Masquerader

Chapter 9

It was December, Cenne knew she had ended contact with him once again for good but a part of her still wanted to be with him so badly.
In winter vacations one afternoon Zoe was at Cenme's house with her. They were making fries. Zoe was in contact with Cheio. The girls decided to call him. They called him from the landline. He picked up and talked to Zoe. Zoe told her that she called him before and his brother picked up. She told her that he's such a badass. He said, " Yeah, he had my phone at that time. I told her not to pick any calls and he said to me that nobody called." She told him that Cenne was with her. He said hi to her and asked how was she doing. She didn't talk to him. Zoe said to him that she's not talking to you because you didn't wish her on her birthday. He said, " Dude, I have your gift with me, tell me how do I give it to you?" Cenne wasn't mad at him for that. Days later, Zoe gave her a watch. It was from Cheio. He also gave one to Zoe. It was a blue digital one. The one that was for Cenne was a matte black watch with green dashes instead of digits. Cenne loved it. It still had the price tag on it that said it was $7.16. She liked the watch but it was from him and she didn't want to take anything from him. His memories would already be with her everywhere and she couldn't stop herself thinking about him. She asked Zoe to return it. She did return it to him but he again gave it to Zoe. Zoe used to meet Cheio. She had bought him ice creams. They once met in a playground near Cheio's house. They sat on a bench and shared his headphones. He played her a song that was released just a few days ago and was a hit. Zoe loved the song. She was listening to it for the whole month. While they were there, he suddenly took his phone from Zoe and turned it off. He told her that the two ladies passing from the street are his mother and sister and they should not see them. Cenne had asked Zoe to give the watch back to him. She did but Cheio didn't take it so it was back again with Cenne.
She had started not to think about him that much. Although she would still be looking for him when she was outside at least she studied properly. She didn't let him come between his studies. She had a biology test the next day when she stayed awake till 3 in the morning. She wanted to get an A on this test. That evening she remembered him. She looked at the clock and thought Cheio would be on his way back home right now. She really missed him. She got up and went to the roof. She walked there under the cool sky for about five minutes to get through her thoughts then she continued studying. She would get in the bus from a house ahead of hers and she'd sometimes catch sight of Cheio walking down the main road. She still loved to see him.
She had her final exams two months later. She was well prepared. It was Saturday night. Her family was out of town. She didn't go with them as she preferred to prepare for her exam. She was nervous about it. She got done with the study at 9 and was waiting for her parents to come home. She was hungry. They were late. So she called Cheio. It's been a year and a half and she still remembers Cheio's phone number. She called him but no one picked. She didn't call again. She turned on the T.V. Her parents came at about 11:30 that night. They brought her pizza and brownies. She loves food. The night before her exam, she was nervous. She had never been this worried about an exam before. She slept with her dad that night but she couldn't really sleep. She had set an alarm for two in the morning. She always woke up at that time of the night whenever she had an exam to revise. She was so tensed about the exam that when she had said all of the prayers before sleeping she started revising the book. She was seriously revising in her mind and like that she had revised six chapters in two hours without a book while pretending to be asleep. It was eleven at night. She was also worried about the fact that she only has four hours to sleep and she can't sleep but she has to sleep, it's a big day tomorrow. After 40-50 minutes, she fell asleep. She got up at two, revised the whole book again, and was done by 4:30 a.m so she slept again and asked her dad to wake her up at 6. That sleep was great. When she woke up, she had breakfast and got dressed. She checked out her things. Sera called her on the landline and they went to the bus stop 20 minutes earlier, just in case.
When she got back home her dad called from his office, he asked her, "How was the exam?" She had a smile on her face when she said, " It was good. I attempted all questions and all answers are right." He asked, " How many objectives are correct?" She told him, "All." He was satisfied knowing that but most importantly, Cenne was herself happy that her paper went so well. She had the next exam in physics. It was in next week. She slept from two in noon to 7 in the evening that day. When she got up, she was still feeling a little dizzy, her mother was just leaving the house. Nobody else was home. She told her she was going to her friend's house and gave her money to buy bread and make sandwiches for herself. Cenne put on a jacket and went outside. On her way to the store, she was looking if Cheio was there but he wasn't. She came back home and made sandwiches. She was eating them when she picked up the phone and called Cheio. Cheio was special for Cenne. And this paper was important for Cenne. She had done really well on it. She was happy and satisfied. She wanted to talk to him. After some seconds, he picked up. She was really glad he picked up this time. She put the sandwich in her hand back on the plate and greeted him. He greeted back. He asked her how was she, she said fine and asked about him. He asked, "It was your paper today?" She said, "Yeah.." He said, " So how did you do on it?" She said, " I did great." He asked, " How much will you get in it?" She said, " Full." He said, " Good." She loved how confident she was. She told him that she called him before but he didn't pick up. He said he didn't get a call. He asked her when was her next exam. She told him. He said that he will come then in the morning. She said okay and was excited about it. He asked her was she alone at home? She said, "yes." They talked for almost twenty minutes and then she heard her mother at the front door and told him about it and ended the call by saying goodbye.