Chapter 102: Back to School!

University of Chicago.

Mary moved furtively. Her footsteps were so stealthy that no one even heard her walk through the back door of the lecture hall. She slowly took her seat at the back pew and quietly placed her backpack on the floor. She’s just resuming lectures after a week of inactivity in the class.

She bent and held the zipper of her backpack. As the slide went over the zipper, it made a sound drawing the attention of Lucy, who was sitting in front of her.

Lucy turned around and glanced at her with both eyebrows raised to her hairline. "When did you arrive?" she whispered.

Lucy is a close friend of Mary and the very first person to call her parents concerning her disappearance a week ago. Ever since then, each time she tried reaching Mary’s cell phone, it went straight to voicemail, requesting her to leave a message.

Lectures have begun an hour ago before the arrival of Mary. Prof Kyle is taking them in a Psychology course for the semester which is one of Mary's electives to pursue a major in Business Administration.

Mary slightly raised her head and whispered, "Just now."

"Don't you make a sound when you move?" Lucy whispered once more.

"Not always." Mary snickered under her breath. She brought out her laptop from her backpack and placed it on the desk.

Lucy turned once more rolling her eyes at Mary. "Where have you been?"

"It’s a long story." Mary sneered. She didn’t want to fill her up with the details.

"I have the whole time to hear the long story, you know."

"Let’s…"

Mary’s words were silenced as the sound of a dominant footstep echoed against the concrete walls of the lecture hall. When she raised her head, she saw Prof. Kyle approaching.

His face wasn't bright. Standing next to Mary, his shadow hovered over her. He cast a condensed gaze on her, "Why interrupting my class with your whispering?"

"I'm sorry Prof. Kyle," Mary silenced her reply. She lowered her head and started to pick her fingers.

Prof. Kyle switched his attention to Lucy, "I don't want to…"

The loud buzzing sound from Mary's phone interrupted Prof. Kyle. Before Mary could silence her phone, Prof. Kyle angrily snatched it from her. "You know the rules." He turned and started walking down the pews.

This has never happened to Mary. Yes, she isn't a freshman anymore and College isn't a High School where classroom teachers will get to seize the phone of their students at will.

She hissed silently as she watched Prof. Kyle walk down the pew. She couldn’t take off her glare on him. With a wave of her hand, she could slam him away. The more she desires to do that, the more she sees herself getting into more trouble. Right now, she isn’t on talking terms with her parents for choosing Dan instead of being on the side of her family.

Lucy turned and whispered, "You will get it. I assure you that."

***

The old mansion.

Scott sighed and glanced at Evelyn. “Are you ready?”

They were both seated in the car, parked in front of Mrs. Willie’s mansion.

Evelyn sighed and nodded her head slightly.

“Good.” Scott pushed the car door open and so did Evelyn.

They both made their way toward the front door. They have refused to go back to New Orleans without getting their daughter to go with them or take her away from Dan. Scott rapped the iron knocker as Evelyn stood behind him. They waited for the door to be answered.

They didn’t have to wait for long as the door was soon answered by Dean.

Dean glared with hate in his eyes. “What are you doing here?” he’s still in shock of losing Mrs. Willie in the hands of Dan.

“We come in peace,” Evelyn said. “Please, invite us in. We need to talk.”

Dean didn’t like the idea of having them over. He could sense they were here for something that would yield positively. He stepped aside and gestured for them to come in.

***

University of Chicago.

Prof. Kyle was done with his class. He packed his materials into his backpack. As he was about to put his laptop inside the backpack, Mary walked up to him and politely demanded her phone back. She’s certain it was Dan that called back then and she didn’t want to miss the call. Whatever might be the reason for him calling, during school hours could only mean one thing.

"I know you still have two more classes for today. Come to my office and have your phone once you're done with all your class for today."

"This isn't a high school," Mary blurted out. She furrows her brows.

Her response provoked Prof. Kyle. It's written on his face but he tried shaking it off his face. He giggled with a fake smile that couldn't even get to Mary as he opened his mouth to speak. "You're right. This isn't a high school but you are still not getting your phone now. Come after your…”

Mary couldn't let Prof. Kyle continue. She lashed out in anger, “Looks like you need a new phone. That’s why you need mine.” She brought her face closer to him a bit and whispered harshly. “Good news, you can have it.”

***

The old mansion.

“So, where is Jasmine?” Scott asked, scanning around with his eyes. He looked quite uncomfortable. It wasn’t his idea to come here by Evelyn’s.

“Somewhere,” Dean answered. He sat on the sofa opposite to Scott. He stared Scott dead in the eyes and asked in a mean tone, “So why are you here?”