SASSINESS NEVER PAID THE BILLS

Chapter 7

“Eon Jin"

Someone called and I turned from my locker to find a girl. She had beautiful brown eyes and long chestnut hair. It was the girl from last week. The one who had taken over Ericka's locker. She caught me staring and pierced me with a venomous stare. To be fair, she did look like a snake, that was not metaphorical in the least. I must have forgotten I was on her hate-to-associate-with list and quickly averted my eyes while closing my locker. I heard her pink heels as she walked away. Taking a deep breath, I headed for the classroom when someone bumped my shoulder into the locker. The person didn't even bother to apologize.  When I turned, I saw someone in a hoodie slip into the crowd of students and disappear. I got to the entrance of the classroom before my slow brain realized that I had forgotten to grab my books. So, I headed back. 

Halfway there, I heard hushed whispers and murmurs. Curiosity got the better of me and I inched closer to the voices. I rounded the corner to find Jeong Gyu talking with Miss Sassy, so I listened in, because why not? 

"What is up with you? ", she asked 

"Nothing okay? I told you I'm fine Eon Jin ", he answered 

"of course, you're fine, because nothing says I'm fine louder than a broken nose, right? I hope for your own sake you didn't get into a fight Jeong-"

She paused when her eyes met mine. She frowned at me, and my eyes darted to find another pair of angry eyes on me. I gulped instantly and scurried away to my locker where I grabbed my books.  I thought I could slip away before he finished talking with Eon Jin and therein, I was wrong. For the first time today, I jumped when my locker was abruptly banged. 

I turned around slowly to find him staring at me with a smirk. Crap! He pinned my hands against the locker as he trapped me in between his body and the metal. Then he licked his lips, an action I've come to know all too well. He bent his head towards me, and I turned my head sideways only to find Eon Jin glaring daggers at me. 

"Did you think about what I asked you yesterday? "

And the exam bell rang. He let me go and I found myself running down the hallway.

After the paper, I decided not to postpone it any longer. My best friend was either missing, had been abducted or very sick! So, I headed towards Ericka's house thankful that I hadn't run into the crazy Jeong Gyu. 

I mentally planned on how I will wring Ericka's neck once I set eyes on her. As soon as I get there, I rang the doorbell twice, in eagerness to see her. When the door opened however, I didn't see her or her dog. An unfamiliar face greeted me instead. 

"Hello, good afternoon. I'm Ariadne and I'm looking for my friend, Ericka?"

"I've never heard of such a name here, young lady". She stared down at me for a moment 

"What about the family that used to live here? ", I asked in confusion 

"I never met them, my family and I moved in here 4 weeks ago. And the place was already empty", she answered calmly. 

I smiled at her and thanked her while feeling more confused. For the past couple of weeks that I had hung out with Ericka at school, she never said anything about moving and then she's suddenly gone and disappeared. I turned around and headed home, thoughts distraught and eyes instantly spotting a dollar coin.  I bent down to pick it but halfway from getting up, I instantly froze. The familiar pink heels stopped right in front of me, and I looked up to find Sassy Queen Eon Jin staring right back at me with a raised brow. 

"Do you get paid for stalking too or doesn’t eavesdropping pay anymore? ", she asked making me frown. 

"Jeongguk might not admit it.... But I know what you did, and I assure you... I'm going to make you pay for it"

It was clear that the girl was spilling nonsense. How the hell are you supposed to pay for something you had no recollection of? She gave me an evil smirk and brushed past me. I on the other hand managed to only get two words from the entire conversation. One being a name of a crazy guy who had managed to flip my world completely upside down and introduced me to a campus gang,

Jeongguk. 

That was his name. I finally got it right and kept repeating it inside my head as I walked home. I don't even know why I was humming his name, but I just did, and it felt mesmerizing each time.

There was a sudden chill in the air and the tiny hairs on my neck began to stand on end. Suddenly, I felt a weird sensation, like I was being followed. I wanted to laugh at myself for being so paranoid, but I couldn't. The sensation that I was being watched and being followed was too palpable to ignore. It made me feel very uncomfortable and I turned back briefly, trying to reassure myself that there was no one there. 

Who would want to follow a loner like me? I scoffed at myself.

Just as I turned the corner, I almost ran into someone. I couldn't see his face as he was in a black hoodie, and he immediately apologized without lifting his head. I nodded briefly, frowning as I watched him rush out of my presence.

A sudden sense of Deja vu engulfed me and I couldn't help but gulp. I rubbed my tired eyes and decided that I needed some rest. Exams was perhaps beginning to take its toll on me and making me think a lot of nonsense.

More than ever, all I wanted to do was get home and take some rest. I took a deep breath and increased my strides. As if on cue, my phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out.

Unknown caller.

Before I could answer it however, the call was abruptly cut. I was probably supposed to be afraid but the only thing I could think of in that moment was my friend. I was excited, hoping that Ericka had decided to finally call and give me an explanation about her sudden disappearance. I wanted to know how she was, where she was and what she was doing. However, I couldn't help the small suspicious frown that crept on to my face as I immediately called back but the phone was a service number. My paranoia began to return with a vengeance, and I couldn't help the feeling of being watched once again.

That feeling never left even as I stopped in front of my home. I saw familiar black heels and sighed. Ariana was home.