The Voodoo Doll

Chapter VIII: Lunch On The Roof

"...ri...Ori...Hitori!"

I nearly jumped from my seat. I looked up, only to see a horde of girls staring at me expectantly, gleaming eyes and smiling faces.

"Would you like to have lunch with us?" , one of them asked, while fidgeting with her skirt.

Lunch? It's lunch already?

I hurriedly took my phone out of my pocket. The screen lit up at my touch, and as my eyes scanned through the numbers, I realized what I had done.

I overslept all through the morning.

And no one, not even the teacher, bothered to wake me up.

This school lacks discipline...

"I'm sorry" , I said with a sleepy voice. "Today, I'm having lunch with Noah"

I searched for my lunch box in my bag only to find it in the bottom, and I headed toward the boy's seat as all eyes stared at me in shock.

They're probably going to think we're dating, and like every place where youngsters gather, the rumors will flare up like a campfire.

But it's not like I'm in a position to complain. I'm still terrified of Honoka, the girl who haunted my thoughts, brought me nightmares, reminded me of the reason I was cast out, of the boy whom I killed, of the curse that ruined my life. Sticking with Noah was the safest option, even though I don't exactly know how he will protect me, but I believe he will.

I have long decided to trust the boy with the doll-like, colorless eyes and the midnight messy hair.

After our escape to the girls' bathroom yesterday, I expected the whole school to know about the incident.

Noah and Hitori doing shady activities in public toilets.

A strange girl transferred to our school, and it turns out she lures boys into her snare, seduces them with her weird blue hair and honey eyes, beware of her as she passes by you, because no one is spared her mischief.

Fortunately, there was none of what I had imagined. Everyone acted as if what happened didn't. I even went ahead and asked them about Honoka's existence.

It turned out the mysterious creature erased it as soon as she was gone. If Noah wasn't with me, I would have thought I dreamed the whole thing as well.

I found Noah hunched on his seat, his irises as transparent as glass, staring at the void. Not a minute later, I heard the growling of his stomach.

"Don't tell me you don't have a lunchbox, and you don't have money to buy a snack?" I put a hand on my mouth, my eyes already filled with pity. Nobody should ever be deprived of the blessing of food. When you are punished with starvation, you learn to appreciate the small things.

Noah took a while to notice my presence. He lifted his head in my direction, looking at me with a quizzical look like what are you doing here?

"I do have lunch, but I don't want to eat it here, and I have nowhere else to do that." , he admitted, muttering the words angrily, while glaring at the students casually chatting around him.

I struggled to contain my laughter.

"I'm curious to find out why. Would you like to join me on the roof? It'll be cold, but that's exactly why no one ever goes there. I'll be the only one who sees your lunch. Are you okay with that?"

His eyes lit up, definitely conjuring the image of himself enjoying his food in silence. He pierced his lips in order to hide his smile, which I found extremely cute, despite his scary aura, most of the time. I wondered why he was showing me this side of him, when he didn't trust me fully yet.