《Can I be?》 Can I be Strange? When he stood up to introduce himself there was a collective "awe" from the female students in the auditorium, it seemed like all of them let out a deep sigh of longing at the same time, he smiled and knees went weak all over, even the professors were not immune to that smile..... the Dean''s knees went weak too and he had to support himself with the help of the podium...only his reason to have weak knees were that he realized he had found "The One." Every batch had one student who was "The One", who would cause the most headache to the Dean, catfights, suicide notes, and bar fights, ....."The One" will be the root of all that problems and the Dean had just spotted this year''s "The One". The Dean was not wrong, where he stood Ric looked like he had just walked off a Paris catwalk into the welcome party for the 1st years at the University. He stood casually as though comfortable with all those eyes on him, one hand in the pocket of his dark jeans pushed back the long brown suede coat to show a simple white round neck t-shirt underneath that did little to hide the fact that he worked out regularly. But what cemented the Dean''s theory had nothing to do with the way he stood or what he wore, it had to do with the chiseled jaw and dark green eyes that fought for attention with his dimple smile that somehow made him look like a sweet kid and french model all at the same time. "Hi!" "I am Ric short for Richard I will be majoring in History, nice to meet you all," he said in a deep voice that was meant to whisper sweet nothings in your ears, "Yay!!!!! screamed the group of girls from the History class" he waved, gave them another of his killer smiles and sat down. The Dean shook his head as though trying to remove all the negative thoughts and went on to introduce the rest of the 1st years and some 2nd and 3rd year transfers. The introductions ran till noon and then all the students went to find their classes, Ric seemed to be surrounded by a mob of giggling girls from the moment the sessions ended and the entourage made its way towards room 103 "History 101", entering the class was tricky with girls nudging each other almost leading to a stampede to find a seat next to him..."Aren''t you going to do something about this?" glared Vicky he was Ric''s childhood friend and they had both chosen the same major since they couldn''t imagine being separated..." I mean I am used to this but, come on do you have to smile at them? you know that just drives them crazier" he said rolling his eyes. "Some of them are after you too you know," said Ric with a side glance and sly smile at his friend, pulling his leg. "I have given up that hope, I don''t think any girl will look at me till you are married I think" Vicky mused "might be even then I might not get as much as a glance" the cost I pay to be your friend I suppose" he mumbled for the nth time that day... before Ric could reply the professor entered the class...."Good morning everyone! hope you have a great year ahead!!" let''s start with roll call, hoping I will have this full class all year long". Ric was distracted by messages from his new fan following requests to be friends to chat, to vibe, to ping all kinds of requests were making his phone continuously buzz so he didn''t realize when Vicky said "That''s odd!" ..."what''s odd? I need to leave the phone in the locker next time it''s driving me crazy he pondered without listening to Vicky''s reply to his question. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Classes went on and the next and the next till it was time to leave for the day, "Ah! 1st day of PG is over, just 3 more years to go!" Vicky sighed "do we have to get masters can''t I join you and your brother at the company?" asked Vicky knowing well what the answer will be, at that moment someone tapped on his shoulder and said " can you help pick up that pen it rolled under your desk" it was like he was frozen and couldn''t move, Ric turned around and noticed him staring dumbly at the girl standing next to their table bent down to pick up the pen and handed it over while nudging Vicky in the ribs which got him out of his stupor, "what''s the matter bro?" he asked returning to packing his bag, " That was the sweetest voice I have ever heard the man," said Vicky sighing and staring at the girl with long hair done up in a bun walk towards the last row where someone was sitting, Vicky could not see who she was talking to but hoped it was not her boyfriend. "Move it !!" said Ric "don''t fall in love on the 1st day man, seriously, when will you ever learn from your mistake," said Ric dragging Vicky out of the class, Vicky still tried to look at who the girl was talking to and at the door he pulled himself free from Ric''s grasp, "I need to confirm," he said bounding up the side stairs in a such a flash that Ric had no option to run behind him worried he might start a fight... as Vicky reached the top stairs near where the girl stood he was running so fast his moment made it hard for him to stop and he reached out and grabbed the girl who was pulled back off balance lucky someone held her other hand and pulled both of them back straight from the brink of a fall, right at that moment Ric reached the top stairs behind Vicky and supported him ...all this happening in a slow motion like in one of those matrix movies... "Watch out said Ric and the Girl both at the same time. Once everyone gained their footing is when Ric looked up to see her, she stood there on the other side of the bench dressed in a simple black and white suit with her thick wavy hair open and down to her shoulder, her eye wide from the surprise attack and her small mouth formed into a thin line from the effort of keeping her friend from falling. She was just like any other 1st year girl in the class but something about her eye seemed to be looking at his soul instead of his face. "Sorry, He didn''t mean to scare you," said Ric smiling, his charm always worked to solve such situations, "Sorry? He should say that after leaving my hand," said Marice in her sweet voice, Vicky was standing there like he was frozen again..."Once in two days, come on man," said Ric nudging him in the ribs ..."Ahh..hmmm...sorry...I am Vicky! Hi!" "it''s ok, can you let go of my hand?" asked Marice again pointing to where Vicky was still holding her arm, "Ops,.....sorryyyy," said Vicky letting go. Ric still looked at Marice''s friend with mild curiosity she didn''t smile nor talk which was strange all girls tend to giggle and start chattering as soon as he flashed one of his smiles, but she just stared at him with that soulful large eyes and mild curiosity as though searching for something within him and not finding it there. "I am Ric and you are? " asked Ric reaching out his hand towards this strange girl Marice took his hand instead and said " I am Marice and this is Ria", Ria picked up her bag as though she didn''t mind her friend answering for her and both the girls made their way down leaving Ric and Vicky looking after them. " So Strange..." said Ric. Can I be Curious? The group of 1st years was sitting in the cafeteria discussing, "I cannot believe it has been 3 months already, but I am glad the tests are out of the way and we can enjoy our culturals tomorrow"said one 1st year student. " How many of you are going to perform for "IDOL" from BTS?" the senior with a clipboard asked and 3 groups raised their hand. "come on!!" they said to each other trying to convince the other groups to change their song, "BTS does have other good songs to dance for like " Butter" and "Dynamite" they said to each other. While this discussion was getting heated, Ric and Vicky were working on arranging the stage, It was easy for Ric to get an entourage wherever he went, be it girls or guys he had a way of getting folks to work for him and the seniors were using this to get the stage setup quickly so that rehearsals could begin. " Man I wish we could be practicing instead of setting up the stage," said Vicky who loved to dance and sign and was doing both at the culturals tomorrow, " I am happy behind the stage," said Ric who already had enough attention without having to get on stage. " Is Anny really going to come?" asked Vicky who loved Ric''s 5yr old niece more than Ric did or so he believed. " Yes she has been waiting to come to college since the day I joined so I thought this will be a good time for her to come, she is back for 3 weeks due to spring break in her kindergarten". " I have to go buy her some chocolates then," said vicky making a note on his phone " She was angry with me last time when i forgot to get her any" Vicky said shaking his head, his competitive side would not let him lose to Ric when it came to getting favor from Anny." Come on man!" said Ric punching his arm and smiling at Vicky thinking ''I am lucky to have him as my friend''. Meanwhile Marice and Ria were painting the posters in the auditorium, " Do you want to perform a dance with me?" asked Marice looking earnestly at Ria who just shook her head no. " Come on, you love to dance right? then why not?" she asked pressing Ria, Ria just looked up at her, and Marice knew that look there was no more room for discussion anymore, Ria was always that way once she made up her mind nothing or no one can make her change it. Marice gave her best puppy-eyed look but Ria just went back to painting the posters. The Next Day was hectic students running from room to room, groups in all sorts of costumes practicing, the stage team was finalizing the decoration, Ric had his mic on and was directing the team that was hanging up the banner " Little more to the right, hold that side up no a little down ya there you go now tie it tightly we don''t want it falling down" he was saying when he felt a pull on his pants and turned around to see a sweet smiling face looking up at him, " Anny you are here where is mom?" Ric said looking around, Anny pointed to behind the right side of the stage and signed mom with a hand open and thumb tapping on her chin for the sign of mom... Anny was born unable to speak due to an issue with her tongue. " You shouldn''t run around her baby," said Ric kneeling to talk to her, she gave him a bear hug ignoring his scolding. " Annyyyyyy!!!" screamed Vicky who came running over covered in sweat from head to toe from his dance practice, he kneeled down to hug Anny when she moved back pinching her nose with her hand to sign for "Stinky" Ric laughed and Vicky looked sad, " I am sorry I am stinky Anny baby I will go take a shower change into my costume and then can you hug me?" he asked Anny nodded her head yes with a big smile she loved when both her uncles dotted on her, she wanted to be their center of attention. Ric Step sister and Anny''s mom walked over smiling and trying to look angry at the same time, she was as stunning as Ric only shorter, she picked Anny up and signed " I told you not to run right, I was worried and looking for you" she signed at Anny who signed "sorry" by rubbing her fist on her chest in a circle, meanwhile leaning over for Ric to take her in his arms. "Sorry baby I have work to do I will finish and then come pick you up ok?" said Ric, " Sis you can go sit in the reserved section the program will start in an hour, I will have someone bring some drinks over," said Ric guiding his sister over to the front of the stage and waving to Anny who didn''t look happy to be taken away from her uncle. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. An hour went by quickly all the dignitaries arrived and the program started, speeches were going on when Ric''s sister came over looking worried, "have you seen Anny?" she asked panicked she was playing with another kid near where I was seated, and then when I turned to get food out of the bag and turned back she was gone, only the other kid was playing by himself" she said in a high pitch tone getting more worried by the minute, " Stop panicking!! I will go look for her" said Ric taking off the headphones and handing them over to Barry the second in charge " Please take over I have a personal thing to look into" he said to Barry hurriedly and pulled out his phone to call Vicky, " Have you seen Anny? " " Right, no you don''t have to come, concentrate on your performance, no it''s okay I will find her, yes she will be ok, I am sure," he said into the phone looking around worried, it was very crowded and everyone was looking at the stage so may not see a 5yr old running around, "Right he said and ran up to the stage, the Dean was making his speech, sorry sir I have an important announcement, he said pulling the mic out of the Deans hand who was shocked and worried himself, "The one" strikes again though the Dean. "Hi! everyone, sorry but there is a 5yr old missing, she is wearing a pink dress and a pink bow in her hair, her name is Anny, she loves to smile", his voice catches a little as he mentioned "and she cannot talk", The whole university starts looking for Anny, forgetting the programs and dances people start looking under the stage in the classrooms, Vicky forgot all about his group and came over to look for Anny, At this point, Ric''s sister was right out crying and some girls were giving her water and trying to cool her down, as the minutes passed the panic increased even the Dean was worried he didn''t want a small dumb kid hurt on his campus. Ric was running around from building to building looking behind bushes and trees as Anny loved to play hide and seek, "Anny!!!" "Anny!!!" baby where are you" screamed Ric, When he heard Maric announce on the stage mic far off, "Anny is safe we found her, and she is with her mom, everyone can get back to the program schedule" Ric almost collapsed from the relief he felt, Vicky had to support him as they made their way back to the stage, there was a large group in front of the stage and everyone was cheering, Ric pushed his way through to the center where he saw Anny dancing and laughing, His Sis and Ria were sitting next to her clapping, Ria looked up at Ric and smiled at the moment Anny finished her dance and hugged Ria, then they both started conversing in sign language it was too fast for Ric to understand what Ria said but Anny clapped happily and Ric''s sister hugged Ria to thank her. The Dean came over and patted ria on her head and then asked the crowd to disperse, Vicky now had taken Anny into his arms who was straining to come over to Ric, who took her and thanked Ria, Ria smiled and Marice took her hand and then Vicky stopped them from going away."Hey!! how can we thank you, but where did you find her?" Sorry Ria is running out of time for her painting competition she has to leave I can stay and talk she said pushing Ria towards the venue, Ria left without turning back, and Ric just watched her walk away, something troubled him but before he could dwell on it Anny was signing again that she was hungry and he turned his focus on her. Meanwhile, Marice had explained how she and Ria were at the painting competition venue when they heard the announcement about the missing kid and Ria immediately ran out looking for the kid and went to the cafeteria where they found Anny who was looking for some popcorn, drawn there by the smell of freshly popped popcorn. Ric took his sister and Anny back to their hotel room with Anny sleeping in his arms by the time they reached there, "sorry for the trouble Bro!!" said Ric''s sister, "Oh! no Sis, she is a baby and she was hungry, we cannot blame her, I am just glad she is fine that''s all matters." He kissed Anny on her forehead after laying her in her bed, hugged his sis, and left to go clean up after the program had ended, by the time he reached his room he was tired but a thought kept troubling him, he had to talk to her tomorrow and find out, he had not got a chance to thank her .. he can use that excuse because he had questions...he was curious. Can I be so Dumb? The next day Ric got up and still had this feeling that he had to talk to Ria, Ria was a puzzle to him, he hardly remembered talking to her once in the past 3 months that they were in the same class which is a 1st for Ric was a girl has not spoken to him, especially a girl who is in the same class, for that matter Marice didn''t come over very often either, Vicky was very interested in her but she had snubbed him a couple of times so Vicky had backed off and then both the girls had kind of gone out of his orbit. As he reached class Vicky joined him, "Hey! how is Anny doing and your sis?" asked Vicky running to catch up."They are doing good" said Ric distracted in his attempt to spot Ria or Marice who seemed to be joint at the hip." How long are they going to be in town? can we have dinner tonight? I didn''t get a chance to play with Anny yesterday," said Vicky waving to his new crush ( he had a new crush every two days) and winking at another girl at the same time, when Ric did not reply Vicky turned around to see why but saw Ric was on his way out of the class, he ran to follow Ric but his path was blocked by the professor entering the class and he had to go back to his seat wondering what has got into Ric today. Ric was looking around as he walked away from class, he looked down at the ground and up the stairs to the cafeteria but couldn''t spot the girls in the sea of students coming and going to different classes. "Where could they be, why are they not in class?" asked Ric to no one in particular, he was more surprised by his actions today than anything else he was not a curious guy by any length he never went looking for answers and never bunked classes since he liked to maintain his good reputation with the professors, but today nothing mattered other than talking to Ria and that meant finding both of them, he had no idea what he wanted to talk but he will figure that out once he found her and thanked her for yesterday he convinced himself still looking around. While Ric was looking for them the girls were headed to the Dean''s office on the other side of the campus, they had received a message from the Dean to come to his office 1st thing in the morning and were following through, as they entered the Dean stood up and walked over with a big smile, "girls, girls, girls, come in, you are the saviors of this school, let me know what I can do to reward you for your service towards the school?" he asked ushering them to the sofa at the other end of the room, " Coffee? Tea?", he asked waving to the goodies ladened table, "all this is for you to enjoy, as they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day" said the Dean still smiling impossibly widely, the girls thanked him and dug in, Marice was talking a mile a minute and Ria just smiled and ate. Once the formalities were done, Dean again offered to do them a favor if ever needed and the girls thanked him for it and bowed out to breathe a sigh of relief once they were out in the corridor. "that man is nuts said Marice looking around to make sure no one heard" and they headed to class glad that they remembered to get a note of excuse from the Dean. Ric was leaning against a pillar browsing his phone not sure if he should head back to class or head back to the dorm when he saw the girls walking down the corridor towards him, they both were typing away at their phones and didn''t realize that Ric was standing in front of them until it was almost too late, glancing up in the nick of time Ria pulled Marice back before she could collide into Ric. " What the..." cursed Marice and tried to walk around Ric who held a hand out to block their path, sorry I didn''t mean to startle you but I was looking to talk to you said Ric all the while looking at Ria, "why?" asked Marice, " I wanted to thank you for yesterday," he said still looking at Ria, who had stopped looking at him and was typing furiously on her phone, "She has to be in class, we have to be in class" sorry said Marice dragging Ria away by bending under Ric''s still outstretched arm. " Hey! wait up" said Ric, holding on to Ria''s other hand which was closest to him, and jerking the girls to a stop. Ria turned furious and stared at Ric and down at his hand that was still holding on to her arm a little too tightly, " Oops!!, sorry I didn''t mean to" said Ric taking his hands away and raising them as though surrendering. Ria rubbed her arm and Marice walked up to Ric''s face and went on her pointy toes to glare him full in the face, what do you mean by doing that."Hey, hey hold on I just wanted to thank her for yesterday and chat that is all, ok?" Said Ric backing away, Marice might be short at 5.1 but she was scared when she wanted to be and fearlessly protective of her friend. "Sorry we seemed to have got off on the wrong foot here", said Ric backing up a little more, I didn''t mean any of it said Ric a little more alarmed as the girls went back to furiously typing on the phone, " Marice was about to go after him again when Ria smiled at Ric as if to reassure him and pulled Marice away and towards class, Leaving Ric to stare is surprised at what had happened as Ria continued to Pull Marice away who was audibly cursing him. Ric just stood in the middle of the hall still confused at what had happened and not sure what he had done wrong, " I mean I shouldn''t have pulled her arm but that was more a reaction to them walking away than meaning to hurt her right?" he asked himself loudly." Whose arm did you pull?" asked Vicky coming up to Ric with a big smile, Ric had not realized that the class bell had rung and that he was surrounded by students half of whom were congregating in the hall away just to stand close to him. "We have to move this to the open grounds for safety reasons", said Vicky guiding a confused and dazed Ric out of the hallway and towards the ground. "so whose hand did you pull? and why are you pulling hands instead of attending the class? this is so unlike you," asked Vicky looking at Ric with his hands on his hip, he was a little furious at Ric for not involving him in the hand pulling which was Vicky''s area of expertise anyway."Ria''s" said Ric shaking his head as though he did believe that he did that, he was a strong believer of personal space and respect for women, he didn''t like crossing the line even if a girl threw herself on him and today..." Crap!!" he said punching his right hand with his left, "How could I have done that? what was I thinking, she must hate me now." Vicky went from furious to worrying at Ric about what was happening to his friend the cool and calm friend who doesn''t react even if the whole world was on fire and was throwing a tantrum in the middle of the basketball court. "It''s ok you can just apologize I guess," he said trying to cool Ric down. "Yes, I need to apologize immediately," said Ric starting to look around again. " This time can you come with me? so I don''t do anything stupid?" He couldn''t believe he was asking Vicky to come along to keep him from doing anything usually it was the other way around where Ric had to go and help Vicky out of sticky situations. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. After looking around they find the girls sitting on a bench near the end of the marathon park, they both were typing away on their phones and MArice from time to time looked up at her friend and said "come on!" for which Ria looked up and smiled and shrugged her shoulder. "Hey girls!" said Vicky after realizing Ric was just going to stand there and stare, "What are you up to?" he asked to which Marice, got up angry still remembering what had done a short while ago but before she could curse Ria covered her mouth, Marice turned around to her friend and " Come on! he pulled your arm, you cannot forgive him," she said angrily."Ric had not spoken yet he was just standing there staring at Ria who was shaking her head no making her short hair jump around a small heart shape face, she was just a centimeter taller than Marice at 5''2" so she looked up at Vicky who had moved closer and Marice turned around when Vicky said" It was an accident, he didn''t mean to do that, did you Ric?" he asked allowing Ric to apologize, Ric broke his trance like stare and bowed down while saying " Sorry, I know I was wrong, I just meant to stop you to talk to you not to hurt you by pulling your arm." Ria shrugged her shoulder like it was no big deal but Marice was not done, but Ria covered her mouth again and was pulling her away to keep her friend from using any of her choice curse words, only fault Marice had was a fierce protectiveness of Ria. "I still want to talk to you," said Ric, which made Ria stop she pulled her phone out and handed the unlocked phone to Ric, "You want my number?" Ric was surprised but not entirely girls were always looking to get his number, he hated phones for this reason. " I would prefer to talk face to face," he said, to which she again pointed her phone at him, he took it and entered his number, "Ok message me sometime when we can talk face to face", he said, and handed her phone back, meanwhile Marice was standing by chewing on her nails and looking at Ria with concern, " He will not eat her", said Vicky trying to calm her down, when he realized that she was worried for Ria. Marice didn''t reply and pulled Ria away with her. After they went a little while away they each took out their phones and started typing furiously, "kids nowadays, they cannot talk to each other face to face", said Vicky shaking his head as though he was an old man, trying to cheer up Ric, "But what has gotten into you man, your acting like a lovesick puppy, only a wagging tail was missing," "I am not sure something seems off" said Ric looking at his phone realizing he doesn''t have her number, so he has to wait for her to reach back out. " I am going back to the dorm, I am not in the mood for classes"'' said Ric as he turned away, " What? bunking not one class but a whole day? you must be seriously sick," said Vicky looking worried. Ric went back to his dorm and changed into his hoodie and jumped into his bed, every vibration of his phone he had checked and each time was disappointed that it was not her....he was never on this side of having to wait for a girl to call him, he was always the one doing the calling or waking the girl wait...now he felt sorry for those girls who he didn''t call back...shaking his head he connected his phone to the charger and decided to play a game on his phone, after an hour when he was bored of the game he closed it to realize he had accidentally set the phone in gaming mode which turned off all alerts and frantically open to see if he had any missed calls, he had several but some from other girls he knew and some spam, but then he saw a "Hi" from an unknown number in his messages list, Ric: Hi, Ric here can I know who this is? Ria: Hi, sorry for everything, my friend is a little overprotective :-) Ric: I can understand, it was my bad for being impulsive, sorry, can we meet and talk? Ria: we are talking right? I am busy we can talk on the phone. Ric: I hate phones I would prefer to see a person''s face when I talk to them, plz just 30mins? I can come over Ria: even if you come over we will be chatting on the phone only so why trouble yourself? Ric: why can we not talk, I would love to treat you for helping with Anny, and also was looking to ask for a favor. Ria: oh no treat needed, I was glad to help she was cute, is she your kid? Ric: WHAT...NO she is my niece Ria: Sorry :-P she looked like you so asked sorry, she is cute anyway was happily talking to her, btw what was a favor you wanted? happy to help. Ric: I can I ask when we meet? I wanted to explain and talk about it more. Ria: we are talking only now? Ric: I wanted to talk to you not chat (Ric was getting angry as she kept snubbing her) If you don''t like to meet me or talk to me we can forget it and stop here. Ria: confused " But it''s not like I don''t want to talk to you right? I can''t Ric: why cannot you talk, do you hate me or something? Ria: Hate? no why will I hate you, I just cannot talk Ric: come on now you are just playing hard to get, it? Ria: no I CANNOT TALK Ric: ok ok cool down...I will ask you out some other day when you are not so angry, then we can talk more. Ria: I am D.U.M.B I cannot talk, I lost my voice, I have aphonia or loss of voice.... can I be any clearer????? Ric was shocked to read this message, dumb, he didn''t realize he never heard her talk, how did he not realize? how can he be so stupid, she didn''t want to talk to him because she couldn''t and he kept bugging her to talk to him...he put his head in his arms and wondered how much worse can he behave towards her today, he was sure she will never even look at him after this. Ric: I am sorry Can I be into her? Ric: I am so sorry, I didn''t know, I didn''t mean to be so stupid....please don''t be angry :( Ric: Are you there? I really am sorry, I am not one of those who would ... He didn''t know what else to say but kept checking his phone every time it buzzed but she didn''t read or reply to any of his messages, every passing minute was like agony and he got up from the bed and put on his jacket ready to head over to the school, he had to find out where she stayed he had to go talk to her face to face, he will fall on his knees if that is what it takes for her to reply back to him, for now, he was feeling like he couldn''t breathe....as he reached the door of his dorm, Vicky burst in almost hitting him in the face, "where are you off to?" he asked surprised to see Ric heading out at 1:30 am, he usually likes to stay in bed only occasionally heading to a bar or club."I will come along he said throwing the books he had in his hand onto Ric''s bed, "I came to give this back to you I didn''t have enough space for a new gaming PC," he said proud to have been able to earn enough with his part-time job at the club as an MC to be able to buy the coveted Gaming PC, he always wanted to be a pro-gamer but joined college because Ric did. "Hey!" he said when Ric didn''t reply "where are we headed to?" he screamed after Ric. "I don''t know, but I have to find her," said Ric huffing as though he had run a marathon, "What is the matter man?" asked Vicky looking a little concerned at Ric''s state "what happened? ","I need to find her," said Ric feeling more and more breathless by the minute, was he having a panic attack, he had not had it for 10yrs now, and he used to have them more frequently when he was younger ever since his parents had died in the car crash and he heard the news from his nanny, but since it had been so long he didn''t have his inhaler or a paper bag with him that he used to carry around all the time. "Ric! what is wrong?" asked Vicky trying to support an unstable Ric who was struggling for his breath at this " No not that again?", he asked remembering the panic attacks too, "I will find something, I will...don''t worry, just sit here, just one sec" screamed Vicky as he helped Ric sit down and ran around to find a paper bag, he remembered how bad it could get without the inhaler." Inhaler, where is your inhaler, it should be in your room right?" he asked looking around to see Ric nodding "No" he found a brown paper bag on another bike parked nearby, looked like food delivery, He threw out the food that was in it and ran over to Ric with the empty bag, "Here you go he said, breathe, just breathe slowly it will be ok" he stroked Ric''s back while Ric held the paper bag around his nose and mouth and breathed in slowly trying to control his panic attack. At that moment his phone will start buzzing. Ria: Hey sorry my phone died and I didn''t have a charger at work, I am back in my dorm... Ria: No worries, you''re not the 1st, I am used to this, let''s forget it and go by our day as though nothing has changed ok? bye Gn8 Ric pulled out his phone slowly while still breathing into his paper bag, Ria''s messages were like oxygen to him, he immediately felt better and stopped using the paper bag, Vicky watched his friend out of concern "What''s with you?, I have never seen you behave like this is a while? did something happen?" he asked still worried. "I am not sure what the matter is with me, but the thought that she might hate me felt like I was suffocating," said Ric, thinking about what he should reply to her, seeing Ric''s smiling face Vicky got angry "all this over a girl?" "I thought you were better than that!" he stated getting angrier, "I almost got a heart attack here and you are smiling at the phone?" he asked Kicking Ric who was still sitting on the ground near his bike. " I am sorry, really don''t know what came over me, but all that is over now, we are all good, what do you think I should reply?" " Is it too late? , I don''t want to disturb her sleep you know" he said still looking at his phone not realizing Vicky was walking back to the dorm angry. "Hey hold up!" scream Ric as he got up to catch up with Vicky to put his arms around his shoulder laughing " You are the best friend anyone can have, sorry, I made you worry, I will make sure that it won''t happen again ok?...please, please, pretty please with a pizza slice on top, please ?" he asked jumping up and down making Vicky jump with him. " So who is this girl? that has made you go cuckoo over some messages?" Vicky asked stopping outside Ric''s dorm room door " anyone I know?, not that girl in the bar that we met last week is it? she was hot" said Vicky trying to picture her..." I will tell you later, I am very tired" said Ric opening, entering and closing his Dorm room in one swift move that Vicky did not have time to stop him. " Hey, come on!" shouted Vicky in the hallway to which a lot of voice screamed from behind closed doors "GO TO BED... YOU UNHOLY @##%@#%$" The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Ric closed the door and leaned against it holding the phone close to his heart, he thought some more and then started typing... Ric: Gn8 :) The next day as Ria and Marice entered the classroom Ria''s phone buzzed... Ric: Goodmorning, you look good today :) welcome to class. Ria looked up to see Ric smiling broadly at her from the last bench, he was sitting in the seat next to where she usually sat, which mean the axis of the class had moved from 3rd bench to the last bench and every seat around the last bench was filled up with girls and a few guys too." What the heck?" exclaimed Marice, "why is that dweep sitting next to your seat? is he planning on taking over the last bench?" she asked getting angry again remembering what Ric did the previous day. At that moment Vicky entered the class and said "Hi! sweethearts, should I help you get to your sea..." he was cut short by the sight in front of him the whole class had shifted to align to the last bench leaving the front few rows empty and Ric was smiling at them and waving them over. "What has gotten into him since yesterday?" asked Vicky looking at Ria and the angry Marice which made him back away with his arms held up and he turned and ran up the stairs to the empty seat on the left of Ric. Ria stood staring at Ric and all the girls who were giving her sinister looks and pulled Marice to go sit in the front row." I hate the front row we cannot talk" said Marice, they usually needed to use the phone to chat since Marice was still not very good at sign language even though she takes classes every day. " Why do we have to move for that big shot?" she asked turning around to shoot Ric an angry look but was surprised to see him heading their way, "He is coming here," she said still surprised, "Hi! there", "can I sit here?" he asked sitting down in the seat next to Ria, Ria turned to shake her head no, " she says no," said Marice full of glee." Come on, I just want to be friends," he said looking at Ria, who got up and headed out of the classroom, stopped at the door to turn around and indicated that he should follow. Ric got up happily to follow her out, this caused a loud murmur of protest and some choice curses to ring out in the class. Marice and Vicky both were watching from their seats in surprise. Ric ran to catch up with Ria, who went out to the next hallway and stopped to turn around and took out her phone to start typing...He looked at her typing and pulled out his phone too... Ria: what are you doing? you cannot sit next to me, I will become a villain to all the class girls and we are not even friends why do you want to do something like this? Ric: I want to be friends, why can''t we be friends? :( Ria: Why would we be friends your world is completely different from my world, we need to stay in our own orbits, if we cross over we will cause a catastrophe. Ric: why are we from different worlds?, I believe we are all just human beings we can be friends, you are just using these words to get rid of me rt? Ria: Think whatever you want to but, us friends, never happening, you can go back to your seat and let me and my friend get back to our seat she sent this message and started walking back to class, it was time for it to start, Ric read the last message and ran up to her walking backward in front of her he asked: "Why do you not want to be friends, do you hate me?" Ria looked up and signed something with her fingers which made him stop in his tracks, not because of what she said but because he did not know what she said, meanwhile Ria went back into class picked up her stuff and indicated to Marice that they can sit on the back bench. Vicky kept looking at the door expecting Ric to come in any second, but when minutes went by and Ric had not come back, he went up to Marice and asked " Hey what happened?" Marice replied "Looks like your boy got rejected, must be hard for him since he may never have been rejected right?" she asked sarcastically. Angry protest rang out from the girls in the class but they couldn''t do anything as the professor walked in at that moment. "Sorry Sir I am not feeling well," said a surprised Vicky as he grabbed Ric''s bag and headed out without hearing what the professor had to say. He found Ric standing in the hallway looking at his phone, "what''s wrong?" he asked tapping Ric on his back, "she said something. I am not sure what it was" so I am googling it, "what like in some other language?" asked Vicky, Ric looked up contemplating if he should let Vicky know that Ria was mute or not. "Marice was saying you got dumped, is that true?" Vicky asked "you have been strange since you met that girl Ria" he continued without waiting for Ric to reply."Strange, strange how?" he asked still searching on his phone. "are you into that girl?" asked Vicky which made Ric lookup "Can I be into her?" he asked himself feeling like he liked the answer to be yes..... Can I be more than a friend? The whole day Ric spent on his phone and laptop looking up sign language and hand symbols trying to decipher what she had said, he had almost concluded that it was a curse word but couldn''t find the exact signs she had used, or a better way to put it was he couldn''t remember all of it, it was too fast for him to register well. He was disappointed in himself, and couldn''t face the fact that what she said in the morning might be true they might be too different to be friends. All the while Vicky was watching his friend and seeing his expression going from curiosity to frustration to disappointment to sadness, he had never seen Ric behave this way, and that to because of a girl, a lot of girls had approached Ric and thrown themselves all over him but Ric would treat them like an acquaintance, Ric liked the attention but didn''t believe in love or crush or anything like that existed, so to see him be this way made Vicky be quiet and think, two things that Vicky never did, (Vicky was a doer, he was spontaneous and deeply loyal...but never a thinker) Ric didn''t seem to notice that his behavior was causing this marked change in his friend. Meanwhile, Ria having had a bad start to the day was having worse luck, as she was walking down the main stairs to the football field a group of girls from class descended on her, right when Marice was called away to report to a professor, Ria tried to avoid the group, but they were determined to find out how she had managed to seduce Ric and if she had been successful. "Hey! shitface, where do you think you are going?" said a pretty girl who seemed to be the self-proclaimed leader of this misfit group, "We want to know what you spoke to Ric about?" continued the girl whose name Ria could not recall, the group was getting closer and closer encircling her, Ria was pissed but seeing that she was not replying the pretty girl came close to her face," I said we want to know what you told him? why is he talking to a nobody, shitface," she said almost spitting into Ria''s face, Ria moved back to be pushed forward again by the group. She wanted to scream "stop" but she, of course, couldn''t and the girls in the group started cursing her using more choice bad words than the pretty girl, frustration was making Ria tear up, and she tried forcing her way out of the group but there were too many of them. Just when she thought she was going to burst, a hand pulled her hand and she looked up to see, Vicky, might she have expected it to be Ric because she was taken aback when she saw it was Vicky who pushed his way through, screaming, "What the heck are you all doing?" when the girls saw that it was Vicky who they thought was in the library with Ric, they scattered leaving a tearful and frustrated Ria standing there and Vicky holding her arm, " Why did you not curse back?" he asked looking at her angrily, "why are you taking that shit silently?" "If you let them walk all over you they will not stop, it will only get worse" he said getting angrier with each word. Ria looked at him with her tear-filled eyes wanting to say "shut up" and " that she was not standing there to take their shit or his either" since the incident with her voice there were very few occasions when she hated the world and hated everything for the way she was, very few times she had asked " Why me?"....but this time it was too much, just too much and she let out a silent scream and freed her arm from his hand and ran down the rest of the stairs. But Vicky was not done, being a track athlete meant he was faster than anyone in the whole university so Ria didn''t stand a chance of running away from him, he caught up and stopped her again by grabbing her hand, He had come looking for answers that he was not getting from Ric and the scene had just raised more questions and he was determined to find answers today, the way Ric was behaving and the way the other girls were behaving meant he had to get this sorted sooner than later even if he had to be mean to a girl who was just bullied. "You cannot just run away, that will solve nothing," he said a little softer now, realizing that he was one of those bullies, She turned tears were streaming down her face, "Come, on it is not a tough question, what is there between you and Ric? if there is nothing then we just have to shout that out in the class and all your problems will disappear, right?" he said still softer, seeing that she didn''t take this easy way out and claim that nothing is going on Vicky continued " Ok, so let''s say, let''s just say, it was love at first sight or something like that, you just have to make it clear and if both of you declare it in class no one can challenge that right?" not replying Ria tried to free her arm, which was bruised, since yesterday people have been manhandling her arm to try to get her to stop to reply.... seeing her wince Vicky let go of her arm and Ria started walking away. Vicky was about to follow when he heard a loud scream from behind " what is wrong with everyone in this university? are they all on drugs, why do you keep grabbing her as though she is a rag doll" Vicky turned to see Marice running down the last few stairs and charging at him, if she was a gladiator this was the time she would be pulling out her sword to strike down the foe, lucky for Vicky she was not a gladiator and neither had a sword for she was mad enough and running fast enough to have cut him in half with a single stroke. As she reached Vicky, she punched him in the face, and was about to follow through with another when Ria who had run back to them stopped her and waved Vicky away with a sense of urgency that Vicky didn''t have to be told twice, he sprinted heading back to the library. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Once Vicky was well out of sight Ria let go of Marice and started typing on her phone, after Marice had understood what had happened, she kept switching from being angry at the girls in her class and being mad at herself for punching Vicky who had saved her friend when she was not around. Then she suddenly got up and turned around to Ria "I am going to apologize and thank him, come with me" Not waiting for Ria''s response she headed towards the cafeteria to grab some snacks and drinks to apologize with. Vicky having reached the library had just sat down, when Ric looked up and gasped "what the hell happened to your face?" he asked getting up from his seat to come over to Vicky, "did you get into a fight with someone, do you want me to beat them up? why didn''t you call me?" he asked in a rush, but before could catch his breath and answer Vicky''s phone started ringing, picking it up Vicky was surprised to see Marice calling (off-course he had saved the phone number of all the girls in his class for exactly this kind of situation) he wanted to hang up but picked the call instead, "Can you come down, its melting" said Marice hanging up the call, Vicky sat staring at the phone and then looked outside the library window, Marice and Ria were standing outside with stuff in their hand, he got up still not answering Ric''s question went down to meet them. Ric had not seen outside the window so was not sure what had happened to his friend, but since things like this were commonplace with Vicky he didn''t give it a second thought. Meanwhile Vicky and Marice where in a standoff, neither moving forward, teh ice pack in Marice hand was melting and dripping down her hand but she couldn''t bring herself to say sorry, Ria nudged her in the ribs, " Sorry i miss-understood and punched you in the face, thank you for helping my friend, her you are, thank you, bye", said Marice in one go while shoving the snacks, drinks and ice pack into his hands and walking away."Hey, wait up" said Vicky struggling to keep everything from falling, he set all the stuff on a bench and followed them with just hte ice pack held against his face, "One minute i need to ask you something he said again", Marice stopped and turned around " I already apologized, do you want me to take you to hospital too?" she asked getting fursious again Vicky backed away" Oow!Oow! hold on, i accept you apology it was not about that i just wanted to talk to you about your friend" he said Ria had meanwhile walked on ahead letting Vicky and Marice sort it out, not that she could have added anything to the conversation if she had stayed."What about her?" asked Marice "Is she ok?" Vicky asked looking at Ria who was sitting on a faraway bench, " those girls were being mean" he said with a worried look on his face, seeing his concern for her friend Marice''s attitude towards Vicky changed "she is tougher than she looks" said Marice also looking at Ria who was now browsing her phone." That is good, college is not a fun place to be if you cannot stand up for yourself, she should not have taken all that silently, she should have spoken back, given them a piece of her mind" he said still not looking at Marice, who was looking at him with moist eyes, "yes she should have, she is so witty, if she had, they wouldn''t have had any come back" she said with a catch in her voice that made him turn and look at her. In front of him stood a girl who looked so hurt that he couldn''t believe that it was the same girl who just moments ago looked like a gladiator general set out to behead him, seeing her like this he almost wanted to take her into his arms and protect her from the world, "What''s wrong?, I am sorry I didn''t mean to hurt you or your friend" he said concerned reaching out to pat her back, "No sorry, it is not your fault it is all my fault" she said brushing away a tear that had escaped from her eyes " Come on nothing happened why are you so sad?" he asked "No no nothing, I will talk to you later, I am sorry this happened" she said pointing to his red and blue eye, "I will take you out for coffee sometime to apologize properly I have to go" she said and left in a hurry, he looked after her in worry, he had to solve this thing quickly too many people were getting hurt. "Coffee, she said coffee right?" he asked himself loudly "what does that mean ? date? can we be friends? or Can I be more than friends?..." he asked himself laughing happily at the thought which made him wince due to his black eye. Can I be hers? When Vicky came back to the library he was happily humming away, seeing him this way Ric did not even ask what happened, it looked like whatever had happened his friend was happy about it so he was going to leave it at that, he was too distracted with his own puzzle to even be curious. Vicky sat back down and stared at him, "you seem so busy solving what she said that you don''t even know what is happening to her because of you right?" he said cocking one of his eyebrows, Vicky looked up, "what do you mean happen to her because of me?" he asked, "All the girls in the class ganged up on her and bullied her screaming curse words at her since she wouldn''t say how she had seduced you, her friend was not with her the fiery one, and your girl just took it all silently...." Vicky didn''t get to finish his sentence Ric who had started packing when Vicky had started talking grabbed his bag and ran out of the library, he still didn''t know where she stays but he had to meet her he had to make sure she was ok, he banged his fisted hand against the lift wall, "stupid me I shouldn''t have done that in class" he said screaming aloud in frustration, "aaagh, why the heck am I so popular". He knew this will only increase the gap between him and Ria, she will never forgive him for sure, the thought of this was making his panic attack come back, and he started taking deep breaths and gulping in air as though drowning. Having taken the stairs Vicky found Ric bent over double and gasping when the lift door opened on the ground floor, Vicky quickly helped his friend out and to a chair in the lounge, "get a grip man what is happening to you? she is fine I saved her from the mob before they could do too much harm, even her friend miss understood the reason I was holding her arm and punched me see" he said pointing to his black eye, trying to distract Ric, who after a great effort was able to calm himself down enough to avoid a full-blown attack. " Tell me everything that happened," he asked, Vicky did not leave out any details including the tears, to the apology snacks that he still had in his hand. Ric just sat there unable to move, he didn''t know what he will tell her to make her forgive him and the thought made his chest feel too tight to even move. "Why don''t you leave the poor girl alone, she is too timid to be your girlfriend, I couldn''t stay silent I don''t know why she didn''t give them a piece of her mind, so scared of a bunch of girls then she deserves to be bullied," said Vicky getting angry at how this timid girl was disturbing his immovable friend like this, "why don''t you forget her..." interrupting Vicky''s rant Ric whispered "She is mute...she couldn''t talk back even if she wanted to" Vicky. was shocked into silence, and now everything started to fall into place, Ric always had a soft spot for anyone who was mute since his mom and his niece both were born mute due to genetic issues that skipped a generation. "Oh!" was all Vicky could say."What will I do?" asked Ric looking lost and sad. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. His phone buzzed, but Ric ignored it, he just was not in the mood to do anything, he felt like he was dumped even before they got together, the few pegs he had with Vicky just made things look sad, so he was drumming a sad tune on the table and his phone buzzed again, I hate this phone he said and was about to throw it when he saw the notification that flashed on the screen and was sober immediately, "it''s from Ria" he said not believing his own words, his finger trembled as he opened the notification... Ria: I heard you were looking for me. it''s ok I am good, can I ask you for a favor? can ignore the whole thing and behave like today didn''t happen? I am planning to do that I hope you can do this favor for me. Ria: I hear you are at a bar, Vicky told Marice, please don''t drink too much it is bad for your health, have a good night. Ric jumped up and down happy after reading the message for the 3rd time, Vicky clapped watching his happy dance, "she like me, she likes me" he sang and danced and they both went back to their dorm and after thinking for half an hour he replied... Ric: I am sorry for what you had to go through, I can definitely act as though nothing happened this time, but if they do that again I will do whatever I need to, to protect you. Thanks for worrying about my health, I am so happy there is someone to care about my health that I am happy to stop drinking totally, have a good night. He clicked on the send button knowing that she might be asleep by now and he shouldn''t expect a reply, but every time his phone buzzed he hurriedly looked at the notification and was disappointed that it was not from her. He spent the night re-reading her messages and smiling to himself. He was still humming when he got ready in the morning and when he got to class he sat in his usual place and ignored everyone happy in his own world. His phone buzzed. Ria: Thanks He banged happily on the table seeing the reply not realizing that class was going on, " Sorry sir a mosquito" he said sheepishly while Vicky rolled his eyes at how kiddish his friend was being. "Can you act your age at least outside?" he asked Ric trying to maintain a serious face and Vicky kicked him under the table, "let me enjoy my moment" he said which made Vicky laugh and get a stare from the professor again. He wanted to turn back and look at her, but he promised her that he will keep his promise even if it kills him. Once the class was over everyone headed to their different electives, Ric and Vicky walked behind Ria and Marice at a small distance to not make it obvious but close enough to see them, she looked cute in a yellow pinup dress, and her hair left loose, as they turned into the next corridor Ria turned and smiled at them both and Ric almost stopped dead in his track. "Can I be hers?" he thought to himself dased by how cute she looked when she smiled. Can I be truthful? That whole day went by in a daze for Ric, all he could think about was her smile and then her cute lips and that of course led him to think about kissing them and that made him shy and excited all at the same time..."aargh!!" said Vicky "I am controlling my urge to punch you in your face to make you stop grinning like a idiot" Ric was too lost in his happy thoughts to hear Vicky. Slaap!! Vicky hit him in the face with the wet towel,"WTF man!! why did you do that?" screamed Ric coming out of his happy comma and looking around, "How did I get to the gym?" "what time is it?" "Aargh!!!!!" said Vicky again getting ready to hit Ric again with the wet towel, " if you don''t snap out of it now I am going to keep beating you till some sense comes back...the whole day today I have had to drag you everywhere from class to class and even in the swimming pool you just stood in the water grinning and I had to come up with stories to make the coach leave you alone, but now I draw the line at changing you out of the wetsuit, you have been sitting like that for half an hour now." Ric shakes his head as if trying to clear it of all the thoughts he was having, "you cannot be that smitten just because she smiled at you, dude, you don''t even know if she likes you and are already naming your children in your head, I don''t know if I should pity you or take you to a head doctor" mumbled Vicky not wanting to hurt his friend who has never been this happy before except when playing with Annie. "I know I am being stupid" said Ric changing out of his wetsuit and heading towards the showers "but you know what I feel warm inside, I have never felt so warm before" he turns and smiles and Vicky and walked into the shower leaving a worried Vicky standing in the middle of the locker room.Ric was always acting touch and nonchalant on the outside but was a very sensitive person and only Vicky knew that side of him which worried Vicky more seeing his friend like this. After Swimming the boys headed towards the tracks they had softball training today but Ric was not in the mood for anything other than talking to Ria, he messaged her. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Ric: where are you? can we chat for a bit? ... Even after half an hour there was no reply, "why is she not replying back?" he asked his phone, but right when his brain was coming up with all weird and darker reasons per second the phone buzzed. Ria: Sorry I am busy today, we have a art competition tomorrow, will message you after. Ric smiled and replied Ric: Oh Break a leg!!! I am sure you will win. and clicked on send and then screamed "aahhh!!!" scaring Vicky making him miss the ball he was just about to hit, "what the heck? Mann!!" shouted Vicky as he walked over from the pitch. "I, I sent...I sent her a heart emoji by accident" Ric wisphered, "what??" said Vicky shocked, " Did she reply?" "did you say it was by accident" "Did she send you a angry emoji?" he asked in a rush. "She has not replied" said Ric still staring at the phone when it suddenly buzzed startling him enough that he dropped the phone. He looked at the phone that lay on the ground as though it was a venomous snake, "you pick it up and check" he told Vicky who picked up the phone to check and started laughing loudly,"Why, why what happened?" asked Ric surprised at his friend''s reaction to the message. " at least she has a good sense of humor" said vicky showing Ric the message. Ria: Thanks, good to know that you love art competitions Ric couldn''t help smiling too, Vicky was right she was good at everything even humor, thank god. He sent a sheepish grin emoji in reply and left it at that."I thought I was going to die out of embarrassment that she will miss understand, I am so glad she didn''t get angry or misunderstand me" said Ric looking far off. "Can we now go have dinner? asked Vicky still smiling. Ric and Vicky had finished dinner in comparative silence, " how come you are not saying anything" asked Ric looking closely at his friend, "I was just thinking about what happened yesterday and today" said Vicky looking at his friend, "how come my aloof friend is behaving like a teenager in love?" he asked, Ric looked back at him with a confused expression"I was wondering the same thing now, how come I am hung up on her, i don''t even know her that well, but at the same time I have never felt like this about any girl before." said Ric looking pensive "but can i be truthful?" he asked looking at Vicky who nodded " I am scared of my feelings" he said. Vicky got up and went around the table to give his friend a tight hug.