WHEN THE SEA CALLS
Chapter 90: New erm, New Threat

Chapter 90: New erm, New Threat

"Alan?" She mumbled.

Why is Alan her partner?Why not someone different?

"Who is your partner?" Louie asked. "Is it me?"

Rhea shook her head and Louie furrowed his brows.

Who is it then?

"Could it be me?" April asked.

"Or me?" Maia added.

Rhea turned to face them. "It’s not any of you."

"Is it Kristen?" April asked.

"Kristen is paired with Maia," Rhea answered.

"And me?" April asked.

"Louie," Rhea mumbled.

April smiled. She likes that.

"It must be Reece, then," Maia answered.

"I wished it was," Rhea mumbled.

She would have preferred Reece. Why Alan?

"But why do you look so sad?" Maia asked.

Reece shook his head. He doesn’t think it’s him. Rhea doesn’t dislike him that much to be sad.

"I don’t think it’s Reece," April answered.

"No wonder she is sad," Maia answered.

Louie moved closer to Rhea. He needed to see who her chosen partner was.

He needs to know why she is sad.

"Alan?" He blurted out. "It’s Alan. Why are you paired with Alan?"

Rhea shook her head. How is she supposed to know why?

"Alan?" Reece asked in surprise.

Why Alan? He wondered. This is not a good thing for Rhea. He doesn’t like her.

"The same Alan in our class?" April asked.

"Isn’t that your best friend, Reece?" Maia asked. "The one with the weird hair color that covers his face."

"He doesn’t keep weird hair now," Louie mumbled. "Did you not see him?"

Maia scoffed. Of course, she saw him. He looks different now. But does that even matter? It doesn’t change who he is. Does it?

"It doesn’t matter," April answered. "It doesn’t change a thing. He is still the same, just with a different look. He is still the weird boy everyone tries to avoid. He is not even a bit friendly like Reece is. That is too bad."

"And there is something weird about him," Maia said. "He has this strange aura. Now I understand why Rhea is sad."

"Can you girls stop talking about my best friend like that? He is a nice person," Reece defended.

"We all know he isn’t," April answered.

"And you know that too," Maia added.

Reece nodded. But although Alan hasn’t been friendly to anyone except him, that doesn’t mean he is not nice.

"I know, but..."

"Do you think it’s possible to change my partner?" Rhea asked, cutting Reece short.

It doesn’t matter who her new partner is. She won’t mind, for as long as it’s not Alan.

Everyone turned to face Reece. They stared at him and he stared at them too.

Why are they looking at him?

"Why are you all looking at me?" He asked.

"You should be able to help, right?" Louie asked.

Reece groaned. What if he can’t?

"I..."

"He is your best friend after all," April said.

"Did you not say he is a good person?" Maia asked. "You should be able to change his mind."

Reece sighed. Although Alan is a simple person and can be convinced so easily by him for as long as he has a good reason, he doesn’t think that will be easy with Rheainvolved. Alan doesn’t like her, so he wouldn’t have let her be chosen as his partner, and for him to have let that go, then he must have a reason.

"Reece?" Louie called. Reece stared at him. "Why aren’t you saying anything?"

Reece sighed. "I am not promising you that Alan will change his mind but..."

Maia furrowed her brows. "You can’t promise us?"

Reece nodded. He can’t.

"But I will try my best to convince him," he answered.

Rhea stared at Reece. Why does she feel that Reece can’t convince Alan to change his mind? She sighed. She will just wait and see.

"Thank you, Reece. I appreciate it."

Louie stared at his wristwatch. "Time to go to class."

They went to their various classes. All through the classes until lunchtime, Rhea did not see Reece. She also did not focus in any of her classes either.

If Alan wasn’t scary and aloof towards others, maybe she would have felt okay working with him. She had thought about that, so many times. But he is. Maybe if she did not know he was the new boy she had thought was different. Maybe she would have felt better.

Rhea’s mind was clouded with different thoughts.

What if Alan doesn’t agree with the request? What if he makes the project a failure just to get back at her? What if he makes things hard for her?

There were so many what-ifs with no answers to any of them and that made her worried. She left the class alone; leaving April and Maia. She just wanted to be alone so she could go and look for Reece. She wanted to be the first to hear what Alan’s reply was.

She was lucky to meet Reece on her way to drop her books in her locker.

"Rhea," Reece called. "I was about to come and see you."

"Have you spoken to Alan yet?" Rhea asked.

Reece nodded. "I have spoken to him. I tried my best to convince him, Rhea but he insisted on partnering with you."

Rhea had already expected that. She doesn’t know why but she was already convinced from the beginning that Alan would not change his mind and he did not.

"Did he say why?" Rhea asked instead.

It will be nice to know why he wants her as his partner. Though she doubted he was going to say why.

Reece shook his head. "He did not."

"Thank you," Rhea answered and turned to leave.

"You won’t tell me to try to convince him again?" Rhea asked.

Rhea smiled. "Can you try to convince him again, Reece? We both know you can’t. So why should I insist?"

Reece sighed. Rhea is right after all. If Alan wanted to change his mind, he would have done that already.

"How about you talk to him yourself?" Reece suggested. "Maybe he will change his mind."

Rhea shook her head. She doesn’t think talking to Alan directly is a good idea. He won’t speak to her.

"I think you should try," Reece said.

Maybe she can try that out. She thought. But it’s better not to have any hope that he will change his mind.

She sighed. "Fine. I am not promising you that I will speak to him but I can try my best."

Reece nodded. "You should. I am leaving. I still need to speak to Alan about a few things."

Rhea waved. "Bye."

Reece left and Rhea headed to the locker room. She dropped her books and was about to leave when she saw April and Maia.

"Why did you leave without telling us?" Maia asked.

"We’ve been looking for you everywhere," April added.

"I am sorry," Rhea answered.

Maia sighed. "I saw you speaking to Reece a while ago. What did he say?"

Rhea explained to them that Alan insisted on partnering with her.

"Did he say why?" April asked.

Rhea shook her head. "He did not."

"Do you think he is up to something?" April asked.

"What could he be up to?" Maia asked.

"Are you both not curious to know why he decided to show his face today? He would have done that some other day," April said.

Rhea furrowed her brows. What is April trying to say?

"What do you mean?" Maia asked.

"I think he..."

"Rhea?" Someone called.

They all turned to see Sasha walking up to them.

Why is she coming close to them? Rhea wondered. Why did she call her name?

Sasha had stayed away from her since she got a suspension last term. She had also not tried to speak to her since the term began which is over a month now.

Why does she want to speak to her now?

"Why did she call Rhea’s name?" April mumbled.

Maia shrugged. "I don’t know. But I can tell she is up to no good."

"If she tries anything stupid," April said. "We will give her the taste of her own medicine."

Maia nodded. She couldn’t agree less.

Sasha stopped in front of them and folded her arms. She said nothing, just staring at Rhea.

"If you have something to say, say it," April said.

"If you don’t..." Maia flicked her fingers. "Get lost."

"I am not here for you girls," Sasha answered. "I am here for her." She pointed at Rhea. "You are Alan’s partner, right?"

"Do you have a problem with that?" Maia snapped.

Sasha stared at them in anger but said nothing. She can’t get into trouble with them yet.

Maia flicked her fingers. "If you have nothing more to say... Leave."

"I want you to change your partner," Sasha said.

"Who are you to tell her that?" April asked.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Maia added.

Sasha ignored them and pointed at Rhea. "You can’t be Alan’s partner. Only I can."

Rhea sighed. She has been quiet for a while just watching them but it is time to speak.

"I don’t care why you want Alan as your partner but if you have a problem with me being his partner, you should speak to Mr. Martins and not me," she answered.

"Of course she can’t," April answered.

"Alan doesn’t even want her," Maia added.

Sasha frowned. Are they mocking her?

She raised her hand up but when she saw a teacher close by, she dropped her hand quickly.

She pointed at them. "I am watching you girls. You better watch your backs." She said, before storming away.

"Don’t you think she is still obsessed with him?" April asked.

"It is obvious she is," Maia answered.

"That is not the problem here," Rhea said.

"What is?" April asked.

"How do I get Alan to agree to change his partner. I don’t want to be his partner."

Maia shook her head. She doesn’t think that is the problem though.

"I don’t think that is the problem," she said.

"Then what is?" April and Rhea asked.

"Sasha is," Maia answered. "She just threatened us. I think with what just happened, she won’t back out. She is definitely going to be up to something."

"Do you think Alan likes Rhea?" April asked. "I don’t understand why he won’t change his mind."

Rhea scoffed. Alan likes her... That is nearly impossible!