WHEN THE SEA CALLS
Chapter 53: Speaking to Louie

Chapter 53: Speaking to Louie

Silence invaded the room for a while. Leslie had nothing more to say to Rhea. They will be talking when she visits her house.

"Do you have any questions for me?" She asked.

"I do not have any," Rhea answered.

She has so many questions to ask Leslie, but she won’t be asking them here. She will wait until she visits Leslie’s home.

"Do you want to go back to class now? Or do you want to stay here until classes are over?"

"I should return to class," Rhea answered.

She was getting bored now. She also doesn’t want to keep Celia away from class anymore. Another reason Rhea wanted to go back to class was to see Maya and Sasha.

She wants to see what their reactions will be when they see her.

She was also planning to use the power of the bluestone on them.

Maybe she can hear their thoughts and know the reason why they attacked her.

Leslie nodded. "That will not be a problem. You can return to your class when you are ready." Leslie stood up. "I am leaving."

Leslie left Rhea and returned to her seat. On her way, she told Celia that Rhea could go back to class.

"Is she okay now?" Celia asked. "She doesn’t need to rest more?"

Leslie assured Celia that Rhea was okay. She was only in shock a while ago.

"Thank you, Leslie," Celia said.

Leslie left and Celia went to meet Rhea.

"Leslie said you can return to class now."

Rhea nodded. "Yes, I can. I am sorry I kept you away from class. I..."

Celia moved closer to Rhea. "Come on. Why would you be sorry? If I don’t take care of you, who should do that?"

Rhea smiled. "Thank you, Celia."

"You don’t have to appreciate me for everything, okay." Celia held Rhea’s hand. "I am happy you are fine now. I have been worried and thinking of what to say to Dad."

"Talking about Dad. Can we not tell him what happened today?"

Celia furrowed her brows. "Why?"

"I do not want him to be worried about me. He can’t find out that I was bullied. Please..."

"Rhea, what if the Principal tells Dad about it?"

"He won’t," Rhea assured her. "Leslie promised to talk to him about it."

Celia stared at Rhea. "She did?"

Rhea nodded. "Yes."

Rhea had lied about speaking to Leslie. She had not spoken to her yet but she planned to ask Leslie to speak to him for her or try to manipulate him into not saying anything about it.

Myles might be able to help too. Rhea thought.

She has watched so many movies where witches and wizards can wipe off people’s memory. Sometimes they manipulate people into doing what they want them to do.

She would have spoken to Louie about it, but right now, they are in an awkward relationship; he hasn’t properly told her who he is. She won’t be asking him either since she can’t tell him who she is yet.

Celia flicked her finger across Rhea’s face. She had asked Rhea a question but she gave no reply.

"Rhea?" Celia called.

Rhea blinked. "Wha... What?"

"Are you okay?" Celia asked.

"I am fine. Why did you ask?"

"You are lost in thought. I asked you a question but you did not reply to me."

Rhea sighed. Her mind has drifted to a different thing.

"I am so sorry. I was lost for a while. What was your question again?"

"I asked when you plan to talk to Louie. His birthday is tomorrow, remember?"

Rhea sighed. She had thought about that too.

"I don’t know how. I avoided him without a reason."

Rhea knew Celia did not know about Myles and Louie being wizards, which was the reason she avoided Louie in the first place.

She wasn’t going to tell Celia that though.

"I think you should just talk to him. He understands that you were in shock. He wasn’t the only one you did not talk to. You did not talk to Maia and April too."

Rhea sighed. It wasn’t as simple as Celia thinks it is but she won’t tell Celia that.

"I will try my best," Rhea answered.

Celia smiled. "So, how far are you guys in preparation?"

"I think everything for tomorrow is ready. We still have a few things to get for Friday’s party, and we are supposed to get them today..." Rhea sighed. "Then this happened. I don’t think we will go."

"That doesn’t stop a thing. Does it? You can still go with him. You are better now. You just have to speak to him about it."

Rhea nodded. Celia is right after all. She can’t let what happened stop their preparation.

Rhea stood up from the bed. "Let’s head back to class. I want to speak to Leslie though."

Celia nodded but said nothing. Rhea laid the bed before leaving.

"Can you wait outside, please? I need to speak to Leslie in private," Rhea said to Celia in a whisper when they got close to Leslie.

"Sure," Celia answered.

She left Rhea in the clinic and waited outside for her. Rhea spoke to Leslie for a few minutes about helping her talk to the Principal or even helping her manipulate him into keeping quiet.

Leslie laughed at Rhea for thinking about manipulating the Principal into keeping what happened today a secret.

"Why would you think that?" Leslie asked.

"I could not think of anything else," Rhea answered.

Leslie smiled. "You don’t have to worry about manipulating him. I will speak to him about it. What do you plan to do with Maya?"

Rhea shrugged. "I won’t be doing anything to her. I am sure there is someone who pushed her into doing it."

"You won’t try to bully them back. Would you?"

Rhea shook her head. She won’t do that. Leslie had warned her against doing anything that would trigger her emotions.

"I won’t do anything to them. My emotions need to be stable."

Leslie smiled. That is what she wants to hear. She wants to be sure Rhea remembers her warning to her.

"Class is already going on. You should head back to class."

"Thank you, Leslie."

Rhea left the clinic and joined Celia outside. They went to Rhea’s class together. Celia had insisted on doing that.

"I need to be sure you won’t get bullied again."

"Come on, Louie and my new friends won’t let them bully me," Rhea said.

"I also need to thank them for visiting you," Celia said.

They got to the homeroom but there wasn’t any student in it.

"What class do you have now?" Celia asked.

"Geography, I guess. You should go to your class, Celia. I will..."

"I will go with you," Celia said.

"But you have a class too. Why don’t you go..."

"Not after I have taken you to your class."

Rhea sighed. She can’t change Celia’s mind.

"Fine. You can come with." They went to the Geography class together. "You should go back now. I can’t let you miss classes anymore."

"Let me at least see you go in."

Rhea moved closer to the door and raised her hand. The teacher noticed her and gestured for her to come in. The news of what happened to Rhea had been told to all the teachers already.

Rhea waved at Celia before going into the class. Celia finally left too.

"How are you feeling now, Rhea?" The Geography teacher asked.

"I feel better, sir. Thank you for asking."

Rhea saw Louie seated alone and she walked up to him.

It is time to get her best friend back.

She smiled at him and he smiled back. Rhea sat beside him and class continued.

A lot of the students stole glances at Rhea throughout the class. Rhea noticed Sasha ans Dahlia but Maya was nowhere to be found.

Why isn’t she back? Rhea wondered.

The class ended and Rhea sighed.

"How are you feeling now?" Louie asked.

"Better. Thank you," Rhea answered.

Louie did not know what to say to Rhea next. He picked up his book and opened it.

"Louie?" Rhea called.

She can’t let the awkward moments between them linger on.

"Yes?" Louie answered.

"I am sorry for the way I treated you the last time."

Louie shook his head. "I should be the one to say how sorry I am. I shouldn’t have kept it away from you."

"I know you have a reason for keeping it from me. I also have a lot of things I want to tell you but I can’t yet. So I won’t get angry at you for not telling me."

Louie sighed. So Rhea is keeping a secret from him? What could the secret be?Myles must know about it too. But why can’t she tell him about it yet?

He smiled. "You can always tell me when you are ready. I will tell you mine too. But that would be after the birthday party."

Rhea nodded. She is willing to wait.

"School is over. Do you want me to drop you at home?"

"Aren’t we going for your birthday shopping anymore?"

"We can’t do that. You just got better. You should..."

Rhea shook her head. That should not stop them like Celia said.

"You don’t have to worry about me. I am fine now."