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Jennifer

"I can't believe we are here. No, actually I can't believe we are here buying 'a thank you gift' for that idiot. I'm telling you, this is a bad idea." Kathy and I are in a gift shop to buy something as a thank you present for Hiten. Afterall, he helped me yesterday and I can't just sit peacefully knowing I didn't do anything to return the favour.

"For the first time in history, he helped me." I repeat for the tenth time.

"Nothing is needed." She threw her hands in the air.

"Nope, not my way of returning favours." I swinged my index finger in front of her.

"Mark my words, it's only gonna make him more obsessed with you. Are you even listening?" She said frustrated

I went through the aisles looking for some decent gift item without much meaning to it.

Hiten doesn't like superheroes. Yes, something related to superheros would be perfect.

My eyes settled on the laser 3D illusion Iron Man.

When I turned to show it to her, I found her standing far behind. She hasn't taken one step since she barged in here, "Okay, so tell me what should I do?" I questioned putting the box back in its place.

"Just return his hairdryer and throw his damn crappy snail slippers on his face. That's it." She said angrily. I guess I should have come with Monica but again if I would have been with her then I'm pretty sure that we must have bought the entire store. Not a good idea at all. Right?

"Do you remember the time you lost Nick's dog's favourite toy?" I asked, folding my hands.

"Please don't bring that up." She said covering her eyes a little but I'm determined to change her mind.

"I looked through the pile of garbage with you because you assumed it must have ended up there. You even told me to tell Nick that it was me who lost his dog's toy."

"Fine! I will help you." She finally gave up. Phew.

"You are the best. Now let's check out that corner." I told her pointing towards the superheroes collection. My phone started to ring, indicating an incoming video call from Audrey. She doesn't video call me unless I'm home. It is reserved for emotional outbursts privately. Did the cat do something?

"Kathy, can you buy any random present? I need to take this call." She nodded. "Here" I gave her my card and exited the store to pick up the call.

"Audrey." I greeted cheerfully but her screen is black.

"YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT I JUST DID!" She said screaming at the top of her lungs. First of all, I pulled the phone a little away from me and decreased the call volume. Well I have no idea what she is talking about. Wait, did she do something to the cat?

"What? Is the cat alright?" I asked nervously.

"That cat and its owner are long gone from my life. I am a new person from this day onwards. You have to see this." She turned on her camera but I could only see an unfamiliar ceiling.

"Where are you Audrey? Are you okay? What have you done? If you need my help, just tell me the address, I'll be there right away." I said with panic clear in my voice. Where the hell is she?

"Calm down. Now look!" She came in front of the camera and god she got her hair coloured red.

"OMG Audrey... I can't believe you finally did this! YOU LOOK SO GOOD. I mean WOW. But don't you dare make me freak out again!" I said because even though she looks absolutely stunning with her new hair colour, she scared me.

"I knew that you would like it. Now we have to go shopping for new clothes that compliment my hair colour."

"Absolutely! Did you really dump him?"

"Yes! No mention of him from this moment onwards. We need new dresses too, we'll go to a club next weekend."

"I'll tell Walter about our plans. If he gets to know that we went alone, then he will eat us alive."

"Totally, I could never forget that night. The incident is still vividly in my memory and I can't imagine going through his lectures for like a month." It's an awful memory. We both went clubbing and after drinking non-stop we got drunk to the point that the bartender had to book a cab for us.

When we got out to find the cab waiting for us on the other side of the road. So we were in the middle of crossing the road when we were slightly hit by a car, knocking us both on the road. Somehow Walter got to know about this and he lectured us for straight one month about how we acted in an irresponsible way and what not. We are thankful that he didn't tell our parents, otherwise I would have been grounded for the rest of my life.

"Likewise."

"I'll text you later."

"Alright." We said our goodbyes and hung up. I turned around and spotted Kathy walking out of the store.

"Give this to that idiot." She said handing me my card and the bag with the gift packed nicely. I can't put this in my bag since it's not big enough to make space for a gift. So I have to carry it around until I give it to him.

"Thanks." I told her but she avoided my gaze. What's wrong?

"Let's just go." She said and walked away leaving me all confused. What just happened? I guess she is just upset that she had to buy a present for that creep.

We reached college just in time before Ms. Lorraine's class. Her classes are always interesting. It got over before we knew it as time seems to pass at a fast pace when we are here. And the next class is mathematics. How exciting?

I walked slowly, taking all the time in the world to go to Mr. Reynolds classroom. We finally reached and I noticed that Hiten is not present in the class yet. Monica for a change was sitting in the back of the class. We joined her and got settled in the seats. Soon after Mr. Reynolds came to the class and started the lesson. He doesn't seem to notice me today and that's a relief for me.

The class ended after solving an enormous amount of questions.
"CR, take the attendance and give it to me in my office. I have some work." He said in a hurry. Before we knew it, he was long gone. He must be busy. I quickly marked the attendance in my phone notes.

I went to his office and knocked on his door two times but I got no reply.

So I opened the door to find the table was filled with a pile of papers, his laptop sitting in the middle. He's not here so I thought about waiting for some time. There was a picture of a young boy and a girl in a photo frame on the shelf which is situated at the left side of the office.

Placing the so-called gift for Hiten on the desk, I picked up the frame in my hands to have a better look at the picture. It was a photo of Mr. Reynolds when he was about 10, I guess, and the girl looked around 7 or something. They are smiling towards the camera with Mickey and Minnie headbands attached to their heads. So cute.

However, a thought occurred that maybe I'm invading his privacy so I quickly put the frame back in its place and walked out of his office without wasting time.

I was walking down the hallway when I spotted Hiten standing at the end, talking with his friend. So I made my way towards him, but when I was about to reach him, I realized that I forgot the present in Mr. Reynolds office. Oh god!! I hurried back to his office and this time opened his office door without knocking.

I saw him leaning against his desk with a somewhat weird looking box—with weird patterns all over it—in his hands. My gaze traveled from his hands to the desk which now has a scrambled wrapping paper. Oh no, that gift, it's for Hiten. I'm certainly getting an ominous feeling by looking at it.

I shut the door loudly, getting his attention.

But apparently that wasn't enough as he opened the box before I could warn him that it is not for him.

I jumped as something springed out of the box. I covered my mouth while a little scream left Mr. Reynolds' mouth  and the box fell out of his hands.

What was that? I looked at the floor where the box was lying now. It was a clown face that popped out of the box.

KATHY. She bought it. She's so dead when I see her. She was avoiding my gaze to suppress her laugh. Oh my god.

We both looked at each other for a few seconds, me being unsure how to react but as I saw him trying to suppress his laugh, I couldn't hold on. So we both fell into fits of laughter.

"I never imagined a clown would pop out of this box." I said in between laughter.

"Wait! Did you place it here?" He asked, sobered up now as he eyed me suspiciously.

"Yes, I did. But in my defense, it was unintentional. I'm sorry, I swear I didn't have any clue about it." I told him sincerely.

"You have no idea what's inside when you are the one who placed it here? It doesn't make sense." He said, scrutinizing my face but then his gaze went towards the note which fell out of the box.

He picked up the note, unfolded it, only to be greeted by out of the world profanities. Some of which I haven't even heard before. This is worse than me stepping on his hand. Everything that happened in the past was nothing compared to this.

I'm doomed.

Kathy didn't even bother to address the person she was cussing so hard.

Mr. Reynolds would definitely think that all those blasphemous words are intended for him.

I waited for him to say something.

"Do you think it's appropriate to give this to me?" His question sliced through me.

"No. I swear, it was not intended for you." I expressed with sincerity.

"That's not your handwriting anyways. Who wrote this? Did somebody give this to you?" He looks mad, rather seething with rage. He crumpled the paper in his hand which turned into clenched fists by his side. I would never throw Kathy under the bus.

"No. It was not intended for you or me. I'm really sorry." He calmed down a little. He took his water bottle and took a huge gulp before rounding his office desk to take a seat, "Give me the attendance, CR."

Maybe he still thinks that I bought it to get back at him. I wanted to explain that it was for Hiten, the guy I don't like one bit but I didn't say anything and left after handing him the attendance.

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed reading. What do think about the story so far?

Who is your favourite character?