I returned to school with the kind employee. Perhaps a little suspicious of being kidnapped, my small doubts about him disappeared when the school came into sight.

“Alright, this is where I say my goodbyes,” the friendly bald man unlocked the doors, “if I come across your book, then I’ll drop it off here.”

“Got it, thanks.” I left his car and entered the school. In there, I expected annoyed staff. They probably have been angry since I jumped out the bus window.

Entering the office, I came across my father who had a worried look.I guessed the staff called him over when I jumped off and ran away. Maybe jumping out bus windows on a whim didn’t count as good decision making. Worrying my father and placing unnecessary stress on his already broken self was not very nice of me.

“Father…”

As soon as he heard and saw me, his stiff face melted into one of relief.

And after relief comes anger.

When father gets angry, it’s the scary yet calm kind, “Neuire, your teachers told me what happened.”

I could only stay silent, speaking with my angry father never went well.

“Will you explain to me why you did that?”

“I… thought that I forgot my book in the auditorium.” I explained that I lost my book, hoping that he’d get me.

“Why didn’t you just tell the teacher? They might have been able to help you.”

“I didn’t want to trouble them…”

“You think that jumping out of the bus troubled them less?”

When all else fails, I go, “I’m sorry…”

“Just,” my father exhaled sharply, “try not to do something like that again.”

After that little encounter with my father, the staff excused me from school. I still had something to do though, so I decided to spend a while looking around for Tesha. My father left early, trusting me to find my way home alone.

While a hopeless search, she may have been around somewhere. And with that little chance that she was here, I had a slight chance my book was also here.

That book might have been with her, she’s my last chance to find it. If she, as I suspected, took it; I would have to teach her a lesson. No one messes with my books.

“Help me! Please!”

A cry for help rang through the empty campus, which hurt my ears.

Too bad for him, no one around could hear him. Except for maybe me, but I had a mission. I could not spare any time for one measly human when my book was in danger.

Before I could continue my search, the memory of my mother flashed before me. She would have gone and helped the poor soul, even if she endangered her life. I was not her. But I did want to honor her.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Seriously.

How tiresome.

I grabbed my phone and started calling my father as I went towards where I heard the scream.

It was unlikely that I would be able to overpower the people attacking the guy, but I could at least set up a little trap of sorts.

My father picked up and sounded out, “hello?”

“Dad, start screen recording right now, someone’s in trouble.” I neared the scene, and as I did, the more I needed to be quiet.

“What? What’s going on?” My dad, despite being confused, started screen recording.

“To save this guy, I need you to make a noise, alright.” Placing the phone down in a place where the camera caught the scene as best it could, I circled the area where what seemed to be Harry Ballman and started approaching them from the other side.

From here, I would have to rely on my father. Once he got the group distracted, I would charge in and get Harry out of there while they weren’t looking.

In the most authoritative voice I’ve heard my father speak in, he yelled, “Hey! What’s going on over here?”

When they heard his voice from the opposite direction of me, they all turned to face the area.

This was my chance.

I bolted towards Harry and pulled him up.

The four who were attacking him didn’t notice me running and stumbling with Harry until it was too late.

“Leila! Larry! Investigate the noise! Gerald, you come with me!” Ronald ordered the group to separate and do their separate tasks.

Gerald and Ronald were ridiculously fast, it wouldn’t have been too long before they caught up to me and Harry.

“H-hey, are we going to make it?”

Harry was scared, and, well, so was I.

There was a huge chance that we might not have made it out alive.

When I turned a corner, I threw Harry behind a dumpster, praying they wouldn’t find him there.

“Hide here, and escape when you find the chance.” With that, I parted with him and spotted Ronald getting closer. It seemed that they had split up to look for us when I turned the corner.

Once I saw him, he noticed me, and he called Gerald as he started chasing me.

This was quite a scary sight, but I knew that I had, most likely, given father enough evidence to get these people, who had killed my mother, in jail.

Heh. What a good end…

“Ow!” I exclaimed as I bumped into something, no, someone.

“Ouch,” Tesha stood over me, and surprise, surprise, she had my book in her hand. How infuriating, she dared defile my book with her hands, wait no, I’m in danger right now. “What are you doing, Nw- Nwier!?”

Due to my predicament, I decided to hide in the school’s tool shed, snatching Tesha and bringing her with me.

“Be quiet, I’m being chased.” I quickly barred the entrance to the shed and hid out in the back, “The book didn’t get hurt, did it?”

“Get hurt? Like, injured? Well, I don’t think it can feel things so…” Tesha looked over my book.

“Tell me it straight, Teshallah! I’m in this mess because you stole it!” I raised my voice, whoops, hopefully no one heard me outside.

“Whoa, no need to get loud,” Tesha lifted the book for me to see, “it's fine, see? Look.”

I took the book from her gracefully; I didn’t need it to get hurt after all.

She was right, it was perfectly fine, not a scratch, not a bend, just its perfection.

With that, I hugged it.

Gently of course.

Tears ran down my cheeks as relief washed over me.

My book was fine.

“What are you getting all teary over?” Tesha looked at me as if I were some unidentified creature, “It’s just a book.”

“You wouldn’t understand, you inhuman murderer…”

When I said what I said, Tesha took a step back from me, not seeming to have expected those words to come from me.

This was good, I didn’t want her near me. At least that’s what I think…

Right, that’s the truth.

I didn’t feel that twinge in my chest, it was just my imagination.