25. Fried Chicken Dead

***Emara Stone***

*I think he recognized me.*
"Hey! I saw her first." Daniel barks in between.
Ryan scowls irritatingly. His forehead has lines and his eyes have exploding mines that are targeted right at me. I gulp nervously as if I am standing in front of a hungry carnivore bear who is wearing a seducing black shirt and an angry face.
*Don't look at his well-built chest that is smelling of cardamom and sexiness. Don't look there!*
"Bro, what about the bro code?" Daniel grumbles shockingly, but Ryan's entire attention is on me, his one eye looks surprised and another pissed as they both stare at me endlessly. I look around and see hundreds of eyes gawking us with interest, some with curiosity others with jealousy.
"Ha-hi." I tremble anxiously as he slowly takes in my ocean hair and medieval tight clothes, saving everything in his memory foam mattress so he can identify and kill me later.
"I-um-will meet you after class." I mumble under his unfriendly gaze but he stands like a statue, unbothered. "Okay-um, bbye." I stutter.
Ryan doesn't reply anything, so I slowly turn around. Numerous eyes follow me as I walk out of the hot guy's radar. But before I enter the door of my building, I peek-a-boo at Ryan who is still standing on his spot and staring me dangerously.
*I am dead. I am so dead. I am so fried chicken dead.*
I can't believe out of all the peasants, the devil recognized me. It hardly took him a long, good stare to know that it was me who wrote all lustful things about him and stood him up yesterday.
I hope I survive this day, I'll somehow manage other days but god just let me live today.
I enter my class and everyone stop doing whatever they were doing.
As if the clock broke and they all freeze, noticing me. It’s not even nine, and I am already done with all this staring shit. I get seated on my usual spot beside Hardick, who is hyperventilating not believing his luck.
"Hardick, close your mouth. It’s me." I whisper as I twist my hair back in a bun and put a pen inside to fix it. "Em-ara? You?" Hardick asks confusedly. Now that I notice this is the first time I have heard his voice.
"Wow! I mean- you-you-look... different. I thought you were a guy.” He says in his Indian accent. “You what?” I gawk back in surprise. “But you are not.” He smiles wide like he got a smooch from an angel.
“Okay.” I nod slightly as I open my book and look for a pen in my bag. "Hey, do you have an extra pen?" I ask him as my only pen surprisingly gets disappeared from my hand. *Where did it go?*
Suddenly I get offered pens from east, west, north, south directions. Even boys from other rows who are far away from my reach jump to my bench with pen in their hands.
"Here" "Take this." "Take mine." "NO TAKE MINE!" "Mine"
Guys give a cold stare to each other as they try to keep their pen above in my focus than the other one. I roll my eyes to another dimension as I see their inadequate efforts to lure me.
*A pen won't get your penis anywhere near me, peasants!*
Suddenly, a pen comes flying somewhere from the back and lands right on my desk. I swiftly turn my head to its launching direction and see Drake smirking at me. He gives me a killer wink and a dashing smile that shows his good quality white teeth.
*I can't believe it! When I looked like a potato, nobody wanted me and when I turned into fries, everyone just got hungry.*
I give him a small smile and turn around to write with his pen that he had probably borrowed from someone else. All the other guys get back on their seats dejectedly and I focus ahead.
This is the first time in history when I am looking at the board and everyone else is looking at me. Even Rose is looking at me with wide eyes. *I can't believe this!*
I keep my head low as I feel attacked by numerous eyes. I don't wanna sit here but go home and sleep. I miss those times when teachers used to send you back home coz you puked in the class.
Not all hero's wear capes and have a good stomach, some puke and save the whole class from lectures. Being grown-up feels like shit. No one pukes in class, no one pee in their pants, and no one cries coz the other person called their mom whore.
*Classes are so boring now.*
The whole day passes by as I think of what Ryan will do to me, how will he tear my limbs, and boil me into his bowl of soup. I can't stop complaining how fast the clock is ticking, like the first lecture was just begun and now *Bam*! the last lecture is done too.
My chest pumps loudly as I realized it is time. It is time to face my sins.
I pack my bag and slowly rise from my seat with uncertainty, not sure if I'll get another chance to sit on it again. I turn around and walk towards the last bench to give Drake back his pen.
"Emara, do you wanna go out with me?" He asks friskily as I hand him his pen. "No, I actually gotta go." I hastily reply as right now I have to meet Ryan before he gets into the mood of showing his true colors.
"Oh come on! I have a good heart." Drake purrs as he gives me his dazzling smile.
"Errm... I don't need a transplant." I mumble and turn around to leave the confused Drake who is trying to process what just happened.
My heart thumps loudly in my chest as I walk away, that was the first time someone asked me out and I can't believe it was Drake.
I use my short legs to walk as fast as possible towards the gateway of hell. People turn their heads at me, but I keep walking not give any flying UFO to them. Motherfuckers! *All of them.*
My legs take me to the North cafe which is at the secluded end of our university. Hardly anyone comes here as its space is shorter than its menu. I turn my head left and right to check if anyone is following me or some six feet demon waiting to eat me alive. *But I see none.*
I walk behind the cafe, the place looks haunted. It has empty broken pavements with wild shrubs and plants grown out from the crack depicting that no human activities have been observed here for a long time.
The campus wall is broken and a pathway is made from there that ends up on an empty street behind the college. I never knew such a cloistered place existed at our university.