61

61
Chapter 61

Scarlet Wolff

Derek drove us to the restaurant, but the whole time, I couldn't concentrate as my thoughts would keep spiraling to Lucien.

My phone lit up with a text from Lucien for the third time, but I ignored it. He had been texting me for a couple of minutes now, asking where I was as he came to the school and didn't find me there, but I ignored him. I just wanted to get him off my mind.

"Are you alright?" Derek broke the silence in the car, glancing at me.

"Hmm." I nodded, brushing it off.

"I'm fine." I added, even though it was obvious that I wasn't fine.

"I noticed you've been down all day. It doesn't seem like you are fine. Do you want to share?" He further asked, but I just looked at him and smiled, insisting that I was fine. And thankfully, he gave up asking.

We arrived at the restaurant later, and Derek ordered food for us.

"I'm so happy to be here with you." The excitement was evident in his eyes as they gazed at me, and I forced a smile.

"Thank you." I just muttered.

I picked on my food as I barely had an appetite.

"You haven't touched your food. Don't you like it?" Derek looked at me with worries in his eyes.

"I like it. Just taking my time with it."
He stared at me briefly before nodding his head, going back to resume eating.

I subconsciously picked up my phone, reading through the texts from Lucien.

'Hey! What time should I come pick you up?'

'Are how there?'

'Why aren't you taking my calls?

'Scarlet, where are you? I'm in your school now. Come out'

'Are you there, Scarlet?'

'Take your call, Scarlet'
I exhaled after scrolling through the texts, dropping my phone on the table afterwards.

I managed to brush him off my mind, focusing my attention on Derek and trying to get myself distracted.

"So, what plans do you have after college?" I managed to start a conversation, hoping it'll flow. I just needed to get my mind off Lucien.

He stared at me, surprised.

"It's fine if you don't want to share. I was just wondering." I quickly shove it off.

"No, it's not that. I'm just surprised you are interested in knowing what I want to do." He smiled.

"Oh."

"I don't have plans yet. Might travel out of the country for a while." He shrugged, and I slowly nodded.

"What about you? What plans do you have?" He looked straight into my eyes and asked.

"I'm not sure about it yet, but traveling out of the country is definitely not in the picture. At least not for now." I chuckled dryly.

"Oh..." he nodded.

The atmosphere became awkward again with silence.

"I haven't seen your parents in a while. Did they travel?" He asked out of the blue.

"Hmm. They've been away for a while now." I replied to him, and he raised his eyebrows, nodding his head.

"I thought so." He chuckled.

We talked about random things, including ones that were not necessary, and I was glad I came here with him because it helped me stop thinking about Lucien even if it was just for a while.

"Do you want to watch a movie at the cinema together?" I asked as we exited the restaurant once we were done eating, and he looked at me, his face flashed with surprise.

"I want to make it up to you." I told him, and he smiled.
Well, the truth is, I was trying to get away from Lucien. I just wanted to get home once it was late, so I wouldn't have to deal with Lucien.

"Sure. It's an honour."
Derek led me to his car, and the ride to the cinema began.

All through the ride to the cinema, there was no moment of silence as Derek kept talking nonstop, cracking jokes, and by the time we arrived at the cinema, my stomach was already hurting from the too much laugh that I had earlier, but I enjoyed it. I didn't know this side of Derek existed. I've never seen it before now, maybe because I never gave it a chance.
It's not bad hanging around with him after all.

I paid for our tickets since I insisted everything today was going to be on me, and we headed inside afterwards.
The movie we bought tickets for was Annabelle. A supposed horror movie.

It was my first time watching the movie, and while Derek was literally freaking out the whole time, hugging me at every slight trigger from the movie, I remained calm. Everyone's eyes were on us because of the way he kept acting, but instead of being embarrassed, I rather found it funny and laughed about it.

The movie finally ended, and we headed out of the cinema.

"That was the fifth time that I'm watching that movie, and it's still as scarier as it was the first time that I watched it. How come you were so calm?" Derek breathed out, scratching the back of neck as we headed to his car.

"It's not scary." I shrugged and chuckled.

"Whoa! It really was." He shrieked, and I rolled my eyes.

It was already getting dark, but the time was just past 6pm.

"Do you still have time? Let's go for an ice cream date and take a walk." I proposed as he hopped inside the car, and he looked at me, his eyebrows creasing.

"That sounds fun." His face brightened with a big smile.

"I'm in for it." He added, starting the car.

"I don't know any ice cream joints. Do you know any?" He glanced at me as he drove out of the compound.

"Yes. I know a few."

I gave directions for the place, and we arrived there after a fifteen minutes' drive.
It was just by the roadside, so he pulled over, and we got a cone of ice cream each, going for a walk afterwards.

"This is fun." I blurted out, smiling as we walked down the road side by side. I couldn't remember the last time that I had this much fun. It should be years now, and I'm glad I came out with Derek today.

We took a walk around the neighborhood, and by the time we got back to the spot where he parked his car, it was already 7:59pm.

"I think I should go home now. Let's do this some other time." I smiled at him.

"Thanks for today. I enjoyed every bit of it." He returned the smile.

"I will drop you off." He offered, but I quickly shook my head.

"I will take a cab."

"Are you sure about that?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Call me as soon as you get home then."

Derek hauled down a cab for me, and the ride home began.
Goodness! Going to deal with Lucien now.

The cab pulled over at the front of Lucien's apartment minutes later, and I headed inside. However, as I approached the entrance door, Lucien stepped out of the building...