WHEN THE SEA CALLS
Chapter 24: Rhea’s Thoughts

Chapter 24: Rhea’s Thoughts

It was another day of school but Rhea was sceptical about going. Her thoughts throughout the night had been on Alan and Reece, and that had kept her awake.

Rhea would not stop wondering why they had moved into her neighborhood and if they had seen her yesterday.

What if they saw her and talked about it in school today? She thought.

She dragged her tired body out of the bed and headed to the mirror to stare at her face. Rhea brushed her hair backward with her hands and sighed.

Her face doesn’t look good at all, and she will be getting a lot of questions about it from Celia and their father.

She headed to the bathroom to take her bath and get ready for school. She was out after a few minutes and she began to get dressed.

Her thoughts shifted back to Alan and Reece. The thoughts of facing them in school without making them suspect her clouded her mind; she wasn’t aware of Celia coming in.

"Rhea?" Celia called but she did not answer. Celia tapped the table slightly, jolting Rhea out of her thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"Yes... I am. When did you come in?"

"A few minutes ago. You are sure you are fine? You’ve been lost in thoughts since I..."

"I am. Trust me. I see you are dressed for school already. Do you have an assignment to submit?" Rhea asked.

"Do you know what the time says? It’s almost half past seven."

Rhea stared at the wall clock and sighed. "I am so sorry. I will quickly get dressed and join you downstairs. What about Dad?"

"He left for work," Celia said and Rhea nodded. "I already made breakfast. We have to eat before we go. You should be fast."

"I will, I promise."

Celia left Rhea’s room and headed to the dining room to wait for Rhea who quickly got her uniform out of the closet to get dressed. She brushed and packed her hair into a ponytail, then picked up her glasses.

Rhea sat down to wear her socks and shoes while she hummed one of her favorite songs; it was to stop her from thinking about Alan and Reece.

She left her room after doing a final touch to herself and joined Celia on the dining table.

"Bacon and eggs?" She asked, sitting opposite Celia.

"Do you want something different? I can make..."

"Not really. I can make do with this."

They began to eat while silence invaded the room. Rhea offered to clear the table when they were done.

"Don’t you think we need to get a maid?" Rhea said when she returned from the kitchen.

"Why do you think we need one?" Celia asked, picking her bag up.

Rhea shrugged. "To help out? You always do all the work and I feel sorry for you."

"Then you should learn to join me," Celia answered.

"But I used to do that. Don’t..."

"I know you do. I am just kidding. We don’t need a maid, Rhea. We are fine without one."

Reha nodded. "I guess we are."

"Are you ready? We should leave now."

Rhea picked her bag up. "Yes, I am. We can leave now."

They went to the door. Celia was about to open it when Rhea suddenly remembered that Alan and Reece were their new neighbors; she couldn’t let them see her or Celia. Celia doesn’t know about them being their neighbors yet; she hopes to keep it from her for as long as she can.

She raised her hand. "Wait!"

"Why? Is there a problem?"

Rhea chuckled. "No. I just remembered something. Can you wait? I need to check out something."

Celia folded her arms. "What are you checking..."

"Just a few minutes and we will be out."

"Fine. I am giving you five minutes. I..."

"Thank you, Celia. That is more than enough. Just promise me you won’t come close until I say so."

"Can you at least tell me..."

"It’s nothing serious."

Celia sighed and said nothing more. Rhea opened the door and peeped out and that made Celia curious.

"Are you hiding from someone?" She asked, moving closer to Rhea.

She tried to peep to see what Rhea was hiding but Rhea pushed her slightly, stopping her.

"You promise not to look."

"I know I did but I am just curious."

"I know you are but you can’t peep."

"Fine. I won’t but you have to be fast about it. We are going to be late for...."

Maybe they are by their door.

Rhea opened the door widely and walked out. She closed the door behind her before Celia could finish her words and that made her groan.

Rhea, who had suspected that if Alan and Reece were not out already, they might not be coming out soon, breathed a sigh of relief when she saw no one; she had come out to confirm her suspicion.

They have always come to school late. She did not notice them outside after she saw them yesterday either.

"Celia," she called. "We can leave now."

Celia opened the door and walked out. "So why did you stop me from peeping? Did you have a crush..."

"I am not like you, Celia. I don’t crush easily."

Celia chuckled. "Are you sure about that? I always see the way you look at Louie. Don’t you..."

"I don’t like..." Celia furrowed her brows. "I like him but not in the way you think."

"And what way is that?"

"Like..." Rhea groaned. "Did you not say we were about to be late to school?"

Celia groaned. "I almost forgot that. We will talk about this another time. I am off."

Celia ran off and that made Rhea brush her hair backward in distress.

"You aren’t going to wait..."

"I won’t do that. Find your way to school, Rhea. Rosa is still waiting for me."

"I almost forgot that," Rhea mumbled. "Send my regards to her," she yelled after Celia.

"I will. See you at school. Make sure you are not late."

"I should be telling you that," Rhea answered.

She was heading straight to the bus station to get a bus, unlike Celia, who needed to meet Rosa at home first.

Celia stopped running. "Her father has a car, remember?"

"Then I should come with you."

"That will not be necessary. Louie is on his way."

"He told you that?"

"He texted me when I was in. He should be here soon. See you in school, Rhea. Don’t get into trouble."