Chapter 6- Fiona Vaylor (Part 1)
"I-I… I'm sorry!" With whatever strength he had left, Elio stood up quickly, apologized, he headed back to his seat under everyone's gaze. The students watched him with confused looks, ones mixed with disgust.
"Eh… What's wrong with him?"
"He almost touched Miss Fiona…"
"What a weird."
"What's his name again?"
"He has always been here? I never noticed him…"
Murmurs erupted everywhere as Elio quickly hid the paper and looked down, his heart beating loudly. He was terrified, and everyone was staring at him. He was the center of attention, and he couldn't divert it like he usually does.
'Dammit… Dammit, dammit… Don't look at me. Don't look at me! I did nothing wrong! I promise I did nothing wrong!' Clasping his hands together, he clenched them around each other, trying to find calm. He had never found himself in a situation like this before.
No matter where he went, he never had so many eyes on him before. His mind didn't understand why or what to do. So, it simply shut down and left him completely clueless, sitting there.
'Please, just look away… I didn't do anything.' He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes. At that moment, amidst the chaos, he heard footsteps walking toward him. Opening his eyes slightly, he saw a shadow looming over him. Slowly, he looked up. There, he saw Fiona standing silently.
"..." He stared up, completely speechless.
"Are you ok?" She asked calmly, her face straight and her tone precise and direct.
"I…" Elio never expected this in a million years. For Fiona Vaylor to acknowledge his existence, let alone talk to him. He lagged even more.
"I-I'm sorry…" He replied as he looked down. "I didn't mean that…"
"Hm." Fiona squinted subtly before she continued. "You did nothing to apologize for. As long as you're ok, that's good."
Then, she turned around and walked away, leaving everyone silent and speechless.
"... D-Did she just…?"
"Yeah… She asked him if he was fine…"
"She's so caring…"
"Miss Fiona is such a kind person!"
"Even a nobody like him gets her grace. We are so blessed by her presence!"
The reactions to that were extremely positive. Everyone saw her act as a gesture of immense benevolence. For Fiona to even care about the well-being of some random student with no name was a sign of her kind and caring nature.
Suddenly, everyone forgot about Elio and focused on Fiona again as if nothing had happened. All the eyes left him and focused on Fiona again. Seeing that, the boy's eyes widened as if he noticed something.
'Wait, did she?'
It took him a second, but Elio understood why Fiona did that. She wanted to divert the attention from him and back to her. She possibly noticed how he felt extremely uncomfortable under so many eyes.
"..." Elio was speechless. 'If that's what she wanted then…'
Such an act, she didn't have to do it at all, and nobody obliged her to. She could've ignored him as everyone else did. Yet, she still decided to give him a helping hand. Just like how she gave him a helping hand yesterday when he almost died, and then asked him if he was ok.
That wasn't her pretending. She wasn't putting up a front to make herself look good. She truly wanted to know if he was fine and protect him from the venomous eyes of the people around him.
That weirdly made him feel… warmth in his heart. A sensation he rarely experiences. Someone cares enough to actually try to help him. He was confused and unable to see why she would even do this.
'I'm nobody. Even if I died yesterday, nobody would even remember me except for my grandmother. She could've ignored me, and nobody would blame her. Yet, she still extended a helping hand to me.'
*RING*
As he was contemplating those feelings, the bell rang, announcing the start of the next period. Everyone went back to their seats, and everything seemed to go back to normal. However, Elio simply couldn't forget.
'Did she see that picture? Surely not… I pulled it so fast. Besides, she didn't seem to react at all. Maybe she didn't see it after all. I will pretend that nothing happened and move on with my life.'
With that, Elio was finally able to focus on the class again and put all these matters to the side. Eventually, the second class ended, and the bell rang, announcing the end of the first half of the day.
Elio stood up and left the class to buy his food. Since he forgot to get groceries, he had to get the food from the vending machine. It consisted of some bread and a box of juice. Nothing too expensive since he wanted to save.
After that, he turned around and headed out of the building to the yard where some students go to eat lunch. It was a sunny day, so he wanted to at least enjoy his time, and he had the perfect place for that.
Tucked in a corner away from the eyes was a sweat that nobody uses. It had a nice view of the entire school without being easily visible. He had found it coincidentally, and ever since, he used it for his own lunches. It was quiet and calming, the perfect combination Elio needed.
Sitting down, he exhaled and stared at the sky. Exhaling a tired breath, he pulled the bread and juice and started eating.
The taste of the juice and the sweet bread filled his mouth. "I haven't eaten in two days… I'm so famished. This tastes so good."
He almost wanted to cry at how good it tasted. He was so hungry. The day had its ups and downs, but he was glad he made it out without any trouble. Now he can enjoy his food in peace and have a moment to relax.
Or… so he thought.
"Can I sit down?"
Suddenly, he heard a voice speak to him from behind him. The boy's eyes widened as he quickly jumped out of his seat and looked behind him. There, he saw Fiona, staring at him calmly.
"What the hell?! Where did you…"
He looked left and right. 'Where did she come from. Huh? Where? I didn't see anyone.'
The seat was positioned in a way that Elio would see if someone was coming, no matter which angle. There was simply no way she snuck behind him. It was almost like she appeared there out of nowhere.
"... Can I?" She asked again calmly.
*BADUMP*
Elio's heart started beating faster as he felt extremely nervous. His mind raced to find a way to get out of this situation.
'Why the hell did she even follow me here? No way… Don't tell me…'
The worst outcome popped into his head again. She… could've seen that piece of paper.
'Haaaaah… Kill me… Just end me at this very point!' Elio wanted to cry from his sheer bad luck.
"Y-Yes, of course… Please take a seat. I will excuse myself." He said with an extremely nervous smile on his face.
"Take a seat." Fiona cut him off as she sat down with immense grace. Her long, beautiful legs crossed as she put her hands on top. "I need to talk to you."