This is my secret admirer??

I blink a few times, making sure I am not seeing things, but the figure standing at my locker does not change.

Completely taken aback, I take in the fact that the person at my locker is none other than... Scott Handin!

Nicole and I share a confused look. Completely shocked, Nicole croaks, "Scott?"

Meanwhile, Scott begins making his way to the end of the hallway.

I rush out of the classroom, and just as Scott is about to turn the corner, I yell, "Hey Scott!"

He turns around calmly, but as soon as we make eye contact, the color drains from his face.

"I just saw you put something in my locker," I say slowly, trying to process it as I say it aloud. "Was it a secret admirer note?"

Regaining his composure, Scott responds calmly, "I don't know. Why don't you check it yourself?"

"Fine. I will."

I head to my locker and open it, but in my peripheral vision, I see Scott trying to sneak away.

"Oh no you don't!" I walk over to Scott and drag him to the spot beside my locker.

"Stay!" When Scott looks back at me unresponsively, I say, "Good boy."

Coldly, Scott mutters, "I'm not your dog, you know."

Choosing to ignore that comment, I rip open the envelope, sparing just enough time to notice that it is sealed with a red heart.

Just like the other two envelopes.

And again, in 'Love Letters' font, it has a sweet poem written on it, but as I am too hyped up to read it, I scan the note quickly, and at the end, I see the words '~Your Secret Admirer'.

Triumphantly, I exclaim at Scott, "Ah ha! So you are my secret admirer!"

Scott stares back at me for a few seconds, standing extremely still with a poker face.

Then he begins laughing.

It starts off as a chuckle, then turns into a hearty laugh, which in turn develops into a deep belly laugh.

Slowly, the triumphant grin on my face fades away.

"What is it?" I ask, bewildered.

Scott continues laughing, splitting his sides.

Puzzled, I glance at the classroom door opposite to my locker, where I see Nicole's eyes peeping through the small square window in the door, completely clueless as well.

Finally, Scott seems to have had enough, and with tears streaming down his cheeks, he terminates his fit of laughter with a long sequence of snorts, which, in itself, is funnier than the fit of laughter itself.

Struggling to breathe, Scott says, "Rhea, you're cool and all, but don't flatter yourself!"

Chuckling again, he continues, "Me, Scott Handin, your secret admirer? I've never heard anything as ridiculous!"

I look at him with questioning eyes, and after a moment, he sighs and adds, "Your real secret admirer paid me to drop the note off in your locker. He said he knew you would be keeping an eye on your locker."

So my 'secret admirer' knows enough about me to know that I would be watching my locker... interesting.

Mystified, I say slowly, "Well then who is it?"

With the air of someone about to say something of the utmost importance, Scott clasps his hands and announces, "Your secret admirer is a boy..."

Obviously!

"Who is around your age..."

Sarcastically, I smile, "Would you like to state any more of the obvious?"

Not flustered, Scott continues with the same air of importance, "And who is extremely 'gorgeous', as most girls call him."

After a pause, he continues, "And his name is..."

Excitedly, I stare at Scott intently.

After a second, he breaks down into hysterical chuckles again.

"Oh, now what is it??" I ask exasperatedly.

"I can't believe you actually thought I was going to tell you!" Scott stammers, struggling to control his mirth. "You should have seen the expression on your face... all bug-eyed!" he adds, letting out a huge snort.

"Ugh I hate you!" I exclaim huffily. For a second there, I'd actually thought I was going to find out. But from this mischievous monkey... I should have known better!

"Feeling's mutual!" he says jauntily, and then swaggers off.

Dazed, I walk back to Nicole, who is standing slack-jawed at the turn of events.

We take one look at each other, and dissolve into a fit of giggles ourselves.

This mystery is going to have to wait a little longer to be found out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At lunch, as soon as I take a seat in the cafeteria, Noah walks over to me, takes my arm, and pulls me up again.

"Hey! Where're we going?" I ask curiously.

"You are going on a scavenger hunt," he responds mysteriously.

Random fact about myself: I LOVE scavenger hunts!

"Alright!" I squeal excitedly.

"Here's your first clue," Noah says, handing me a green card with the letters N.S.H. written on it in fancy handwriting.

"N.S.H.?" I say inquisitively.

He shrugs and explains, "Noah's Scavenger Hunt."

I let out a small chuckle, then turn the card over to check out the clue.

For your next clue, you must go,

Where books are arranged row by row.

There on the main desk, you will see,

The first hint of a message from me.

"The library!" I exclaim. "Let's go!"

"No no, you go."

"Wait, you're not coming?" I ask, frowning.

"I'll wait for you at the last destination of the scavenger hunt."

"Okay," I shrug. When there's a scavenger hunt waiting for me, I don't care about anything else!

I swiftly walk to the library, which is in the building behind and to the left of the main building.

Once I get there, I walk up to the librarian's desk, and this time around, I see a green envelope with 'N.S.H.' on it.

As I move to pick it up, the librarian — Ms. Agnes, as suggested by the plaque on her dress — whispers urgently, "Oh, no dearie! I'm afraid you can't touch that." She looks to be in her mid-fifties, and she speaks in a Scottish accent. "That envelope was left by a good young man for someone special, he said."

Frowning with concentration, she adds, "I think he said her name is Raya, or something."

Clearing my throat, I ask gently, "Ms. Agnes, do you mean 'Rhea'?"

"Ah, that's it!" Ms. Agnes says jovially. "Is that you?"

"Yes it is."

"Oh, alrigh' then, you may have it."

Fingering it, I say, "Thank you for your time, Ms. Agnes."

The old lady smiles kindly, then shoos me off. "Now, run along, child. I've got a ton of work to do!"

Waving, I walk away from her desk, and lean against a bookshelf as I tear open the envelope curiously.

It has a pink post-it note inside it, which, on the front, has a large R drawn on it.

This R must be 'the first hint' of the message, as the first clue had said.

I turn the note over, and on the back, I find the next clue.

Once you read this, you must head,

To the place where we first met.

Over there, by the window,

You will find where next to go.

"The place where we first met?" I mutter, thinking back to my first day of school.

"The algebra classroom!" I exclaim, suddenly remembering.

I make my way to the building next to the one where the library is located, and head to our algebra classroom.

I peep in the small square window at the top of the door, and luckily, the room is free.

I walk over to the window, and on the window sill, I find another green envelope.

Curiously tearing it open, I find another post-it note inside, but this time around, it is yellow.

On the front, it has a large H drawn on it, similar to the previous post-it note.

On the back, it states the next clue in clear, black letters.

Now, s'il vous plait, make your way,

To the place where brainy people play.

In this room, in plain sight,

You will find what directs you right.

'Brainy people play...' I think hard. 'That has to be the chess room!'

Thanks to Vicky, I know where that is, because when he's not stressing about the spelling bee, he's always talking about chess and his matches in the chess room.

I head back out onto campus, and run along to the main building, which is where the chess room is located.

I've never actually been there before, and when I enter, everyone looks up and gasps.

Blushing slightly, I look around the room, which has four rows of tables arranged side-by-side, each one with a chess board arranged on top of it. At the corner of the room, there is a small wooden cabinet, and through its see-through doors, I can see a few extra chess boards, along with numerous packets of chess pieces.

And, true to the post-it note, right there in plain sight, a green envelope is perched atop the cabinet.

I walk over to it, and as soon as I pick it up, I feel someone tap me on the shoulder.

Turning around, I see a boy a few years younger than me, with big, round glasses and slicked-back hair.

Pushing his glasses back onto his nose, he asks me, "Are you lost?" He lets out a loud sniff, and wipes his nose with the back of his right hand.

A little weirded out, I respond slowly, "No, why?"

Very matter-of-factly, he sniffs and says, "Then what's a girl like you doing here?"

Confused, I say, "A girl like me?"

His cheeks turning pink, he murmurs, "You know... pretty."

Finally understanding the point of this conversation, I smile at him and respond professionally, "Well, thank you for your concern, but no, I am not lost."

He opens his mouth to say something, but I rush on, "However, I am in a rush to get somewhere, so..." I start heading for the door. "See ya!"

With that, I turn around and straight out run out of the room. I don't think I would have been able to continue that conversation for a second longer.

Once I get to the end of the corridor, I stop to catch my breath, before tearing the next envelope open.

This one has a bright blue post-it note inside of it, which has a large E drawn on it.

'He's going to spell out my name!' I realize.

On the back, I find the next clue.

This is the penultimate clue,

To go on, head to a water-sport lieu.

Here's where you'll go to put on your kit,

But you'll have to search carefully to find the next chit.

This one, I have to read over twice. The only 'water-sport lieu' in our school is... the swimming pool!

And about the part that says 'where you'll go to put on your kit'... that must be the girls' locker rooms!

As I rush to the gymnasium, I can't help but wonder... how did Noah get into the girls' locker rooms to place a clue in there??

The walk to the gym seems to end quickly, and I run up the stairs to the girls' locker rooms.

I brace myself before opening the door, expecting to hear a bunch of second and third graders running around, as they have a different lunchtime to us high-schoolers'.

However, it is relatively quiet, with only a few kids getting ready for their swimming lesson.

My mind back on the clue, I look around the locker room, the gears of my brain turning.

The last clue did not specify where in the locker room I would find the clue, so I begin my search from the locker area. There are benches surrounding the lockers, but none of them have a green envelope perched atop them.

I walk over to the changing rooms, expecting to find the envelope on the floor, or in an empty changing room. But it isn't there.

Crossing the room, I walk over to the washbasins. Yet again, none of them have a green envelope perched atop them.

I stop in front of a mirror, running my fingers through my hair, and rack my brain for the envelope could be.

As I stare into the mirror, I get an idea.

Maybe the envelope is hidden behind one of the mirrors.

I begin searching the long row of mirrors, and in the middle of the row, I find the envelope hidden behind the mirror I'd been staring in a few minutes ago. Bingo!

Lunchtime has only ten minutes left, and I quickly tear the envelope open. An orange post-it note is inside, with a large A drawn on it. And on the back, I find the final clue.

Good job so far, you are almost done,

The next one is where you have great fun.

Here's where you create music with your band chums,

You'll find the next clue across from the drums.

This one's obvious... drums = music room!

Eager to find the surprise hidden at the end of the scavenger hunt, I quickly make my way to the building next door. I climb up the flights of stairs to the music room, and burst into the room.

The drum set is situated at the front of the room, placed atop the stage. That means the last note will be at the back of the room.

Exactly across from the drum set, a chair is positioned against the back wall, and right enough, under it is a pink fluffy scroll.

I bend over to pick it up, and unroll the scroll. In fancy purple letters, it says, Masquerade Bash?

Before I can register the words of the scroll, the room seems to become quiet. A little too quiet.

I whip around to see what's going on, and I see a bunch of people gathered on the stage. Toby sits in front of the drum set, and several of Noah's basketball teammates are lined up in two rows on the stage, with four boys in the back row, and two in front of them.

Instantly, Toby bursts into song, a rock tune on the drums, and the boys in the back row begin zipping their jackets open one by one.

They are all wearing red T-shirts, and together, the shirts spell out, R, H, E, A, Rhea. Then, the two boys in the front row pull out a pink banner, which is identical to the scroll in my hand. In fancy purple letters, it says, Masquerade Bash.

And right then, Noah enters the stage with his hands behind his back, and takes his place in front of the rest of the boys. His red shirt says, With me, and he pulls out a blue question mark from behind his back.

OMG!!! My mind reels as I try to process all this. This whole scavenger hunt was to ask me to the masquerade bash??

Once the whole message is displayed, Toby softens the tune, and Noah walks over to me and takes my hand.

Very sweetly, he gives me an amorous look with his dreamy eyes. After all the effort he's put into this, who in their right mind would say no?!

My jaw hangs open, and with a glazed expression on my face, I nod my head happily.

All the boys on stage burst into applause, and as my cheeks turn pink, Noah leans forward and gives me a quick kiss, making my blush deeper.

This has to be the sweetest way to ask someone to a dance! I have the best boyfriend ever!

*****************************************************************************************************

What did you guys think of Noah's masquerade bash proposal? And the mystery of the secret admirer is still clouding the air...

From now on, I am going to start doing this thing I see many authors on Wattpad doing... which is an update day!

The next update will be on Friday the 25th. For an early update, I'm going for 7 votes and 5 comments. Otherwise, the update will be next Friday.

Moving on, the picture up on top is a selfie of Rhea and Noah at school. What do you think of it?

VOTE! COMMENT!

~Ananya