Street Signs

Chapter 21

CHEVEYO

I gave her a cup of Noktea— favorite tea of the Nokunis— after I entered my room and knew that she was here. I sat at the table with her as I asked her about her agenda of going to my dorm without my consent.

"I'm sorry," Verena said, nevertheless, not giving a face of sympathy.

"What more I can do now that you're here?" I gasped. "But the next time that you will plan to visit me in the dorm, tell me first. Someone in the university might see you here. You know, the boy's dorm is only for boys. You are not allowed in here."

"What will happen if they see me here?" she raised her brow.

"They will kick me out of the university," I answered. "If that happened, you've ruined everything. But anyway, what brings you here?"

Verena looked at me as she was holding her cup of tea. "Well, I just came here to tell you about Brielle. I know her, Cheveyo. She's the one you are talking about, right?"

I didn't speak. I was trying to avoid my gaze at her because I knew I was turning red. Deep inside my mind were thoughts and questions to how she was able to know Brielle when in the first place, I did not mention her name.

There was silence between us two for some time, yet it was not calm but something that seemed to have pressure amidst.

"I'll take your silence as yes, then," Verena said, breaking the quietness between us.

I fixed my posture. "Why talk of that of a sudden, Verena?" I said as I looked at her again. "You came here bothering me just to speak about that? Why did you not just wait in Serinokuni until I came back? You are giving me headaches."

"I'm not surprised anymore that you will say that," Verena rolled her eyes. "Since when we were children, you tend to say I'm a headache to you."

"Why not? Whenever we play games, you're always cheating on me. Like when we were having hide and seek, I said no hiding in the trees but I would just hear shouts outside saying that you are hanging on the trees with the monkeys. That's kind of tough tho since you are no different to them."

Her eyes burned. "What did you say? So you mean, I look like a monkey?"

"Lower down your voice, that's not what I mean," I said. "You are wise like them."

Verena kept glaring at me, until she talked no more, just drinking her tea.

Again, there was silence but it was not tense as to how it was a while ago. It just seemed a normal hour for the two of us and somehow, it was making me calm. All I thought was she would not talk about Brielle anymore, but after some time...

"Why?" she asked.

I folded my brow without saying anything, but she understood me, causing her to speak again.

"I mean... why did you let her enter our world? And now, she is giving trouble to Nokunis, to the king and queen, especially."

After sipping a little amount of Noktea, I mouthed, "I don't know what you are saying, Verena. You know how busy I am with the camp."

"And that's the reason why you are here. She's the reason, Cheveyo. You will not sacrifice your life here on Earth without any reason." Verena put down the mug she was holding and sighed. "I don't know why you cared so much for that girl. Whether you talked about it to the king and queen, nothing will change the fact that she has no contribution to our world and won't ever contribute one."

I stood and proceeded to my bed to get my backpack that I would be bringing to the hall, never minding Verena.

"Cheveyo, why to waste your time here?" she asked. "We are currently facing a problem in Serinokuni, and that is something you should be focusing on first, not that girl. Are you crazy?"

I said no word.

"And now you are not even talking. Why don't you defend that girl? If you love her, then prove that to me! You will receive lots of laugh to me then 'cause you are crazy."

I stopped fixing my things and barely looked at Verena. "Do you even know what you are talking about?" I asked. "You easily judge me without knowing the fact. You should shut your mouth now, Verena, and go back to Serinokuni."

Verena's eyes went burning, but despite her boiling blood, she was still able to control her mouth from speaking. She remained silent while clenching her fist and sharply looking at me. She took the cup of tea then and drank it all at once. She rubbed her mouth with her palm and stood firmly in front of me, still clenching her fist as she said,

"You will remember this day, Cheveyo," and left.

I was left all alone in the room. I just slapped my forehead because of her stubbornness. Most of the time, I could not really go with her flow since we have different perspectives on certain matters. Nonetheless, our viewpoints did not give me a hint to ruin my friendship with her. I had been with her always; through ups and downs, though sometimes she could not understand me, at least she was trying.

Before going back to the hall, I made sure first that Verena had really left already. I did not want to show up to her again this time because I knew it would just lead to arguing.

Also, I tried fixing my mind first because I would not be able to focus on the camp if my mind was bothered by Verena and her thoughts. Gladly, I was emotionally and mentally intelligent enough, and that was why I was able to erase immediately the negative thoughts running inside my head. After a while, I proceeded to the hall because I could hear a voice calling out for all the participants of the camp.

The very moment the team saw me, they told me they had been waiting for me because the second game would be starting in a few minutes, yet we had not still tackled our tactics. The worry on their faces could be seen, and by just the way they talk, it was clear that they were nervous.

"There's still five minutes remaining," I said after telling them all to sit, "we can still be learning about the strategies for the next games, so don't lose hope."

Some of the faces had changed with a simple smile, yet still, the others were frowning. Nonetheless, they were all listening clearly and giving attention to what I was saying. They were also giving suggestions, which I found to be helpful. They would just agree to one another, and in that five minutes, we were able to plan our moves successfully.

The facilitators announced for the second game, which was also a race, but harder now. Before letting the participants go, they told us first that cheating towards another group would be detected, as they had found out that before the first game, someone had done something terrible for its eagerness to win.

I did not report anything, and that was why it was making me wonder why. Maybe one of my members said an assumption or we were not the only group who got cheated.

When I was about to move forward with my team, my wristwatch lighted in blue, so I immediately covered it with my palm before someone could see it; it was not actually a tool for seeing the time but something I was using to connect to the king and queen as well as to the Nokunis, and whenever it would light in blue, one thing was for sure-- they needed me.

While continuing to walk, I was thinking of what I could do. If I left the team without a believable reason for them, they might plant anger in me; besides, I could not dare to leave since I committed myself to the camp. However, if I would choose to stay here, I would be missing an important event in Serinokuni. Also knowing that the call was coming from the king and queen, I could feel something wrong was happening there.

The second game was about to begin, yet the lighting did not stop. That was when my heart started beating terribly and my thoughts became jumbled. To be committed to two important things was not easy, I do not doubt.

"Leader, why did you stop walking?" one of my members asked.

That was also the time I noticed everyone was looking at me, waiting for me to continue. "Nothing, just a thought about the game," I said as an excuse before moving forward again.

We were inches near to the venue for the next game, and I was still confused about what to prioritize. Gladly, before I could start leading them again, the facilitator announced that the game would be hard so we must prepare ourselves and after this, they would be giving us a break again.

A smile touched my lip for I know what to do now. Things might be hard for me, but there was always this one that I could call a priority.