Chapter eight

This novel is about a college student whose fate is something she never expected which could change her life forever - that is, to investigate a crime scene that happened within her school.

Phineas's POV

The next few days seemed to go by swiftly. Homeworks, lecture and laboratory exams, projects, thesis and varsity practices had kept me busy these days. Thank God I can still manage to balance all of these. Everything I did for the past few days was customary except for one - that is, to tutor my childhood friend. I held one-hour tutoring session with her each day during our break in the school library. Thankfully, we didn't have much conflict with our schedule.

"You must always remember that heating and phase change/transition cannot occur simultaneously." I explained.

"Why is that so?" Ava inquired, listening intently.

"Because during any phase transition, the energy is used to drive the phase change rather than the change in temperature. Take for example the boiling of water where the liquid phase turns into the gaseous phase. Once the temperature of water reaches the boiling point, " I paused for a moment and continued. "What do you think will happen?" She thought deeply for a while before answering my question.

"Oh, I see! The temperature remains constant while bubbles form. The bubbles signal the phase change where liquid water changes to steam." She responded correctly.

"Good thinking." I grinned. She's certainly a fast-learner.

"Oh, so that's why in thermodynamic calculations, heating and phase change have different formulas and are computed separately." She continued.

"Exactly Ava. Great job for someone who hasn't tackled this in lecture class yet." I said praising her.

"I've done the reading, Phin. It's just that I need someone to make my readings sense to me." She admitted sheepishly. "Good I have you to do that for me. Thanks." She beamed.

"No problem Ava. I'm here to help you that's why Nick entrusted me as your guardian while you're still here."

"G-Guardian?" She asked, perplexed.

"Yeah. What else? I'm not your family, am I? I replied monotonously. She laughed.

"You're too young to be my guardian Phin."

"I'm still older than you Ava." I reminded her. "Anyway, I'll let you solve this problem first before time is over." I pointed the problem I intended for her to solve. She nodded and obediently answered. Honestly, I enjoyed watching her as she fixed her attention to the problem she's trying to solve. One thing I admire in her the most is her ability to focus. Her curiosity always allows her to delve into unsolved mysteries of every problem she encounters - whether in school or in real life. In other words, she possesses the qualities of a good scientist. Not to mention, she's also particularly interested with detective-fiction novels, forensics and anything related to sleuthing. As early as now, I could see a bright future awaiting her. That's the reason why I'm being overprotective to her at times. As a guardian, it is my duty to ensure that she's guided on the right path.

"Here teacher. Could you check if this is correct?" Ava requested. I flinched. I was startled at her calling me teacher.

"Hey, why are you calling me that now?"

"Because you are ... Now c'mon teacher, please check this. Time is running." She handed me the paper containing her solution. I picked it up still dazed. Personally, I like the idea being called teacher by her. I find it cute for unknown reasons. I studied thoroughly her solution. I felt so much fulfilled for she got the problem correctly. She even finished it earlier than I expected.

"You're good Ava. You can do it even without my supervision." I said nodding while scanning her neat solution. She scowled and pouted.

"So you mean you're not gonna teach me anymore?" She asked with a troubled expression. I figured out that she would have wanted to spend her break with me. I smirked and patted her head like a kid.

"Yeah. I'm finished with my role as a teacher right? You already know what to do." I retorted trying to tease her. Man, she's so teasable. She just nodded timidly not knowing what to say. I started packing up my things silently. She also did the same and we both stood, ready to leave. But before we left our table, I rushed to her side and grabbed her left hand firmly with my right. She winced and looked at me, confused.

"However, it doesn't hurt if we hang-out together during our break time." I winked trying to appease her somber expression. Gladly, her mood lightened up as she chuckled.

"But you don't have to do this." She said pointing at our tangled hands. To be honest, it felt good holding her hand. I don't know why. I just felt like doing it so I held her hand impulsively.

"I just feel like it and I don't have plans of letting go." I smirked as I pulled her along with me outside the library. She remained stunned, speechless and simply followed me submissively.

As we moved our way through the busy and crowded school corridors, I could sense people eyeing us suspiciously most probably because of our clutched hands and it's their first time seeing us being this close. Well, they do not know how close Ava and I are anyway. Why should I care? I continued walking bringing along Ava. I intended to bring her to her next class. I was glad she didn't resist at all. She was quiet though I noticed her baffled expression. A few minutes later, we passed by the locker area. Unexpectedly, a woman who was just closing her locker came right in front of us. I stood still and Ava also halted. Of all people in this university, I never thought I would come across this woman at this very moment. She's the very least person I would like to meet during the remaining days of my college. She made my life miserable. She's no other than my former friend, Amelia Rose Cooper.

Alicia's POV

Gazing at Phin and the girl in front of us, my mind went swirling. I just could not understand what the heck is going on. Firstly, I could not figure out why Phin abruptly held my hand unanticipatedly. This is crazy! Maybe I should let him see a psychologist from now on. Something is wrong with him, really. Moreover, I also do not have any idea why I could sense tension between Phin and this girl. Hello? Aren't you two going to say anything? Did the gods cut your tongues so you could speak no more? C'mon guys. Please don't give me a hard time here. I'm not a statue or anything.

I waited for anyone to speak, but none did the move. The scene seemed like a grueling battle of staring at each other - both parties were persistent enough not to lose on each other's sight. For crying out loud, I hate to admit that being a wallflower in this kind of scene is such a nuisance. I can't stand it any longer so I decided to do something. I tried letting go of my hand from Phin's but he even gripped my hand tighter. This plan is useless. I can't match his strength. Why can't I think of any alternative plan now? I'm such a wimp. Meanwhile, the girl spoke.

"Long time no see." The girl smirked. Phin didn't answer. Instead, he looked at her scowling. They knew each other? Interesting! I didn't know Phin knew a girl as hot and as gorgeous as her. Then the girl continued. "Don't be rude Phin. I just greeted you. Wouldn't you introduce this girl to me?"

"She's none of your business." I flinched noticing Phin's stern response. The girl chuckled.

"My, my ... Don't get mad Phin. I'm just being friendly." Phin frowned even more while gripping my hand much tighter. What's wrong with him? Why do I feel like Phin's having a grudge on this girl? The girl faced me and whispered, "Hope you won't regret being with Phin someday." I winced, bewildered by what she said. I couldn't speak a single word. How could she say such awful words about Phin?

"Let's go." Phin instructed while pulling me away from the girl, seemingly desperate to get away from her. Poor Phin. He possibly had a rueful past with her. At this point, I was a bit hesitant of asking him about her. I always respect privacy of other people. When Phin and I reached the school lawn, he stood still. I also paused and waited for him to say anything. Slowly, he let go of my hand and faced me.

"Ava - " He uttered. However, I interrupted him by leaning forward to touch his forehead with my right palm. He winced.

"W-What are you doing?" He asked, baffled. I continued checking his temperature for a brief moment before answering him.

"What a relief. I thought you're sick Phin." I sighed while pulling my hand away from his forehead.

"W-What made you think that I'm sick?"

"You're acting weird. I couldn't figure out why. You just held my hand out of the blue." I expressed honestly. He simply stared at me and then giggled.

"I said I just feel like doing it Ava."

"I don't believe that reasoning. Maybe you're up to something which I do not know?"

"No Ava. Trust me. I admit I was such a fool for impulsively doing that but I do not have any ulterior motive." He stated calmly and gazed at me intently. I squinted at first but later on I sighed.

"Okay." I smiled and nodded in response.

"Good. Now, talking about what happened earlier with that girl - "

"Phin, you don't have to force yourself." I cut him off with his sentence and continued. "I understand you had an unpleasant past with her. You don't have to tell me anything about her if you don't want to." I said nonchalantly. He looked at me seriously this time. He was about to say something when the bell rang. Then he sighed and spoke.

"C'mon. I'll bring you to your next class." He grabbed my hand once more, but this time, gently. "Mind if I do this again?" He asked. I eyed him suspiciously.

"Hey, you're taking advantage of my kindness." I muttered. He chuckled in amusement. I rolled my eyes yet allowed him to do what he wants. Gosh! He's really stubborn!

We were silent as we advanced our way to the Science building. I should have felt an odd feeling about us holding hands in the middle of this populated university. Even so, I didn't feel any which puzzled me. It felt really strange that I enjoyed this situation. Maybe I should go see a psychologist myself. Something's definitely wrong with me. Concurrently, I saw a familiar girl just a few strides away from us. I stared at her intently. I was quite sure I've seen this girl before. I studied her until I realized who this girl was. Horror came to my senses to the point that I didn't notice I already halted from walking with eyes wide open and jaw almost dropped. Phin got curious so he paused and looked at the direction where I was staring. Immediately, he also realized what I was thinking. He also had the same reaction as mine when we both looked at each other in great perplexity. We couldn't utter a single word as of the moment for we just saw that mysterious girl right inside the school campus!

Author's Note

x x x This chapter is not meant to offend homosexuals. The main gist here is about someone being pinned of something he/she isn't. x x x

Reviews

[Snow Curls = ]]

I enjoyed this Chapter very much i liked how you broke the chapter up into different POVs

[Deneru Yamada]

Thanks! ^_^