FALSETTO

As I walked away from Aston's car, I couldn't resist the urge to glance back. His car roared to life, the drifting sound filling the air, and it strangely brought me a sense of adrenaline. Lost in admiration of his disappearing sight, I snapped out of it, shaking my head in disbelief for what I was doing. I caught a black Mustang moving slowly to the right, opposite of where Aston went. Wait, wait, wait, what the heck. It hit me like a ton of bricks that it was the same car that had been following me since Aston and I made our way here.

"Freaking stalker!" I shouted, running towards the car, my anger boiling but it quickly sped away, slipping away from my grasp, disappearing into the distance.

Breathless from the chase, I tried to catch my breath, my legs unable to carry me any further. Dread surged through me. What if they go to my house? My mother, oh no, my mother! My vision blurred, darkness closing in on the edges. I crumpled to the ground, feeling overwhelmed and unsure of what was happening to me.

Suddenly, a hand tapped on my back, and a deep, reassuring voice echoed in my ears.

"Are you alright?"

"Hey?" someone called out urgently, but my eyes betrayed me, closing shut, leaving me in darkness.

Birds chirping melodiously wandered over my ears, accompanied by a bright light streaming through the window directly in front of me. The intensity of the light made it difficult for me to see clearly, so I raised my hand to create a shadow over my eyes. As I shifted my body to the right, I noticed the clean white bedsheet and a side table over the light grey tiled floor, where my watch and phone was placed, comprehending that I was lying on a bed. Curiosity took over, and I propped myself up on my elbows, surveying my surroundings.

It was the infirmary of our university. To my left, a shapely man sat in a chair, engrossed in a book, his head bowed. When I attempted to sit up, my right ankle throbbed with pain, causing me to make an involuntary sound of discomfort. At that moment, the man looked up and our eyes met.

"You!" I exclaimed, my voice filled with annoyance at his unexpected presence.

"I see, you really are a high-pitched woman." With a straight face, he remarked. It was that amber-eyed guy, the towel thief. I let out a forced sigh, knowing that he never missed an opportunity to pick on me.

"What happened? Why am I here, and why are you here?" I questioned, almost shouting at him.

"You're here because I carried you on my back and brought you here!" His voice was loud accompanying mine and his words itched my ears. In an instant, he touched his shoulder, wincing in pain.

"Ouch, they still hurt." He scoffed.

I glared at him, knowing well that I am not as heavy as he pretended. This annoying guy never failed to get under my skin. However, why did he carry me here? Just then, I noticed a nurse passing by the door, behind the towel thief.

"Excuse me!" I called out loudly but contained, extending my arm and hoping the nurse would hear me. Unfortunately, the nurse didn't hear me and walked passed ahead.

The towel theif sniggered when I averted my eyes from door behind him towards him.

"Are you going to tell me what happened or" I shouted.

"Or what? You'll scream high-pitched to call out the nurse again who just ignored you and maybe will ignore you again." he said, his brows raised.

"SHE DIDN'T IGNORE ME, SHE JUST DIDN'T HEAR ME! YOU-!!" I shouted, my blood boiling agressively. I couldn't listen to him picking at me and his annoying words anymore. I tried getting up from the bed.

"Oooh, stay just there. I'll tell you what happened!" said the towel theif as he stood up, his face in a little shock, his hands gesturing me to stop. I placed the pillow in standing position and rested my back on it, looking at him with annoyance.

"Listening" I said straightly and he sat back on his chair.

"I saw you running and shouting 'Freaking Stalkerr' when I realized someone was in danger because you were on him." He said and pressed his lips together and supressed a laugh.

"I'm going to bury you somewhere deep if you are not going to be serious" I warned him so he would really tell me what happened and why did I find myself in the infirmary.

"Okay, I'm serious now! Well, I came to help you when I saw you almost felt to the ground and you fainted. So, I brought you here. The doctor said that you sprained your ankle and she wanted to talk to you."

I nodded, knowing that a sprained ankle doesn't faints you but in rare cases. It scared me to discover if I have a threatning disease or will my ankle stay sprained forever.

I gulped in horror.

"Okay then, I'll go!" said the guy and leaded to the door, when I felt guilty for shouting all over him again and again even when he all did was help me.

"Hey, you towel theif" I called him and realized that I said 'towel theif' in front of him when he was not allowed to hear it. I gritted my teeth. He turned around as his brown hair shone brightly through the sunlight and raised his brows in questioning manner as if assuring hiself that I really called him a towel theif.

He laughed out loudly.

"You have functional falsetto, if you don't know it is a functional voice disorder that is identified by the use of high-pitched voice which is yours." said the guy, as I widened my eyes at his words.

"By the way, It's Guzman" said the towel theif after introducing hiself, not letting me respond to his previous words when I felt he was pissed at me. He surely deserves it as he previously annoyed me alot. I decided not to mind his words and take easy on him.

I laughed.

"Emma Stone - Thankyou - for helping me" I introduced myself, my voice faltering as I thanked him. It was surreal to be expressing gratitude to someone I considered a jerk since our first meetup.

He gave a slight nod, trying to hide any genuine sincerity towards me.

"See you, falsetto!" he said before walking away. Irritation surged through me at his words. Seriously? He had the audacity to call me a name associated with a disorder. What a crazy jerk.

I glanced over at the sidetable next to my bed and held my watch. It was 5 o'clock. Wait, did I sleep through the entire day and miss all my classes? Anxiety crept over me as I squeezed my eyes shut, but then I remembered something. My mother. Oh my God, is she safe? I grabbed my phone and called her, but there was no answer. I tried again, my heart racing with each passing second of the beep. In a state of fear, I mustered all my strength and forced myself out of bed. My ankle throbbed with pain, but thoughts of my mother in danger devoured my mind in loops. I wore my sneakers and stubbornly made my way out of the infirmary.

Each step was a heavy burden on my left leg as I limped forward. When I reached the hallway, there were only a few students around, and I couldn't spot anyone familiar.

"Guys, where are you?" I muttered to myself.

It was then when someone suddenly held my shoulder, I gasped with all the strength in shock.