Chapter 04

Chapter 04

Hugo’s POV

I was being awakened by the wild grumbling of my stomach as though someone’s throwing a fit there. Upon sitting on my bed, I smell something strange inside my room that shouldn’t be there in the first place. I sniff everywhere and realized that the clothes that I have been wearing yesterday all day and had a physical contact to every single human I’d bumped myself into are the clothes I’d been wearing as I am asleep. I literally can’t stand the smell of it in the morning with my stomach grumbling so I immediately unbuttoned every button that was tailored in my black button-down shirt along with my black pants.

I hauled myself up and turned my head to the clock that was hanging just above my bed. It was still quite early to get myself ready for school so I walked directly towards the kitchen and rummaged for a pack of blood from the cabinet where I store the thing that kept me going throughout the day. As I sip from my glass, the things that happened yesterday are what my brain decided to replay. I can’t believe I can say something kind to a naïve girl like her. The way I held myself in and refrained myself to wince in front of her and her two friends that I don’t even care about. I owe myself a big reward because by the time I let myself be surrounded by those sterile humans, was such a big effort that I didn’t know I have in me. My only problem is, Eliana seemed aloof except when she’s with her friends. Her aloofness is why I am holding back in making my moves get into the next level. Her aloofness and her friend… Loki?... Lucky…? Luke? Whatever that boy’s name is. His unspoken feelings for her was so obvious I want to slap his head to tell him to stop being a coward. But that would be an imbecile of me. I won’t let myself do that because the moment I made Eliana as my prey, she’s now mine, alone.

Upon finishing the contents of my glass, I stood from the counter and slid myself in my bathroom to wash my body with an extra effort while forming a plan on my mind that would finally make Eliana tense up in front of me. We’ll see if she could still resist the person I’m going to be, today.

*

By the time I arrived at the university, I smoothed my newly bought long sleeves down to flatten the crease. I squint my eyes to the sun rays that scattered along my way. It seems like it was a wrong move to wear this long sleeves because of the sunny weather and the humidity of air that touches my face. But I was left with no choice, because as long as I want to wear a comfortable shirt, I don’t want humans around me to chicken out to the complexion of my skin. I mean, I really don’t care, but for this goddamn plan I have, I should.

As I walk through the hallway, I spotted Eliana, alone, standing in front of her locker. She’s busy rummaging something inside, without any idea that someone’s gravitating towards her spot and has a smooth plan. I slap a smile on my face as I walked nearer.

“Hey, Eliana, I bet you’ll be needing

a hand to help you in carrying those hard bound books,” I said to her while showing my cheeky smile.

She turned her head to me and eye me with her doe eyes. If I didn’t know her maybe I wouldn’t suspect that she’s hiding big skeletons in her closet. “Uhm… Hi, Hugo. No worries, I can carry these all by myself,” Eliana said. She tried to balance those books in her extending arms and I saw her wince because of the weight of it. I extended my hand to support her but she swayed a little. “No, really, I can handle this. Thank you.”

I almost rolled my eyes right when she was almost about to stumble in front of me. “Let me help so I can now make use of what I am grinding for,” I told her while jokingly flexing my arm. I saw a ghost of smile on her lips but it was obliterated as fast as the whirling wind in the storm by the time I land my eyes on her lips.

She’s holding herself back, I see. “I can do this, really. Plus, I excused myself from our first class professor because I need to return it to Ms. Calloway in the library and it’s almost time. So…I’ll go ahead now.”

I shook my head and continued reaching my hands to get a few hardbound books from her. “If I’m going to be late, at least it was because I help someone in need. Let’s go,” I told her and use my remaining hand to pat her head softly.

She was taken a back a little but I can see from my peripheral vision that she’s smiling a little. “So… what’s your favorite among these books you’ve borrowed?” I asked her to start a conversation.

“Maybe The Singer Not the Song because of the plot but above all, all of them has its different flow of story, so I enjoyed reading them all, the way it was written.” I could say from her response that she’s a big fan of books. What term humans call this again? Ah, bookworm.

“So you’re a bookworm?” the strange word rolled strangely inside my mouth.

“You could say that,” she said while she nods her head, laughing silently.

I nodded my head to show how interested I am to each of the word she spoke. Little did she know I was feigning it. As we walk our way through the library. I talk to her and ask her things like what’s her favorite shade of green, does she eat Chinese food, and other stuff just to fill the silence between us and show that I am genuinely curious what she likes and what she does not. She answered incisively like she prefers silence over talking. My patience is growing thinner because she’s back again at distancing herself; I am not a fan of push and pull but this shouldn’t let me down.

As we finally reached the threshold of what seems like the library, I held the door open and stood myself on the side to let her in first. “Ladies first,” I said. She slid herself and mumbled “Thanks” that made my eyes roll as she turned her back on me.

“Thanks, Ms. Calloway. Will borrow the series maybe next week.” Eliana told the woman with the red big eye glasses.

“Sure, Eliana. And Hugo, nice to meet you again.” She said to me as I said also my goodbye to her.

Eliana suddenly cleared her throat as we walk quite faster. If not for the eyes of the human in the hallways and my dark agenda to Eliana, I’d use some of my power to get back in our class I won’t even be noticed.

 “Thank you for the help in carrying those books. I really appreciate it,” she said. Although her face is kind of stiff, her eyes tell that she’s sincere. Before I could reply and throw some jokes I’d seen on the internet, her friend, Katelyn, suddenly shrieked and spread her arms toward Eliana’s shoulder. “Where have you guys have been? Didn’t you notice what time it is? You guys are lucky because Mrs. Adelaide has some meeting to attend to.” She told us while burying her narrowed eyes at Eliana as if she’s suspecting something.

“I returned the books I borrowed to Ms. Calloway three weeks ago—Hugo helped.” replied Eliana. I nodded my head and smiled shyly.

“Hmmm… if you say so. Our second class got suspended by Mr. Hubbard; family emergency, he said. But he’ll send our tasks right after our first class adjourned. Let’s go to La Nature and do our tasks there.”

“Mind if I tag along?---“ my words were being cut by their guy friend, frowning and looking so irritated. “Sup?” I said.

He nodded as an acknowledgment. “Let’s get inside now and scan the readings that Mrs. Adelaide gave us. I got yours in my table, Eliana.” He didn’t even hide his distaste towards me, huh.  I contained and controlled myself not to snap. “So as I was saying, do you guys mind if I tag along later?”

I’m afraid they’ll snob me but Katelyn didn’t let a second to pass by. “Course you can, you can always be with us whenever you like!” she said cheerily. I almost puked by my eagerness to join.

I didn’t let Eliana nor her guy friend to have a say. “Really? That was nice of you. Our lunch is on me later, OK?” I said and invited them to seriously get inside the class. I was the first one to walk inside so I can hear Katelyn and hey guy friend bickering.   

“Why did you invite him? We don’t even know him that well!”

“I invited him so we could know him fully. Plus, he helped Eli carry her books to the library. Now shut up, Lucas,” Katelyn said. I could tell that she said that with her teeth gritted.

“Lucas was right though, we don’t know him completely. And you know that I am not comfortable with new people around me,” Oh. That was Eliana? “What I mean is, I might offend him with my silence. I could tell that his patience is slowly losing to the incisiveness of my replies whenever he’s asking,” she knows.

“Eli, you don’t need to be sorry just because you’re showing the real you. You don’t have to be extra for their own benefit.” The Lucas guy affirmed.

“Oh, Eli, yes, Lucas was right on that part but you don’t have to worry with a new guy, Hugo. He seemed harmless and a gentleman. And dude, don’t even get me started by the way he looks at you. He looks tough but when I saw you two walking together, I saw his genuine eyes looks through the depths of you wanting so badly to get to know you deeply. So I don’t feel a bad vibes from him, rather, I feel at ease.”

 I am holding my laugh but I didn’t successfully suppress the smug smile from my mouth. Well, well, well, look who deserves to be awarded by Grammy. We’re just halfway from finishing the day, Eliana.