Unpleasant

(Rorim's POV)

Aside from all my existing dilemmas, I was woken up by two. Do I skip first class to avoid Norman? Or do I attend to impress Ms. Lee? To see or not to see, who is the question…

I walked along the campus corridor, crossed my fingers behind me even though I never believed it and gathered all my nonexistent luck in every step I took.

The second I reached the doorway, I took a deep breath and entered. Despite my brain cursing me not to look around and search for Norman, my eyes already wandered the room. Few recognizable faces found my eyes but there was no Norman on sight. I sat on the chair I was seated on from the last meeting and waited. Waited what? Class. Waited who? I don't know.

The moment we got home yesterday, I decided to work all night on my paper. Which was extremely difficult considering what happened and what I had been feeling minutes and hours after.

Before that, the ride home was quiet. With Zen noticing my piercing silence, he didn't say a word and hailed a taxi for us immediately. Zen took the carrier from my hand before we got inside the house and before I managed to reject him. He only gave a sympathetic smile and I only gave my soundless gratitude, and we parted ways.

After what felt like a five year long bloody battlefield, I managed to finish and printed my finished paper, which now rested properly in my binder. All I have to do is pass it to Ms. Lee, hoping that I would impress her and that she wouldn't make us read it in front of everyone. At least not mine.

"Ro!" I raised my head from my scribbling and waved at Sam.

She sat next to me and surprised me with a hug.

"I'm sorry for leaving my babies to you, my sister's in town and she's allergic to cats and I didn't want to bother her but now I felt like I'm burdening you more but I promise that I'll make sure to take them back as soon as my sister leaves and I'll make it up to you so ple—"

"Breathe first." And she inhaled and nodded.

"Don't hate me." A glimpse of last night just flashed in my mind.

Shaking my head (and my thoughts), I smiled to her. "I don't hate you. I feel honored that you're entrusting them to me. I might not even return them one day."

She hooked her arm on mine. "Hey, don't do that, you're gonna have to take me home as well."

I tapped her head and returned my notebook to my bag.

"Didn't expect Norman was actually chill. I actually thought that he's gonna need more than convincing. Surprised me that he got there as soon as I called him." Sam noted, leaning her head on my shoulder. "Did you guys get to chat?"

I shook my head, stared at the floor. "Caramel and Apple Sauce adjusted pretty quickly at home. They looked everywhere, sniffed each corner of the house. Little inspectors."

"They tend to do that in new places. Anyway, how are your new friends?" Did I just sense some spite there?

"They seem okay, I met them from my other classes. I'll introduce you next time, when you're less of a feisty, possessive cat for me." I smirked at her.

Her bronze cheeks flushed and she cleared her throat. I thought she was about to say something but she kept her silence, a bit flustered.

We waited a few minutes more until the rest of the students arrived. Gillian entered the room and spotted us immediately.

"Where's Norman?" Sam asked, reading my thoughts aloud.

Gillian shook his head and scanned the room. "He's not here yet? I thought he got here earlier, no one was at home when I called. I'll text him."

He's not at home?

"Maybe he's just late. He might be here later." Yeah.

"But he was never late." Unless he had something important to do.

"This bound to be his first then. College is finally sinking in." Sam said nonchalantly.

Gillian and I exchanged looks and I shrugged.

Whatever happened to him is none of my concern. Right?

....

Ms. Lee was already in the room but Norman didn't show up. Apparently, he had an emergency but he managed to submit to Ms. Lee. How and when, Ms. Lee didn't tell further. So while everyone sat with their pair and exchanged papers, I kept mine - happily - to myself. Still, no matter how I denied it, a part of me was curious and concerned about his absence.

W-R-I-T-I-N-G

Ms. Lee wrote the words on the board and gazed at each of our eyes. "Before anything else, I want to remind everyone that what your partner wrote about you is their perspective. Their words might flatter you or offend you or affect you in ways you don't understand but that is how your maturity is tested and how writing begins." She paced on the stage from left to right, eyes fixed on one student to another. "When you read, you are going to critique their work, their words, their thoughts, and you have the right to do so because they are about you. Writing is about vulnerability and rawness, about authenticity and about looking from different perspectives. And you might learn so much more in the future than those but as long as you're honest and you trust the process, it's all going to end in understanding and acceptance. At the end of the day, writing is about one's truth, one's story. And if you put it out there, you're going to have to be ready about critiques, especially about your work, and yourself." Her cat-eye framed glasses glistened, the light from the window reflected to me like a revelation.

Wow…

Murmurs and whispers from the students surrounded the room as Ms. Lee returned to her desk, leaning back to the edge and watched everyone until the inaudible volume subsided.

"You can start reading your partners' works. If you can do it quietly, that would be much preferable. If not, you might as well bring a mic next time you come to my class." Her words earned sniggers from most students while she fought her smile. "You may start reading." She winked at me and I gaped, awestruck.

I watched as the rest of the class read, in silence. From my back, I saw Sam's brows furrowed as she read and Gillian glancing to the front from time to time, hiding behind Sam's paper. What was he looking at? My neck started to grow stiff when I returned to the front. Ms. Lee took something from her bag and walked to me.

"This is Hyde's work." She handed the folder to me which I bemusedly accepted. "Don't worry, I haven't read them."

I stared at the thick brown folded paper, hesitant to check what was inside. What could he have written about me? We have only been together for a short amount of time, not to mention the days I avoided and ignored him. Still, every second reverberated in my ear like a heartbeat.

I decided to keep it in my bag for now until a folded paper slipped and dropped to the ground. Carefully, I unfolded the paper, exposing a brief letter in Norman's lovely penmanship.

'Meet me at 6'

Under those words drew an awkward smiley emoji. Reading them while fighting my hardest not to smile was painfully breathtaking (literally). Had he not been satisfied to give me a hard time by giving me a note that shared an inside joke, he added an emoji that he must have thought over more than necessary about. Why was he trying so hard? Why does he want to meet? For what? And where was I supposed to meet him? I'm baffled that he hasn't thought about that, considering that he's so smart.

Slipping the note in my pocket, I let my mind wander about everything but him.

——————————

Four days have passed. Which meant that three days more and it's hatching day.

In those four days, including now, Norman and I read and searched about things that we could do for the hatchlings. We learned that they still need to fledge for up to five to six weeks which meant they still needed to have warmth. That meant another problem to solve for us.

"I wonder if we can have chickens to warm them up." I thought aloud, closing the book and setting it aside.

"The babies are too small and fragile for the chicken, it might do worse than warming it up." Norman murmured, frowning.

I groaned and thought harder, rolling on the ground hoping that it would fuel my tiny brain.

"I have an idea but.."

I turned to him, anticipating. He pursed his lips and sighed.

"But what?"

"You won't like it." He glanced at my face, searching.

"What is it?"

He moved the book away and straightened his face. "We will have to give it up to professionals."

I blinked as it took me seconds to realize what that meant. "Give them away? Where?"

"We can ask Ms. Hipher to call them and have them come here." He looked away and started fiddling on his shirt.

I shook my head. Where will they be going? Where will the bird experts take them? Will they even take care of them properly? What if they just throw them out? What if they abandon them somewhere? What if something bad happens to them? What if they hurt them? No. I don't want that. They're safer here. I will take care of them. They belong here. They're mine.

"No."

Norman met my eyes and understood. Like he said, I didn't like the idea.

I decided to visit the coop that afternoon. I brought Warren's torch with me. After weeks of forgetting to return it to him, I finally remembered to return them. Scanning the coop, I looked for Warren. I paced back and forth and decided to wait for him until he appeared. I didn't know how long I waited, I just sat on a feed sack when someone (not Warren) arrived.

"Hey kid." A guy wearing the same clothes as Warren came up to me. He stopped a foot before me and I had to raise my head to get a clear glimpse of him. One thing I noticed was that he was sturdier and bigger than Warren. His frame intimidated me that I preferred if it was Warren who came this close and not him.

"Where is Warren?" I asked, my neck getting tired the longer they held my head up.

"Gone. What do you want?" His voice was also scary, rough and deep. Unpleasant.

I held out the torch. "I'm returning this. I forgot to—"

He took the torch, and me, by surprise. Studying it, he turned the switch on, aiming the light at me. I looked down to avoid it flashing my eyes. Rude.

"He's gone. I'm taking this." He was about to leave me there but I needed to ask something.

"Where did he go?" The rude guy went back and kneeled to my level.

"He left." He flashed me the most uncomfortable smile I've ever seen. I looked away just to avoid seeing it longer. "Went to another house with his new parents. Don't waste your time finding him and just play dolls instead." He reached out his huge hands and ruffled my hair aggressively. I stepped back before he could do more. This guy should be avoided at all costs. I didn't like him, that's for sure.

"Thanks." I ran back, refusing to stay even a second with him.

Norman must have noticed my expression when I returned. He scooted closer to my side and looked for my eyes.

"What happened?"

I focused my eyes on the eggs, an attempt to replace a distasteful memory with a pleasant picture. "Warren's gone." I still couldn't believe it and wondered what would happen to the chickens on the coop.

"Why? How did you know?" He sat before me, legs crossed.

"An ugly guy told me. He said that Warren left with his new parents." I wondered what kind of parents did Warren get.

"Isn't that good for him though? He has a place and family to be with." Norman took off my sandals and tossed them to the door.

Would it really be good? "Maybe."

"It's my first time hearing you say ugly." He chuckled and I faced him. "What did he look like?"

Face scrunched, I shook. "Unpleasant. Big, rude and unpleasant."

"Rude? Did he do something?"

"He opened the torch and flashed the light on me. It didn't hurt or hit my eye, but it was still rude." Norman scowled, something he only does when he's upset or feeling bad.

"What was his name?"

Shaking my head, I didn't want to even know them. I wished that that was the first and last time I ever saw him.

"Don't go there anymore so you won't meet him."

"That's what I was thinking." And we exchanged smiles.

———————————-

Last class was done when I felt the dread on my stomach bubbling like an incoming stomach ache. How was I supposed to face him after what he said last night? With those tight, unreadable expressions? What was his reason for meeting me? I needed to know.

It was over lunch when I saw his message and found the address. He sent them even before Ms. Lee finished her class and I didn't check because I always keep the phone in my bag, and in 'silent'. Either way, I still felt hesitant about the idea. As much as I didn't want to worry myself over where he was, I'd rather that than meet alone with him.

Gillian appeared beside me after I waited for them by the school gate. "Meeting with Norman?"

"Ro, do you want me to come with you?" Sam asked, clinging on my arm as we walked, her dangling bangles hitting my arm when they moved forward.

"Can you?" Relief washed over me when she asked.

Sam nodded repeatedly. "I'd rather you not go, if it were me." Me too Sam. Me too.

"Eeyy, you always make it sound like Norman's a bad person. His face literally says the opposite and you still act like that."

Sam scoffed, placing only one hand to her waist while the other one stayed on my arm. "Serial killers look innocent too, until they take you somewhere secluded and cut you to pieces. No thanks."

Gillian shook his head, rolled his eyes, incredulous. "This is Norman we're talking about and not just some random, most captivating, doe-eyed man walking some dogs in the street. Who hurt you?"

Ignored, Sam returned to me. "I'll go everywhere you go, Ro. I'll protect you even if it's from Norman." Not that I needed the protection, but I would gladly have her around in case of Norman.

Wait… What on earth was I even worried and scared about? Me? Scared around Norman? No, it should be vice versa. Since when have tables turned? I'm on the higher ground and I should remain there. Who am I even fearing? Norman's hidden agenda? Surprise attack? Scheming psychology trick? Every life is different from the last so there's no way that he could take me by surprise this time. And even then, I can handle myself now. I don't need company, babysitter, whatsoever. I survived an accident, lived countless lives, killed tons of people and know more than seven Normans combined.

"I appreciate your concern Sam," her smile slowly faded, "but I can do it alone. And even if you were right," Gillian raised an eyebrow, "I can assure you that I can handle myself just fine. Besides, what can Norman ever do to me? He's not interested in women enough to even harass me."

Sam and Gillian exchanged weird looks and faced back to me.

"You're actually right about the last bit. How did you know that?"

"How can you assure me exactly?"

Gillian looked away, thinking. "I mean she seems frail and spoiled but she was active in our practice game so—"

"I'm not talking to you, so please shut your mouth." Sam's hand waved, blocking Gillian.

"I already critiqued that attitude of yours, so do you mind doing….."

I was already away when they noticed my absence. There was no stopping them at this point and I wanted to get over this creeping uncertainness inside me. The only way I could overcome it was facing it. Literally.

"Text when you get home!" Sam shouted from afar.

"Be safe!" Gillian followed.

Without looking back, I waved high and wide, fanning my worries in the air as I headed towards my prey.