Destined | Lee Heeseung

Chapter Four

Ari

It is currently 10 PM, and the sky is dark and eerie. The stars and moon are shining brightly in the dark sky. I am walking down the hallway towards the teacher's room. I have been asked to collect five books from the teacher's table. As I walk down the quiet, empty hallway, I can't help but feel scared. The sound of my footsteps echoes, proving that I am the only one here. It gets quieter and scarier, but I keep going. Finally, I reach the staircase and make my way downstairs. I continue to stomp on the white tiles until I reach the classroom where the teacher is. Before entering the classroom, I knock on the door, and the teacher opens it for me. I hand over the books, and the teacher receives them.

"Thank you, Ms. Park..."
She smiles at me after receiving the books. I bowed in respect and flashed a smile at the teacher.

"You're welcome, Ma'am. I'll get going now."
I bid my goodbyes and walked away. The girls were already at the dorm, probably in their pajamas and lying on their beds. I'm still in my uniform and I feel uncomfortable, I just wanna change into my normal clothes. The hallway is empty and very quiet, all the students are in their dorms at this time.

I reached my dorm and opened the door then locked it as I got inside, removing my shoes and socks holding the shoes and socks in my hands, and throwing the socks in my laundry bin beside the washing machine in the washroom. We all have our different laundry bins so it wouldn't be a disaster finding our clothes in one laundry bin. I went inside my room and locked then placed my shoes on the shoe rack, I removed my tie, unbuttoned my blouse, and took off my skirt leaving me in shorts and a white tank top. I grabbed my hair tie, tied my hair into a bun, and went into the bathroom to clean myself. I got out of the shower and grabbed my skincare products on the shelves, different bottles and containers scattered on the table, and applied each of them to my face don't worry I washed my face first and brushed my teeth.

I applied the cream on my face and smeared it on my face, then applied serum and face mask on my face. I got out of the bathroom with the mask on my face as I waited for my timer to go off, I sat down on my bed grabbed my book leaned back on the soft pillow. Reading is my hobby, I also have a collection of books in my room and some of them I already finished. Flipping through the pages minute by minute, imagining things as I read the book. I was interrupted when my timer went off making a loud noise, I turned it off peeled off the face mask on my face, and rubbed the remaining product on my face massaging it in between.

My face feels cold. I place my bookmark before closing it and placing it inside the drawer beside my bed. I grabbed my phone to check the time and it was midnight, I should get some sleep now. Turning off my phone and placed it beside me then covered myself with my blanket and closed my eyes falling into the darkness.

"This is the end of my report. Thank you for listening."
I bowed and the students applauded making me feel at ease. The teacher nods her head while writing down something on her paper. I stood there with my hands behind my back, fidgeting with my fingers as I felt nervous to hear the teacher's feedback on my report.

The teacher then looked at me with a smile on her face, "I'm very impressed, Ms. Park. I'll give you a perfect score since I liked the way you explained every detail to the students and answered their questions effortlessly."

I smiled, feeling proud of myself. I went to my seat and sat down, I looked over to Sora who was clapping towards me with a proud smile. I laughed at her and I clapped to myself as well.

"See, I told you you can do it!"
She smiled at me and gave me a high five. Hours have passed, the reporting has ended and I got a perfect score. I can't help myself from smiling cause I feel very proud.

While listening to others report, I suddenly had the urge to go to the bathroom. I stood up from my seat and asked for permission before leaving the classroom. The hallway was empty and I quickly ran to the girl's restroom and did my business. I was washing my hands when a female figure was seen in my peripheral vision and I looked at her.

I was greeted by her smile while she was leaning on the exit door, "Oh, Alexa... Hi."

She waved at me and went closer pulling something out of her pocket, it was a juice box but not just any juice box. It was my favorite juice in her hands and she's giving it to me.

"For me? Really?"
I grabbed the juice in her hands and looked at her.

She nods her head and smiles at me weirdly, "Yeah, just for you. Nobody else."

After that she left the girl's bathroom leaving me here alone with the juice box in my hands, I poked the straw inside and sipped on it happily while walking back to our classroom. But before I went inside, I finished my juice first since food isn't allowed in class so I threw it in the garbage bin before walking inside. The class was still doing the reporting so I went back to my seat to watch the reporting.

And then we came back to our dorms as soon as our last period was done. I felt solace after the reporting was done, I could sleep without worrying about anything. I was in my bed looking at the ceiling when suddenly my stomach tightened and I could feel something building up in my throat. I quickly removed the blanket away from me and ran inside the bathroom then threw up in the toilet, I held onto the toilet seat as I continued to throw up so much.
 
I heard the door open, "Ari! Your hot chocolate is here– Oh my god!"

Aerin's voice was behind me and she was holding my hair removing it from my face as she pats my back. After minutes I stopped throwing up and I was breathing heavily and holding onto the toilet seat tightly. Aerin helped me get up and made me brush my teeth again, she flushed the toilet while she waited for me in my bed. Rinsing my mouth thoroughly and gargle some mouthwash to wash away the bad smell. I went inside my bedroom and sat beside Aerin and she gave me a cup of hot chocolate that I requested since I was craving it.

"Have you been throwing up for a long time when I was gone?"
She asked. I sipped on my hot chocolate before responding by shaking my head.

"No."
I took another sip of my drink, the sweetness of the chocolate filled my mouth as my throat felt warm making my whole body relax, I didn't notice I felt tense after throwing up.

"What did you eat a while ago?"
Aerin asks.

"I didn't eat anything, I just drank the juice Alexa gave me earlier when I went to the bathroom."
The name falling out from my lips made Aerin mad but worried at the same time.

"Are you sure you just drank the juice Alexa gave you? Nothing else?"
I nod my head.

Aerin thinks deeply, "You sure she didn't put anything on your drink?"

"Why do you say so?"
I asked while holding onto my warm cup as the warmth made my cold hands warmer.

"You can't just be throwing up because of the juice. I think she puts something on your drink."
Aerin says. I think deeply, did she put sorting on my drink? But she looked sincere when she gave it to me like a present.

"Ari, stop thinking she's innocent when you know she's planning something on you. Remember their conversation on the rooftop?"
Aerin got a little frustrated when she read my mind since I was thinking very deeply about it.

"I know, so she planned to kill me or something?"
Aerin nods.

She sighs while brushing her hair back, "I'll go to the clinic tomorrow morning and ask the nurse if there's any medicine she can give you, maybe it will stop you from throwing up. You should sleep now."
Aerin says and leaves my room. I finished my hot chocolate and placed it on the table, I felt dizzy so I lay down on the mattress and slept.