Chapter 11

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The entire day passed by in a train of thought, the entire student body of Carmel acted like the freaking paparazzo's and stalked after me most of my classes, I caught some sneaky one's standing outside the lavatory.

No Shit.

I was sure there were hidden cameras and mikes somewhere beneath those pile of books they carried around. Rumor in Carmel was worse than yellow fever, I hadn't acknowledged any species that apparently walked, talked or gossiped but by the end of the last hour, I was a victim of a major controversy and supposedly the 'Girl' who made it to the Top page of the Carmel newspaper. Wow, it took me a month and an affair with the professor to get my popularity up and moving. I had no doubt I'd killed some of Chez's popularity. While in the midst of everything, Nina seemed oblivious to all the controversy and stayed within the four walls of the dorms in hopes of missing a test which unfortunately for her, was postponed to the day after.

****

Nina caught up with me the next day; inside the university lawn and outside the university building. The usual basketball team, (why do they even attend regular classes is beyond my understanding) were passing us as in 'me' the 'you're an Outcast' glare which I ignored with the same intensity. If I could freakin' face The Dean and still manage to survive, these douches were close to nothing in comparison.

It was almost awkward, when Nina decided to poke me in the back while I was too preoccupied. She pushed the bag pack over her shoulder, though I hadn't seen it slip and smiled at me, almost forcefully.

"Is it true, what I heard?" was the first thing that spewed from her mouth, not even a simple 'Hi'. And I thought I deserved better.

"Depends on what you've heard?"

Apparently, there were a lot of different stories plaguing Carmel University, the general theme being 'The forbidden love affair between Mr. Masters and Alana.'

"You know what I'm talking about, Alana. I just want to know what's wrong." she pulled out a snickers bar, took a large bite.

"Well, didn't Chez fill you in?"

She pressed her lips in frustration, "No, he didn't, and I never asked him. Can we not talk about Chez? He is the last person I want to talk about."

Something was so wrong; she never gave me a chance to speak. "Why didn't you tell me, Alana?"

"Tell you what?" a quick scan of the people under ear-shot, I lowered my voice, "the fact that I slept in Rowan's bed, or that I was letting him use me in exchange for a grade A?"

Nina closed her eyes, "I don't believe any of that. I know you're not capable of getting used."

My eyes wide, the size of an anime characters eyes "What do you mean?"

Was she questioning my sex appeal?

She pulled out her palms, "Not what you're thinking, I mean you wouldn't let anyone use you because you're smart and intelligent and definitely recognizes the perv eye and Mr. Masters never struck me as that. Uh-uh. Not once."

She was trying so hard to make the atmosphere lighter and I was relieved to know that she believed me but I still didn't want to speak of the truth. Well, it was time I rip off the old band-aid.

"I love him." there was no pressing the backspace after this.

Nina stared back at me, "I know."

"You do?"

"Yeah."

"How?"

"It is tattooed across your forehead."

I shoved her playfully with my book. "Since when?"

"Since you decided to show me the 'I'm dating a guy from another university' card"

She seemed offended, there was no doubting it.

"I'm sorry. I lied to you, I lied to Chez.." no matter how much I wanted to hold back my tears, they just started to stream down my face without me realizing, "I'm really so sorry Nina, but I couldn't tell you the truth. This wasn't just about me; I never wanted you to think I'm some whore pulling cheap tricks on the professor...I... "

She put a finger on my lips, "Enough. It's not your fault."

"What do you mean?" she handed me a pack of Kleenex.

"I'd do the same if I were you, besides, the professor's hot. What's not to like." That brought a smile on my face.

I tried to stir the conversation to a Rowan-free zone, "so...what's going on between you and Chez?"

She frowned, bit her lip and waved her hand the way you do while shooing a few flies, "I'd rather not talk about him."

"Has he been nominated as the king of douches yet?"

Nina pulled out another bar of snickers, those snicker bars were her way of overcoming a Chez related depression, "yeah, even worse."

I patted her back, "I'll try to minimize the douchness. I got your back."

Nina waved at me as she made her way towards the block 'C'. I was headed straight towards my class, normally I'd get a glimpse of Rowan in the hallways and we would exchange greetings but today there was no Rowan. I pulled out my cellphone and dialled his number, it rang. Rang some more and went straight to voice mail. Darn it. I typed a message..

R u not cumin 2 uni 2day?waiting to see you. Luv u.

A single tear dropped on the screen of the phone, I wiped it clean with the side of my denim. I called again, and it transferred to voice mail all over again. I jabbed the phone back in my pockets with a loud 'screw you!" that earned me a few death glares with a 'shush'.

Was pressing the answer button such a hard task? I told myself over and over that he must be busy with school papers or stuck in another committee related meetings but as much as my heart wanted to go with the lilies and daises, my mind wanted to go with the devil who repeatedly told me he wasn't coming back.

Maybe he thought I wasn't good enough for him?

I stopped by the cafeteria just so I could have a few sips of the poisonous coffee—again, the shitty poisonous coffee pulled my wrong strings and evoked a sense of déjà vu. Frustrated, I dumped the remains in the nearest dumpster. I was heading out of the cafeteria when I bumped into Chez who, I assumed was heading towards his art class.

"Hey." He waved at me with his index finger.

"Wait a second Romeo."

He stopped dead in his tracks. If he thought he was going to survive the Alana investigations, boy he was so wrong. Maybe he would survive the tsunami attack, not me.

"What did you say to Nina?"

His forehead formed a crease, "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"Well, I hear you acted like a genuine dick towards her."

He snorted, "I don't know what you're talking about Alana. She's been acting strange. In fact she's been treating me like shit and I'm not sure why."

"What did you say to her?"

"That again?" he scratched his head with the back of his brush. "Last time I actually spoke with her, which was before she began to pull the 'your-not-visible-to-the-naked-eye' crap on me, it was after classes on Saturday. I showed her my new painting and she just flipped, said it was the last time she spoke with me."

Wait, what? I sucked at playing CSI, but I needed to know what the hell the deal was about.

"Just like that?" something smelled like deep shit.

"Yeah." he flexed those tired artistic muscles.

I pointed towards the large canvas he held, "that one's new?"

"Oh yeah." he turned the canvas around to show me and lifted a thin paper veil off it showcasing a beautiful painting, and supposedly the reason to get Nina mad.

"Was this the painting you showed to Nina?"

"Yeah." Chez said, proudly, "Wonderful isn't it? Ms. Lewis told me she wants to use this in the upcoming college exhibition. She said this one's the best. Cool, right?"

"Are you out of your fucking MIND?" he was taken aback by the intended venom in my words.

I glanced at the painting again, nothing wrong in it. It was indeed the best and totally art gallery worthy, but the pretty curvy woman on the bed, sans clothes with a single blanket covering her front was all kinds of Wrong.

"Who is she?"

"A woman."

"Who is the woman you shitface?"

"Like I would know, some woman called Lillian I met that other day."

"So now, your new hobby is to paint woman you sleep with, can't get any creative huh?"

He sighed, "I never slept with her, Lillian is a prostitute I paid to model for my painting. I don't see any offense in a beautiful woman, just look at her. Didn't Leonardo Di Caprio draw pretty naked woman in Titanic? No matter how many times we watched that movie you kept saying he was talented, then why criticise me?"

"Chez Simmons," he was testing my patience; I tapped my foot in hopes of decreasing my blood pressure. "Do you understand the difference between reel and real? If you don't, then I might as well, remind you. You are NO Leonardo Di Caprio, she is NO Kate Winslet and this is No freakin' Titanic. Get it?"

He spared me a confused glance, how much more thick could he get?

"What do you suggest I do?"

"Apologize to her."

He pushed his duffle bag over his large shoulders, "why exactly do I need to do that?"

"Because you've been acting like a douche."

Still clueless, he turned to leave—walked a few steps and stopped short, "Alana, are you getting expelled?"

I hadn't seen that one coming, "Believe me, I've been asking the question myself."

We parted ways without another word.

****

Five torturous days later, I was damn sure Rowan was on some serious 'Alana ditch-mode' during the time that I ate, slept, walked to university and back to the dorms—all I did was think and by the last hour of the fifth day, I wanted no more of this.

'I'll make everything right baby, I promise'

Those words kept haunting me day and night, where the hell was he?

The day Rowan disappeared behind the hellish doors of the Dean's office, it was the last time I saw him. He never turned up for his regular lectures, nor did I see him in his office. I called his cellphone just so I could hear his voice, even if it meant listening to the voice mail. Yeah! I know, I am starting to sound like a love sick bitch. The name plate that hung over his office was also removed, it felt like he never existed. Although I maintained a brave front, I was beginning to fall apart so I decided to do some research of my own.

I knocked the former Mr. Masters and the present Ms O'Hara's' office door.

"Come in."

I stepped in, and closed the door behind me, Ms O'Hara, the wannabe goth guitarist accidently turned mathematics teacher beamed at me, "so what brings you here, Alana?"

How do I do this, without arousing suspicion or getting my ass kicked?

"I'm just curious as to why Mr. Masters haven't been showing up lately."

"Blunt as ever, aren't you, Ms. Hayes?" Ms O'Hara said good naturedly, her eyes did a humorous dance. "Mr Rowan Masters has resigned."

Resigned.

Resigned?

The word kept ringing in my ear like a freakin' alarm bell.

I needed an ear bud, "excuse me?"

"He resigned from the job." a pause later she continued, "I'll be your new acting economics teacher until they find a replacement."

My breath got hitched in my throat, though I managed to ask. "Why?"

"I'm not aware of the details, Ms Hayes, but it's definitely not a forced decision, as far as what I've heard—Rowan was given a choice."

"I—I need to...get..going."

I stormed out of the office in a brewing rage; hoping that guy would be ready for some taekwondo kick on his ass. The situation was worth cutting class. Without any further ado I walked out of the university grounds and made my way towards the general direction of the Professors apartment.

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