WHEN THE SEA CALLS
Chapter 35: Reece Bottled In

Chapter 35: Reece Bottled In

Rhea looked around to see if there were students in the hallway, but of course, there weren’t any; everyone had gone to their various classes.

She thought about what to do to avoid being bullied by Sasha and Dahlia. The look on their faces wasn’t friendly; Rhea could tell they were bent on bullying her.

Louie would be here soon to save her. She was sure of that.

She just needs to prevent them from bullying her until Louie notices she could be in trouble and comes to save her.

She must find a way!

Rhea smiled. "Sasha, I did not cuss at you. I wouldn’t dare." She moved closer to Sasha and held her hand. "Can we not quarrel about this. It’s too early for that, please?"

Though Rhea knew Sasha would not stop until she bullied her, she hoped she would reason with her.

She smiled again. "We..." Sasha pulled her hand away and scoffed. Rhea held her hand again. "Can we?"

Sasha groaned and pushed Rhea away. "Get away from me. Do I care if it’s too early for that? I decide what I want and when I want it." She faced Dahlia. "Dahlia, deal with her."

Dahlia moved closer to Rhea and pulled her by the hair. This made Rhea groan in pain. She held Dahlia’s hands, trying to push them away.

"What are you doing? Get away from me." Dahlia pulled harder. "You are going to make me bald!" Rhea screamed.

"That would be better. I want to see how you get handsome boys with that."

Rhea furrowed her brows. This is all about boys.

She held Dahlia’s hand tightly and tried her best to get her hair off her hands. She succeeded and moved away quickly.

"This is all about boys?" She asked. "But I am not going out with Will... Or Alan... Or..."

Sasha dashed at her and pulled her by her shirt. "How dare you call Alan’s name?"

Rhea tried to pull herself away from Sasha but did not succeed.

Why isn’t Louie coming already? Who is going to save her?

Sasha tried to grab Rhea’s hair but someone stopped her.

"What are you doing?!" It came almost in a yell.

"Re... Reece?" Dahlia mumbled.

Sasha was shocked; she released her grip on Rhea and moved backward. She had not expected to see Reece coming to Rhea’s rescue.

Rhea was surprised too. Why would Reece come to her rescue?

"What are you doing?" Reece asked, folding his arms. "Why are you bullying her?"

Dahlia looked away quickly. What is she going to say now? She had tried her best to be a good girl in front of Reece. Why did Rhea get her into trouble?

"I am talking to you both. Why are you bullying her?"

"It’s none of your business!" Sasha snapped.

Reece isn’t the person she likes but Alan. She can speak to him the way she wants. But on second thought, she changed her mind. Reece is Alan’s best friend. She should try to make friends with him.

"I am sorry. I did not mean that way," she mumbled.

"We are not bullying her," Dahlia answered moving closer to Rhea. She held Rhea’s hand and smiled. "Are we?"

Rhea furrowed her brows. What is going on?Is Dahlia trying to curry favor from Reece?

Dahlia pulled Rhea slightly. "Are we?"

She stared at Dahlia who was pleading to her with her eyes.

Rhea sighed. If she helps Dahlia, would that prevent them from bullying her?

"They aren’t bullying me, Reece," Rhea answered.

"I wasn’t talking to you," Reece answered.

Rhea rolled her eyes but said nothing. What was she expecting from him?

"You see," Dahlia answered. "She just confirmed..."

"I do not care what she thinks. If you dare to bully her again. You won’t go scot-free."

Rhea blinked. What is going on here?

"Rhea?" Someone called and Rhea turned.

It was Louie. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally!

Finally, someone she could relate with.

"What is going on? I have been waiting for you."

"I was about to..."

He looked at Dahlia and then at Sasha. "Did they bully you?"

Rhea shook the head. She wasn’t going to make a deal out of this.

They need to get to class as soon as possible or they will get detention.

She shook her head. "They did not. We were just talking about random things."

Reece scoffed. "Liar!" He mumbled.

Rhea frowned. Why is Reece calling her a liar? Is he trying to make Louie know what actually happened?

She decided she wasn’t going to answer him. She can’t let the conversation linger for too long or Louie will find out.

"Louie," she called. "I am sorry I did not meet up with the time. Let me go get my books."

"You haven’t gotten them yet?" Louie asked.

Rhea nodded and smiled slightly. "I am sorry. I will go now."

She went to her locker to get her book, but would not stop stealing glances at them. They weren’t saying anything which made it difficult for her to know what was going on with them.

Sasha scoffed. "I can’t believe I am still here. Dahlia let go."

Dahlia moved closer to her. "Can we..."

"Dahlia!" Sasha yelled.

"Sorry," Dahlia mumbled.

Sasha and Dahlia left leaving Reece and Louie.

"Are you not going to class?" Louie asked.

Reece frowned. "Do you have a problem with me not going to class?"

Louie groaned. He shouldn’t have asked him. Reece just rudely answered him.

"It’s none of my business if you don’t." He answered.

"If it’s none of your business, then you should mind the building that is yours."

Louie sighed. Now, he regrets speaking to Reece.

Why is he so rude to him?

They weren’t close but he wasn’t rude either.

He decided he wasn’t going to go on with the conversation.

He looked up to see Rhea still standing by her locker. He stared at his wristwatch and sighed. It’s just a few minutes until their biology class starts.

"Rhea?" He called. "Are you not done? We do not have much time left."

Reece scoffed. "Who cared about that.". He placed his hands in his pocket. "Have fun in your boring Biology class," he said and walked away.

Louie stared at him and sighed. Why is he acting so strange today?

He moved closer to Rhea who was still facing her locker. He tapped her slightly and she turned. She was done a while ago but did not turn because of the conversation going on between Louie and Reece. She felt awkward listening to them argue. She could not help but wonder what was going on.

Reece had always preferred to talk to Louie more than he did with her.

Why did he suddenly change?

"Rhea?" Louie called, jolting her out of her thoughts.

She blinked slightly. "Ye... Yes?"

"What are you thinking about? You..."

"Nothing. We can leave now."

Louie sighed. "Fine."

They left the hallway and headed to the biology class.

"You were bullied... Right?" Louie said, after a while.

"I wasn’t," Rhea answered.

"I know you were. Why did you let them bully you?"

Rhea stopped walking. "I wasn’t bullied, Louie. Though they wanted to do that. Reece came in time to save me."

"When did you both become close?"

"We are not closed. I am also surprised he came to help."

"Do you think he likes you?"

Rhea chuckled. "You think so?"

Louie shrugged. "I do not know. That is why I am asking you."

Rhea hit Louie slightly. "What are you thinking? Reece doesn’t like me. We both know that."

Louie sighed. Maybe he is thinking too much.

"Let’s go to class, Louie. We can’t be late."

**

It was closing time. Rhea packed up her books in her bag, ready to go home.

"Are you going home with Celia?" Louie asked, packing his books into his bag.

"I do not know. She did not say," Rhea answered.

Louie nodded. "Can we..."

Rhea blinked. She just remembered that she would be going to the mall with Celia to get their father’s birthday gift and also to get some dresses.

She smiled. "I think I am. We are going to the mall."

"That is nice. Is it for your Dad’s birthday?"

Rhea smiled. "Yes...."

And for Louie’s birthday. She thought.

"When are we going to talk about your birthday?" She asked.

"I was thinking we could talk about it today but you are going to the mall."

Rhea sighed. "That is so sad. How about tomorrow? I will be in school early to talk about it."

Louie nodded. "That is not a bad idea. But I think we can talk about it on the phone. It’s in three days remember."

Rhea blinked. Why did she not remember that?

"I almost forgot that," she mumbled.

"A lot has been going on with you these few days. And I am worried."

Rhea smiled. "It’s nothing though."

"Are you sure?"

Rhea nodded. "I am sure about that."

Rosa popped her head into the class and waved. "Hi, Rhea? Hi, Louie."

"Hi, Rosa," Louie said.

"Hi, Rosa. Where is Celia?"

"She is at the parking lot, waiting for you," Rhea answered.

Rhea picked her bag up. "Louie, I have to go. I will call you when I get back."

Louie nodded. "I will be expecting that. See you around." He waved. "Bye."