Rumie looked out the car window. Dux had abandoned her and now she was stuck.
The car slowly made its way out of the compound leaving her feeling even more hopeless.
She still couldn't believe that after going through hell just to convince her parents to grant her wish, that it had all come to nothing. The late nights, attending different art exhibitions, and being up and down.
Her eyes moistened as the memories of the day the letter arrived came to mind. How devastated she became, almost to the point of depression when she opened its content. Not Emy's.
It had taken up to a week before she recovered, and even so, it wasn't easy.
Maybe it was just being delayed, it will come before the resumption date. She would say to herself as she went to bed. But she was wrong, it never came.
"Baby, are those tears?"She touched her face, feeling the wetness on it. She had not realised she was crying until now.
"Come on, you'll like it there, I promise," her dad said. She looked to the rear mirror, meeting his gaze staring back at her in pity.
Pity, that was the last thing she needed. It was not like her to cry but faced with her present predicament, she couldn't help it.
She was used to getting her way, whatever she desired, but recently, she felt was losing hold of that control. Things were slipping through her fingers and worse of all Dux was not here to guide her on what to do.
"Is she crying?" Her mom looked through the rear mirror, just in time to see her wipe the last drop of tears away.
"Come on, baby, we already talked about this, didn't we?" She said, "We're not sending you to a prison; we're sending you to a school where you'll get to meet your peers, make connections, and make a name for yourself in society. You've got this." Right.
"Can't I wait at home and try again next year?" Her voice crept out hoarse even to her ears.
"I promise I will get in. I'll practice more, and I will get in. I just don't want to go to law school." She was desperate now.
Her mom's gaze lingered on her gloomy face and sighed.
"Baby, let's not go through this again, okay?" She said, She was losing her patience with her. Rumie could feel it.
As if to calm herself, she closed her eyes and opened them back
"I agree, next year you can try again, but what will you be doing for the rest of this year?" She asked.
"Going to law school will not only keep you occupied but also help you build connections, gain new experiences, and make memories rather than being cooped up in the house all day with your canvas, painting. Now you are going to resume like the rest of the students here, okay?" She said her tone final.
Rumie went back to looking out the window. It was useless trying to convince her mom once she had made up her mind.
But she was right. Being cooped up in the house would make her lose her mind again. Still, deep down, Rumie knew that her life at the Law school was not going to be easy. She had this instinct telling her to get out of the car and go back home instead.
It wasn't long before their vehicle pulled up in front of a massive gate. It was closed and there was no security guard by it.
Her mom pushed the smaller gate open leading them inside. Soon they arrived at the administration office.
The ends of her hairs stood erect as she stepped into the office. There was something in the air, some pulled, a presence.
She scanned through the sea of people waiting in the room. None seemed extraordinary. It was probably nothing, she brushed it aside. A man in a uniform walked to them.
"Welcome to Dell's Law School. Please come get a form."
Her mom pushed her forward and she followed the man reluctantly.
"Here fill in the necessary details." He handed a form to her.
However, just as she bent to fill out the form, she felt it again. The odd look. But when she looked around, no one seemed to pay attention to her, they were either trying to fill out the form themselves or listening to instructions about what to do afterwards.
She wondered if reluctance felt this way, being paranoid and afraid of something that was never there.
Awkwardly, she scribbled the requested data in the blank spaces and moved to stand beside her parents.
"How was it?"Her mom whispered. She shrugged. She didn't want to think about anything.
It was their turn and the secretary gave them an instruction sheet. They were to proceed to the bank department and make some transactions.
Rumie was told to get the remitta while her parents headed out for a walk. In their words "they wanted to check out the environment."
Getting the final paper, she turned to leave, but someone bumped into her, no, she bumped into someone.
It turned out she was too busy counting the papers to make sure they were complete and that she had not noticed someone was in her way.
The papers fell from her hands scattering around on the floor. She lifted her face to see the reason for her embarrassment. He was probably 3 feet taller than she was. He stared back at her for about three seconds.
Just when she thought he was going to say something in apology, a name, which she assumed was his, was called, and he left without saying a word.
"Jerk," Rumie cursed.
It wasn't entirely her fault that she walked into him. There was no one in her path when she looked up. only for him to appear magically for a few seconds when she looked down.
As she picked up the papers, she couldn't help wishing she could go back in time and drag the idiot who caused this or perhaps say a piece of her mind to him.
Normal young men would apologize, better still, help her pick up the scattered sheets, but he… he just walked away.
She sighed as she picked the last copy. It was not an easy task gathering the sheets from across the room.
She counted them again to be sure they were complete. One sheet was missing.
A face scowl into a frown as she scanned the room in search of the guy she had bumped into; perhaps he had taken one of the papers, a jerk like himself could do that.
Still, however she searched, she couldn't find him. It was as if he had disappeared into the air.
Just when she had given up
hope of ever finding the missing sheet, it appeared in front of her.
"Here," the voice said.