The Red Swan (On Hold)

Chapter 6

"What is the definition for a Dyad?" Olivia was struggling with her sociology questions miserably. The arrival of Professor Boris instead of the usual Miss Caty had  made her even more irritated. They both had to deal with his flying spit when he spoke. He had assigned them a few questions on the topic of Social interaction between different groups. Olivia hated this subject already.  Her "curse" at Raven to get stuck with Boris had backfired on her.

Claire was absent mindedly writing her definitions, her mind far away from the class. She thought of Raven gossiping about herself to Dereck who would laugh uncontrollably saying, "What an ugly piece of shit."  Then Raven would ask him to hang out with her after class and she would be the one to show him the way to the library. Dereck would agree and both of them like newly wed couple holding hands would scurry off, sneering at Claire. She thought of Raven's noodle hair bouncing with excitement. 

"Claire, I am asking you---" Olivia whispered a little more loudly, turning it into a hiss.

"Yeah, sorry. I am not sure about my answer." She looked at the question that Olivia was working on. It was already written down. A dyad is a group composed of two people. 

"Give me your notebook. I'll just copy it." Olivia grabbed her notebook and started copying the work desperately. Professor Boris was on his way to their table. A few students ahead had already started cleaning their faces with wipes as they cringed with disgust. The class was filled with a foul stench and it was hotter in here than outside. 

Claire looked up at the clock. Ten minutes to class getting over.  Evans was sitting right on the other side of the class. Professor Boris was staring at his work. "What--" *spit flew on Evans face* "is your name, young man?" More spit flew onto his face as he closed his eyes and wiped them off with his wipes. 

"Evans."  He spoke with a closed mouth. He must be a good ventriloquist. 

"Stay after class. We need to talk."  Boris spoke as more and more spit flew on Evans face. Even Olivia felt sorry for him.  

Everyone stared at Evans giving him their condolences, as the class was interrupted by the ringing of the bell. Shrill it might have souded, but relief filled everyone as they headed outside the class. 

No one dared say good bye to professor Boris as they silently went outside. Claire and Olivia packed up thier notebooks and stationary and headed towards the student lounge. 

                                                                           ~~~~~~~

"I am going to drop sociology, unless that Boris puts a masking tape on his big mouth." Olivia snapped at no-one.

The lounge was a moderately large room located in the second building of the school. It consisted of a large white table with twelve blue cradle chairs, at the left corner of the room. At the far right corner, there was a large brown shelf piled with course books and stationary placed on the white marble floor. Apart from that, two large black leather sofas were located in the middle. Students were already bustling inside, chatting about their first day and complaining about loads of homework that they had been given. It was hard to imagine that summer was over and now they would all be busy in their final year. 

Claire settled her books on the white table beside Olivia and started unpacking her sociology homework. 

"Hey, AAA You Claiyee"  A tiny weird voice called her from behind. Are you Claire

A girl with eyes so small, it seemed like she had closed them and silky black hair, was staring at her. 

"Hi, Aiam Ching Lan." She spoke in a heavily chinese accented english. 

"Nice to meet you. I am Claire. This is Olivia." Olivia waved her hand casually. 

She smiled at Claire and Olivia and bowed down before her in a chinese gesture. They bowed down too.  

"What's up?" Olivia spoke as she stuffed a whole granula bar into her mouth.

"A boi toah meh to give you thi"  A boy told me to give you this.  

Claire's heart thumped vigorously as Ching Lan handed her a small white piece of paper. 

"What is it?" Olivia peeked.

She started to read quietly as they both sat back on their chairs. 

Call me. 456-9874563 See you soon.  Dereck. 

"He still wants you to show him the library. I bet he already knows. He's just playing around."

"But maybe he doesn't really know. I think we should call him and tell him the way?"  Claire spoke innocently. 

"How did he know we will be in the lounge after class?" Olivia was becoming suspicious. 

She tried to find Ching Lan to answer her doubts, but she had disappeared into thin air. 

Claire dialled the number with her old phone, her hands trembling. One ring, two rings, and she was on-Line.

No-one spoke, but she could hear there was someone on the other line. 

"Hello?" She spoke.

"Listen to me, you ugly whore. What were you thinking when you spoke to Derek? You are a pathetic monster whose mum is a nun. That's why probably your father left you and your weird family. Why dont you drown yourself in the red sea? Suits you."  Raven cut off the line.

"Wrong number."  She lied to Olivia. 

"See, I told you. He is a jerk. How can you fall for him." 

"I gotta go to the washroom." 

"Come back soon. I need your help in soc----" 

Claire was already on the run. She couldn't let anyone see her bright red tears that were threatening to fall. Why did Raven's words upset her so much? She was immune to her words now. Perhaps the topic of her dad was the one that disturbed her.

Her father was dead. She had once visited his grave in the graveyard near the forest in Brook-West and even placed white daisies on his grave.  

The toilet was empty. She shut the door behind and let the tears fall on the nearby sink, bright red drops turning the white marble red, like blood. 

She felt all alone. No one would ever care for her feelings. She was tired of dragging herself. There was a hole in her life that not even Olivia could fill. 

Once she turned 18, she had decided to leave her mother and sister for the good of both. Claire didn't know where she would go, but she was sure to leave this town forever and start a new life. 

She washed her face and cleaned the red liquid spots from the sink. 

"Oh Thank God It's you!"  Dereck spoke from behind. A cold shiver ran down her spine as she slowly turned around. Dereck stood there looking relieved.