"Trevor!! What was that? Why did you do that?" I assumed I thundered right on his face. "You were following me. Weren't you?" he moved a little bit closer. "I swear if you move a little bit closer, then I will pierce my nails into your skin." I gritted my teeth. "Alright, alright," he replied as he moved away.

"Now, tell me. Why were you following me?" he asked. I could imagine him crossing his arms and putting a funny expression on his face. " I was not following you." I declared. "Oh, then how did you reach here and what were you searching for all-around this store?" he investigated. "Hmm, I was... was... searching for a rat, who was a part of my biology project. It ran away from the school and...and it brought me here. It is that simple." Wow, I was proud of myself to think of such a lame excuse. "Just when I was here"... he snickered. " Interesting," he let out another little giggle. "You just happened to be here. Nevermind." I pretended to be casual.

It was totally dark. Not a single ray of light was allowed to pass into the room. After a whole 5 mins of silence filled with awkwardness, I realized something. "Hey!!! Where are we?" I asked. "In the book store, of course," he said with an obvious tone. "No, moron. Was this room beside the last rack?" I questioned. "Yeah, maybe," he replied in a confused way. "Great!!! Finally, I am in. But I don't see anything." I reported rubbing my temples. "What? What are you-" he was interrupted.

"Hey!! Are you two done with your lovey-dovey stuff?" the voice on the other side of the door inquired. "Arabella!!! We aren't getting any lovey-dovey. I can't even imagine myself getting any closer to this girl." Trevor grunted from this side, unlocking the door. The door opened to reveal Arabella, who was trying her best to control her laugh.

"What were you two doing inside?" she asked, staring at both of us. "Nothing," I replied promptly. "Okay, I believe in you," she laughed. "But hey, would you like to hang out with us?" she begged. "No!!! Hell no!" Trevor exclaimed. She glared at Trevor and he felt silent at the very moment. Not gonna lie, I was a little surprised. The bad tiger of the school looked worse than a little kitten in front of his sister.

"So what did you decide?" She smiled at me. "Uh-hmm, yeah, okay," I responded. Actually, I wanted to know more about both of them. Something about them was tantalizing. Before I moved away from the spot, for one last time, I turned to take a view of the door. Startlingly, there were two doors. I had never marked the other door. The door which both of us went in was just a different one. It had the board reading "STOREROOM". Seeing me in such a state, Trevor spoke up " Close your mouth, girl. Turns out, there's a fly inside it." " Is there something worrying you, dear?" Arabella questioned. " I swear there was only one door here." I gulped, my eyes still wandering between those two doors. "You mustn't have noticed the other one," she remarked. "No, I swear. I have come here numerous times but never noticed-" "Come on, leave it. It is not that important." Arabella cut in.

I didn't know how to react to it, so I just nodded and walked away with them. At the entrance, the three of us were stopped by a modulated voice. It was Mr Seymour, the owner of the shop. He was a man in his late 40s and was witty and wise. He was really sweet to me, just like my Dad. He often gave me teeny weeny discounts on the books since I was a regular customer. Whenever I was bored, I would visit the store and chat with Mr Seymour. He would tell me stories about his daughter and wife, who had unfortunately died in an accident. And that's why he treated me like his child.

"Good Morning, Maureen. What were you doing here this early?" he questioned. "Oh, I didn't want to attend the school today, that's why," I answered. "Hey, liar!!! But you told me that you lost your rat." Trevor yelled. "A rat!!! In my book store!!!!" Mr Seymour shrieked. "No, it is probably not here." I tried to calm Mr Seymour down. "And who are you, lad? Maureen's friend?" he inquired as he noticed Trevor and took a glance at Arabella. "Yeah, Trevor's my friend and she is Arabella, Trevor's sister," I introduced them to Mr Seymour. " Oh nice to meet you, young people. Well, Maureen, won't you buy any book?" He turned his gaze towards me. " Oh well, yes I would like to buy The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern," I responded. " Okay, let me get it for you," he said and went towards the last rack.

When he passed those two doors, he paused for a bit, took a few steps back and looked at both the doors. I knew something was strange about it. I could see a clear hint of astonishment on his face even though he was almost 50 meters away. He stared at the two doors and looked back at us, or maybe at Arabella. I don't know, it wasn't visible properly. But then he gave a sweet grin and went to the rack to fetch the book.

"Here's your book, Maureen." he handed it to me. "How much does this cost?" I asked searching for my little wallet in my bag. "Oh, it is £6.99, but you can pay £4," he stated. "That's a lot of discounts," I chuckled as I handed him £5. "Ahh, my child. Thank you so much." he beamed and we bid him bye.

All the way to Trevor's home, Arabella asked me about my family, friends, schedule and hobbies, while Trevor was completely silent. Maybe it is weird but I found them quite interesting, especially Arabella.

A/N

To be continued...

So what do you all think? What's with those doors? Anything fishy? Is something wrong? Did Maureen really miss the other door? What will happen next? Do you think you can find the answers to these questions? Then what are you waiting for? I had already said in the previous chapter that these build-up chapters have many clues in them. You all have to find them. Start searching for the clues. I will be really happy to see all your ideas in the comment section.

Keep reading to learn more. And if you liked this chapter, then hit the star and don't forget to share your views in the comment section. LOVE LOVE. <3

Yours melodramatic shit
~Nick~