The Stalker

Chapter 5

            Sadie didn’t know if her eyes were playing tricks on her or she was just lacking sleep.

            “I’m sorry. I was in a hurry and wasn’t looking,” the man said as he picked up the cellphone that he dropped when he bumped into her. She could not be mistaken. It was the same man who saved her from falling down the stairs. The voice might have been slightly different but the outfit and the smell of his perfume was the same.

            “I haven’t thanked you for saving me earlier,” Sadie said as he was standing up from picking up his phone that was now in three pieces. He was still trying to put back the black battery and cover back to where it belonged when he looked at her with a confused expression.

            “Ahm, I would have remembered you if, Oh, I’m late. Sorry, again. Bye!” She saw that retreating figure again but this time, his hood was not pulled up and he seemed to be running without the same confidence as he had earlier. Then she realized what just happened.

            “But...” She was ignored and left alone for the second time that day and by the same person. Sadie wanted to live a normal life at school but she hated that it had to be that day and time when she genuinely wanted to meet that person. Forgetting her class, she almost ran to the bathroom to check her appearance. Being ignored once would have been fine but twice on the same day seemed off. She washed her make-up free face and took a paper towel from her right side without opening her eyes. She wiped her face and when her lids opened, she almost screamed in fright. A girl in pigtails dressed in an all black dress and black make up under her eyes was standing beside her and touching up her costume.

            “I have a monologue right now. Want to watch?”

            “No thanks. Good luck. Bye.” Sadie tried to smile as she took a lip gloss from her bag and applied it on her lips hurriedly before leaving the girl at the campus toilet.

            When Sadie went inside the classroom for her second period, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the teacher’s table was still empty. She quickly ran to the back of the class and sat beside a pretty and petite girl with long black hair and thick glasses.

            “About time you showed up. I was calling your cell,” her cousin Harley whispered and Sadie just moved her chair a bit closer and leaned on her shoulder.

            “You’re that sleepy, huh? Do you want coffee? I brought you some just in case...” Harley pulled a bottled Cafe Latte from her large messenger bag that was hanging on her chair. She opened it and handed it to Sadie.

            “Thanks, Ley, you’re the best.” Sadie straightened up in her seat and took the bottle of coffee that would save her day.

            Her classmates makes it a point to not look at her whenever they have classes but during free period they sometimes flock to her and asks questions about celebrities that she’s currently working with or models that they saw with her on print ads and commercials. Having almost the same classmates for several years had its perks. She doesn’t have to befriend that many people at a given time. She looked around their bare classroom with the green chalkboard in front and eagerly waited for their teacher to arrive. Literature was her favorite subject and she makes sure that she could attend that class with a perfect attendance.

            The door opened and they all straightened. They became extremely quiet when an unfamiliar person stepped inside the room holding a bunch of papers. He may have been unfamiliar to the rest of her class, but not to her. Her eyebrows raised at the tall man in purple sweatshirt and black pants. He was wearing glasses.  This made him look like his clean-cut hair styled neatly and his sporty outfit mismatched. She wondered if he was even wearing his own clothes.

            “Mr. Dela Vega won’t be able to teach today due to an emergency at home. I’m his Teaching assistant, Mason Stevens and I’m here to give you back your papers then he said you can just read your book and...”

            There was an evident noise in the room signalling the class disappointment that their class was cancelled and they even waited for fifteen minutes for an absent teacher. Some of her classmates were about to leave without even glancing at the awkward looking man in front. His hands trembled and his eyes darted to the door and at the papers he was holding. He looked appalled and at the same time worried that some of Sadie’s classmates are now about to leave their seats and did not even acknowledged his presence.

            Sadie decided to help him. She clapped her hands and stood up. She went in front of the room and took half of the papers from the surprised man in front. Her fingers touched his briefly and she saw him stiffen. When she faced her classmates, they were all looking intently at her, waiting for her next move. She smiled and winked at them. All her classmates especially the boys sat up straight and eagerly stared at her.

            “This won’t take long, guys. Here you go.” One look at the name in the paper and she immediately called her classmates’ names. When she’s done with her half, she took the other half still in the hands of the baffled Teaching Assistant. His eyes were as big as saucers and he was staring at her with a dumbfounded expression.

            When she’s done, she clapped her hands twice and thanked everyone.

            “Thanks for staying. See you in third period.” She winked at her classmates again and they smiled at her, completely enamoured by her charms. Sadie knew that if she had the time or the brains to run for President of their Student Council, she might win. Good thing that she can still use her people skills and popularity to campaign for a more worthy candidate which is the person who was approaching her at that moment.

            “Come on, let’s grab something to eat first and then sleep for a few minutes before third period. We still have more than an hour.” Harley handed her the bag that she left at her seat and was almost at the door when she pulled her back.  

            “Okay, but let me just do one thing first.” Her cousin’s eyebrow furrowed, confused by her words but it didn’t stop Sadie from doing what she was meaning to do since their first encounter.

            “Hi Mason Stevens. In case you didn’t know, I’m Sadie Frasier. Nice to meet you for the third time.” She extended a hand and it took at least three seconds before the baffled man in front of her wiped his hand on his sweatshirt before reaching out to shake her hand. “This is my cousin, Harley Holmes and she is running for President. I hope you’d vote for her.”

            “Sadie, no.” She heard Harley’s whisper.

            “Why not?” She whispered back. Her mouth went agape when her cousin motioned for her to look at the poster on their classroom’s bulletin board.

Race for SC President The Debate: Harley Holmes VS Mason Stevens.

            “Oh. Okay then, good luck to the both of you. May the best politician win!”

            “Come on, Ley. Bye Mason!” Sadie turned red as she realized her mistake. When she looked back at Mason, he was looking at her with a handsome expression and amused smile on his face.