WHEN THE SEA CALLS
Chapter 25: Another Day at School

Chapter 25: Another Day at School

Celia left and Rhea slowed down her walking step, waiting impatiently for Louie. She kept staring at her wristwatch to be sure she wasn’t late for school yet; she didn’t want to get into trouble. As she waited, she began to hum a song.

Soon, she saw Louie’s car coming; she began to wave. The car stopped in front of her and Louie popped his head out.

"Hi, Rhea," he waved at her. "How are you today?"

"Hi, Louie. I am good. How are you?"

"I am doing great." He opened the door and stepped out. "It’s good to see you." He walked closer to her and hugged her.

"It’s good to see you too."

"Why do I feel like you look so beautiful today?"

"Are you trying to tease me? I look so horrible."

"You do not look horrible, Rhea. But it seems like you did not get enough sleep. Did you?"

"I did not," Rhea said truthfully. "I had a lot going on in my mind. And don’t ask me what it is. Because I won’t share."

Louie chuckled. "I can tell you won’t."

Rhea stared at her wristwatch. "I think we should head to school now. We don’t have much time left."

Louie nodded. "Sure." They walked towards the car but Louie stopped. He pointed. "Isn’t that the new boys from our class?"

Rhea turned to see who Louie was referring to. She saw Alan and Reece standing in front of their door and she quickly hid herself behind Louie.

"Why are you hiding?" Louie asked, confused.

"Can we leave now? Don’t let them see us, please."

"Did something happen between you and them?"

"Nothing happened. Can we just go?"

Louie nodded. "Sure. But I do not think they saw us, though."

He led Rhea to the car and opened the door. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"You haven’t told me why you are hiding from them."

Rhea entered the car and sat down. "Can we talk about this later?"

"Sure." Louie entered the car too. "Do you think they are heading to school too?" He asked.

Rhea shrugged. "I can’t say. You know how they can be."

Louie nodded in agreement. They have always been strange.

"Enough of Alan and Reece’s talk. Let’s talk about something different."

Rhea faced him. "Do you have some good news? I can tell that you do. It’s all over your face."

Louie smiled. "You know me too well."

"Of course I do. What is the good news?"

"It’s my birthday in a few days."

Rhea screamed happily. "Oh, my goodness. That is good news. Are you celebrating it?"

"Do you think I should?"

"Please do. I haven’t attended any parties since I came here. It’s getting boring."

Louie raised his brows. "Did you just say it’s getting boring? This is the first time hearing you say that. Why..."

"Don’t tease me."

"I am not going to do that. I am just curious. Why did you suddenly feel bored?"

Rhea shrugged. "I don’t know. Can we talk about your birthday? Are you going to celebrate it?"

Louie nodded. "My best friend is bored, I have to celebrate my birthday so she can attend."

Rhea widened her eyes. "You are going to do that for me?"

"Yes. I will. I haven’t spoken to my parents about it yet though. But I am sure they will be happy to hear that. You have to plan with me."

"Of course I will. I will be glad to do that."

The car stopped in front of the school and they came down. Rhea stared at her wristwatch again.

"Can you stop doing that? We got to school before time."

"But we are not in class yet. What if the bell rings and..."

"Rhea, we will get to class before the bell rings. We still have ten minutes."

Rhea nodded. "I know. I am just anxious. I guess."

Louie held Rhea’s hand. "You don’t have to be. Let’s go."

They entered the school together, holding hands. Rhea sighted Leslie, the nurse.

She smiled. This is a good opportunity to ask Leslie to tell her about the mermaids.

She just needs to have a little knowledge about them before she goes back home to open the seashell Aquamarine gave her.

"Louie, I will meet you in class. I need to speak to someone."

"I thought you wanted to get to class before the bell rings."

"I wanted to but now I must speak to her before she goes."

"Who are you speaking with?"

Rhea pointed. "Leslie."

"Let me have your bag. You met me in class."

Rhea handed her bag to Louie. "Thank you.". She waved to Louie and headed to meet Leslie. "You have to be back before class begins."

"I will."

Louie left for class while Rhea ran to meet Leslie. She needed to speak to her quickly before the bell rang.

Leslie waved at Rhea. "Hi, Rhea. Are you here to see me?"

Rhea nodded. "Yes, ma’am. Good..."

"You can just tell me why you want to see me so you can go back to class before the bell rings."

Rhea nodded. "Would you be free to tell me about mermaids?"

Leslie furrowed her brows. "Mermaids? Are you interested in them?"

Rhea wasn’t going to tell Leslie about her encounter with Aquamarine which was the reason she wanted to know more about mermaids.

She shrugged. "I am just curious. After you told me a little about them some days ago, I have been curious to know what happened at the end."

Leslie smiled. "Since you are curious to know, then I will tell you. Whenever you are ready to listen to my story, you know where to find me."

"Can I come during lunch break?"

"Of course. Just make sure you don’t miss lunch."

Rhea nodded happily. "I won’t."

"You should head back to class. It’s almost time for class to start."

"Thank you, Leslie," Rhea mumbled. "I will leave now."

As Rhea left, Leslie couldn’t stop staring at her. She could see the trait of her sister in Rhea.

Could she be her sister’s missing daughter?

She shrugged off the feelings. Rhea does look like her sister but she has no traces of...

"Miss Leslie?" Someone called, jolting her out of her thoughts.

It was Bella her assistant.

"Bella," Leslie called.

"Are you okay? You seem lost in thought."

Leslie smiled. "I am fine. How are you?"

"I am good."

"We should head to the clinic. We still have a few things to put in place."

Bella nodded. "Yes, ma’am."

**

Rhea kept staring at her wristwatch, hoping it would be lunchtime soon. She had hardly listened to lectures or got involved in whatever was going on in each of her classes.

Rhea’s eyes were fixed on her wristwatch until the longer hand of the clock rested on twelve. She jumped off her seat and that made Louie curious.

"Why are you so much in haste? Where are you going?" Louie asked.

"To get lunch," Rhea replied.

"Not that. Where are you going after lunch?"

Rhea moved closer to Louie. "That is a secret. Come on. Let’s go get something to eat."

They left the class and headed to the cafeteria. They got their food and found an empty table to use.

"Do you notice Alan and Reece are not in school?" Louie asked after they were settled.

"I did not expect them in school today. They have always skipped classes. It’s not new."

Louie nodded. "Will is not in school either. Do you know why?"

"I don’t know. Do you?"

"I don’t know either."

Rhea sighed. Maybe he is sick.

"I asked him to take you home the last time. Did he bother you?"

"He did not. He has been trying to be nice to me but..." She sighed. "I do not want Sasha’s trouble."

Louie nodded. "When are you leaving?"

Rhea chuckled. "In a few minutes. I promise to tell you everything but not now. Everything is still unclear to me."

Louie smiled. "Take your time. But why do I have a feeling you are going to listen to the story about mermaids from Leslie?"

Rhea furrowed her brows. "How did you know?"

"You have been drawing different fishes and writing mermaids in your book."

Rhea chuckled. "Would you like to come with me? I am just curious to know."

Louie smiled. "I have been curious to know what’s so interesting about the story to take so much of your attention. You completely zoomed out in class. So yes, I would love to come with you."