WHEN THE SEA CALLS
Chapter 56: Happy Birthday Louie

Chapter 56: Happy Birthday Louie

"Your dress," Reece continued. "It’s so beautiful. Did you buy it yourself? Is black your favorite color?"

Celia could not stop laughing. Louie stared at Reece strangely and Rhea... She could tell Reece was only teasing her, so she decided to ignore him.

"Your makeup is nice too," Reece went on. "Did you do it yourself? Did..."

"Reece, you are asking too many questions," Celia said.

"You are scaring her," Louie answered.

"I am not scaring her. I am just admiring her look. Can’t you see that she is..."

"Why are you so concerned about how she looks today?"

"Hey, wizard boy," Reece said. "Are you jealous I am admiring my girlfriend?"

"She is not your girlfriend," Louie snapped.

Rhea looked at them in confusion. What is going on? Why is Reece calling her his girlfriend and why is Louie so angry about it?

Reece chuckled. "Come on. I am just joking."

"You don’t joke with stuff like that," Louie mumbled.

Reece smiled. He isn’t going to give a reply on that.

"I almost forgot to say this. Happy birthday, wizard boy."

"Don’t call me that," Louie answered.

"I will think about not calling you that. I love to call you that though," Reece answered.

"I think I will have to leave you guys here," Celia said. "Rosa just texted me. She will be going to school today. I am going with her."

Rhea furrowed her brows. "She wasn’t at school yesterday?"

Celia nodded. "She was sick. I did not tell you?"

"You did not."

"I thought I did. I must have forgotten. She wasn’t in school yesterday."

"Send my greetings to her. I will come to see her at lunch break."

Celia nodded. "See you around." She waved at Reece and Louie. "I am leaving. Can you two stop bickering about Rhea? You’re going to be late for school."

"Ignore them," Rhea whispered and Celia smiled.

"Bye."

Celia left and Rhea faced Louie. "That is enough, Louie. Let’s go."

Louie followed Rhea to his car. He noticed Reece was following them too.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Going to school with you guys. Is there a problem with that?" Reece answered.

"When did you start going to school with us?" Louie asked. "Don’t you have a car?"

"Alan left in it, remember?" Reece answered.

"You mean in one of them? I am sure there are lots of cars in your garage. Go take one."

Louie was determined not to let Reece come with them. He wasn’t feeling comfortable with him getting close to Rhea.

"I do not want to go in one of them. I am going, in this." Reece pointed at Louie’s car.

"You are not coming with us," Louie insisted.

Reece faced Rhea who had been quiet for a while. She wasn’t sure of what to say to them.

"Rhea, why aren’t you saying anything?" Reece asked.

"Am I supposed to say something?" Rhea asked.

She wasn’t interested in their conversation. She didn’t understand why they kept stepping on each other’s toes.

"You should convince Louie to let me go in his car. You saw Alan leave a while ago."

Louie folded his arms. "And why should I let you?"

"Because I am your classmate."

"You mean an annoying one?" Louie snapped.

"Who is annoying, wizard boy?"

"Don’t call me that."

"I will keep calling you that name until you let me into your car."

Louie knew Reece wasn’t going to back off. They used to be okay with each other. Why is Reece so annoying now?

"Louie," Rhea called. "Just let him in, please. He won’t let us go if you don’t let him into the car. We are going to be late."

Louie sighed. He had thought about it too. Reece is only trying to piss him off. He shouldn’t let that happen.

"Fine, you can...."

Reece opened the back door and sat down. "Rhea, come sit with me."

Louie furrowed his brows. "Why would she do that?"

"Do you want her to sit in the front seat with you?" Reece answered.

"Who is going to sit in the front seat? Me?"

Reece ignored Louie. He wasn’t interested in the conversation, and he didn’t plan to sit in the front seat either. He gestured to Rhea. "Come in. I have something you say to you."

"She is not sitting with you," Louie insisted.

"You don’t have a say over that," Reece answered.

"I do. I am her best friend," Louie answered.

"Do you know who I am to her?" Reece asked.

"I am not going to listen to whatever lie you have to say."

Rhea who had been staring at the two of them, groaned. What is she supposed to do now?

Reece will not sit in the front and Louie doesn’t want her to sit with Reece. Reece and Louie kept arguing about where she was supposed to sit.

Rhea stared at her wristwatch. Time was fast spent already. She needs to end this conversation or they will be late to school.

"Can you both stop arguing? We are going to be late to school," she said.

"Who are you going to sit with?" Louie asked.

"You are choosing me right?" Reece asked.

Rhea sighed. She has made up her mind. She is not going to sit with any of them. They can sit with each other.

Rhea left them and went to sit in the front seat of the car.

Reece smiled. "She did not choose you," he mumbled.

"You weren’t chosen either," Louie answered.

Louie entered the car and the driver drove off. All through the drive to school, Louie and Reece kept arguing. They were arguing about things that wouldn’t have been an argument if they had no issue with each other. Rhea became tired of their conversation. She brought out her headphones and began to listen to music.

The car stopped in front of the school and Rhea took off her headphones. She could hear Reece and Louie arguing again.

They did not stop? She wondered. Or they did but continued again.

She did not listen to what their argument was all about. She stepped out of the car and headed to class. They were lucky, it wasn’t time for class yet.

"Rhea?" Louie called after her.

"Rhea," Reece called too.

"You both should meet me in class," Rhea answered.

She did not stop walking. They are going to delay her.

"Look!" Someone pointed.

Rhea looked in that direction. A few students were in the school compound and they were staring at her. They were murmuring. Rhea could hear a few words from their conversation. She groaned slightly.

This is the reason she wanted her uniform not a dress. This is the reason she wanted her usual ponytail and no makeup.

Rhea hastened her steps. She needed to get to class quickly. She entered the school building and surprisingly, there were so many students in the hallway.

"Did they hear the news of a princess coming to school today?" Reece whispered to her.

Rhea froze. When did Reece get so close to her?

"What are you doing to her, Reece," Louie asked.

He was close to them now.

"That’s none of your business," Reece answered.

Rhea groaned. This is not the time for them to argue. They should be helping her hide from the students in the hallway.

"Cover me up," Rhea said.

"Why should we do that?" Reece answered.

Louie frowned. "Can’t you see she is not comfortable with the eyes staring at her?"

Reece furrowed his brows. Why would she not be comfortable? Because they are looking at her?

He smiled. "Come on. Let them look. They are only admiring you and not trying to hurt you. Just look at their faces."

Rhea stared at them. Reece was right. They are admiring her.

Of course, Rhea knew they weren’t going to hurt her. She was just scared of people saying she looked different.

She can’t let the bluestone detect the fear in her heart and take advantage of it.

She took a deep breath. "Fine."

Rhea walked down the hallway to the class with Louie and Reece without looking around. She had promised herself not to be distracted by their kind words or she might be tempted to look at their faces.

What if they were pretending? What if she gets to see the real faces behind those smiling ones when she looks at them for the second time? She is going to be scared, and that would affecther emotions.

They got to the front of the class, and Rhea wanted to go in, but Reece stopped her.

If Rhea goes in first, the students will be all over her, and that will overwhelm her. Most of the students would not remember to wish Louie a happy birthday too.

"Why are you stopping her?" Louie asked.

"It’s none of your business," Reece answered as he pushed Louie slightly into the class.

The students pulled the party poppers in their hands and beautiful mixed colored confetti fell on Louie.

"Happy birthday, Louie!!!" Erupted as the students wished Louie a happy birthday.

Louie turned slightly to look at Reece. Did he know about this? Is that the reason he stopped Rhea from going in? The reason he pushed him into the class?

He smiled. "Thank you everyone."

Rhea was smiling too. She wanted to go into the class, but Reece stopped her.

"Why are you stopping me?"

"Do you want to steal the spotlight?"

Rhea furrowed her brows. What does Reece mean by that?

He pointed at her face. "Your face will do that. The moment you go in, their attention will be diverted to you. Let Louie enjoy his day for a while."