Chapter 6 Anubis or Cerberus?

CLARA'S POV

I had left him while he was reading. I knew that I could not stand another moment of awkwardness between us both.

It felt really worrisome.  I decided to try and avoid him which prompted me to call in sick for two days in a row. I could not face him, certainly not with the kind of thoughts that I had been having, when he had been trying to treat me in the medical room.

I had to return to class eventually the next morning, when it came to notice that I should have gotten better off whatever at this point. My thoughts were already centered on the fact that I would be getting recompense for getting Melissa yelled at.

Well, that was to be expected as she would find a way of making me pay for every inch of humiliation she had been exposed to.

I got into school and made for the locker area. The moment I entered through the door, there was a sudden stillness as everyone went mute. I could not understand why and what the problem was this time but I knew better than let my guard down. Grace walked close to me. She clung to her books like she could disappear into them as she held tightly to her chest.

"Psss, Grace..." I called her in a whisper.

"Mmmhmm?" She answered nervously, as she kept looking over her shoulders like she was expecting that someone would throw eggs at us. like some mob action.

"Seems like we're in the wrong school." I said smiling but being on my guard.

"Are you serious right now? They're definitely going to try and harm us." She said in a barely audible whisper.

"No. You forget. They'll harm me. You would always play by the bystander as always." I said to her,

We just arrived at the front of our lockers as both of ours were close and separated by one person. The moment I arrived, the girl between us whimpered as she scampered away like I had suddenly become the dread of the entire school.

"Psst!!!" I called Grace who was skeptical of opening her locker.

"What?" She asked me.

"Do I have leprosy by any chance?" I asked her.

"No. Why?" She asked fearfully.

"That was a joke, girl." I said as I chuckled.

"Seriously? A joke right now? Aren't you worried about what would happen when you open your locker?" She asked me.

"Worried? Come on, Grace. Last time they put the snake from the lab in my locker, and the other day it was a scorpion, both of which bit me, remember?" I asked her.

"Your point being...?" She asked me.

"Unless they have Anubis in my locker or Cerberus which I'm sure is impossible, then I'm not worried." I said to her,

"If you aren't, then open your locker." She said still in a whisper with hands akimbo of sorts.

I shrugged and groaned loudly.

"Fine. I'll do the honors Mrs president. Would you want me to start tasting your meals henceforth?" I asked her with a smile.

"Stop delaying." She said to me,

If I was being true and honest, it bothered me a little but then what was the worst that could happen? I decided to open the locker in anticipation that perhaps, I would be met with something embarrassing. And maybe, they would all start laughing but then as I yanked it open, my locker was as I had left it the previous day and there was no laughter.

Strange.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Grace peeping in and I found my confidence again.

"See, Cerberus isn't here. Check yours for Anubis." I said to her as I tapped her cheek charmingly.

"I hate you." She said to me as she went to her locker and unlocked it. I already dropped my bag and picked my note before smiling at her.

"You wish I was a guy." I said and walked away.

"Eww!!!" She said but I knew she was really happy now that there was nothing in either of our lockers.

But then, the big question was where would they set off my waterloo for today?

I could see them staring at me. They turned away to each other as they whispered around me but no one came close to me. Right beside the classroom, Melissa's cronies stood there as they glared at me like there was something weird about me. I did not understand why their queen bee was not beside them as I passed them. I anticipated that they would try and trip me or have something on my desk but nothing of the sorts happened. 

Then what was it? What was their angle? It felt weird that anyone would not want to try out their hand at getting me ruffled up and my suspicions were increasing.

By the first class, I realized that no one cared this time. I could feel the heat behind my neck. It had to be the second option.

It was him. 

I could not focus and suddenly, it all dawned on me that I was being watched. My eyes shot up suddenly and went straight to the window only to find him staring intensely at me. His gaze bored into my very soul as I turned away quickly. What was he doing here at this time? 

"Focus, Clara." I heard his voice in my head. It had been so loud and clear that I wondered if anyone else had noticed.

I took a look around and noticed now that everyone had taken their eyes off me and had their attention on the teacher in front of us. Strange that his presence had ended their bout of surreptitious stares creating an ominous atmosphere between us all. 

However, there was a single person who still had her eyes on me and it was none other than Melissa. I have no idea when she must have slipped inside.

I turned away from her as I pushed the thoughts about her to the back of my mind and tried to focus my attention on the class. Of course, not without another glance at the window and then noticed that he was gone. Class went on uneventfully until it was over.

"Hey, Clara." Melissa's voice cut into my stream of thoughts. She had suddenly turned up that forced a gasp to escape me.

"W-what do you want?" I asked her stuttering.

"Can we talk?" She asked me as she flicked her head towards the restroom area. 

She clearly was giving me no time to think about it as she walked away. I followed her carefully.

"Out. All of you." Melissa yelled at the few girls that were present in the restroom and they scampered away.

"What did you..." I began to say when suddenly, she turned and grabbed me by the shoulders as she shoved me into the wall.

The impact was really hard that it rocketed my entire being and I glanced up at her. She suddenly had her elbow pressing me awfully close to the neck.

"What's going on with you and Derrick?" She demanded.

"The combat professor?" I managed to say.

"Duh!!!" She responded viciously.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said again struggling to be free.

"Liar!!!" She said and suddenly, the door to the restroom opened and the man of the moment stood in the doorway as he glared really hard at Melissa.

She let go of me as her mouth quivered with fear and her eyes rolled.

"Clara, out." He said to me,

"She was only..." I started.

"I said out." He said to me as he had his burning glare on Melissa. Somehow, I knew better than to argue with him as I turned away from the space. Melissa tried to escape him but he put his hand across as he stopped her.

I stepped out just as the door slammed behind me and I noticed that the students huddled around pretended to mind their business. Everyone was quickly grabbing their combat wears as it became clear to me that his class was next. I could hear him reprimanding Melissa and I quickly walked away when I heard him approaching the door. 

Melissa stepped out looking really feeble and did not spare me a second glance as she tried to curry favor and sympathy from the rest of the students. I had become the villain and Derrick's class was next. I watched as everyone went to the changing room and picked up my combat gear as I walked in there. The awkwardness had still not stopped but this time, it had a mixture of distaste.

I was the last one left as they thronged out of the place giving him the opportunity I needed to plot an escape. I opened an empty closet in the changing room and got inside. It would only take an hour and I would be free to make a run for it to my dormitory.

I had no idea how long I had hidden in the dark space when suddenly, I heard the door open. Perhaps it was the janitor who would go away but the moment I heard the footsteps approaching and caught a whiff of his scent, I could tell who it was that had entered the changing room. It was Derrick.

Professor Derrick.

I held my breath and put a hand over my mouth as I hoped that he would not hear me inside here.

"You realize I can hear your heart racing, Clara." His voice in my head came up again and I nearly gave up.

But determination would not let me give in this moment as I waited patiently. He started walking as he tapped closets while approaching. The tempo of my heartbeat increased massively until then he suddenly stopped. Right in front of where I had been hiding. A couple of heartbeats later and suddenly, the door flung open and he was staring at me. 

Time froze as we kept staring at each other momentarily until he spoke.

"Why are you hiding in a closet, Clara?" He asked me.

"I...um... I was..." I began but suddenly he put a finger over my lip.

"Shhh, someone's coming." He said to me,

I frowned.

"Who...?" I started to ask when he suddenly pushed me inside.

"Scoot over." He said as he too entered and shut the door just as people noisily entered. 

"Cheerleaders." I muttered under my breath as I looked up at him which I found to be a mistake.

The pensive atmosphere and the scent of his nearness was so obvious that I felt my legs melting into rubber underneath me. He kept swallowing hard and Adam's apple showed his discomfort. I had never seen a man this way and up close. My chest against his seemed to have connected to his as our hearts beat in a sync.

A sweat suddenly escaped his temples but I could swear, I felt hot between my legs at this point.

"Any moment now..." He whispered and then as he had predicted, the door opened and the cheerleaders stepped outside. And for a moment, he hesitated from leaving and I could already hear them moving far into the distance.

I wanted to move but he stopped me as he looked into my eyes and for a moment, he started bringing his face down with his lips aiming for mine when he suddenly drew away and pushed open the door of the closet.

He looked disgruntled as he scratched the back of his head nervously before turning to me.

"You were...um...Clara, you shouldn't skip classes. You have great potential and doing that would ruin everything." He said and walked briskly away taking long strides like he had fired up his ass.

Ruin everything he said and I found myself wondering if he was only referring to the classes as I slowly steppe

d out of the enclaves of the closet.

"But wait, he had noticed I was skipping classes?" I muttered absolutely stunned that he observed.

But seriously, why?