Chapter 14: Chameleon Stalking

Wherever Rakiza went, Theo was following her, sometimes close, but mostly far away, which irritated her. When she was in her other class, Theo would peek through the door and then disappear. And when she was writing in the woods, he was even closer to her.
And in the art class, Theo sat next to her. Rakiza tried to push Theo away but he's hard-headed.
Rakiza retorted, "I don't like being followed and observed."
"I'm sorry, but I enjoyed being closer to you," Theo said with a smile.
"That's not fair, because I'm sick of having you around."
"You could get used to it," he said with a smile, adding, "By the way, I have an idea for our collaboration on art projects."
"I'm not interested," Rakiza snapped.
Theo said with a smile. "You ought to be. I found a location where we can find a chameleon. "
Rakiza attempted to dismiss him. "There is no such thing as a chameleon in this forest."
"I would be delighted to take you into their haven if you like," he enticed her.
Rakiza's thoughts were on the chameleon Theo was mentioning. Aside from painting and writing, she enjoyed collecting rare items and animals. And this is her chance to see a chameleon up close and personal.
"All right," Rakiza agreed.
"We shouldn't waste our time," Theo said, as he rose to his feet and extended his hand to her.
They went to the dense part of the forest, stepping through the mossy areas, then into the rocky ground, and finally into the dark green forest, which no one had ever explored before.
The sun was setting to the east as they walked for nearly an hour.
Rakiza was panting and came to a halt, and asked, "Where is the chameleon haven? She grumbled. "We've been walking for miles and it's too far from the school; are you kidding me?"
"I would never do that," Theo paused and murmured, "Be still and quiet. We've arrived, and I noticed one chameleon on that branch. "
"Which branch of the tree is it?" Rakiza was curious.
"There you have it."
"I'm not seeing it, Mr. Monsanto."
"Could you try answering me by my given name? You can address me as Theo or Theodulf, "he said.
Rakiza snorted, "Whatever. All right, Theo, where is that chameleon? "
Theo drew Rakiza's face closer to his face, whispering, "See that branch growing up to the palm trees?"
Theo's fresh breath covered Rakiza's nostrils and disturbed her inner feelings from looking for the chameleon to which Theo was referring. Her senses were awakened by his scent.
Theo continued to whisper, "It blended on the green leaf, she was hopping," identifying the reptile as female.
Rakiza murmured, "I don't see any chameleons."
"You’re a gifted painter; notice the distorted formation on the leaf." Chameleons could blend their colors wherever they lay, but they couldn't deform themselves from their reptile form. Concentrate Use your shading talent, such as the way you shade my chest muscles, my eyes, my nose, and my lips. Feel it, Rakiza." His voice was husky.
Rakiza's sleeping human arousal was awakened by Theo's whispering voice. She couldn't put into words how she was feeling at the time.
And Theo was correct: a slow sketch of a reptile's body was formed.
"I saw it," Rakiza exclaimed excitedly. "She was lying peacefully on the leaf."
"Good," Theo said as he rested his hand on Rakiza's shoulder.
Rakiza, on the other hand, was preoccupied with the chameleon. She wanted to grab it and make it a pet, but she was afraid she would ruin the beautiful image she was seeing.
Theo moved quickly towards the leaf and snatched the chameleon in the blink of an eye.
"Don’t disturb her, Theo!" Rakiza yelled.
Theo faced her and opened his hand to Rakiza, "Here she is."
Rakiza was astounded that the chameleon was sleeping peacefully in Theo's hand.
"How did you do it?" Rakiza wondered, with a perplexed smile on her face. "You didn’t even disturb the leaf."
"It’s hard to explain; just enjoy watching her," he smiled. "What is your plan with her?"
Rakiza excitedly asked Theo, "Could I keep it as a pet?"
"If you’re responsible enough to take charge of her, you can have her," Theo asked.
Rakiza smiled. "Maybe I can feed her."
"I don’t like the word "maybe," It has a negative connotation for me. All I needed was a yes or no answer, "he said again, his tone firm.
"Yes, I can take care of her, Theo," Rakiza promised.
Theo took out a small clear glass jar with air holes on the cap and placed the chameleon inside before handing it to Rakiza.
Rakiza was pleased with his attention to her and grabbed the jar.
Theo then stated, "We must return to civilization in order to purchase her food." But first, you need to name her."
"Her name is Charm," Rakiza says.
Okay, Charm, she is your new mother, and her name is Rakiza," Theo said to the chameleon inside the jar, adding, "Don't let her spoil you."
"Don't tell her I'm a bad mother," she joked.
They returned to town to buy food for charm. Theo purchased packages of collard and mustard greens. "Charm had four foods: collard greens, mustard greens, crickets, and wax worms. Always keep that in mind."
"Yes, I will," Rakiza agreed, promising to take full charge of Charm.

They returned to school, and Rakiza went home with her friends after class. And they were discussing about Theo and Nikolas. Chin and Susan liked the Theo’s charm.
"But with Nikolas, Rakiza is financially secure, as opposed to Theo, who is regular, "Muriel insisted.
When Rakiza and her friends entered the building, they left.
Ambrosia greeted the girls in the dorm lobby with a base of white rose flowers.
"Another present for you, Rakiza," Ambrosia smiled.
"I'm starting to envy you, Rakiza," Susan grumbled.
"I'm guessing that's from Nikolas Augustus, Ambrosia?" Muriel asked, her voice brimming with excitement.
"Yes, it was delivered by his chauffeur while you were at school," Ambrosia said as she handed Rakiza the rose in the vase.
Rakiza was perplexed as to why Nikolas continued to send her white roses.
Chin had her own opinion about the gift once more. "You know what, maybe you should tell Nikolas not to send you vampire roses anymore." She then walked ahead from the other.
Everyone else was perplexed by Chin's presentation. From all the other girls, she the only one had negative thoughts about Nikolas gifts.
"What is the matter with her?" Muriel was perplexed.
"Don't worry about her. She was simply drowning in her supernormal knowledge of flower myths. "Rakiza said.

The night was cold, and Rakiza was engrossed in her story on her laptop. She had finished the second chapter and was about to submit it for proofreading by an editor. She was mumbling while writing excitedly.
*"And the gates of the old graveyard opened, and shadows from the dark corners began to crawl towards Jenny. Jenny was gasping for air as she ran. She wasn't dreaming at all... it was for*
A bang on the door startled Rakiza and forced her to stop writing. She moved her gaze to the door, but there was no response from the bang.
Rakiza pondered: perhaps Ambrosia knocked on the door.
She was hungry and remembered a leftover from the fridge, so she got up and went into the kitchen. After rummaging the fridge with sandwiches and fresh milk, she carried them back to her room. And was surprised to see Muriel picking up the flowers on the floor.
Rakiza exclaimed, "What happened?"
"The white rose in the jar has been mutilated once more, Muriel!"Rakiza excalimed. “Who did this?”
"Chin must answer this," Muriel thought as she wrapped her white robe around her body and marched out of the room.
Murield yelled angrily into Chin and Susan's room, and after a few knocks, the door opened and Chin emerged, asking, "What's going on?"
"What have you done to Rakiza's rose, you savage Chinese girl?" Muriel yelled.
"Muriel, what are you on about?" Chin asked, and frowned.
"What are you fighting?" Susan, who was rubbing her eye, interjected.
Rakiza, who was already behind Muriel with the crumpled flower in her hands, asked, "Did you do it? Chin, why did you sneak into our room and destroy my roses? "
Chin yelled at them, "I never left this room after dinner! And yes, I disliked those vampire flowers of yours, but I would never do that for you, Raki!"
"Then who did it?" Rakiza was desperate to find out.
When the steps started coming in, all the girls were silent, each thinking of a different possible suspect.
Teri Moss yelled angrily from behind them, "Will you zip up all your mouth, you were disturbing our sleep in the middle of the night?!"
"Teri, why are you here?" Rakiza inquired.
"I just moved into room number eight. Is there any problem with that?" Teri remarked sarcastically.
Rakiza knew that she had a problem with Teri’s attitude towards her. And that she was in big trouble.