< Nina’s POV >
“And just like that, you are now buddies with Luca?” Gene, who has been silent when I explained all the details to him, says with his usual monotonous voice.
“Yeah, it all takes one alcohol.” I laugh, sheepishly.
“One? You mentioned that there were more than five mugs of beer.”
“Ah, r-right.”
“That’s good, I mean with you and Luca. I’m glad that you patched things up.” Gene doesn’t sound enthusiastic or dumbfounded, in fact, his voice especially if I couldn’t see him is quite a challenge for me. Sometimes, I wish Gene couldn’t be so cryptic.
“Now, you don’t need to worry anymore, Nina. You can finally graduate your final school year in peace.”
“Y-yeah about that…” I sigh. “I got a zero and Luca insisted that he would be my tutor starting this weekend.”
And by the weekend, I meant tomorrow. I don’t know what kind of a teacher Luca is but since this is one of our “bondings”, he has to do it.
“Well, my offer is still open if you’re in--”
“N-no offense, Gene. But I think you are the strictest teacher I ever had.”
He just laughs. “None taken.”
I am glad that Gene sounds in a good mood as well. It slips every now and then but lately, Gene doesn’t sound more alert or cautious. “Say, are you okay there?” The same question I ask each call and yet, Gene never gets tired of it.
“I’m good.”
“Like Duke doesn’t catch you or something?”
“The same old thing. Nina, you don’t have to worry about me all the time,” he says. “Will you trust me that I will tell you if I do get in serious trouble?”
Hopefully, you do. I thought. “Sure, I trust you.”
“And about the part-time job? You’re still going to find it?”
“Well, yeah,” I answered without breaking a sweat. “I did promise you about that winter trip.”
“Ah, right,” he says, distantly and I feel like Gene isn’t comfortable with that topic.
“Is something wrong, Gene?”
“No, not really. Just happy that you are now determined to find a job for yourself and not because you had to.”
“Yeah.” I smile. “Plus, I couldn’t afford to buy Yu a present. I think I will compensate for it once I do find one.” I take a mental note to look at the job ads online.
“That’s good. I’m sure he’ll like that. There’s my stop, Nina. Again, I’m glad that you’re doing well there. That’s the first good news I like to hear from you.”
“Thanks, Gene. I am glad to hear that, too.”
We both say our goodbyes and hang up. Just then, my phone rings, and I am wondering if Gene forgets something.
I answer immediately. “Did you forget something?”
Without even looking at the caller ID.
“I actually thought the same thing.” A familiar mischievous voice says from the other line and my mood quickly turns sour the moment I hear that voice. Ack, I shouldn’t have answered immediately.
“H-hey Clarence.” I’ve completely forgotten about him. Now that I’ve solved my problems regarding Luca and my school grades, that leaves Clarence to deal with.
I guessed he would be pissed when I blocked him yesterday and decided to call me with a different number. I should have known.
“This is the first time you didn’t attend school. Don’t tell me you skip classes, parvenu?”
“N-No!” I quickly exclaim. “Stuff happened and I wasn’t feeling well.”
“Well, you don’t sound unwell to me.”
“What is it to you?” I sigh, really getting tired of this. “I mean, I don’t really care if you don’t believe me. I just felt unwell earlier.”
“I see,” and with that, I hope it will be the end of the conversation. “So, about tomorrow?”
Of course, this is Clarence we’re talking about here. He is considered a chatterbox after talking to him.
I should have lied. Like Luca didn’t agree with it and we can put all this stuff in the past. And then, I might fail English. Hmm, I need to think rationally.
“Clarence, I’m not comfortable being even next to you, honestly,” I start, bracing myself for anything. “After what you did, I couldn’t find ways to make it work for us in this project. If you agree with me, we can do it online.”
“Nope,” Clarence immediately refuses. “Tell me, Nina. Do you actually want to pass this project, yeah? It might seem easier when we just have to focus on creating civilization but McLaren is a perfectionist. She can easily eye a half-hearted project without a hitch.”
“But—”
He sighs. “Fine, we can work it in the pizza place across from school if you want. And we will finish it in a day. How does that sound?”
Unbelievable.
“Well?” he says, impatiently. “I’m doing you a favor to pass this, Nina.”
“Y-you caught me off-guard, s-sure, thanks, Clarence.” And I didn’t expect to actually thank him.
But he seems out of it and my instincts have been telling me that Clarence knows how to keep his promises. There was once he had the chance to get me after our small conversation after the class but he didn’t.
B-but just in case, I won’t let my guard down.
“Okay, tomorrow, 10 in the morning at the Pizza Place across the boulevard?” I ask, uncertainty.
There is some hesitation before he says, “...sure, whatever.”
And he hangs up.
“Hey kid, sorry to keep you waiting!” And just right after I ended the phone call, Luca and Yu show up in a nick of time.
“Hey, what’s wrong, Nina?” Yu asks, leaning to see a closer look on my face. “You look pale.”
“Uh, nothing, just nothing,” I say while I give him a reassuring smile.
“Remember, Nina, just tell us anything,” Luca says while looking worriedly at me. Wow, will you look at that! Even his worrying look makes my cheeks flustered. Seriously, how did we end up having a normal conversation now?
Okay, brain…enough thinking, just…just answer him.
“No, I just had a call with my project partner and we had to do our project tomorrow, that’s all.” I laugh, nervously.
But in my mind, the thoughts keep running on whether or not it's safe to go as agreed.
Or it can be a trap.
Yeap, I can smell that Clarence is going to fool me one way or another.