章 17: Strange Happenings
"Why didn't you reply?"
Alina was bewildered.
She couldn't comprehend what she was seeing.
"Zi...ro…"
"Uhh… yeah? What's wrong?" Ziro asked with a concerned look on his face.
Alina glanced around to look for Virza, who was sitting next to her a while ago, but there was no sign of her or the chair. She moved her right hand to touch Nero and confirm she wasn't dreaming or hallucinating.
As she touched Ziro's chest, her gaze fell on the ring on her ring finger.
"Wh...at? I had taken it off," she muttered.
Alina then tried to look outside the window to confirm something, only to see there was no window. And she was sitting on the third desk in the middle row.
"What's going on?" Alina murmured.
"That's what I want to ask," Ziro cradled Alina's face and asked, "Are you okay? You are acting strange."
"I am… wh..at… how… why… but…" Alina tried to say something, but she choked on her words.
"Hey, hey," ZIro kissed Alina on the lips to calm her down and said, "It's okay."
Alina hugged Ziro tightly as though she was never letting him go again.
Everyone in the class was watching Ziro and Alina. Suddenly, the classroom door opened, and a male teacher in his late twenties entered the room.
Alina was lost in the hug, but Ziro was aware of the teacher. The teacher tried to call them out, but Ziro gestured to leave them alone.
The teacher made a troubled face but later shrugged his shoulders and began the class.
Two lectures ended, and it was a short break for everyone. Alina and Ziro were sitting together on Alina's desk.
Alina was sitting on her chair with Ziro's arm between her breasts. Ziro was confused about Alina's behavior, but he let Alina do whatever she wanted without asking any questions.
The break ended, and everyone went back to their seats, except Ziro, because Alina wasn't letting him go.
The classroom door opened, and Sera walked in.
"Alright! Everyone, on your desk!" she said in a loud voice.
Everyone was already on their desk, except for Ziro.
"Ziro, did you not hear me when I asked everyone to go back to their desk?"
"Uhh… Sera, can't you—" Ziro tried to say something, but Sera interrupted him.
"It's 'Miss' Sera," she corrected.
"Miss Sera, can't you let this one slide for today?"
Sera stared at Ziro and Alina and said, "This school may allow students to date each other, but it prohibits any kind of romantic activities on the school's property. And you, Alina and Ziro, are sticking to each other like glue in the classroom."
Although Sera was right about the school's rules, she was just jealous after seeing Alina sticking to Ziro like that, and she just wanted them to separate.
Sera started at Alina and Ziro and waited for Ziro to get back to his desk. Ziro exhaled sharply and shrugged his hand from Alina's grip. Alina tried to stop Ziro, but he stopped her and said, "I am sitting just next to you."
Ziro sat back on his desk and furrowed his brows at Sera.
"Good," Sera nodded and slammed her hands on her desk. "Alright! Everyone, I don't want any distractions during my class, so I want you all to turn off your phones."
All the students started chattering and took out their phones.
"What's wrong? Do I need to repeat myself?" Sera asked.
Everyone turned off their phones except for Ziro.
"Ziro, I want your phone turned off too."
"I think we are allowed to keep our phones on, in silent mode," Ziro replied.
"You may be allowed, but not in my class," she pointed her finger at Ziro and continued, "Now, turn your phone off."
"The school's rules don't say anything about that. And you can't force any students to do something if they don't want to. Hence, you can't make me turn off my phone if I don't want to," Ziro asserted with a grin on his face.
Sera glared at Ziro with teary eyes and gritted her teeth.
Ziro was surprised to see Sera's reaction since he never thought she would react that way.
Sera walked to Ziro and whispered in his ears, "I will make you regret this."
"Umm… just curious, but what will you do?" Ziro asked with a curious look on his face.
"I will stick to you in front of Alina and reveal all your dirty secrets."
Ziro gulped down in fear and glanced at Alina.
"You won't do that, right?" Ziro questioned.
Sera shot an innocent smile at Ziro and said, "Oh, I would."
"Come on, Sera. We are like friends, right? And friends don't do this to other friends, right?"
Sera stared at Ziro for a while and said, "Alright then. If you turn off your phone, then I won't—"
RING~ RING~!
Sera furrowed her brows and looked at Ziro in disbelief.
"I thought you had your phone in do not disturb mode. What happened now?" Sera remarked.
"I don't know. I had it—"
"Enough excuses!" Sera reached her hand and said, "Give me your phone."
Ziro took out his phone and gave it to Sera.
"Thank you."
"At least pick it up. It might be something urgent, you know?" Ziro asked.
Sera answered the call and hung up after a few seconds.
"Who was it?" Ziro asked.
"Commercials and advertisements," Sera replied and placed Ziro's phone in her purse. "Come and get it once the class is over."
'I had blocked all the numbers, though,' Ziro wondered and shrugged it off, thinking, 'Maybe they are using a new server now."
The class ended, and Sera handed Ziro his phone back. Ziro checked his call history, but there was no log.
"Hmm? Woo cleared the call history?"
Ziro had a biometric password on his phone, so it was impossible for anyone to get access to his phone.
"Weird things have been happening since the morning," Ziro mumbled.
'First, Lily's program got corrupted. Then mom and dad's honeymoon. AndAlinaa is acting strangely for some reason. Now my phone is acting strange.'
The school was supposed to end at noon, but they ended it halfway for some reason. All the students, including Ziro, were happy, but Alina looked like she was lost in some thought.
Ziro kissed her on the cheek and said, "Come on, let's go."
Alina picked up her bag and left the school with Ziro.
"You are coming over to my house, right?" Ziro asked.
"Huh?"
"I told you in the morning, right? I created a song, and I want you to listen to it."
"Oh! Yes, I am… coming over."
Alina was still confused about what was happening, but she was happy that Ziro was back.
-- 贈り物
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