My Crazy Housemate

1Thursday was unusually stressful for the students. Since they were preparing for their finals, they had to cover the entire outline before the next month so they had classes until it was three in the afternoon. No one was more thankful for this than Chloe who wanted so badly to sleep. Also, she wanted to leave the school premises as soon as possible. There were some things that were beginning to annoy her. For example, Katie Engels. She didn't like seeing her. Until now, she had never had any problems with any of her classmates because naturally, she didn't care about any of them nor the awful things they said about her.  Why was she suddenly hating on Katie?      0

She had received a message from her mother asking her to make sure to return home immediately after her classes because they had to talk about something. Normally, she would have been freaking out by now, but she seemed very relaxed. She was no longer worried about anything. Once classes was over, she picked up her bag and left the class.      

"Hey! Wait up!" Jeremy called after her and hurried to meet her halfway down the hallway which led to the exit of the building.     

Chloe didn't stop walking so he guessed she probably didn't hear him and called after her again but she didn't stop even though he could guess she heard him.      

"Hey, hey!" He appeared in front of her and tried to catch his breath while he also spoke.     

"I... was trying to... get your attention." He panted.      

She gave him a bored look before standing with her hands crossed over her chest. "So what is it?" She snapped at him.      

Jeremy noticed the students taking the hallway were staring at the two of them and whispered among themselves but it didn't seem like Chloe was bothered about it.     

"Uhm..." Right now, he wasn't so sure he was bold enough to ask her to come watch the school's talent show with him. He had thought their relationship was progressing smoothly especially after last night. She had even hugged him! But now, he wasn't so sure anymore. He couldn't understand why she was suddenly giving him the cold shoulder.     

"Did... I do somthing wrong?" He decided to ask first, remembering the stink eye she had been sending him inside the classroom.      

Chloe pursed her lips like someone ready for trouble. "Were you supposed to do something wrong?"     

"No... I... don't know. You seem quite... Did Ellie tell you anything last night?" He suddenly asked.      

Chloe's sudden change of attitude didn't just start in the classroom. Last night, she stared at him intently which made him uncomfortable, but he liked the fact that she had been paying attention to him. But this morning, her stares were quite different. She gave him some kind of accusing glares which he ignored but once they got to the classroom, it turned to angry glares. He didn't think Ellie would tell her anything that would make her change her attitude towards him. Or maybe Ellie confronted her about the way she treated him?      

"She didn't... say anything did she?"      

'Oh yes she did! She even showed me a lot of letters from your admirers' She answered in her head before speaking out,  "Was she supposed to tell me something?" She asked back, frustrating him even more. Now, he knew he had probably done something wrong.      

He tried to think hard about what he might have done. "I don't know. Is it because you didn't like the breakfast I made this morning? Or because I skipped work last night?" He wondered. What if she had snapped back to her professional senses and remembered he had skipped work the previous day to accompany her to go see Mrs Wesley, which was probably why she was mad? Surprisingly, the manager didn't call him to ask why he wasn't at work, even when Jeremy had called to apologize, he had been very nice to Jeremy and told him to take his time and take care of whatever he needed to take care of. 'That was strange though.' He said to himself.       

"Breakfast was nice." Chloe said too quickly for her liking and sighed. Maybe it was because he was beginning to look very confused and frustrated and she didn't want to make things difficult for him.      

"I am fine. You did nothing wrong." She said before walking past him but he followed quickly.      

"Then would you like to come with me to the talent hunt tomorrow?"     

She continued walking and didn't stop to look at him. "Who goes to lame things like that?" She asked indifferently.      

"Me." He quickly answered, "And you." He added as he tried to keep up with her fast pace. She almost laughed but thankfully,  he was following behind her so he didn't see her face.      

She finally stopped walking and turned to look at him. Her eyes drifted behind him but before he could turn to look at what she was staring at, she asked,      

"Do you like Katie?"     

Jeremy was taken aback. "What? Me? No. Why?"      

"You seem really close with her." Chloe said with a straight face like she was not at all interested in the conversation.      

"Not at all. It's... all a misunderstanding." He quickly explained. And wondered why she was asking him that.      

"Well, whatever. I guess it wouldn't hurt to watch whatever boring things people are going to be doing tomorrow." She said passively with a shrug. It took him a moment to understand what she said and a smile spilt across his face.      

"You'll come with me?" He asked again. He really wanted to be sure he wasn't assuming things on his own.      

"Do you have anyone else you'd rather go with?"      

If his smile wasn't wide already, it grew wider. She was really going with him!     

"Can I... hug you?" He asked excitedly, making her look at him in horror. Did he realise they were still in school? Although people do hugged and kissed in the school premises, but not her. And certainly not Jeremy either.      

Seeing how horrified she looked at his question, he coughed awkwardly.      

"Uhm... what about...maybe a... hand-shake?"      

Okay, that was funny. If she wasn't feeling so sleepy and tired , she would have really laughed loudly. She offered her small hand to him and he gripped it gently. It was the first time he was holding her hand like this even though it was just an handshake. Her hand was really soft and warm, and really tiny compared to his. No one would be able to guess Chloe was older than him by a year.      

Chloe looked at his happy face for a moment before clearing her throat, then she pulled her hand away slowly.      

He watched how different thoughts flood her face but he couldn't guess what she was thinking.      

"Leaving school now?" She asked him.      

"Uhm.. Not yet."     

"Why? You should leave now. Let's go. I'll drop you off before I head home."      

"What?" He asked in surprise. She had never offered to drop him off before.      

"Let's go." She cocked her head towards the exit, not giving him a chance to object.      

"Why are you hesitating? Do you have plans with Mia? Or maybe.... someone else?" She asked with narrowed eyes.      

"I do not have any plans. And Mia left in a hurry earlier."     

"Good! So let's leave." He didn't know why she was suddenly so nice, but he agreed. He suddenly remembered she had been looking behind him a couple of times while they were talking and looked back. When he did, he locked eyes with Katie who was standing not too far away with two other ladies.      

He didn't know how long she had been there but once their eyes locked, she winked at him.