Chapter 4: Yellow Rain!!

"Good morning, everyone," she greeted, her eyes scanning the room before landing on Oliver, who was already dozing off at his desk. "Oliver, wake up. It's the first day of school, for crying out loud."

*Bang* Miss Kennedy smacked her desk.

The class chuckled as Oliver jerked awake, looking around sheepishly. Miss Kennedy smiled slightly before continuing, "All right, let's get started. I have your schedules for the year. Please come up when I call your name."

She began calling out names, and one by one, students went up to collect their schedules. Elijah's mind drifted again as he waited for his turn, thinking about the strange app from the night before and the peculiar scenario it had described.

'I should probably take my phone to a phone repair shop just in case to see if any damage has been done, or maybe just buy better anti-virus software.'

"Elijah Johnson," Miss Kennedy called out, snapping him back to reality. He stood up and walked to the front of the class, feeling the eyes of his classmates on him. He took his schedule from Miss Kennedy with a nod and returned to his seat.

As the students settled back down with their schedules, Miss Kennedy addressed the class. "I know some of you are still in summer mode, but it's time to get back to work. This year is going to be challenging, but I expect each and every one of you to give your best effort. Now, take a look at your schedules and if you have any questions or issues, let me know."

Elijah glanced over his schedule. It was packed, but nothing he couldn't handle. He saw he had English, Math, Science, History, and a few electives that he was looking forward to, like Cooking and Physical Education.

It was shaping up to be another mundane year...or so he thought.

That was until, the incident!!

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[Date: September 25 - Time: 3:50 PM - Location: Ridgewood High School - Hallway]

The final bell of the day rang out, signalling the end of the school day. Students poured out of classrooms, eager to head home or engage in after-school activities.

While some kids loitered around, chatting and making plans, Elijah was on a different mission. Steve, the janitor, had an emergency across the school and entrusted Elijah with the task of locking up a few classrooms.

Elijah didn't mind; it wasn't the first time he had helped out. As he moved from room to room, locking doors, he felt the urge to use the bathroom. Unfortunately, all the bathrooms in the school were closed for overnight repairs. He sighed and continued his task.

While locking up one of the classrooms, he heard a series of frustrated murmurs echoing from down the hall. Curious, he peeked out and saw Ashley Queen struggling with the locked bathroom door.

"Hey, all the bathrooms are closed for repairs," Elijah called out. "If you need to go, there's a McDonald's not too far from here."

Ashley, startled by his voice, held her stomach and looked around. Elijah found the gesture odd but repeated his suggestion before walking away, not waiting for a response.

As he left, Ashley's expression turned to panic. "This is not happening right now," she muttered to herself. She checked her watch – there was still half an hour before her driver would arrive, and she knew she couldn't make it to McDonald's in time.

---

Meanwhile, Elijah had finished locking up the classrooms and headed to the final spot: the rooftop.

The rooftop garden was a quiet place with a few benches and some greenery, often used by students looking for a place to rest or eat. As he scanned the area, he noticed a pink handbag near the shed in the corner. It looked familiar, like something he had seen Ashley carry.

Curious, Elijah walked over to pick up the bag. When he turned the corner, he froze in his tracks.

'...'

There, crouched in the corner, was Ashley Queen, the epitome of grace and popularity at Ridgewood High, the daughter of a multi-millionaire, and one of the most beautiful girls in school...was currently peeing in the corner of the roof.

'...'

Ashley's face turned white with horror as she realized she was caught.

"Umm, I think this yours,...cough sorry please do continue."

Elijah coughed awkwardly and turned to leave.

"This never happened," Ashley blurted out desperately. "This was just your imagination. If you swear not to tell anyone, I'll… I'll…"

Elijah stopped and turned to face her, still too shocked to speak. Ashley's mind raced with panic. Her reputation, her father's image, everything was at stake. She needed to ensure Elijah kept quiet.

"If you stay quiet about this, I'll do anything," she offered, her voice trembling.

"Huh?" was all Elijah could manage.

Ashley, misinterpreting his confusion as hesitation, bit her lip. "I mean, I'll help you with your homework, or... or... anything you need."

Elijah took a deep breath and shook his head. "Look, Ashley, I'm not going to tell anyone. You don't need to offer me anything. This really never happened, okay?"

Ashley stared at him, relief and disbelief mixing on her face. She just couldn't believe it, no she refused to believe it, if anyone was in his position wouldn't they try to take advantage

If Elijah knew what she was thinking he would feel quite offended.' Girl, who do you take me for, diddy!!'

But even then he couldn't, and by that untrusting look on her face, he knew she wouldn't believe his word.

"Fine, since it comes to this...In exchange for you keeping quiet about this, I'll...I'll let you kiss me on the cheek." She said with a proud expression on her face as if she just solved world hunger.

"Huh, a kiss on the cheek!!" He responded sounding almost disappointed, and Ashley was shocked. Was a kiss on the cheek not enough for him? Completely misunderstanding his reaction she bit her lip, which in all honesty made her look quite adorable.

"F-fine'll let you kiss me for 1 minute." She thought this would definitely get him to agree but hearing the same response she panicked even more.

Was kissing her not enough, what else did he want from her, any guy would be lucky to even breathe the same air as her not to mention kissing her.