Emperor of Mayhem

15

The drive to school the following morning was a silent one, even though my tongue was heavy with questions that I desired to ask concerning last night's series of escalating events. But Mr Varkov's jaws seemed to be permanently set in a tight line, a distant look in his cold eyes and the tensed way in which he carried himself were a clear sign of a man that would probably strangle me to death if I even dared to cough.

I would have loved to know about the man he was arguing with last night, and of course, Rana. But I valued my life very much. So I didn't go poking my nose where it definitely didn't belong.

"I have something to take care of outside of town." His deep voice suddenly pulled me out of my train of thoughts, and it was only when I saw a girl my age, spotting the same uniform as me, did I realise the driver had pulled into my stupid school.

"Uh, okay." I nodded my head, still a little unprepared for today's lecture, and Filip, of course.

My gaze followed Mr Varkov as he leaned off the chair, his hand disappearing inside the jacket attached to the passenger seat only to reappear with a gold swipe card. It was different from the one we used at the movie theater, which left me wondering how many of them he had.

"Alexei might have to pick you up," his silvery eyes fell on me with a ghost of warmth as he held out the card to me, "If he isn't there by 2PM, then he's definitely not coming, so go shopping."

My jaw dropped, wide eyes shifting from him to the shiny card in a repetitive action, "Huh?" was all I could say out loud.

"I'm working with time, Azania," he sighed impatiently, two fingers pressing against his temple for a gentle massage, "the pin is the same as the other card."

"I should go shopping?" I was still trying to process it, "For myself? With your card?" I laughed pitifully, "Dude, do you know there is a reason why dad hides his card from me? I will empty your bank account. When I'm done, it will be as dry as the Sahara."

"Well, knock yourself out," there was a small smirk at the corner of his lips as he dropped the card on my lap, waving his hand dismissively when my butt remained plastered to the leather chair. I watched wordlessly as his head fell against the headrest of the chair, eyes slowly sealing themselves shut to probably block me out.

"Go, Azania." He hummed.

"Um, okay." I nodded slowly, picking up the card before slipping it into the breast pocket of my shirt, "Bye." Then I bid, opening the door and hopping down.

After I shut the door, I walked a small distance and turned around to watch them. The car was pulling out now but due to the tinted windows, I couldn't see neither him nor the driver, but I still waved nonetheless, standing there until they disappeared out of sight.

Sighing in defeat as the dread of having to try my best not to run into Filip washed over me, my hand lifted up, either fingers locking around the straps of my backpack and pulling it tighter against my back.

Whirling around, I followed in close line with some group of girls walking in, hoping I could maybe blend in just in case Filip would still be at the parking lot. But who was I kidding? They were all as white as glacier milk, and I looked close to what a coal miner would look like. It was like dispensing one black rose in a field of white roses and expecting the black rose to just blend in. If I had never wished for a different skin tone for myself before, well today I was without shame.