His House

Chapter 30

His House.

Lyla Atelo.

The next day came, and Sage hadn't still showed up in school. I became very worried and even texted the numbers he always used to send me messages, but there was only silence. I called, but no one picked up.

"Elijah, hey!" I called him again the next afternoon. He looked irritated to see me. "Can you, at least, tell me which hospital he was admitted into? This is my fault, and the least I can do is check up on him. Or, if you don't want me to see him, can you give me his number to call him?"

Elijah sighed in frustration as he turned around to face me. I noticed the dark circles under his eyes, but I didn't comment on it.

"This woman..." He cursed under his breath. "If you need some assurance, he is fine now. He has been discharged from the hospital. Does that make you feel better?"

"Can I...just talk to him?" I knew I sounded desperate, but I was worried and I felt guilty. This was all my fault.

"Babe... Is there any problem?" A blonde hair whipped into view. I wasn't surprised to see Sara coming towards Elijah. He was her boyfriend to begin with. She frowned and looked between him and me. "Is there any problem, Mrs. Lyla?"

"She keeps asking for Sage." Elijah spat out in disgust and began to take his leave.

I tried to stop him, but I was immediately stopped by Lyla's hand. Her expression was deadly when she stared at me, but she kept the look of an angel when she was staring at Elijah.

"I will talk to Mrs. Lyla, babe. You can go back to class." She told him sweetly, and he spared one last glance at me, shaking his head and leaving. Sara faced me squarely. "You really are something, Lyla. You don't learn at all, do you?" She clicked her tongue as she looked me up and down.

"Sara... Look..." I told her tiredly. "I'm not in the mood for this. If anything, I have the right to know how he is doing. I'm the reason why he fell sick in the first place."

"Sure... The latter part is true. You're the cause of his sickness, but the former?" She shook her head and wagged a finger at my face. "That's where you're wrong. You have no right to know how he's doing. Who do you think you are, in the first place? You're not even that beautiful, and yet you keep throwing yourself at him like the whore you are."

I raised a hand, but I withdrew it immediately. If I let her rile me up, it wouldn't do me any good.

"Have a nice day, Sara." I turned on my heels to leave.

"Are you running? Who do you think sent you that video two nights ago? You think I don't know he fucked you?" The way her voice rose made me pause.

People had turned and were listening in on our conversation. I knew I didn't have to show any fear if I didn't want to steer up suspicion.

"Be mindful of your words, Miss Sara." I spat out acidly, my expression was dark and furious. It even made her back away for a few seconds, her face streaked with fear.

"B...but... I'm not lying! You know it!" She yelled this time, her voice high.

"Do you have any tangible evidence to show the world? Or is it just some blurry video that could be passed as an AI generated video? Don't you care about your reputation? Would it do you any good to be spreading false rumors among the students just because you're in love with Sage Dominic?"

Her eyes flew wide in shock and she began sputtering. "I'm not... You... You're turning the tables... I know what you're doing! You're trying to make me look bad in front of everyone!"

I shrugged and heaved in relief. Her face had turned red in shock. Students began whispering among themselves.

"Why, then, is he so lax when it comes to you? You should already be out of this school by now. Everyone knows it. But you're man—"

"Be careful, Sara." I lowered my voice. "Just because he isn't in school today, you're running your mouth. Can you say all these in front of him? Can you accuse him of sleeping with me in front of him? Or do you derive pleasure in trying to humiliate a poor teacher? Is that what this school is all about?"

"You!" There were unshed tears in her eyes as she screamed at me in frustration. "You won't always have the last laugh, Lyla!"

With that, she stomped out of the way, pushing the students on her way to clear a path for herself.

"You did a really great job, Mrs. Lyla." A female student giggled from the side and latched on my arm. "At least you're not scared of her like the other students. You have protection from our prince charming!" She giggled.

I untangled my arms from her. "Can you all stop with this nonsense?"

Her face fell immediately. "I'm not trying to get on your nerves, but it's true. Some of what she said is true. Sage does like you that is why he hasn't fired you. He even jumped into the water to save you, that was proof enough. But it goes to show that you wouldn't be bullied like all of us... You won't be bullied by Sara or her mother. Sage won't let that happen."

I almost laughed at that. I shook my head while making my way towards my office when she and other girls followed me, and I realized from their conversations that they were Sage's fangirls.

"Anyway... How is he doing? We heard he is sick." One of the girls, Sharon, asked.

"If only we were allowed to go to his house, I would have gone to take care of him and give him a get-well-soon card and flowers." Another girl, Pierce, added.

"His house?" I stopped in my tracks. "How do you guys do it? Crushing on him so much you can find his house."

"No... His house is not hidden. Everyone knows where Sage lives. It's just that no one is stupid enough to go there. You will be thrown out almost immediately!"

Now, why hadn't I thought of that? If his house was such public information, then...