บท 24: Pryce

She looked for Niiya and found him sitting in the last row. Since there were no empty seats near him, she went and sat in the only seat available in the front row. The lecture was finished in a little over an hour and the students started leaving. However, the professor quickly stopped them and said, "The college will be entering the state level science exhibition. The top three projects from the college will be chosen to be displayed. Although I don't expect any of you to be able to make a project that is good enough for the exhibition, since you are all freshmen, I am still supposed to tell you about the opportunity. So, in case you have a plan, or want to participate in the exhibition, you can discuss it with me. The project theme this year is antibacterial silver."

Adrianna became immediately interested in the project when she heard about antibacterial silver. Silver was used to kill werewolves, and she wondered what applications it could have.

She had collected her bag and was exiting the classroom when Niiya caught up to her. "What took you so long?" he asked her, panting, as he had run after her when he saw that she was leaving in a hurry.

"Okashi wanted to go to the administration wing to check some discrepancies in her tuition. However, we were caught up in a commotion and Okashi stayed there," replied Adrianna, her mind still on the project.

"What commotion?" He prodded her to reveal more.

Adrianna didn't want to talk about them, so she just said,. "I don't know Niiya…"

Niiya saw her reluctance, and stayed quiet. He followed her out of the classroom, and into the garden. They looked for a place to sit down, but other students had already taken up most of the space, so they found a spot in the corner while they waited for the next class to start in an hour.

Adrianna wasn't in the mood to study anything at all. She was still brooding over the fact that he had joined the college and mulling over how she would avoid him, when her thoughts were broken by the a shrill voice. "Niiya!"

Pryce had come to the chemistry wing and was waving at Niiya. Niiya pursed his lips and uttered in anger, "What is wrong with this girl? Why can't she stay away? How do I tell her to not follow me?"

Adrianna laughed and waved back at her. Niiya asked, "What are you doing? She will come over if you do that. Can't you see I am avoiding her?"

But it was too late. Encouraged, Pryce hopped over. "Hi Adrianna," she eagerly greeted while looking at Niiya.

"I am Niiya.," Niiya then pointed at Adrianna to say, "She is Adrianna."

Pryce nodded, wearing a foolish smile and her heart on her sleeve.

"How are you Niiya? I wanted to talk to you about the play. I have written part of it and wanted to show you," said Pryce, eager to show him what she had written.

Niiya sighed and cursed himself for getting dragged into it. He thought that he should have quit from the start.

"Okay, what is it?" he asked, exasperated.

Pryce started taking out her notes from the bag as she sat down close to him, almost touching him.

Adrianna looked at them and smiled. She collected her bag and started to leave. "You guys catch up. I have some important work to do."

"Where are you going?" asked Niiya, feeling unhappy. "Sit back and listen to the play."

"I have to go look for the professor. I want to join the project."

She left, waving a cute bye to them.

Rather then going to the staffroom, Adrianna headed towards the secluded area where she had seen the neotide the other day. There were four people sitting over there, so it didn't look as deserted. She chose a spot under a willow tree and sat beneath it. Tying her hair in a bun, she took out her notes and started reading.

Not even ten minutes had passed, when she heard her phone buzzing. Seeing the familiar number, her lips curved and she picked up the phone, saying, "Hi Okashi! I thought you forgot about me."

"Where are you?" asked Okashi, ignoring the sarcasm.

"Wait, let me share my location with you. Come find me," said Adrianna, ending the call. She shared her location and waited for the hurricane that was 'Okashi'.

Okashi was there within five minutes. "Adri!" she shouted from a distance.

Adrianna looked up, and her expressions darkened. Okashi was coming over with the four of them in tow. Adrianna wanted to run away from there. This was the most awkward moment of her life. How could Okashi do this to her?