My Peculiar Love

CHAPTER 3: WE ARE A PECULIAR PAIR

BAILEY’S POV

            Sam and I decided to stay at her house for a while to calm ourselves down because of what happened in the cafeteria. It’s a thirty-minute drive from Lexington Academy which when taken without a vehicle, could took us up to one hour to arrive. I was the first to enter in her black Sedan right in the passenger seat as she came running to catch up to me. After I put on my seat belt, I rested my head on her car’s tainted window and stayed silent. I stared at my thumb once again and I confirmed that I’m not crazy. The scratch was really gone.

            Surprisingly, not one of us spoke opened up about the incident earlier as she drove our way to their house. Maybe both of us are too occupied coming up for a valid reason as to why that happened. Shortly, we arrived at their house. In her bedroom, I stared at the high ceiling asking myself  what’s the meaning of that? What if I’m not really cursed? What if it’s all just in my head?

            “Hey, shouldn’t we tell this to your parents? Don’t you think it’s time? Because, they have to know.” Sam asked while cleaning her face with make-up remover wipes she got from her drawer in her huge vanity area near the bathroom.

            I am laying on her bed at the moment, browsing through f*******: via my phone.

            “No way. You know how they are, Sam. They don’t really have that much care about me. They’ll just send me back to my psychiatrist once I sounded crazy to them.” I countered.

            “Still, you have to try. If we’re going to seek for answers to your questions, maybe they’re the ones who can help us the most.” Now she’s walking towards me with smudged eyeliner, still using wipes.

            “I don’t know, Sam. I don’t really trust them with this.” I said. It’s true. I don’t trust my parents. Knowing how they just left me in the hospital 10 years ago and how they didn’t even bother to asked what happened to me used to hurt me so much. But now, whenever I think about it, it doesn’t really bother me anymore. I have already accepted that the Margots are as cold as the Antarctic when it comes to parenting so I made a decision that as long as they don’t ask, I wouldn’t bother think about them too.

            “You know what, just come over here and help me find that Fern guy.” I laughed as I put on some hydrating face mask that I found from her collection of skincare products and laid in a prone position in her bed. I have to find that guy. Maybe he’s the one who can finally break this curse.

            Sam came running beside me and squealing like crazy. She put on a face mask as well and followed my position in lying in bed, taking a space beside me. Both our legs are raised backwards as we hug one of her many hello kitty pillows.

            “How about starting with i********:?” She suggested excitedly.

            “None.” I dissapointedly said after we tried guessing his possible usernames like @Alderidge.Fern, @Fern_Alder, @Fern07Alderidge, @thehandsomeguy, and many more. In the end, we found nothing. Maybe he’s just using a whole other name which is unrelated to his real one. It’s not that unusual, right? Everybody has to have an i********: account these days.

            We also tried finding him on Twitter and f*******: but it’s no use. This Fern guy is nowhere to be found in social media but Sam didn’t seem to be surprised at all. So, instead of searching him all over the place, I decided to do my research with Sam first.

            “Hey, why don’t you tell me something about this guy. I mean, everybody seem to know him in the campus.” I said.

            She laid down in her back and is quite blushing. Why is everyone blushing when this guy comes into the picture?

            “Well, I know that Fernando Alderidge is not his real name.” I listened well as she tells me what she know.

            “Rumors say that he’s family is filthy rich and they got their wealth from an underground operation. You know, like drugs and stuff, causing him to hide his true identity. She has no mother too.” She added.

            “What else, oh isn’t it obvious that he’s good looking and full of charm?” This girl is already swooning and I rolled my eyes. Good looking, my foot. I need to know real information.

            “What else do you know? Come on.” I begged her.

            “That’s basically it, I mean there are no known records of him in school and it’s strange because every employee seems to be afraid of him, even the elder ones. You’ve witnessed that in the cafeteria.” She raises her eyebrows as she explains.

            “OHHHH THIS ONE’S THE BOMB INFO YOU NEED TO KNOW. ARE YOU READY?” She held my hand and I nod intently, crossing my eyebrows and holding my breath. Please say that he came from a family of vampires or werewolves and stuff so that I know I’m not the only weird person on earth.

            “He has no friends.” She uttered. I lift my hands free from hers and rolled my eyes once more as I turned to the other side of her bed. Come on, Sam. Isn’t that a little common? Why am I disappointed?

            It’s already 6:30 in the evening when I decided to leave Sam’s house. I’m not in the mood to go home yet so I thought of visiting my parents. She offered me a ride but I declined. I need to walk my mind off my thoughts. I certained that I’d visit our house tonight to see what my family has been doing, because after all, I’m still a Margot right? And there’s nothing wrong with visiting them. I’m curious if they are taking a day-off from business and I kind of miss Sandra.

            I walked along Roosevelt drive absent-mindedly about my surroundings. I kept thinking about that Fern guy and why was my scratch suddenly healed as soon as I saw him. Soon enough, I arrived at my destination. Just in time for my parents’ dinner, I went inside our house and saw one of our helper setting the table.

            “Hey ma’am, I’m home. Wow, that looks delish.” I said politely to Carmen, our trusted house helper for 9 years. I inhaled the smell of the pasta she is serving and as soon as she saw me, she didn’t hesitate to hug me and made me sit down.

            “I’ll go get mom and dad” I said because I noticed that she only put three plates and three pairs of utensils on the table. But before I can even get up to my seat, she said that my parents aren’t home. They’re currently out of town for a business trip. The three plates are for me, Sandra and herself.

            “Ohhh, I see.” I replied with a sad voice. What did I expect, a loving embrace from my mom and a welcoming smile from my dad? Wake up, Bailey. Your imagination is going extreme again. After a brief moment of sadness, I heard a child’s voice.

             “Baiwieyyyy!!!!” screamed my little sister, Cassandra, as she came running towards me, arms wide open as if she’s ready to fall into me.

            “Sandwyyyyy” I responded excitedly as I picked her up and swayed her. Cassandra aka Sandra is my 4-year old sister which came to the family unexpectedly. Just like me, she doesn’t receive much warmth from our parents but the two of us are really close.

            The three of us ate dinner and I catch up with Carmen. I volunteered to wash the dishes and tidy up the place. Once I’m on the sink, I rolled up my sleeves and I immediately saw a light bruise on my elbow. It’s from missing my parents, I guess.

            Carmen came approaching me, saying “Your parents are still your parents, dear.”

            “I know, I understand how busy they are.” I said sadly. To brighten up the mood, I decided to tell her about how I stood up for Sam when she got bullied this morning. And Carmen seemed to be very proud of me.

            “That’s right. Smack ‘em bullies up.” She joked and we both laugh. At the moment, I felt like I was in a presence of a mother figure. At least visiting home isn’t a bad idea after all. 

            I stayed at our house until 10pm hoping that I will hear a car pulling up in the garage and a clicking door to find that mom and dad are home. Of course, that didn’t happen. I ended up putting Sandra to sleep and saying goodbye to Carmen when I realized that it was getting late. I told myself that this is the last time I’m putting my hopes up for my parents.

            I took a taxi back to my apartment and once I arrived, I planned to clean my face and body quickly and go to bed. But, the moment I saw my laptop, I remembered about that Fern guy. One last time, I thought that I should google his name and hope that I’ll find some useful information that will ease my heavy feeling towards him.

            After opening my laptop, I sat comfortably on my bed and Crafty immediately crawled up to my lap. I typed that Alderidge guy’s name in the search engine awkwardly. As expected, many people popped up with the same name as his but they’re either a celebrity from a different country or a criminal. But, the person I am looking for is still nowhere to be found.

            I didn’t give up. I scrolled down to view some articles that might lead up to the rumors about him that Sam shared to me. At the last page suggested by google, I found an interesting article about a woman named Angelika Alderidge. Angelika Alderidge. Why is her name sending me chills? I clicked on to view the whole article and it was about her disappearing. She has no picture but she reportedly got missing 10 years ago.

            The article stated that she was a wife of a famous unnamed businessman and that she suffered from an acute mental distress, causing her to take her life on her own. Her case is said to be controversial because some people did not believe that she died from suicide back then. They believed that she is a member of some kind of satanic cult and that she sold herself to the devil as an exchange for her family’s wealth. That was extreme. In addition, a woman who claimed to have seen her once in the woods took an interview and shared her experience to the media.

            “She was definitely wearing a black coat and uttering chants. I couldn’t understand what she’s saying that time but candles are all over the place. I was hiding in the trees and observing her. I was not scared at first but when she looked at me, her eyes were pitch black and that’s when I thought my soul left my body. Angelika Alderidge is some kind of witch, I’m sure.” She stated in an interview that was written on the article I was reading. I’m getting goosebumps right now. Thank God, there’s Crafty to keep me company for the night. I tried scrolling further to find more interesting information but Crafty kept barking at my laptop screen.

            “Oh right, oh right. Let’s sleep now Raffy.” I muttered to my fluffy baby as I turned off my computer and lay on my bed. I also checked my phone and I realized that it’s already 11:30 in the evening. I didn’t realize that it was already this late and I have a 9 am class to attend tomorrow. I’m dead. I set my alarm at 7 am so I will have sufficient time to get ready. Afterwards, I turned my lamp off and slept while hugging my dog. Hopefully, his company is enough to scare the demons that will attempt to appear in my nightmares tonight.

            Lucky me, my night went by peacefully. I woke up by the sound of my alarm. When I opened my window, I realized that the sun isn’t making itself known for today, probably the reason why it’s quite cold today. I did my daily routine of getting ready to go to school and at 7:45, I arrived at Lexington Academy.

            This day, Sam isn’t with me. She said she might be late because she has reasons. Sure, Sam. I’ll just pretend that I didn’t know you stayed up until 2 in the morning last night, binge watching your favourite K-drama.

            Our first subject for today is Personality Development and it’s scheduled to take place in McArthur building which I cannot find well. It took me 10 minutes to finally find my classroom and I am almost late when I reached it.

            Upon entering the door, I immediately saw Mia. We locked gazes and as soon as she saw me, she wore her infamous smirk again. It’s so early to be pissed off, Bailey, just don’t let her be in your way. I took the vacant seat in the first row near the window so that when Sam arrives, she would see me directly.

            It was 8:15 when our professor entered the room and Sam is still at home. Hurry up, girl. You’ll be marked absent soon. I noticed that she’s the only one missing in class. Our teaxher stood professionally in front of the class wearing a white polo shirt and a pair of eyeglasses. He introduced himself as Mr. Kevin Black.

            “For our activity for today, I want you to find a pair.” He tasked us.

            Shoot. I don’t know anyone and Sam is missing in action. How am I going to survive this task? I looked around and everyone seemed to have paired up already except for me. I was about to go and tell my professor that I’ll do the task by myself when he looked at me and say, “Ms. Margot, right? Stand up.”

            Everyone looked at me and the classroom fell silent. I can feel that their heads are turned to my direction and I feel embarrassed.

            “Who’s going to pair up with Ms. Margot?” Mr. Black asked the class.

            It took about seven seconds before Mia spoke to humiliate me. Of course she’d do that.

            “No one wants to, sir.” She said and everyone laughed. This girl is really testing my patience.

            I decided to save myself from humiliation and reason out that I am just waiting for Sam to arrive so we could start the task.

            “Sir, I am just wai—“ I got interrupted by a man’s voice which is suddenly heard by the whole classroom. It sounds familiar.

            “I’ll pair up with her.” As soon as he was heard, all heads are turned towards the door where he is standing, including me. We were all staring at him as he moves to the center of the room.

            “I’ll pair up with her.” He repeated calmly. My heart started to race.

             It was the person I spent the whole night looking for. It was Fern.