THE CHASE

The first thing that comes to my mind is that a poor human being is pressed by nature's call for her to be banging on the door this desperately.

However, my hyperactive mind takes hold once again and I panic.

What if it's student paparazzi and they come in and see me here alone in such proximity to Jadiel?

Oh no, this is not good.
They can assume the worst and before you know it, the gossip about me will quadruple.

It is not until I hear the voice on the other side of the door that those thoughts disappear.

"Hey, Naomi! Are you still in there?"

It's Cordelia. I sag in relief.

Opening the door, I smile at her.
"Girl, you startled me. I thought-"

"What have you been doing in here?" she questions. Her face is a mask of perplexity and another thing I can't decipher yet.

"Oh!" she says, looking behind me. She sees Jadiel who is now twirling the fringe of her skirt.

Jadiel gives her a small shrug and wistful smile.
I mentally facepalm. The girl is not helping matters at all.

Cordelia gives me a questioning look and I begin to explain: "Look, I know it looks fishy. We can talk about it at lunch. I invited her to our table..."

But then Cordelia's visage switches back to the original reason she came to fetch me.

"Naomi, let's go! Right now!"

I can almost taste the urgency in her voice. I grab her shoulders to slow her down.

"What's wrong?"
I brace myself for the worst news.

"Dart has gone loose and is causing total chaos in the class right now!"

My face pales and my stomach turns. "Oh no!"

Together, I and my best friend tumble down the hallway and eventually enter the class.

The situation in class is more than chaos.

All the students are huddled in a corner and the girls are screaming. I see some of my male colleagues plotting on using force to cage Dart.

Dart is different from the sweet and cuddly little poochie I snuck into class. He is growling and showing his tiny canines. The hair on the back of his spine is standing.

And he is facing the window. The same direction where I had seen that disturbing vision of the globs that made me leave the class in the first place.
Does he sense it too?

But why the sudden change now?

"Naomi! Where have you been?" Oscar whispers fiercely as he draws nearer to me. "I honestly don't know what came over him. He just suddenly lept, tore off his leash and started barking. I even tried to stop him but it's like he doesn't recognize anything or anyone."

I can't speak.

From the corner of my eyes, I think I catch Vera smirking evilly at me. She even twirls her hair.
Gosh, how can she still be so put together in the midst of all of this?

Something feels not right about this whole thing.
Why do I want to say she is the one behind all of this? Maybe she fed him some sort of drug that makes dogs go bonkers.
I should give her the benefit of the doubt.

I look at Dart again and suddenly sense inside me that I should pray.
I can't do that out loud without being the focus of the class, so I call on God in my mind.
I do so, trying to infuse a bit of humour-my way of reducing my panic.

"God, I've had enough drama for one day, don't you think? I believe Dart is a gift from you, well through Cordelia. I don't know why he's gone wonky, but you do. I ask that you calm him down. Don't let him hurt himself or anyone. Please..."

Ms Pels practically screeches in exasperation when she sights me!
"Don't just stand there! Do something!"

"Hey, hey, Dart, calm down," I say softly as I squat and move closer to him.

He peels his large eyes from the window and softens. His growls change to whimpers.

"Here, here, boy! It's okay," I say. He paddles happily to my open hand and I scoop him up.

Soon, he's wagging his tail so hard and licking my face at the same time. It's ticklish and I want to giggle.

"Thank you, Lord," I shoot a prayer of thanks upwards in my heart.

Miss Pels narrows her eyes at me and says in a cold voice, "Miss Naomi Adams!"

Uh-oh! She did the full name call. I'm so in mega trouble.

"First, you bring in a vermin. Next, you leave the class without proper permission. And to make matters worse, you were out, leisuring around, while your dog almost chewed us to bits. For these three violations, you will be sent to detention in the library!"

The entire class gasps collectively.
The reason is simple. They say the library is haunted, always deserted. The librarian, Mr Demesi, has often been compared to Darth Vader.

No one goes there willfully-well, except me and occasionally, my friends. It's my hide-out spot, especially for times when I want to be alone with God.

Sometimes, I wonder how my school is super sophisticated with high-tech stuff and we still love to mess around with superstitions.

"But it wasn't my fault..." I begin to protest.

"Oh, really? Would you rather like for me to send you to the principal so your parents can be summoned and you can be officially suspended?" Ms Pels says, arms crossed on her chest.

I can almost see fumes coming out of her nostrils and ears. Maybe she personally detests dogs.
So much for being a biology teacher. Isn't she supposed to love dogs or something?
I clamp my mouth shut and shake my head.

With a big sigh, I shuffle out.
That is when I notice Jadiel at the corner of the door, looking at me sympathetically.
I pass her in time to hear her whisper, "Sorry about this."

Maybe she blames herself. I mean, if I haven't stayed with her in the restroom, all this could have been avoided.
I want to be angry at her, at anyone, for this whole mess, but I find that I can't. I'm just relieved.

I nod grimly and drag myself out to the library, Dart in my arms.

~~~

Author's note: Hello dear! I am so happy to be back.

I'm so sorry for not updating this story daily as I promised. I'm sure some of you might have been wondering what happened.

Your girl was out for a bit. My phone had a software issue and I was eventually forced to factory reset the phone.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Things are getting heated. What do you think happened with Dart?

Just stay tuned for more juicy chapters as God will help me.

Don't forget to vote, comment and share.

Cheers to you.