Chapter 17: Why

KIX:

After staring at the piece of paper Jade had given me, I decided to write her back and pass it to her when Professor Armond wasn’t looking.

She looked shocked when I passed it towards her, but despite the hard glare she gave me, she took the letter from my hands.

As soon as her fingers brushed at the back of my hand, I felt a giddy jolt of electricity pass through me. I grinned even harder despite of myself.

I watched as she unfolded the letter and read through its content. Her face took a horrid look after starring at it for a long time.

I watched her expression in amusement. My shy and timid Jade was showing more emotions now as she looked at my letter… She had really come so far after high school...

Now that I had said what I needed to say, I looked back at the teacher and listened in earnest to what he tried to discuss in class. After all, I really did spend some money buying the necessary credentials and pulling some strings so that I could transfer in this particular school and class. Getting a diploma is not so bad after all as long as I could stay alongside my mate.

Maybe this time, Jade and I could finally have a better ending that the one we had in high school…

Soon, my most favorite part of the day came – lunch time. I enthusiastically turned to Jade as the bell rang.

She didn’t look at me, but I knew what she was thinking at that moment.

Just then, that Liam guy from earlier came towards our seat.

“Come on, let’s eat,” he said.

I looked at how he smiled flirtatiously at my Jade. I could tell that they were close but not quite the same way that we were before. What was his business with her then?...

“Um, I’ll catch up with you and the gang later… I got a message from our college advisor. I have to show Mr. Sarmiento around the campus.”

“Huh, why didn’t Ms. Reyes message me,” that Liam guy asked in surprise.

“Um, maybe she figured that the class president is already too busy. Besides, it’s so much better to get a tour from our lovely vice president here, don’t you think,” I butted in dryly.

Jade gave me a hard look, but I didn’t mind. I hated the guts of this Liam guy the moment I saw him.

No, I take that back. I hated him the moment I heard Jade utter his name.

“I’ll be back. Give me ten minutes. Save me a seat at the canteen,” Jade quickly said to him.

“Yes, we’ll see you later,” I said as I strode away with my lovely Jade in tow, leaving behind the pathetic face of that Liam guy.

My heart felt so happy as I walked with Jade. Of course I know she’ll come with me this lunch time. After all, that’s the request I have written in my letter earlier.

“I’LL KEEP OUR RELATIONSHIP A SECRET IF YOU DO ME A FAVOR LATER AT LUNCH TIME. I MISS YOU…”

When we were in high school, we used to send a lot of notes to each other. I had a box full of notes from her which we passed in between classes. Sadly, my mother discovered it and had it burned away. She also went as far as to ransack Jade’s house just so they could steal the proofs of our relationship…

I shook away those damned thoughts. Those were in the past now. What’s important is the present, which I could use to make better and brighter memories with Jade...

I followed her silently as we walked through the crowd. I had to walk closer with her as we squeezed through all the students in the hallway.

“Where are we going,” I asked her.

“Just follow me,” she replied irritably.

I followed her through several flights of stairs. When we reached the topmost floor, she opened the door of the fire exit and led me into it.

“You – why are you doing this? Why did you come here of all places,” she said as she spun around to face me.

It was a bit cramped in the fire exit. I had to stand just a few inches away from Jade, who smelled so good that it was making it awfully hard for me to resist her.

“I am here on a mission, and I really wanted to see you too,” I said quietly. I fixed my hands into my pocket. She was just within an arm’s reach, and our closeness was tempting me to touch her, but I know she wouldn’t like it…

I can still remember how she trembled as I clutched her arm after she stabbed me several years before. In her eyes back then, I looked like a monster, and in her mind’s eyes, she was worst that me. I couldn’t bear for her to look back at me with those cruel eyes again… Not yet and not ever.

“What kind of mission is it? If it doesn’t involve me, then stay out of my way and just ignore me. Got it?”

I smiled. My shy and timid Jade was feistier now. It made my chest swell with pride.

“No, can’t do,” I said, “I have to be close to you to fulfill that mission. Plus, I don’t know anyone but you in this school. Won’t you be so kind as to help a newbie out?”

“Look, I don’t know what it is, but can you just stay away from me as you do whatever that mission was? I’d rather that we go do our own thing and pretend that we don’t know each other until everything is finished,” she irritably exclaimed.

I smiled. I’d rather see my Jade irritated towards me than to see her hate me… This was good.

“Sorry, no can’t do. My mission involves you. I need you to be able to fulfill it.”

“Then, what is that damned mission, Kix? What made a newly appointed CEO like you come back to school and harass me again?”

My eyebrows shot up in the air. How did she know I just got promoted to the CEO position in the company? So, she was keeping tabs about me, I see…

I felt a little bolder. I stepped towards her and gently clasp her arms in my hands.

“I went back here because I needed to protect you…”

“Protect me? From what?”

“That latest murder victim – you saw her die right,” I said, my grip becoming tighter around her shoulders. “I know you saw her, and I’m afraid that whoever that murderer was, he may come back and hurt you, and I just won’t sit still and let all of that happen…”

Finally giving in to the utmost desires of my heart, I pulled her closer into my chest and embraced my lovely Jade.