Project: Socialize (Chapters 1-197)

50. Stalking

Before we begin, some announcements. I changed the height and weight of some characters by a little because I realized that some were a bit too short. And at the end of the chapter, there will be a face reveal, which is the last picture in the chapter in my Travel Diary Corner.     

————————————Break————————————

The next day, I attended class like always, but I kept my eyes on Irina. I constantly observed her, and I had no intent to conceal it. I want her to know that I'm watching her. I want her to feel these eyes penetrating her skin and digging through her body for the secrets that she sought to hide. I want her to know, that there's no escaping from me.

Break came and passed, and there seemed to be no signs of action from her end. I don't blame her. She was still surrounded by her annoying classmates, unable to move. In addition, I glanced over in the direction of the two exits of the classroom, and even those areas had shy students peeking in.

When lunch break arrived, I decided that maybe she doesn't want it to be seen by her classmates of her talking to me. Therefore, I decided that maybe if I relocate myself to a different location, she would follow after me.

I got up from my seat, ignoring the questioning gazes from Loyd and Muria, and walked out of the classroom past the crowded back exit of the room. Once there, I intentionally hang around a bit, waiting for Irina to leave so that she will be able to follow me. The wait was quite long, to the point that I became quite tired of standing and leaned against the wall in order to take some of the burdens off my legs. However, even then, she didn't show up, leaving me standing outside my classroom in an awkward state. If I were to reenter, I will appear quite foolish, so I can't do that.

God damn. I thought she would've came out already. Lunch was about to end and she's still no where in sight. I shook my head and sighed as I could feel my stomach growl. Because I thought she would leave her seat and approach me, I didn't even eat. My lunch was still in my school bag which is next to my seat. Looks like I'll be forced to skip lunch today.

As the lunch bell rang, signalling the end of our hour long lunch break, I returned to my classroom and back to my seat. Loyd and Muria seemed to be quite amused by my failure and was doing their best to conceal their laughter. It annoyed me somewhat, but I ignored it. I have more important things to worry about. My original plan was built on Irina coming to me at lunch today, but since she didn't, I highly doubt she would after school. Therefore, that means everything I had planned will have to be pushed back a day, which is tomorrow and the last day of the deadline. It looks like I must take the initiative and gather information I can use for tomorrow after school today. In the mean time, I must make my presence known to Irina and remind her through hints in my dialogue with Loyd and Muria of what I have on her.

The end of the school day soon came following the ringing bell that ended seventh period homeroom. Like before, I waited in my seat for the large crowd in the hallways to clear. As I waited, I kept my eyes trained on Irina. Those annoying flies that flew around her, aka these annoying students, didn't seem to pay any attention to me. However, Irina did. That's the important part.

As I waited, I sent a message in the group chat to Loyd and Muria, informing them of my decision to not attend the club meeting today. I didn't specify why, which led to them looking over at me with a confused expression on their face. However, once they realized that I was staring at Irina, it would appear that they got the idea that what I was doing will concern her so they didn't object to my decision.

I waited until Irina got up from her seat and left the classroom before I, too, rose from my seat. I intentionally kept some distance between myself and Irina along with the annoying flies that walked beside her so that it won't appear suspicious to other people while Irina knows of my presence. It would appear that I was able to produce the desired effect for Irina would constantly glance over her shoulders at me in between forced smiles and laughter in response to weak jokes those flies made to her.