Masquerader

Chapter 2

She dialed his number. The phone was ringing and her heart started beating fastly. She was in the backyard and someone picked up the phone but said nothing. so she said, "Hello? Who is this?" The person replied, "Who are you? You called." Cenne continued, "What's your problem? What do you want from me? Why are you doing all this? And what you did today was over the line. What is it that you want from me?" She said it all in one single breath. The person on the other side of the phone replied, "Who are you?" She got worried for a second. Did she dial the right number? She asked, "You don't know me?" The person answered, " Do you know what you did?" She got confused and replied with a harsh 'What?' The person told her, " You broke a phone!" She argued, " I did not break a phone." He said, " Then you're probably not who I thought you are." She didn't say anything but he continued and asked her name. She said," You don't even know my name?" He said," No." She could not believe him. They talked about two or three other things when the azan started and he asked her to call him back as azan should be listened to quietly. She ended the call. Cenne was not sure if she should call him again or not. When the azan ended she did call him. He asked her about her age. She didn't know exactly so she started counting it on her fingers and she realized she was gonna be thirteen years old this December. She didn't tell him her age instead she asked him about his. He told her that he was twenty-two years old. He didn't look so but Cenne half believed it. They exchanged a couple of other words and ended the call. Cenne called her friends and told them what had happened.
        One night, she had went to the store when she saw Cheio with some other guys outside the store. She was also outside and her sister, Scarlett went inside. She drove there on bicycle. In that group of boys, she only knew Jack and Cheio. Cheio said out loud, " If you wanna call don't call from landline, it's not safe or if you wanna call from landline make sure no one is home." Cenne's face was turning all red on this. She was wearing a red shirt under the grey sweater with a black jeans and he saw that in the evening. He continued, "Red is my favorite color. I love it so much." Cenne didn't want to listen to him saying all this. She wanted to go up to him and say something but at the same time she didn't wanted to create a scene. Plus she couldn't leave scar like that, she'd get all worried if she won't find her and what if they said something to her? She didn't know what to do. She turned away. But Cheio continued, he said, " If I had a bicycle i'd take you to the moon on it." Just then scar came and they went home. She hated all of it.
        A couple of days passed just like this, them seeing each other every evening and night from a distance. She called her second time again from the landline on her birthday. Her friends were at her place and they called him. Cenne did not talk to him. Her friend did. Cenne was curious about him and she got to know his name, Cheio.On that night, they had dinner which Cenne's mother made. The girls at this age are usually curious about their physical appearance and the fleeting environment around them rather than their health and mental situations but Cenne wasn't that concerned about her physical appearance probably because she was really busy having Cheio on her mind for like every second. They talked about little girls' talks like what if they like anybody? Would they tell him? Would they come into a relationship with him? Most answers were no and Cenne's answered was no too.

She wanted to know more about him and wanted to talk to him so she made another account on a website both of them already had an account on. She texted him from there. "Hi." He sent a wave. She waved back. Then she didn't open that account for somedays. She then got a text on her own account from a lady who she didn't know. That lady had wished her a happy new year at 11:59 p.m with tons of other messages like having a clean bill from your dentist, plumber, etc. All this time Cenne was thinking she doesn't have a plumber! She is too young for that. She texted back," Happy New Year to you too but I don't think I know you. Do you know me?" A reply came," Yeah, you do know me." Cenne replied, " And how is that?" She got a reply which was a phone number. THE SAME PHONE NUMBER THAT WAS ON THE ENVELOPE FROM WHICH SHE HAD CALLED CHEIO! She knew it was Cheio but she was confused and didn't know how to react so she replied, "Shit you!!!!" He said," Please don't block me. I have to talk to you. It's really important, please." Cenne said okay and asked "What is it? Tell me?" He said, " I can't really tell right now. I'm kinda in the middle of something but ill tell you ASAP." Even though he told her he was busy but he still continued to chat with Cenne. He told her that he was in the park and Cenne's brother Lua just entered. They chatted for thirty to forty minutes and then Cenne logged out. The next day it was Tuesday. Cenne was really happy as she got her tests back that day and she got great grades. When she opened her account Cheio was online. He asked her about her day. She told him that she's really happy and told him about her tests. He congratulated her and asked her how is she gonna celebrate? She told him it's not something that big that it should be celebrated. He told her that her friend looked amazing today. She said okay.

One day when she got home after playing and opened her laptop to talk to Cheio. He told her that she looked really beautiful in the red dress she was wearing today. He also told her that red was his favorite color. They continued chatting on texts. Cenne would come back from school and the first thing she would do was go to her room, close the door and open up her laptop. She would talk to him at that time and then again at six in the evening when she came home after meeting her friends. This went on for twelve days when one Saturday morning at somewhere near eleven a.m she told him that she was gonna block him because it is not alright for them to talk. Cheio didn't persuade her into talking to him. Between texting him Cenne had to get up as her mother was constantly calling her to ask something. Cheio said to her that she is like a sister to him and she can always come to him whenever she needed help or anything. Cenne told him that she trusts him and that he is a nice guy then she blocked him. None of Cenne's friends were there with him as they had gone somewhere. It was a really sad and lonely day for her and just like that the whole week. Her eyes would always try to find Cheio wherever she was but she could not find him anywhere. She was worried about him. She missed him but she knew it was the right thing to do. Cenne saw Cheio after a whole week. When she saw him she could not stop staring at him. He had a bag in his hand and was coming down the street. He looked at her just for a moment and then walked away. All those emotions and feelings that Cenne had been denying for a whole week came back to her in a moment and she could not think of anything except Cheio. She did not know what she wanted.