You must tell me when you find your answer

Chapter 9 You must tell me when you find your answer

Something is wrong with me,

I can't stop thinking about him. It must be the hormones. I'm not interested in guys and it wouldn't mean I'm interested in him just because I want to be close to him… right?

Help, I lost my sanity,

Sav

***

For the next few days Sav would only see Leo occasionally. He would come in the morning but before the class ends, he would leave. She wondered if it was the blueprints case. Some nights she would stroll for a few minutes and instinctively, she would notice bodyguards spotting her immediately and maintaining themselves at a close distance as if they've been told to watch her.

It would be impossible for her to catch the culprit if there are men hoarding around her but she noticed great improvement security of the campus nontheless. Feeling useless, she would come back to her room tired. Brielle would sometimes hang out with her before bedtime and they would talk about random things. But recently, she's been warning her about Leonard and his cronies.

"It's just my advice. Don't get any closer to any of them especially Leonard."

"Why?"

Brielle almost glared at her before smiling again, one of the smiles that wouldn't reach her eyes. "Aren't you stressed enough? Also have you talked to the counselor?"

"Not yet but maybe tomorrow. What will happen if I tell her anyway?" Sav honestly wanted to know what the counsellor would do.

"Maybe send you home for a vacation."

"A vacation? I'm okay tho—"

"Don't you miss your parents?" It sounded more of a threat than a thought. Seeing her reaction, Brielle raised her hands. "Sorry, I think I'm more stressed about you than you are about yourself."

"Don't worry about me Brielle." Sav was touched at how truly concerned she was and went to embrace her. "I can take care of myself." She inhaled her perfume that smelled of roses. There was something familiar about them but she couldn't pinpoint what it was.

"I know."

***

The bell rang and students began to barge in. Leonard strutted in, his hair a bit disheveled and his eyes immediately on her.

"Hey," he greeted.

Sav gave him a small smile. "Hi."

The class commenced and the teachers reminded the students of the upcoming school festival and that the preparations will begin after the tests. There were groans, some of them must have thought the tests would happen after but the concise and strict system of the Mafia Dons was adapted even in their studies.

Work now. Play later.

"By the end of this month I want you all to think of your gang nickname if you haven't got one yet. That's in two weeks. Don't give me a reason that you can't think of one, even as corny as kickasser would pass. If you don't give me your names before the deadline, I'll be forced to think of one for you which I promise will be very creative. It will start with stupid or idiot," Ms. Fenton said as she shut her book. Sav has grown to like her sass and blunt trajectories. She might actually be her favorite teacher.

A student raised his hand. "You mean like the Reaper?"

"Yes, if it isn't obvious enough."

Another student stood up. "Is it true that he goes to school here?"

"Another yes but his identity is confidential. I would tell you but then I would have to kill you."

By then the class was in an uproar. Everyone started talking excitedly at the same time. Sav was lost in her thoughts about the Reaper. She remembered reading about him in the newspapers. It was said that he killed 100 men with his bare hands as blood poured down from his eyes. It was then that he was given the nickname: Reaper.

Ms. Fenton fired her small pistol in the air which quieted everyone down. "That's better. Now, are there any more questions?"

"Why must we have the name by the end of this month? What's the occasion?" Sav asked, ignoring the glares she got from it.

"Good question. At the school festival, you won't be called by your names anymore. You'll be identified with your gang name."

The class oohed and aahed.

"Any more?"

Nobody answered.

"Then class is dismissed."

Sav turned around to see if Leo was still there but he was gone.

***

While rummaging in her bag for an eraser, Sav found another pink note in one of the pockets and she grudgingly opened it.

*

I will gorge your eyes out and stack them into a barbeque stick. Leave before I roast you to death.

*

She was tired and missing home. Brielle's advice was tempting but if her parents heard about the reason, they'd be disappointed. She wouldn't be able to face them. She was brought up facing the adversities in life and never running away from them. Her dad said that's how she'll grow.

Other than the psycho and her stalker who was probably the same person, she was worried about her gang name. Deciding that she needed air, she climbed the stairs to the roof top.

She was surprised to see Leo facing the sunset with his eyes closed.

"Savannah?"

She tried really hard to be quiet but it was hopeless against the Mafia Lord's son.

"How'd you know?"

"Your scent," Leo answered, opening his eyes. "I presume you've been going around the gardens lately. You smelled of gardenias."

"You got me." She smiled as she faced the sunset with him. "Are you busy these days?"

"Yes. When you're a son of the Mafia Lord, the last thing on your mind will be your missed classes. My father even wants me to stop going here every day."

Sav's mouth opened to protest but Leo cut her off.

"But I refused. As a matter of fact, I like going to school no matter how boring it can be. It's gotten interesting lately," he said as he glanced at her.

"That's good to know." Sav couldn't help herself from smiling.

"Why are you here?" Leo asked casually.

"To cool my head off and I want to know why," she replied, realizing a factor.

"Why what?"

"Why we keep meeting like this."

Then she finally saw it; the slight twinkle in his irises, how the edges of his eyes faintly creased, how he quickly caught his breath. It was as close as a smile.

"Well you must tell me when you find your answer."

"Okay."