The Ghost in the Store room...

Gathering my courage, hoping that

it’s just a stick or something in the building, I looked back. I was astonished

to see Jiang there. He was trembling with fear. He held me by my shoulder so

tight. I could see his frightened eyes. I never expected him to be afraid of

dark.

“Jiang, are you okay?” I asked

him.

“Can you please not let me go? I

beg you” he pleaded. ‘Oh, he speaks!’ I smirked.

“Let me switch the lights on” I

said removing his hands from my shoulders.

“No. Please don’t. I will follow

you to the switch board” he held me by my waist this time sending a shiver down

my spine. I couldn’t do anything but to let him follow me.

I looked at all the walls and

finally found the switch board at a corner of the room. ‘Why did they fix the

switch board in a corner? Weird’ I thought to myself. I walked to the corner,

and he followed me, still clinging to my waist. ‘What a kid! Puff’ I smiled and

turned the lights on. He was still holding me, his eyes closed.

“Uh, Jiang? Now you can open your

eyes” I said, flushed. He opened his eyes and looked around. He confirmed that

the lights were on. Then he suddenly realized that he was still touching my

waist. He took back his hands and apologized.

“Ahem, I am so sorry for what

happened just now. I am Zhao Jiang. May I know your name?” he asked, a little

hint of redness in his cheeks. ‘Oh, now he’s asking my name too! What a great

change’

“I am Xiao Wang li, your class

monitor. You can call me Wang li” I told him and extended my hand to shake

hands. He ignored me and put his hands in his pockets. Again. I was angry. So,

I retrieved my hand and looked around. The room was huge. Though it was an old

building and had a smaller number of cupboards, they arranged things very well.

Sports equipment to the left side of the entrance and several school supplies

including uniforms, chalks, notebooks, markers, dusters, spare bulbs, a small toolbox

with spanners, screw drivers, cutting pliers, screws, and nuts of different

sizes in it. I walked to the cupboards and picked out the uniform for him based

on the size he mentioned in the form. Even if I hadn’t seen it in the form, I

could still tell what his size was. I blushed at the thought of his figure in

my head, imagining him walking towards me. ‘What’s wrong with me?’ I was never

like this before. I always stayed away from any kind of romantic relationships.

I gave the uniform to him and asked him to try it showing him the way to the

restroom. He went in to change. I went into deep thoughts in the meantime. Then

it occurred to me that I lost the one and only chance to get to know him a few

moments ago.  ‘Xiao Wang li, you are such

a log head!’ I cursed myself. He changed into his uniform, and I asked him to

go out first. I switched off all the lights inside and drew the curtains

properly and left the building. We walked towards the school ground with the

forms still in my hand. We walked through the ground, and I showed him the

basketball court, football court and introduced him some of the best players in

the school. We went to the swimming area and then to the garden. The garden was

very cool, thanks to the thick cover of trees we have. There were bushes full

of flowers and butterflies revolving around them analyzing which flower to suck

the nectar from.

“Here is the garden. This is one

of my favorite places in school” I told him with stars in my eyes.

“Why do you like the garden?” he

asked without looking at me.

‘What’s his problem?’ I screamed

internally. But I composed my face and answered him with a smile. “Because it’s

peaceful and I like the nature. Sometimes I wish I were a butterfly.”

“But butterflies are stupid I

think” he said without any hesitation. He wore the same cold expression which

he had in the class, in the storage room, in the office, in everywhere. I

nodded and smiled awkwardly not knowing what to do. If it were someone else, I

would have debated about why I like butterflies and I would have won. He is

dangerous for me. He makes me nervous. Nothing made me nervous since the last

time. I shuddered at the thought of it. I didn’t want to think about unpleasant

things. I shook my head and told myself ‘Wang li, concentrate on what you are

doing. You have already gotten over it. You have moved on. Once you have

decided to live your life like nothing happened, you must live up to it. Think

about something pleasant.’

The bell rang indicating it was

lunch time. My stomach rumbled taking me into the real world. Well, to think

about something pleasant, it’s always about food for me. Gosh, I forgot that he

was still with me. It was so embarrassing. I looked at him. Was he smiling!? I

think he was trying hard to hide his smile. His lips curved up a bit and his

eyes fixed on my face. He was staring at me. For some reason, I felt

uncomfortable. I worked as a model for several brands. What’s creepy about

being stared at? Many eyes were on me when I walked the ramp. But he is making

me feel butterflies in my stomach with every slight movement of his. I turned

my face away from his gaze.

“Shall we go and grab some

lunch?” I asked, redness all over my face.

“Okay! Lead the way please” he

said.

I lead him to the school canteen

as he followed.

“How is our school? You are going

to spend nearly 8 hours daily for a whole year here. What do you think? Are you

excited?”

“Not bad. A bit too old of

buildings. I think I can survive.”

“That’s all?”

“What else?”

‘Weirdo’

“Anyways, why did you transfer from

your school?”

“What? You are not happy for me

to be in this school?” he smirked at his own sarcasm.

“No. I didn’t mean that. I was

just curious about why you had to transfer, given your excellent academic

record. The school you were in before is an excellent one. Better than Qingbao

I guess.”

“I just wanted a change. I can’t

stay in a place for more than a year unless I get attached to it.”

“What about your parents? They

move with you too?”

His face turned serious. I

wondered if I have pushed the wrong buttons. “My parents died in a flood when I

was a kid. I lost everything in that calamity.”

“Oh…! I am sorry about that” I

apologized immediately.

“You don’t have to be sorry. It

happened a long time ago. It doesn’t affect me anymore. Since then, I decided

to move and live on my own. It’s been hard. But now, I have a scholarship.”

At that moment, I realized the

pain behind his cold look. “Have you made any friends yet?” I changed the topic

afraid that I would hurt his feelings.

“Aren’t we friends yet?” he

smiled. My heart started to beat faster. How did he do that? How can he make me

go out of control?

“Yeah. We are” I smiled back.

Meanwhile, we reached the canteen and went inside. The whole place was crowded

with the students coming and going, eating, chatting, and shouting. “What do

you want to eat? I will get it for you. Let me treat you today as we became

friends”, I told him.

“Are you not waiting for anybody?

Like, your friends are not joining you?” he asked me with a surprised look on

his face. He probably has thought of me having a large group of friends.

“No. Not really. I have one best

friend. He is absent today. Anyway, I have you now” I said promptly and turned

away from his gaze again. His eyes were penetrating. What is he doing? He is

cold for one instance and friendly in the other.

“Okay then. Let’s go together to

get our food” he said, and we walked to the buffet. I filled my plate with

almost every item cooked in the kitchen for lunch. On the other hand, he just

took soup and some vegetables.

“I said it’s my treat. Have some

more” I said as I put more items in his plate.

“Okay. If you insist” he tilted

his head a bit and nodded. Gosh! How can he be so handsome? I put meat and

yoghurt into his plate. He saw me staring at him and looked away. I think he is

flushed. I would really love to see his shy face. But sure enough, he hid it

well.

”” Would you like some drinks?””

we both said at the same time. I giggled.

“So, what would you like to

drink?” I asked him, still smiling.

“Orange juice would do”

“Alright, I would get it for you.

Let’s choose a place to sit first” I said and walked away from the buffet with

a very heavy plate in my hand. He followed me like an obedient puppy. It was

cute. We sat in the right most corner of the canteen since it was the only

empty table.

“Wait here for me. I would get

the drinks” I said putting down my plate.

“Then sorry to trouble you” he

said. He is too polite. I went all the way back again and returned with an

orange juice bottle in one hand and a milk shake in the other. I walked up

straight until I noticed him watching me. He’s watching me walk all the way.

That made me nervous, and my clumsiness acted upon right in the moment. I was

two tables away from our seats when I slipped. I was about to fall and hit the

girl sitting at the table beside me and ruin her perfect date with her

boyfriend. Her boyfriend looked like a nerd who only cares about studying and

nothing else. If I really ruin her date, it will take ages to get this guy out

of his study universe again. Oh my god! Please help me.

“Aah” I closed my eyes by reflex.

But I didn’t fall. Someone held me like a hero holds a heroine in a drama. I

peeked through my eye lashes to see who saved me from falling.

“When would you accept my

proposal of love, senorita?” the voice sounded familiar.

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