MAROONED

Chapter 6- The unexpected surprise

    It was a bright Saturday morning,the sun shone brightly and its ray went directly into my eyes. I woke up feeling great then I remembered I have to go to Justin's house,I wanted to change my mind about going to his house since Anabelle had plans already but I have to be serious just for Jason,the thought of this made me determined to go to his house so I dressed up,took my breakfast and went to his house.

When I got there,I saw a nice mansion with opulant buildings 'Oh my God!!, it's just like a palace' I exclaimed at the sight of the yellow building. I went inside the house, knocked twice and Mrs Herrick opened the door. She smiled when she saw me 'Hello dear, you must be Mandy, Justin has been mentioning your name since yesterday' . I greeted her with a smile as I looked at her with my best smile ever 'Good morning, Justin's Mom' 'Morning dear, you can just call me  Mrs Herrick, have your seat dear' she said with a broad smile,I sat and not long after,A young girl ran  from upstairs shouting 'Mam, look at my dress' she said spinning her traditional Scottish dress 'It's beautiful' she replied her daughter 'Don't you agree?' Mrs Herrick asked facing me 'It really is' I replied meekly 'This is my daughter, Kylie, Justin's sister' Mrs Herrick introduced her daughter who didn't even bothered to look at me as she ran upstairs 'Don't sew for long Kylie' Mrs Herrick warned 'Aye,Mam'  the Scottish girl said with her voice almost fading 'The Scottish girl's brogue is so funny' I thought to myself with a grin 'I haven't seen Justin' I asked Mrs Herrick 'Oh, he's upstairs in his room,he has been arranging his room since his father left this morning' she said chattily.

   Few minutes later, Justin came downstairs and smiled when he saw me 'Oh!,I thought it'll take you forever to clean' Mrs Herrick teased her son with a giggle as she faced me,I smiled back at her 'Let's stay in the cottage behind the house' Justin said bluntly As I was about to agree,Mrs Herrick said ' Why?!, use your room instead, I'll bring snacks in later' Mrs Herrick suggested 'No,Mrs Herrick' I snapped immediately. Justin became mute as I disagreed 'It's alright dear, feel safe' she said as she gave me an Angelic blink 'Urh!, alright then' I agreed 'Since his family is around,it should be okay' I thought as Justin took the lead. He led me to his room upstairs and opened his door ' Whoa' I said as I saw his nicely furnished blue room with expensive furnitures and paintings with pictures hung beautifully all over 'Your room is so beautiful' I said as I looked everywhere 'Thanks,you are the first female that'll ever enter my room aside my mom and sister' he said with a smirk 'Really?!,I'm honoured' I said as he looked at me and smiled. We sat on his reading chair as I brought out my books ' Okay, let's get started' he said as he brought his Geography textbook out 'Alright' I managed to reply 'Let's start with equinoxes' he said as I listened raptly 'Equinoxes is defined when the mid-day sun is  directly overhead at the equator. So in short, Equinoxes means that the length of day and night are equal' he explained for awhile and decides to ask me questions to see if I was listening but I was lost in thought 'Only if Jason can notice my efforts,I'm even having this tutorial because of him 'Hello?!!'Mandy?' he said as he tapped me ' I'm  sorry,I kept thinking about how you became a genius and teaches so well' I said as I smiled at him,he smiled too and flushed 'I became one when I was in elementary School,I was- - -' he began to pour the whole story but I wasn't listening a bit 'I hope Anabelle is okay' I thought as I remembered what today meant to her but Justin didn't know I was not listening because I was looking at his face as he was narrating. This time,his mom interrupted my thoughts as she opened the door suddenly 'Sweetie, hope you are having a good time here?' she said as she served us Milk and chocolate biscuits,she didn't even waited for my response before she left. I smiled as I saw the chocolate biscuits, Justin noticed too 'She's also a chocoholic' he thought to himself.

 
After we've eaten,he began the tutorial and asked for my  Geography notebook 'It's in my bag' I said as I stood up to get it 'Sit, I'll get it for you' he said as he went to where my bag was. Then I suddenly remembered that I put the anonymous letter there when I was hiding it from Anabelle 'Stop!!' I ordered but he has already seen the envelope,I snatched it from him before he opened it 'What's in there?,I saw it in your geometry notebook' he asked 'Nothing' I answered without looking at his face, I sat as if nothing happened,he sat too and didn't bother to say anything about it,then he continued the tutorial.

    After the tutorial,I greeted Justin's mom and sister and left 'Thanks for the tutorial' I said as I went out of their gate 'You are welcome' he said as he waved at me and I left. On my way home,I was walking gingerly, looking at the wonderful sight of nice buildings. When I got to the neighborhood,I decided to give Anabelle call 'Hi Anabelle, hope today went well?' 'Yes,it did,it absolutely did' Anabelle said happily as she almost jumped out of my phone' 'Why are you so happy?' I asked sharply 'After the sightseeing,Nick walked me home and guessed what??- - - He asked me out!!!' she explained with excitement in her voice 'Whaaatt, are you dreaming or what?' I asked with doubt ' Nope I'm not,today is the best day of my life,he even said it's been long he has been crushing on me ' she answered happily 'Wow, congratulations girlfriend. Good luck with Nick' I said with a cheery smile then I hung up the phone 'Anabelle seemed like the happiest person on Earth' I thought 'Umph,I wish Jason ask me out too' I muttered 'Then I'll agree without hesitation'. After this thought,I saw a guy like Jason passing by the other side of the road 'Gosh, now I'm hallucinating, how can I see Jason in the diurnal just because I'm thinking of him,I'm becoming crazier at every thought of him' I said and took my eyes off him.

Then,I looked again the second time and saw Jason again 'is this Jason or someone that looked like him' I said looking at the person carefully, almost scanning through his ribs 'Idiot, it's Jason' my subconscious roared.

I gasped and said 'What is he doing here?' and I decided to go and ask him 'We're not in school anyway' I thought as I summoned courage, I brought out my mirror, put my pink lip gloss on my lips and went to him,I stood opposite him, blocking his path politely 'Hi Jason, it's Mandy from school' I said as I stood happily in front of him 'Sorry you said what?' he said as he removed his headphone. I was sad that he didn't hear me but I didn't give up so I asked him again 'Do you know me, we're attending the same school, we're also in the same class' I asked him looking at him in the eyes and with my best smile 'Yeah, you are Mandy, right?' he asked 'Omg,he knows my name' I thought happily 'yeah' I replied 'Is this your neighborhood?' he asked 'Yes and yours?' I asked impatiently 'yeah' he answered 'Geez,we live in the same neighborhood, Jason and I lives in the same neighborhood' I sang happily in my thoughts 'Where are you coming from?' he asked 'I  errr- -went to visit a um- - friend' I stammered not knowing what to say, I don't want him to know I'm getting tutored,then I suddenly hiccupped. He laughed when he heard my stammering and hiccups 'Are you alright?' he asked with the most caring look I have ever seen 'Yeah,I am' I replied looking at him in his beautiful brown eyes as I admired them 'Alright then,see you in school on Monday' he said putting his headphone on and leaving me  'Bye' I managed to say after being Lost from the sight of his eyes but I'm pretty sure he didn't hear it so I went my way too and as I walked home happily, I wish I can shout at the top of my lungs but I just held it in.

  When I got home,my Mom asked 'Sweetheart, how was the tutorial?' I didn't answer as I was lost in the thought of my fantasy 'Mandy?!!' my Mom called as she followed me upstairs 'Yes Mom?' I asked smiling 'How was the tutorial?' she asked again 'It was awesome' I replied ' I'm relieved then' she said as she went downstairs.

  I wondered and pondered when I got to my room 'Jason and I live in the same neighborhood, our hearts has been connected all this while,he even knows my name, maybe he's the writer of that anonymous letter after all'. Even in the night,I could not sleep,I kept thinking of Jason 'He even laughed when I stammered and hiccupped,I should be ashamed of doing that in front him but I wasn't,in fact, that helped me,I heard his unique laughter because of that,he even told me he'll see me on Monday,he must be planning to talk to me in school' I pondered deeply as I rolled under my blanket with excitement and I muttered to myself 'I just can't wait for Monday to come'.