Rebirth: The Awakening Of A Witch (6 page)

Once
,
while I was staring at his back, the blonde girl who sat beside him
turned towards my direction and looked
at me. Unlike him, she didn’t shoot
daggers of hatred when we first laid eyes on each other. She did the exact opposite. She smiled warmly at me.
When she did that,
I couldn’t help smiling back.
Now why can’t he be like her
?

Out of nowhere
, something unusual happened. The girl blushed and abruptly turned
back her head
, facing forward. She elbowed Adrien on his side
as she hastily
turned her focus towards the mass
.

I almost scratched my head in complete wonder. That girl was the same one who accompanied him back at the restaurant. Do they have a relationship or something? They seem to be pretty close.

I immediately stopped my brain from continuing on with its train of thoughts. What do I care, anyway? I shook my head,
touching one of my temples
in the process.
My confusion must have clearly shown on my face, because Nana turned to
m
e with a worried expression on her face. I smiled, hoping to reassure her. She
returned the smile
and turned her attention back to the priest’s sermon.

I tried focusing on the mass after that but miserably failed.
In the end, I still kept on glancing at his back, and the nagging feeling of
curiosity
wouldn’t go away
. Then
when the
peace-be-with-you were exchanged, I saw him turn to the girl and g
i
ve her a light kiss on the cheek.
Yeah, that confirmed it
.

After that
incident
, I finally managed
to completely ignore them. I still wasn’t able to focus on the mass, because for some unexplainable reason I felt
my anger build
up
for him
.

That night, I finis
hed all my work in record time.
It’s amazing what the mind can do when you totally want to block out something awful
and disturbing—meaning Adrien Fields, of course—des
pite
its
unknown reason
s
.
As expected,
I slipped several times, but looking at
the
blue-
green collage of
a
masterpiece on the wall gave me
peace of mind
.
I sighed. That tree is magical, and my appreciation for it grew as I discovered its new use.
I think I overused its powers for that night, though, but it kept me sane anyway. So I guess it didn’t complain.

When I exhausted myself to satisfaction, I focused on preparing myself to bed, taking all the sweet time the world
ha
s
to offer
. I was about to climb on the
bed when my phone rang to the rock version of
Pachelbel’s
Canon
in
D.
That must be Anne
. I linked that ring
tone to her name
in my phone, because
we both love that version better tha
n
the original classic version.

“Hello?” I was curious
to know
why she’s calling me but glad for the added distraction.

“Hey, Girl!” she replied.
I rolled my eyes at the choice of
name
she called me. She clearly needed something. Not that I mind. I love helping my friends
out
. “Hey,
Anne.
Is something wrong?” I asked while climbing my bed and getting myself comfortable under the covers, my phone caught
in
between my cheek and shoulder.

“Nothing really,” she said, pausing a bit before continuing. “I just remembered
I didn’t get to ask you about that hottie transferee student yesterday.
”
I groaned. I didn’t expect that. I thought she would just let it go. Damn it, Anne. Stop being a keen observer who knows me too
well
,
and a damn genius who can’t seem to forget anything!

“So?” she said on the other line, prolonging the ‘o’ when I didn’t answer her right away.

“Okay, okay. Th
at day
he strolled into school wasn’t really the first time I saw him. He was at the restaurant the night before when we were having my birthday dinner.” I blurted out, not even pausing to breathe.
She would’ve forced that information out
of
me anyway. She
can be
that persistent
.

I didn’t mean to, but I got annoyed with her, and that rarely happens. It was all Adrien Fields’ fault. I hissed as I cursed him inside my head, stopping abruptly when I realized I was still on the phone.
I sighed. I think that was a little
too hars
h, blaming
him for Anne’s actions.

“Wait. How could you have seen him and
everyone else
at our table didn’t? Trust me. If a guy as hot as that would enter a restaurant with La Bella’s size, Jessica would’ve noticed right away,” she narrated. I huffed, blowing my bangs out of place in the process.

She was right, though. Jessica Carter would have noticed. It’s not that she’s a slut or something. She’s just great at spotting gorgeous guys. It’s like she has
a built-in radar
on her head
only for that sole purpose. It’s sort of
like an antenna
for hot guys
.

“Besides,” Anne breathed. “The restaurant was dimly lit that night. Sandy requested that from the manager because of the eye pains she’s been experiencing lately.” After she said that, I thought about it. She’s right about Sandy’s eye pains. I have heard her complain about it a few times before. But that doesn’t clearly explain why I was able to see Adrien that night. I was also positive that they’ve seen him, too. I mean, he was right there.

That’s just silly. I shrugged
off
further thoughts on the subject. “I don’t know. Maybe Jess is sharing her radar powers with me,
w
hich I’m very much fine without,
e
specially when it comes to that…
that
guy,
” I replied and h
eard her laugh at
the other end
of the line
, irritating me more.

“Sky, I was sitting right next to you at Physics class, you know… And I have to say,” she started, obviously pausing for dramatic effect. “You guys look cute together
!
”
S
he burst out, making me pull the phone away from my left ear. I felt my face warm up just
because of
what
she shared
.
I never thought that I’d ever be this annoyed with Anne.

This is the first time
she
has
made a comment about me and a guy like that
.
She was fully aware that I
have
n’t ha
d
a boyfriend
my entire life
. I just didn’t fe
el like I was into dating much, and I didn’t see any
of my
guy friend
s
in that manner
.
I guess I just looked for a
certain kind of
connection
,
the same one that my parents had
with each other
,
but that never came. So I just
waved
t
he thought
of a boyfriend
off.

Great. I was so set on forgetting everything about Adrien Fields’ disturbing presence and here comes my best friend, shouting about the guy on my ear.
I shook
my
head and clicked my tongue.
This had to stop before I directed my anger on the wrong person.

“Okay, Anne. Listen, I’m
honest
ly tired from all our homework. So, as much as I would like to discuss this topic right before bedtime, I really like to catch some sleep,” I hurriedly said, not allowing her to sneak a word in, which I’m sure she was itching to do.

I heard her sigh on the other line. “Okay, Sky. I’ll see you on Monday then.” She finally gave up
for now.

“Love you,” I said and quickly ended the call before she changed her mind. I sighed and placed my phone inside the drawer of my bedside table.

For a nerdy girl, Anne was surely a unique case. I shook my head and finally gave in to the welcoming heaviness of my eyelids. I closed my eyes and
happily
blocked all thoughts of Adrien Fields and his
disturb
ing
silver
eyes.

“Hey,” Nick called out to me. It was Monday
,
and we were now behind the school gym where the dressing lounges were located. “Hey,” I called back as he stopped right in front of me. I was standing
right
at the
entrance
of the female dressing lounge and was about to
go in
when he walked up to me.

“Be careful out there. I know you’re not very good at sports,” he spoke
with
a mischievous expression on his face.

My best friends have always known of my clumsiness when it comes to sports, and volleyball was not an exception. In fact, it was my third least favorite. Dodgeball and baseball were top two on my list. I just hate activities that involved running and balls.
I tend to surprise everyone by tripping on my own two feet in a completely level
ed
surface.

I sighed. “Thanks. I’ll try my best to live,” I rolled my eyes and joined him as he laughed. Everyone was used to my clumsiness
,
so they all did their best to steer clear of me
or help me up when I’ve already fallen flat on the ground.

We continued on making small talk when that familiar aura enveloped me again. I noticed Nick stiffen in front of me.
His eyes slowly turned to something behind me. “Don’t look now but that new guy’s here,” he
muttere
d
under his breath, never
glancing
at me. He was still
star
ing
intently i
n th
at
same direction.
He clenched his jaw, and I just had to turn around to look at what caused his annoyance. Just when I turned, I almost bumped into someone. I looked up and was about to apologize when I saw his
silver
eyes
throw an intent stare
. Not at me, though. He was looking at someone behind me—Nick.

I
suddenly felt someone’s hand on my elbow, pulling me softly but firmly behind. “Sky,” Nick said in a controlled voice. I turned to him then, bewilderment clear on my
fa
ce. He didn’t look at me and just continued on staring Adrien Fields down. “Go in and change,” he stated. “I’ll see you at the gym,” he looked at me then, and his
face
softened a bit only to
turn back into that angry express
ion when he again stared back at
Adrien.

Then I felt Adrien stiffen on my other side.
And the tension between the two of them suddenly built up.
Oh, hell no! I groaned and looked at Nick, touching him on his arm before he
did
something
inappropriate
and get himself in trouble.

“It’s alright, Nick.” I said in a calm and soothing voice. “I actually have something to talk about with Adrien…about Physics,” I said, shrugging and wondering what on earth made me say that.
I would have gladly followed Nick’s instructions and come barging into the lounge
,
just so he could beat the crap out of Adrien.