Neil Wayner

In a small garden behind the Ivy Grove institute library, a few sheds were built for recreation with chairs and tables sets under the sheds for students. Diane sat relaxing on a recliner as she taped her phone letting out small giggles.

She was currently checking out the comments to her last post which was a picture of her in the garden admiring flowers. Merely seconds of having posted, she already garnered thousands of comments from countless admirers and fans.

As she was giggling at the lovely comments, two girls approached her, and she immediately sat up as she sighted them.

"Is it done?" She asked excitedly.

"All done." One of the girls in a pair of pale green matching blouse and shorts, replied sitting leisurely in another chair beside Diane.

"Hmm." Diane sighed with a smirk an evil light glinting in her eyes. " Good, I knew I could count on you Sally. So where's the proof?" She complimented then asked.

The other girl quickly presented her phone to Diane after tapping on a video.

"I've connected the CCTV cameras in the gym to my phone, so we can clearly see how the bitch humiliates herself." The girl sneered.

"How smart." Diane gave a smile to Sally who seemed satisfied with herself. The screen lit up with the image of a girl in a towel frantically searching the lockers.

A giggle escaped Diane's lips. Then the image shifted to the girl peeking outside of the gym to see her clothes across the stairs.

'Go on, go get your clothes. Little rat, you dare call me a dog? Now who's the lost puppy roaming naked in the gym? Go on, and show everyone who the dog is.' Mia's actions and how she moved nervously along the halls gave Diane immense satisfaction.

But as if it wasn't enough she suddenly found herself wishing they'd taken the towel as well, just the thought of seeing Mia strut around naked and humiliating herself bought her a feeling of joy and she couldn't help but put it on her tabs for the future.

However her face that had initially been up in a big smile suddenly fell as a tall handsome figure came into view, he was currently in a towel tied around his waist, his bare chest chiseled, bearing inks. He carried a dignified aura as he walked, the water dripping from his deep black hair laid back from the shower accentuated his refined beauty, which wasn't at all reduced even from the tacky footage of the CCTV.

Her face twisted in anger as she bellowed to the two girls. "Why is he here?"

The two girls quickly panicked, trying to defend themselves. "He wasn't there when we left." Sally quickly said.

"Then why is he here now?" Her voice raised angrily before she drew in a deep breath realizing that she'd lost her composure. "Good, it's good that someone's here, at least, he'd see her as a lowly wretch that she is." She recalled the adoring gaze in Mia's eyes when she spotted the professor in class the other day and sneered. The Little bitch probably liked him, good then, with this she would get her head out of the clouds.

But the next image made her clench her fist so tight her fingers were boring into her palms.

The incredibly handsome man was standing rooted in a spot with the girl in a short towel clinging closely onto his chest. From the cameras point of view it seemed like they were in a close embrace. It looked so intimate that Diane almost smashed the phone in anger.

"That bitch! She even tried to seduce him, how dare she!" Her voice rose so loud it attracted the attention of the nearby students in their various sheds, however no one could clearly see who she was as her shed was concealed.

By now Diane had already gotten up from her seat in anger. When she picked up the phone again she was met with the scene where Neil was walking in to the gym holding Mia's clothes in his arms. Something finally snapped in her as she furiously smashed the phone on the floor.

"That little slut! One line, she keeps crossing one line after another. Ok, she's stepped on the final one, I'll make her regret ever crossing my path." Her breaths coming in heavy as she spoke, and her beautiful and gentle face twisted up in rage.

The two girls who were behind her wordlessly exchanged weird and somewhat frightened glances with each other.

Mia arrived home exhausted dragging her feet, the incident today had completely drained her both emotionally and physically. To top it off, the professor had seen the most vulnerable and mortifying things happen to her today.

But despite his grumpy attitude, he was really sweet and kind hearted to help her get her clothes. What she couldn't shake off was those ominous snake tattoos on his toned chest, he could pass for a top tier movie star, he had a bad boy vibe without his suit on, he was everything but a professor. Mia thought as she opened her room's door.

She quickly took her shower and returned to the room, she wore her comfortable pajamas and picked her guitar and journal, where she always wrote down all of her emotions. However as she opened the first page of her purple journal, she stopped at the picture she'd glued on its first page years ago.

Mia had the habit of collecting cute images and anything that fascinated her to glue on her journal. But what surprised her was that on the first page of her journal was a cut image of a pair gray eyes. She remembered even before she met that gray eyed professor, she'd liked gray eyes because they reminded her of something she couldn't remember no matter how much she tried to remember.

It was like a locked memory or a long lost dream...

Mia picked her guitar and began to subconsciously play while she sang along with the mellow tone.

"In a world of shadows, where memories gently play, There are gray eyes, lost in the past's sway. Whispers of days gone by, a lingering dream, They move alone, a dance in memories' stream.

Moments that slipped away, held in that gaze so deep, Each look a story, lost but still to keep. In the sea of the past, where time quietly flows, The gray eyes explore, a tale that no one knows..." She stopped and gazed blankly at the blanket of tinkling stares in the night sky through her window. Perhaps, she was just being obsessed with gray eyes to the point she was feeling attached to anyone with that eye color. Mia thought to herself.

"Hey!"

"Aah!" She jumped in fright as Owen, her childhood best friend, who lived next door suddenly appeared behind her shouting which startled her back to reality. She hadn't even noticed him enter her room.

"What's wrong with you? How many times have I told you to knock before entering my room, Owen? We are no longer kids, what if I was undressing!" Mia glared at him as he came to stand before her close to the window.

Owen shrugged casually, "I did knock, but it seems you are too busy dreaming to hear the sound." He said as he also looked outside the window where she had resumed to stare at the stars.

It was a very bright night with the moon half full illuminating the streets along with the broken street lamps. Actually, it had already became a habit for Owen to barge into her room without knocking, as when they were still kids, they don't care about privacy and enter each other's room anytime. But since Mia turned thirteen, she had warned him to always knock. And he had done just that earlier, but she didn't respond.

Owen glanced at Mia as she fixed her gaze on the sky, her almond shaped eyes shone brightly with the light's reflection, making her light brown orbs glitter, the two dips in her cheeks prominent as she bit on the inside of her cheeks out of habit. Her beautiful lips curved up slightly, brown curly tresses cascaded down her shoulders pulled away from her face with a red hair bow. The pale pink sweater she was wearing looked two sizes bigger than her, there seemed to be that longing look in her eyes.

She always had that look when she was longing for something or thinking of something important.

Owen's eyes stared unblinkingly at the girl he had come to know more than anyone in his life through the years they'd been together. His gaze was so intense that had Mia been paying attention she'd have noticed it. Right now his usual lazy appearance had disappeared, the look on his eyes were gentle and soft.

He quickly averted his eyes as Mia shifted in her seat with a sigh. Shaking his head slightly he regained his normal lazy appearance.

"What are you thinking about sitting there like a gnome?" He asked disinterest laced in his tone. He slightly leaned forward. "Have you finally fallen in love with me, and you're thinking of a thousand ways to confess?" He added in a mocking tone.

This time he got her attention as she turned to face him whacking him hard on the thigh.

"Ow! Don't you know it's bad to beat a guy, and why is your hand that painful, just look at how skinny they are." He joked as he pulled her wrist and flailing it in the air.

Mia smiled, placing her guitar on one side and closing her journal, she said, "No matter how skinny my hands are, I can still hit you." Her tone equally mocking.

He smiled back looking as she tilted her head back to look at the sky knowing fully well that she'd dismissed his earlier words as a joke.

Actually, he was joking, however he also knew that somewhere deep inside, he secretly wished it were true. But how could it? She was his childhood friend, and she'd only ever see him as that.

The smile on his face suddenly turned bitter. Mia Harrison might not know this, but she was the only reason he had lived this long.

Mia continued to observe the brightly lit sky. However, this time, her mind had shifted to something else. How was she going to walk into Mr. Bennett's office tommorow for her project after she'd embarrassed herself? Furthermore, her project wasn't complete yet, she still had one last step to make it perfect enough to grant her good grades.

Not to mention she really wanted to know who had dared done such a thing to her today. If she had stepped out of that gym with that skimpy towel, she would have been on the school newspaper's headline. She could already imagine what would be written.

'Mia Harrison, the suicidal person who stole Diane Foster's story, has gone crazy to walk around the campus half naked to attract men.'

Owen noticed how her expression shifted from a smile to an angry frown.

"Just who are you secretly planning to murder in your head?" He asked while picking up a snack beside Mia's bed and munching on it.

"Someone in school is secretly plotting against me, and if I get my hands on them, I'll... I'll... I don't know what I will do, but for humiliating me in front Leo Bennett, I want to beat that person up so bad." She said indignantly.

Owen chuckled at her antics. Then asked noticing her words. "Right, and who's this Leo Bennett?" The question came out casually.

"He's a man with the most beautiful eyes..." She placed her elbow on the windowsill her palms against her cheek with a faint smile as she continued to look at the sky.

Owen almost choked on the snack he was eating hearing her words. "Beautiful what?" He cleared his throat and asked.

"Tsk, you deaf or something, I said, he has the most beautiful pair of gray eyes." She explained as if displeased for being interrupted from her thoughts.

"Yeah I heard that, but who's he, is he another celebrity with gray eyes you suddenly have a crush on, again? Dream on, nursing a crush on someone who doesn't even know you exist is pointless. Better give up your obsession with gray eyed celebrities." He sneered.

She scoffed, "Doesn't know I exist? Of course he knows I exist. And for your information, I have no crush on him but his eyes."

Owen shook his head with an unbothered smile. "I wonder how long this one will last, another one of your silly little crushes on gray eyes."

"That has nothing to do with you. Besides don't you have work to do for your father? Mother! Owen is here sitting not going to assist his father again." She yelled in an attempt to chase him away so she could have her time to think alone.

Owen raised his hands in surrender grinning as he stood up to leave. "Fine, keep dreaming then, of some prince charming with gray eyes that will never know of your existence." He teased.

"Go away!" She stood up and pushed him out of the room earning a chuckle from him as the door slammed on his face.

After sitting down for a while on the bed her phone rang.

"Mia! Are you okay? Sorry I just saw your message." Rayne's worried voice came through immediately she picked up the phone.

"I'm fine, really, I was just surprised." Mia replied.

"I'm so sorry, a friend texted me that the class had already started, and I needed to submit my assignment because the professor arrived early, I left after sending you a text that I was off to class, I didn't know something like that could happen, I'm really sorry." Rayne's voice was filled with remorse.

Mia knew she couldn't make her not go to class for something they both didn't know would happen.

"There's no need to apologise, besides no harm was done, don't blame yourself." Mia assured.

Rayne sighed. "But who could have done something like that? And right, how did you end up getting your clothes."

"I really have no idea who it was." Then her voice turned gentle. "But, can you guess who it was that helped me?"

Rayne rolled her eyes. "There you go again with the guessing, I really don't... Oh, Mr. Bennett?" Rayne asked her voice lightened up in realization.

Mia chuckled, "He's such a hero I tell you, I was so scared, so embarrassed, and despite his grumpiness, he went out and picked up my clothes for me, how sweet. He is such a gentleman."

"You're crazy Mia, you're certainly not the first person to have a crush on your teacher but you're the first to go all crazy about him, anyone could have helped you in that situation. But don't you think it might have something to do with Diane?" Rayne chuckled slightly then asked.

"Diane? Why would she do that? Well, I don't think so, I mean, why would she want to play tricks on me when she's the one who stole my story?"

"Then who else doesn't like you and would want to humiliate you?"

"A lot of people in that university don't like me, but I don't know who could do such thing." Mia replied.

"Hm, I'll try to look into it tomorrow, maybe I'll find out who was behind this if I look into the CCTV." Rayne said, before changing the topic, "By the way, about your project, have you gotten the clues on how to locate Neil Wayner for the interview you planned before you stumbled upon that story about the drug syndicate?"

"Neil Wayner will forever remain a mystery to our country, Rayne, I have tried my best, but despite that I still have no clue where he lives." Mia pouted disappointedly.

Neil Wayner was a well known soldier in their country. He had joined the army at the age of thirteen and made a name for himself in every war. However, ever since he had made a name for himself, he had never showed himself to the public. He remained mysterious about wherever he lived. In every news agencies, reporters have worked their asses out to locate him and get an interview, but nobody had ever succeeded.

It was said that any news agencies who succeeded in getting Neil Wayner's interviewed, would climb up to the top in the country. Mia had ambitiously thought that if she succeeded in doing that, it would be much easier for her future career, but just like every other professional journalist In the country, her amateur research had come to a deadend.

"Well, what do you plan to submit to Mr. Bennett tommorow for the assignment?" Rayne asked concerned.