E m b r h e a AFTERLIFE

Chapter 28: I Hate Me

"I've to get rid of Sabrina as soon as possible." Ember said, lying on his bed. The day passed really quickly. It was already 11:45 p.m.[23:45] "I can't let Rhea know about this. Wait, what?She isn't my guardian that I have to give her an explanation. Hey Ember, please stop thinking about her again" He said to himself. He turned sideways and closed his eyes but soon opened it.

"Ugh!" He got up. "I must have drunk coffee a lot. That's why..I can't sleep and my heart is beating so fast. Why do I feel butterflies in my belly?" He asked himself. "Oh no! I'm hungry." He face palmed in embarrassment. "But I do remember, swallowing mom's bitter scolding?" He thought, scratching his head. "Sh*t! I missed my dinner!!"

"And mom didn't even call me?!" Ember said softly. "She must be angry with me...but it wasn't my fault at all."

Ember went downstairs and found a cake in the refrigerator.

"Thank god." He was about to close the refrigerator when he heard a noise.

"Thief! Thief!" The lights of the hall were switched on and everyone surrounded him.

"Young master, are you the thief?" Anna, the maid asked.

"What do you mean by thief?!" Ember shouted as Aed cleared her throat and smirked.

"Are you hungry, dear?" She asked.

"Y-yes...I m-mean n-no! Not at all!" Ember said nervously.

"Then what are you doing with the cake?"

"I-I-I just thought to taste it to know if it's bitter or sweet." He said.

"How can a cake be bitter, young master?" Anna asked.

"UGH! You shouldn't talk in between when two elders are talking!" Ember said childishly and Aed felt like laughter at his innocence.

"Go and fill your stomach. I won't stop you." Aed laughed and went to her room. "Grow up*chuckles*."

"Anna, you're just...ugh!" Ember went back to his room with the cake.

"What? But why?" Anna scratched her head.

* * * * *

"Yay! It's finally morning!" Ember jumped out of his bed. He was excited to go to school so he left home early to reach his school.
He entered inside the classroom and when he saw her, his face lit up. Rhea was explaining a lesson to her friend.

Ember went near her but she didn't show any interest in him.

"Rhea." He called but she ignored him.

"I'm sorry, are you talking to me?" Ember asked.

"No." She replied without turning to him.

"Well then, please do!" He smiled.

"Go away, prince!" She said.

"Are you angry with me?"

"No, why will I ?" Rhea said, turning towards him.

"I think I have some work. You guys take your time." Miranda chuckled and left.

"Hey Miranda, wait!" Rhea called but Ember put his finger on her lips.

"Shh. Let her go." He winked.

"Um...can you move a little bit, you're too close." She blushed.

"Why? Are you feeling nervous?" He came more close to her. "And how close is too close?" He smirked.

"MOVE AWAY!" she pushed him "I hate you!"

"Oh, you hate me? Alright, I hate me too." He smiled.

"UGH! I have a request!" Rhea said.

"Eh? What?"

"Please don't always be around me. Everyone is looking at us!"

"So let them look. As if I care."

"But I do!" She said and left hurriedly.

Rhea went to the library and Ember followed her and along with them, some girls followed Ember.

"What are reading?"Ember asked Rhea as she sat down to look at a book.

"How to kill a foreigner?" She replied.

"Eh?" Ember snatched the book from her. "Food for life!"

"Fool." Rhea mumbled and took her book back.

"Hey Ember, see this picture is so cool." After some moment of silence, Rhea showed him an image of food.

"Yes, it is." He smiled nervously.

"And this one is jhakas!" She smiled.

[Phonetics: Jhak-kaas(hindi word)]

"What does that mean?"

"It means something amazing, stupid!" She laughed. "Oh well, how will you know? It's Hindi." She averted her eyes.

"I see. So it's a word they made to describe you." Ember smiled and she averted her eyes again.

"Uwa! My head is paining~" A girl said.

"E-ember." She slowly spoke his name.

"What happened, Nana?" Ember asked.

"My head c-can you please take me to the nurse's room?" She asked.

"Sure, come with me." He took her out. "Wait for me, Rhea, I'll be back."

"Is he a caretaker?" Rhea said angrily and continued reading(actually looking at the images of food and drooling) when someone banged her table.

She looked back and saw some girls surrounding her. The librarian slowly went out and a girl locked the door from inside.

-to be continued...

ExtraX
At the library

Rhea: Ember see– Oh, you already fell asleep?

Ember: *mumbles* Rhea...😴😴😴

Rhea: *blushes* WAKE UP STUPID!!!😣😣😣

Ember: *wakes up* *shouts* Ahhhh! What happened?😲😲😲

Rhea: Umm...nothing *leaves* *blushes*😳😳😳

Ember: *scratches his head* eh? Strange!😐😐😐 *sleeps again*