WHEN THE SEA CALLS
Chapter 42: Wrong Assumptions

Chapter 42: Wrong Assumptions

It was time for Louie to go for his meeting and he informed Rhea about it.

"So soon," Rhea mumbled.

"I have to go. I will see you when school closes."

Louie ended the call and Rhea was left lonely once again. She decided to return to the class and maybe listen to music but changed her mind on a second thought. She made up her mind to visit Celia and Rosa in their class and see how they were doing.

They had always been the ones visiting her. She thought. It would not be a bad idea to visit them too.

She cleared the table and took her tray to drop it before going straight to Celia and Rosa’s class. She met Rosa on the way.

"Rhea, where are you going?" Rosa asked.

"To your class. Where are you going? Where is Celia?"

"She is in the school clinic. I am going to see her."

"What happened to her? Is she sick?"

Rosa smiled. "No, she is not. Myles got hurt during the sport class. He was taken to the clinic. She offered to go with him."

Rhea breathed a sigh of relief. She thought Celia was sick.

"How is he now?"

"I don’t know. That is why I am going there."

"I will come with you," Rhea said.

"Sure. Let’s go. The break will be over soon."

They went to the school clinic together. On their way, Rhea tried to know what the relationship between Myles and her sister is but Rosa wasn’t willing to say anything.

"Why are you not telling me?" Rhea asked.

"Because there is nothing to say. Nothing is going on between them."

Rhea sighed. It was best to give up.

Celia had told her nothing was going on between them. Rosa just confirmed it too.

Maybe nothing is between them. She thought.

Rhea said nothing to Rosa, who said nothing to her, too, until they got to the clinic.

"Good day, Miss Leslie," Rosa greeted.

"You do not have to call me Miss. Just call me Leslie," Leslie answered. "How are you?"

Rhea, who was standing behind Rosa, stepped out and waved. "Hi, Leslie," she greeted.

"You are here too, Rhea."

Rhea nodded but said nothing. Her gaze was on Maia whose gaze was in the magazine she held.

"We are here to see Myles," Rosa said.

"Over there," Leslie pointed.

Celia popped her head out and waved. "Over here."

She had heard their voices and was about to go and welcome them when Rosa asked a question and Leslie pointed the way for them.

"Thank you, Miss... I mean Leslie," Rosa said.

Rosa and Rhea went to meet Celia.

"Hello, sister," Rhea said with a smile.

"Hi, Rhea," Myles waved.

"Hi," Rhea waved back.

"Rosa, thanks for coming," Myles said.

"How is your injury, Myles?"

"Better. I think I will be transferred to the hospital soon and maybe use crutches for a while."

"That is so sad," Rhea murmured.

Rhea and Rosa sat on the empty bed beside Myles’ bed and silence invaded the room.

Myles spoke up first. "Rhea, I heard you are in the same class as Louie. He is my cousin."

Rhea nodded. "Yes, I do. He hadn’t spoken to me about you though. Maybe it skipped his mind."

"He has a lot of things going on in his head. Combining work and study isn’t an easy one."

Rhea nodded in agreement. Myles is telling the truth.

"Are you close to him? He has always spoken about a beautiful girl in his class. Do you know who she is? I think he is crushing on someone."

Rhea furrowed her brows. Louie is crushing on someone? That is strange.

He had never talked to her about any girl he was crushing on.

"Are you sure about that? He hasn’t spoken to me about that," Rhea answered.

Myles sighed. Isn’t Louie crushing on someone?

He remembered he had said that they were seatmates.

He smiled. "I remember now. She is his seatmate. They are very close."

"Louie is crushing on Rhea?" Rosa asked loudly.

"Louie can’t be crushing on Rhea. Can he?" Celia answered.

Rhea was shocked and short of words. Is Louie really, crushing on her? When did it begin?

"I think it’s a mistake. Rhea is Louie’s best friend."

Myles furrowed his brows. "Best friend? You are his seatmate, Rhea?"

Rhea nodded. "I am. "

"Maybe I am mistaken. I thought he was crushing on you because he talks about you a lot. It turns out you are his best friend. He said you were going to help him plan his birthday too."

Rhea nodded. "That is true."

"I am so sorry, Rhea. I made a mistake."

Rhea smiled. "You do not have to be sorry."

Celia stared at the wall clock. "I think we should get going. The lunch break is almost over. Myles, I will come check on you when I have the chance."

Myles smiled. "Thank you, Celia. Thank you, Rhea and Rosa, for visiting."

They waved at Myles and then left the room. After they left, Myles sat up and sighed. Maybe there is really, nothing special about Rhea. Maybe he had assumed wrongly.

The moment Rhea had come in with Rosa, Myles had noticed something about her that made him feel she was different from Celia and Rosa. That was the reason he kept the conversation between them going. He needed to look into her eyes and see what he could get about her, but surprisingly, there was nothing.

He had noticed that, too, on the first day he saw her on the bus. But it was so brief that it felt like a flash. He thought he couldn’t see anything because the time was short.

But now that he had looked into her eyes and saw nothing, he knew he must have assumed wrongly.

Maybe there is really, nothing special about her. He thought. If there was, Louie would have seen it.

He sighed and closed his eyes to sleep. Someone walked in and Myles opened his eyes.

"Who is that?"

"It’s me. I left my phone," Rhea mumbled. "I am so sorry I woke you up."

"It’s nothing," Myles mumbled.

He could feel that strong aura around Rhea again and that got him confused.

Could Rhea really be someone special? He thought. Or did she come in contact with something magical?

He wanted to ask Rhea if she had come across a magical item but he realized it wasn’t a good question for Rhea.

How is he supposed to explain why he is asking her that question? He sighed. He must be thinking too much about it.

"I have found it. Thank you, Myles. I am leaving now."

Myles nodded but said nothing and Rhea left. She walked past Maia who was still engrossed in the magazine she was reading.

Is she not going to class? Rhea thought but she did not ask her.

She left the clinic and returned to the class. Maia who had waited for her to leave, looked up and sighed. She kept the magazine on the table.

"I should get going to Mom," she said, standing up.

"Why did you not go with Rhea? Is there something going on between you too? Did you have a fight?" Leslie asked her daughter.

"We did not," Maia answered.

"I think you did. You both acted awkwardly towards each other."

"We did not get into a fight, Mom. And we did not act awkwardly towards each other."

"You did. You stared at a page in the magazine for a long time just to avoid looking at her. Tell me what is going on?"

"It’s nothing, actually. I just think she doesn’t like me. Or maybe she just doesn’t feel comfortable around me."

"Why would you say that?"

Maia shrugged. "I do not know. But I feel I have been the one forcing conversation on her. She doesn’t want to talk to me."

Leslie sighed. "That might not be the case. Remember I told you she doesn’t get along with people so easily."

"I don’t get along with people too, mum. But I am trying my best to get along with her. I am putting in the effort. She should too."

Leslie smiled. "I understand you, Maia. How about you talk to her about it?"

Maia sighed. "Will that change a thing?"

"How can you know that if you do not try it out?"

Maia sighed. Maybe that is good advice.

"I will try that. But I am not forcing myself on her."

"I am not asking you to do that. I just want you to talk to her."

Maia left the clinic and went back to the class. Rhea was on her seat, writing on a piece of paper. Maia walked up to her.

"Can I speak to you for a minute? Before we head to our different classes?"

Rhea nodded. "Sure. You can sit."

Maia sat beside Rhea and began to think of how to start the conversation. Rhea stared at her.

Why isn’t she speaking?

"You said..."

"Do you not like me?" Maia asked.

Rhea was shocked. "Wh... What? You think I don’t like you?" Maia nodded. "Why would you think that?"

"Because you acted like I was forcing my conversation on you. You..."

"You have never forced your conversation on me. Was it about what happened in the cafeteria? I was not just comfortable with you making friends with Alan and Reece. Everybody fears them. I am just worried you would get into trouble if you get too close to them."

Maia furrowed her brows. "Really?"

"Yes."

Maia sighed. She had misjudged Rhea.

"And you were very angry that I did not want them close to us," Rhea continued. "You refused to talk to me."

"I wasn’t angry," Maia answered. "I thought you did not want a conversation. That is the reason I did not talk to you. I am sorry I assumed wrongly."

"I am sorry too," Rhea apologized. "I misjudged you."

Maia sighed. They were both wrong. They had wrongly assumed everything, and that had kept them apart.