~Mysyerious Calls~

Adelina flung her duffel bag on the bed and plopped down next to it with a loud groan. It felt more than good burrowing into her soft bed and warm blankets once more after spending the wee hours of the morning working out. She rolled on her front, nestling deeper into the comfort the soft mattress offered when she realized she needed to have a bath to wash off all the dirt and grime.

She passed by a framed photograph of her and Dolores which they took a couple of years ago when Dolores' Dad took them out on a Christmas date. Her own parents had declined coming home because of end of the year deals they had to sign. Their absence used to cause her to withdraw herself in rejection but as she grew, she learnt to ignore the emptiness it left whenever they failed their promise of coming back home.

"They could be running away from the memories it brought." Noona said one day when she had gotten fed up of their failed promises. It was on her birthday and although they sent plenty of gifts like always, they failed to satiate her by not showing up.

Whatever the case may be, she always had Dolores, her Dad, and her Noona who would always be by her side no matter what.u

Having shed off her sweaty clothing by the floor next to the bath tub, she stepped into the shower. Turning on the shower head, she gave a low exhale of deep satisfaction as the steamy water drizzled all over her back. She rolled her neck as she felt the water knead her shoulders and wash away the incessant worries and stress of the previous weeks.

Speaking of which, Nicolas and Dolores came to her mind again like it had for the past few days now. Although Dolores hadn't made mention of being in a relationship with him, the two appeared way closer than usual and it sort of bothered her.

Regardless of the fact that he used to cause her a lot of troubles, Dolores liked being around him. It was hard for Adelina to as well admit same but ever since, Dolores reported that she no longer had cases of those horrible nightmares and random asthma attacks. All she wanted was happiness for her best friend and if Dolores found it in her now turned former nemesis, so be it.

Adelina, after turning off the water, stepped out of the shower, pulling her bathrobe around her and tying the ropes in a firm knot on her waist. She tossed the dirty clothes in the laundry basket and proceeded to get dressed for the day. She initially planned to dress in her favorite baggy clothes and spend the entire day eating ice cream from the bucket with her laptop never leaving her sight.

Before that, she whipped out her phone after dressing up and proceeded to FaceTime Dolores, knowing fully well that she wasn't a morning person. A few rings and some heartbeats later, Dolores appeared on the screen looking like one who just stumbled out of a wrestling ring with Randy Orton. In conclusion, she didn't look so pleased being awoken rudely.

"What is it? Did something bad happen to you or Noona?" She mumbled.

Adelina plastered on her face the most ridiculous grin she could muster for a smile only to get her extra peeved. "Goooooood moorrrrniiiing."

If looks had less murderous intents and more of murderous actions, Adelina would have been laying dead on the bed, all bloodied up.

"You're calling at seven fifteen in the morning and it's a weekend. What is good about the morning, Lina? Just why do you love doing this to me?"

Adelina wanted to reach out to pinch her chubby cheeks but FaceTime wasn't invented for touching, else people like her would have a crowd of angry people banging their doors down for harassment and invasion of privacy.

"Can't I say hello to my friend?"

"Just say it already. I was somewhere important before you woke me." Dolores had her fingers covering her eyes revealing only the half of her nose and lips.

"Dreaming about Nicolas, I see."

That seemed to get her attention as her lips slowly stretched into an abashed smile. "Well, not really."

"It's obvious he likes you, Dolores. Simeon and Grayson talk a lot about him unable to take his eyes off you whenever you are within his view. You like him back, don't you?"

She uncovered her eyes now as every trace of sleep seemed to have vanished from her features. "I do. But I just want to be cautious around him. It's like expecting him to act worse but it's been almost two months now and nothing has happened. Could it be he is waiting for the right time to strike?"

Adelina juggled the possibility of that then shook her head, immediately discarding it. "I don't think so. If he was putting up an act, we would have found out a long time before now. Don't forget the fact that Simeon and Grayson think he's a total simp for you. Nicolas isn't even making any efforts at hiding his feelings and when he looks at you, you can read his thoughts through his eyes. Not to mention the whole school talking about it."

There was a mild distortion in the screen and when it settled, Dolores was laying on her stomach instead of her back. She looked nervous. "You think so?"

"I hate to be the one to spell it out to you this way, but I think he might be in love with you." True, she felt bile crawl towards her mouth as she said the words but she had to as long as it entailed her friend's happiness.

"That's pretty revealing coming from you." She paused long enough as if to ruminate over what she said before pulling herself out of it. "Enough about me. How are you and Grayson?"

Leave it to Dolores to quickly change the subject when it felt like all the attention was being drawn to her side. According to her, so much attention made her feel exposed and sometimes vulnerable.

"Nosy Nancy." Adelina jeered which earned her a silly look from her friend. "We are fine even though I feel he could be overbearing with his affectionate actions. Sometimes I crave some kind of argument but he's too perfect."

'Too perfect for me.'

"Don't be like that. You both compliment each other like frick and frack. As a matter of fact, you're the one who is too perfect for him not the other way around." If she could reach out to hug her through the phone, she would right away, without hesitation.

It was Adelina's turn to fall silent as well after that. The relationship didn't start out to be this serious for her until she found herself liking him way more than she should. It was almost embarassing to catch herself fussing over him or getting pricked by insane jealousy when any girl did as much as wink in his direction. Dolores never failed to point that out whenever they got into one of their arguments.

They spoke for some minutes before Adelina got called downstairs for a sumptuous breakfast of scrambled eggs with pancakes and bacon, downed by Noona's famous smoothie. She just got back to her room when her phone rang from her bedside table.

She saw it was an unknown number when she looked at the screen. She picked up her phone, having a silent debate over whether to pick it up but as nature would have it, humans tend to be more drawn to the unknown.

"Hello." She said simply waiting for the caller to respond if she could grasp the voice.

A bit of shuffling was heard in the background and it became clear that the caller was driving. The next sounds that came to her hearing through the phone was that of cars speeding past and honking from drivers. Why on earth was the person driving while on a call? Were they planning on getting arrested?

"Hey. Am I on to Adelina?" The voice was masculine, velvety to the hearing and ... vaguely familiar.

"Yes." She stuttered, catching herself after almost drowning in it while her brain frantically sought to put in a face to the voice

"Great. I can't tell you who this is yet but I can give you a clue. Just promise you'll come out to meet me. I really need to talk to you."

The pressure of his pleas weighed heavily on her, crushing her with moving compassion. She ignored the feeling with a nervous laugh spilling out of her lips. "You expect me to listen to a person who called my personal phone using an unknown number with no information? What do you think I am, a dimwit? I'm not stupid, come on."

"I got your number from someone close to you actually. You would never have given me if I had asked you directly for it." The caller confessed.

'Grayson!' She made a mental note of asking him questions when next she would see him.

"I really have no time for your games. If you have nothing important to say, I'm hanging up now." And she did, curiosity filling her face as she stared once more at her phone's screen.

The caller was obviously one of those people who sat idly by their phone with a never-ending list of phone numbers, dialing each one just for the sheer fun of it. How stupid. In a few minutes, her phone rang again and it was from the same number which had called earlier. She tried to ignore but curiosity won the better part of her. She raised the phone to her ear and got silence as a response. Then suddenly,

"Wait!" The caller quickly interjected before she could end the call.

Her fingers hovered over the red button to end the call but she retracted it. "Are you ready to talk now?"

"Yes. Just do me this favor and look outside your window."

This ought to be some kind of sick joke that the stranger was playing on her but albeit, she stalked up to the window with anger sizzling in her veins as she yanked it open. Her eyebrows went up in complete surprise before she concealed it in a deep frown.

"This better be good." She muttered angrily to herself as she shut the window to go meet the guy standing next to a flashy car.

~~~{•}~~~

Ayyy!
I sorta had fun writing this chapter so yeah
Enjoy.

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~~Chignature~~