S. F. - 15

***

New.

The car was filled with utmost silence as no one dared to speak a word.

After P'Tay literally stashed me inside his car, he just drove off and followed the school bus without saying a word.

"I'm thirsty."

I immediately looked at him as he broke the silence first.

"Then drink," I nonchalantly replied and looked ahead of us. I wanted to act as normal as possible but Pete's words had been constantly bugging me.

"I can't. I'm driving. There's water at the back. Please get it for me," he replied, his eyes never leaving the road.

I rolled my eyes as I looked at the backseat to get the water. I frowned as I saw a blue tumbler with the letters TN on it.

I immediately grabbed it and mindlessly handed it to him.

"Here."

But he just pouted his lips. "Driving."

I huffed as I got what he meant and opened the tumbler. I couldn't hide my snicker as I saw a drinking straw inside.

"What's with the straw?" I asked whilst chuckling.

I then held it close to his mouth so he could drink.

"Thanks," he said the moment he was done.

"By the way, how did your car get here? As far as I could remember, you rode the bus with us," I asked as my eyes roamed his car. I had ridden his car several times already but somehow it felt different. Or was it just me being conscious about his presence?

"I had one of my men send it so you can ride comfortably on the way home."

"Huh?" I asked in confusion. Like why would he do such thing all of a sudden.

"I actually overheard White and Gunsmile talking about your tendency to get motion sickness whenever you ride a bus a few days ago. I actually wanted to offer you a ride in going there, but I was thinking that you might want to spend more time with your friends, so I just prepared some medicine in case you need one."

I cleared my throat and shifted on my seat as I didn't know what to say.

Like how am I supposed to convince myself that it's just nothing when he's being like this???? Is this how he usually takes care of his students or what?

I then felt my phone buzzing inside my pocket.

1 message received:

GunTheElf

You traitor! Why are you riding Mr Tay's car? Now I had to suffer these buffons' rowdiness on my own!

I chuckled as I read Gun's message. I bet the boys were being loud and chaotic as usual especially that the one accompanying them was Mr Chi, our PE instructor who never ran out of jokes.

"Something's funny?" I jolted as P'Tay asked all of a sudden.

"Oh, just Gun complaining about the guys being loud," I replied and stashed my phone inside my pocket.

"You can use my phone to play some music if you want to," he suddenly offered.

I then looked at his phone on the holder, the very exact phone that I stole from him months ago.

I then suddenly remembered the locked folders in his phone.

Shit! This is my chance of snooping into those locked folders!

"P-Password?" I nervously asked as I grabbed his phone from the holder.

"Oh, I don't have one," he replied.

"Uhm, by the way, wh-when's your birthday, Sir?"

"Why? Wanna give me a gift?"

I chuckled nervously and I had to mentally pray that he didn't notice the instability of my voice.

"Just curious. You said that we're only two years apart, right? How did you even know that?"

"July 20, 1991."

I internally celebrated the moment he said his birthday.

At least now, I had one of his possible passcodes.

I then opened his Spotify to look at his playlist and randomly selected one to play.

I recall when you were mineYou used to teach me how to driveYou used to make fun of me when I'd cryAnd I remember how we met3rd of July, I wore a white dressAnd your hand was broken, you were in a cast

I glanced at him and noticed that he was focused on driving. I pretended to scan his songs, but in reality, I was already opening his gallery to try my luck at snooping into those folders again.

Okay, I know this is an invasion of his privacy but I'm just so curious with what's inside those locked folders.

And we fell in loveBut we both messed it upYou were a storm and I was fireYeah, we both had enoughOf things broken on the floorWhat were we fighting for?

I immediately opened his gallery and scrolled through the folders but those the folders I was looking for were no longer there.

Huh?? Did he already delete it??

"Would you want to stop over for something to eat?"

I almost lost grip of his phone when he spoke all of a sudden.

"I-I'm good."

"Okay."

I was about to close his gallery, so I could focus on playing songs since my plan definitely failed, but something caught my eyes.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I gawked at the recent photos in his camera roll.

There were around 5 pictures of me which were obviously taken during the trip. The latest one was during our punishment at the closing event. I had my eyes close and I was grinning from ear to ear as I executed the dance steps. And although I didn't want to admit it, the photos was perfectly taken.

"We'll just order drive thru. We still have an hour to go. We might get hungry on the way," he told me as he made a turn.

"O-Okay," I stammered as I quickly closed the gallery and went back to his playlist.

BittersweetYou were like a dreamBut I'd do it againI'd do it againYeah, I'd do it again

***

I swallowed the non-existent lump in my throat as I held the burger closer to his mouth.

After ordering some takeaway, he whined about being unable to eat as he was driving. So even though my heart was still racing after what I had just discovered in his phone, I tried my best not to quiver as I helped him eat.

"Thanks," he muttered as he took the last bite.

"Seriously, did you let me ride so you can have someone to help you eat?" I complained jokingly to somehow cover up the churning feeling in my stomach.

He just chuckled and gave me a glance. A smile was playing on his lips.

"I can't just drive alone because I'll be bored. Besides you're the main reason I had my car sent to the location."

"I didn't ask you though," I scrunched my nose as I took as sip from the pineapple juice.

"But I want to," he muttered and focused on driving.

I bit my lips as I looked ahead whilst having a mental debate whether I should ask the question that had been lingering in my head ever since he showed up with his car.

With every ounce of courage and confidence I had in me, I blurted out the most daring question I could ever ask to a professor.

"Are you flirting with me, Sir? Oh shit!" I immediately exclaimed as he abruptly stepped on the breaks.

I knew it was bold of me to ask such question but considering the actions he had done for the past few days, it was starting to make me think that I had heart disease because of the way my heart raced whenever he was around. He...he was starting to confuse me.

"I... I mean, I know I might be overthinking but do you also do this to your other students?"

He cleared his throat and revved the engine again, not even answering any of my questions.

"If you're doing this because you're bored or because you no longer have Kao around, then can you please stop this. You're, you're starting to confuse me."

My last sentence came out as a whisper as I wasn't sure myself about what I really felt.

"I told you, I'll tell you everything once you graduate. Just not now New, not when you're still my student."

"Oh come on. What difference would it make? Do you still want to me to suffer through the agony of wanting to know for several months just because I haven't graduated yet?" I frustratingly replied.

I knew that I shouldn't be instigating him, but a part of me was also dying to know after all the confusion and rush of emotions he made me feel.

"I don't want to confuse you or anything at all, okay? I-I just want you to focus on your studies first as I don't even know how you're gonna take what I'm gonna say."

"Then you shouldn't have told me in the first place. Stop the car. I'm transferring to the bus," I immediately grabbed my bag from the backseat so I could get off his car, but he just continued driving.

"I told you I'm getting off the car," I reiterated. "Sir," I added, purposely putting too much emphasis on the word.

His car slowed down as he parked safely by the sidewalk. I then tried opening the door but it wouldn't budge.

"Please unlock the door...Sir."

"What's making you confused?" he asked without looking at me. "What do you mean?"

"I, I, — just forget what I just said. It meant nothing."

"No, New. I know you meant something by that. In what way am I confusing you?"

"I, I don't know. You seem strict and stern with me, well that's not surprising considering I'm your student but your actions say otherwise. I, I don't know. So please, Sir, if this is just normal for you but it isn't for me. So can you please stop this, Sir? I seriously can't sleep well ever since you ki—. I, I have to go," I mentally facepalmed myself as I almost blurted out about the kiss.

Shit! I'm basically exposing myself!

"Ever since what, New?" he grabbed my arm and made me turn to him but I resisted. I distracted myself by counting the cars that were passing our way but he was persistent as he continuously nudged me by the elbow. "Ever since what, New? Ever since that kiss?"

His last statement made me snap my head towards him, my eyes wide open as I gawked at him in utter disbelief.

"Wait, you remember??"

"Of course. And how can't I when I was sober the whole time."

I could feel my blood rushing all at once into my face as I heard his words.

"Wh-what do you mean?? You mentioned, K-Kao's name."

"I, I just didn't want you to think that I'm taking advantage of you. I'm sorry for doing that without your permission. I know that this is quite new to you that's why you're confused but, I, I like you, okay? But I don't wanna impose on you. That's why I wanna tell you that once you graduate. I don't wanna drag you into any mess because you're my student, but you're being impatient."

I shook my head as I couldn't process everything that I just heard. But the words "I like you" reverberated in my mind. I didn't know but I could feel my heart racing and my hands sweating.

"Like, h-how? You've been with Kao and we've just met, right?"

He chuckled and revved the engine.

"Are you sure about that?" he smirked and started driving again. "I'm not pressuring you or anything as I wasn't really expecting you to like me back and I know you're confused at the moment. I'm just glad I was able to tell you about how I feel even though it happened earlier than I planned."

"Have we met before??"

"You wouldn't remember it even if I tell you."

***

"Earth to New!"

I jolted as Gun snapped his fingers in front of my face. We were currently at the department's park and I didn't even realize that I was already staring blankly at Gun for I was just too preoccupied with everything that happened yesterday.

"Wh-What?"

"What what? Are you just gonna sit there all day?" he exclaimed as he stashed his things inside his bag. "We still have to work on our papers for graduation, remember?"

"How did you know that you like, Off?" I asked unconsciously and eventually regretted it the moment I saw the suspecting look on his face.

"Are you perhaps??" he leaned in closer to me and scanned my face. "Oh well. I'm not in the right state to tell you that now. We're not in good terms today as he stopped me from buying that cute bear at the mall yesterday. Like seriously? He's so frugal he'd probably starve me when we get married. And for what?? For the sake of saving money?!"

"Tsss. Now you're talking about marriage. Why? Has he asked you to be his boyfriend already?"

I grinned as he gave me a dangerous glare.

"You know what, I just wanna sew that mouth of yours sometimes so you wouldn't be able to slap me with the reality. Oh, well, if he wouldn't ask me, I might as well seduce Mr Tay. He's equally as handsome as Off, though I prefer chinky guys who look like they're gonna ruin my life."

"H-Hey, how can you say that? Mr Tay's our teacher."

"Tsss. We're about to graduate in a few months. I'm just gonna seduce him by then."

"But I'm sure he's not you know, gay."

Yeah, as if he wasn't gay enough after confessing to you, New.

"Tsss. His name perfectly matches with gay, Gay Tay. Tay Gay. Yah, I know he might not be gay but I can always change that," he then grinned at me.

We both glanced as a group of students greeted the very person we were just talking about.

"See? Speaking of the devil. Come on. We still have to submit our documents for graduation," he nudged my elbow and went ahead of me.

I glanced at Sir Tay (or should I keep calling him P'Tay?) before following Gun.

But what if.... Just what if.

***