Chapter 27

Twenty Seven

"I'm sorry Jason" she whispered into the phone. It was a day after her argument with Colin

"What happened the other day? Who was that yelling at me?" He asked softly

"That's my boyfriend, he's too overprotective. Says you're a stranger and I..."

"That's okay, I understand all that too well. What did you say his name is?"

"Colin" He was silent for a while and Juana assumed he was distracted by something- probably typing on his laptop or cleaning his room, because those are the two things he did, at least the things he said he did, whenever she asked "what are you doing?" in their chats

"Hello did you hear me?" She said after some seconds of silence from his end.

"Yes. Colin what?" He sounded disappointed or maybe suspicious?

"Colin Haywood" she whispered. She had made sure Colin was not sneaking in on her this time. She did a double check around her window and room in case he was hiding.

"I'm sorry?" He asked with a shocked tone

"Why are you surprised? Do you know him? He's not quite popular so I don't think you do, he's more of a quiet, simple person. Maybe you..." He coughed before cutting in

"I don't know him...err...the name..his name..I mean his name is just nice"

"Oh thanks" Juana said but she did not believe him. She knew that moment that something was between the two young men; they knew each other, she was almost certain about that, and she needed to find out how, and why Colin hated him. She almost forgot she was on a call, until Jason cleared his throat at the other end.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked

"Nothing Jason"

"Do you still wanna see my face and hear the story?" He asked roughly

"Yes of course. Can I come over today?"

"If you don't mind me being high" he said and made a short laugh

"What?"

"Never mind. Do you still have my details?"

"Yeah. I'll call when I get there"

"All right" she hung up. Just then someone knocked on her door. She was so frightened she almost dropped her phone. Immediately her fear gave way to irritation and anger and she began to rant

"Colin what the hell is your problem? Why are you monitoring me? Just so you know, I don't appreciate you sneaking in on me and eavesdropping on my conversation, it's not cool. I already..." The sound of the door opening ever so slowly interrupted her rants. No one opened her door that way, not even her. She shifted her weight backwards a bit to survey what was going on before her.

"Hello? Who's there?" She found herself whispering and recoiling in fear. The door opened slowly and in a creepy way and she waited for someone to show their face.

"He..hellooo" she mumbled and craftily hid behind the door. Looking through the keyhole, she saw the stranger's figure faintly. He was grabbing the doorknob and making some sounds like someone who had been running many miles. He was panting heavily.

"Colin is that you? Are you okay?" She asked again but there was no reply. Swiftly and without warning, her door slammed shut in a matter of seconds. Juana blocked her eyes and rubbed her forehead. She was very scared. No one was home except her. She bent down near her desk and looked out the window but there was no sign of any stranger anywhere. She waited there for not less than ten minutes hoping the stranger would leave if she made no noise. After ten minutes, she tried to grab her phone on the desk without standing up and surprisingly, another hand stopped her from doing so. She screamed but the stranger covered her mouth.

"Why are you screaming?" He laughed. Juana turned towards the person. She recognized the voice, it was Colin.

"Why are you frightened? You left the front door open and I came in easily.." He laughed again. Juana angrily moved closer to him and slapped him hard on his face.

It shook him to the marrow.

"This prank is not funny. Try another" she said and hissed so loud that it surprised him.

"What prank?"

"You literally made me jump out of my skin just by stupidly hiding behind my door. Is that another method of protection?" She looked angry and scared

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said and Juana half expected him to laugh but he looked very serious.

"Stop lying Colin. I'm warning you strictly now and I ain't kidding- Don't you ever sneak on me anymore! You scare me, you annoy me. Just leave me alone, stop following me around in the name of protection, you're not God!"

"I'm sorry if touching your hand frightened you, but I swear I wasn't following you around" he said dropping his weight on her bed. Juana hissed loudly, and kept massaging her chest.

"I didn't play any prank"

"Then what do I call the slow opening of my door and hiding behind it, making panting sounds?" She asked with her hands akimbo.

"No I didn't do that. I have not been here for more than three minutes" he said shaking his head.

"Are you kidding me right now?"

"No I'm not. What did you see? Was it a man?" He asked. By now, he had forgotten about the slap that still hurt.

"I know it was you. You do things like that, so stop pretending" Juana said and began to wear a pair of shoes.

"I didn't. I'm damn serious right now"

"Are you saying there's a stranger in this house then?" She asked in disbelief. He just sighed.

"I've always known you were in danger. I suspect that someone out there is planning evil against you" he said

"You never suspect good things about me" Juana said, wearing a cap. She was grabbing a bag at the same time. In her mind, she wasn't sure whether Colin was the stranger or not. If he wasn't, who's he? And what does he want?

"Where are you headed?" He asked standing up.

"To the hospital to see granny" she lied "And you?" She quickly added so he won't detect the lie from her voice.

"I came here to give you something" he smiled.

"What?"

"A big hug" he said and it melted her heart. He tightly embraced her and rocked her from side to side.

"I'm sorry for slapping you earlier" she said quietly

"It's okay honey. We'll learn how to deal with your anger later" he said and laughed. They rocked and rocked for a while.

Just then, Juana heard the sound again. A sound of a man panting. Now she believed Colin. She quickly disengaged from his arms

"Are you okay?" He asked. He hadn't heard it and that alone made her think she might have been imagining it. But then the sound came again. Juana held him tighter.

"Listen..listen now, okay?" She whispered. They remained quiet and listened.

"There's a stranger here" he said but he didn't sound afraid at all, unlike her.

"He must have been running" he said

"Be quiet, Juana and I'll figure out what to do, okay?" She nodded

"Should I confront him or..." He whispered back

"No no don't, he might have a weapon" Juana's voice was teary. "Use your wisdom please"

So Colin quietly opened her window and told her ever so silently "Jump down, don't make a noise" She did as she was told, and Colin soon joined her outside. They walked away as fast as they could, with Colin promising to call the cops and seek help immediately. In no time, they were there at the house-the security men.

Baron arrived too because Colin called him. The CCTVs showed blankness; it was obvious that the stranger had turned away the security cameras to hide his face. The house was placed under tight security check and Juana was ordered by her father not to go there for the whole day. That gave her more confidence or more freedom to visit Jason.

His house address was an hour away, and Juana found it hard to find the place. She eventually got there after tirelessly travelling in commercial cabs. It was a cool, small lovely house and not so quiet. She saw some tough-looking dogs roaming outside the compound of the house. She was afraid but she pressed the doorbell. Someone answered from inside. It was Jason's voice