to spend some more time with you." He halted his steps and I did too. "But I am afraid I have to go. I have reached where I live."

"Where?" My eyes scanned the buildings in sight and my wandering gaze eventually fell on the array of garbage bins behind us. "In the dumpster?"

"Oof." He clutched his chest as though in pain. "It hurts me that you'd think that way. But sorry to disappoint you, Ruby Powers. I live in one of the apartments here. If you don't believe me, feel free to come upstairs for a bottle of beer."

"I don't drink beer. And whatever. I wouldn't care if you lived in the sky. See you in class tomorrow, sir."

His laughter rang into my ears as I walked away with a proud gait and I felt my legs grow weak.

His laughter was so melodious and I am certain I make no sense. But that was how it was.

For a second, I was tempted to look back and take in his mesmerizing face again but I soon lashed at my distracted mind and faced my way home, my decision about Bryan finally stamped.

~

"Is that all you noticed, Ms. Powers?" The uniformed man seated opposite me with a blue-coloured lollipop in his hand asked.

I nodded in response. "I am aware it might be irrelevant, but it kept bugging me that she fell from the roof minutes after speaking to Bryan, so I had to say something."

"Irrelevant?" The man, who wore very shiny hair, chuckled and his chest vibrated. "What you have provided is as relevant as this lollipop which does a good job of keeping me from being bored."

"Okay?" My eyes narrowed as I couldn't shake off how weird his comparison is. "So, can I leave now?"

He shared a look with the woman beside him before nodding.

"I don't think we'll have more questions for you. So be rest assured we won't disturb you with calls." He chuckled again and I instantly felt annoyed.

Does he have to chuckle so much? That too at things that are not even a bit funny?

"In that case..." I got up and grabbed my bag, already feeling less burdened and very ecstatic about the movie night that was just hours away. "Thank you for listening to me."

"No." He chuckled again and my smile fell instantly. Yes, it gets on my nerve that much. "Thank you for helping the police."

As I walked out of the secretary's office, someone suddenly pulled my arm and forced me outside.

"What were you doing there?"

"Did you have to pull my arm that way, Abby?" I queried the lady beside me who was boldly wearing curiosity on her face. As I pulled my arm out of her hold, I asked, "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Please..." Her eyes rolled. "Don't be such a mother. I was passing by and I noticed you going into the admin's office, so I got worried. And that brings me to my real question, why on earth were you speaking to that lollipop dude?"

Trust Abby to come up with weird nicknames for people. I am surprised she doesn't have one for me yet.

"It was nothing really," I replied.

"Hmm." She eyed me from head to toe as though a hidden truth will pop out for an introduction. "Well, if you say so. When is your English class?"

"How do you manage to change topics so fast?" I asked instead.

"Answer the question, sweetheart."

It would be useless to argue with her. Mainly when she uses sweet words at the end of her statements, just forget about trying to argue with her.

"It is the last period. Why do you ask?"

" Here." She pulled out a book from the tote bag hanging down her left side. "When you are in class, I will come for this."

"Okay?" I frowned as I collected the book. "Any reason?" I asked again.

"Your teacher. The substitute..." Her legs drew closer and her eyes wore the intent to extract information. "Is he really gorgeous?"

I quickly shrugged to hide the true thing I felt when she asked her question.

"He has the looks," was my simple reply.

And his laughter is so melodious and he smells nice too.

Of course, I wasn't going to download all that to her.

Wearing a large grin, Abby patted me on the back and began to walk away. "I'll meet you and Jake at your place. Don't start the movie without me or I'll feed you with dog food."

"Ew."

Her head flung towards me and she gave me a wink before she resumed her model-like gait, leaving me to decide whether to go straight to the next class or get some air first.

I opted for the air option.

~

It was finally the last period and that meant movie night was barely hours away and I couldn't wait to do more talking and less watching whatever movie will be playing. I certainly can't wait for Abby's gist which is good to listen to as I chew on some seasoned chicken.

I really can't wait.

As I made for English class, the image of that man flashed through my mind and for some weird reason, I smiled. Hurriedly, as if someone cursed me, I shook my head to wipe the smile off. But once my face was back to normal, a large hand pulled my hand without warning and soon, I was dragging after a tall and obviously angry guy.

"Who are you?" I asked as I tried to resist the constant pull. "Where on earth do you think you are taking me to?"

Not a word came from the dude in front of me whose hair kept bouncing as he angrily pulled me along.

When we finally came to a stop, my questions and resistance stopped and I impatiently crossed my arms and waited for the person to turn.

When he finally did, my mouth slightly fell open. "Bryan?"

That he looked angry would be an understatement. He looked like he could crush a monster vehicle if he wanted to.

"How dare you?" He spat.

"Excuse me?"

"I thought we were friends." My frown deepened. "Friends don't tell on each other, but you..." Within a blink of an eye, he had one of my arms pinned above my head and his tall figure gloated over mine in a menacing way. "Why did you do it?"

It was no use pretending. I already knew what he was referring to. And I gave him a response. "I just told them what I observed. That's all."

"What you observed?" It could have been the trick of the light, but his face became redder and that made me worried... for myself. "Because of what you observed, they are saying I killed her."

"But you didn't, right?" I searched his eyes as though he would give me a response through the emotions he kept in his dark eyes. "If you didn't do it, you shouldn't be afraid of anything. You will be fine."

"Shut up!" He slammed his fist against the wall just right by my ear and I jumped. "They are going to take me to prison because of you. Because of what you observed."

"They won't if you are innocent."

"Who says I am innocent?" He suddenly asked, his glare hardening by the second.

Something dropped in my system. I felt listless instantly. " You- What are you trying to say?" My eyes blinked crazily as I tried so hard to keep calm. "Did- did you really kill her? Did you push her?"

"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. That's not the point here."

" Not the point?" I struggled to get my hand off his firm hold. "You are trying to say you did it, Bryan."

"Why?" His head tilted to the side as he wore a small smile that reeked of sinister acts. "Would you run to the police and tell them?" Soon, my other arm was above my head and Bryan's chest was almost kissing mine. "I dare you," he strongly said.

"U-Uh?"

"For telling the police what you saw, I am going to make sure I deal with you." My legs felt weak and my heart beat crazily in fear. "If you go ahead and tell them about this moment, I will make sure I double your punishment."

Smiling even wider, he leaned in and sniffed my neck in a way that strongly caused me great discomfort.

Then he continued talking with his face still against my skin. "I really hate to do this to you. But you are going to suffer for this. I promise you."