Chapter 03: A stalker or Poet
Bella's POV
"Wow!" Becky exclaimed looking at my coffee cup with great amusement. "He is indeed a man of culture!"
"Oh come on! He just stole a line from my poetry book nothing so great about it!" I snapped in annoyance.
"Bella you are being a bit too harsh for no reason at all. Look he brought you the last cup of coffee this cafe had. I didn't even get any because they ran out of coffee. He wrote you a nice poem and also gave you roses! He is considerate and caring. What more can a girl want? He's great."
"But Becky he isn't even showing me his face. I don't even know if it's a he or not. Besides, what if all of this is a prank by someone. I'll be fooled at the end. Sometimes things are not as simple as they seem."
"Nah you are just thinking too much Bella! Enjoy the smell of the sweet sweet roses! Ahhhh!" Becky said sniffing the purple roses in her hand.
"He only gave me purple roses till now. Purple roses are known as the 'mystical rose'. It's not that common around here. The lighter colours of purple represent love at first sight. So is he indicating he's in love or something?" Questions arose in my mind.
"Well he's obviously in love but just not showing himself that's all. I think he's trying to be mysterious or something," She said biting a big chunk from the sandwich, "Don't worry about it for now, eat your lunch. We gotta go back to school again."
"Yeah," I started eating my sandwich engulfed in thoughts. I was left dazed and confused. Who is this man? Doesn't show his face but cares for me in secret. What a weirdo! But somewhere in my heart, I was utterly curious to know more about this mysterious person.
I wrapped up the work in school quickly that day. I wanted to leave early rather than hang out somewhere with Becky. The disturbing incident from yesterday when I was going home was still bothering me. I wanted to reach home before evening. I was the only child of my parents but both of them stayed busy in office works mostly. So there wasn't anyone to pick me up. That's why I always took the bus.
"Slow down Bella! What's the hurry?" Becky yelled as I was swiftly walking past her each time she was trying to walk at my pace.
"Oh ahaha!" I laughed an awkward laugh as I looked behind me and saw she was far away from me. "Sorry, I'm walking a bit fast!"
"A bit fast? It feels like you have a flight waiting on your doorstep and you have to catch it! What's going on?" She said being confused.
"Nothing Becky. Just wanna reach home early and study for the upcoming admission. I'll walk slow."
"Man these days you are gonna be needing a doctor for going too hard on yourself!"
"Hahaha I'll be fine," I said keeping the same pace as Becky this time. I didn't want to tell her what happened yesterday for many reasons. I knew if I did she will want to drop me home first then walk to her home alone. If something happens to her on the way because of me I won't be able to forgive myself ever. She is the only good friend I have. I never want to lose her.
I reached home safely after dropping Becky in her house. It was still afternoon by the time I reached.
"Phew! Not today then mister Dracula!" I said to myself laughing.
I grabbed an apple from the table and jumped on my bed.
"Ugh! So tired today."
Mom still isn't home. I guess mom and dad are going to be late today too then. I finished eating the apple while swiping my phone's screen, checking all the pictures the students uploaded today. I laughed looking at a few of the photos, the students coloured their faces in a funny way that was amusing to look at. Suddenly my finger stopped at a post.
'Dracula came for his bride at last. His Isabella Swan- a living zombie.'
They posted a picture of my desk with the purple rose on it. People were laughing and commenting on it. Candice really took it a step ahead. There wasn't any need to show it to the whole school. I threw my phone on the bed. Pathetic! These people have nothing else to do!
I went to take a shower feeling dejected. I usually take a long bath. But I wasn't feeling like that today. Wish we could leave all our worries behind just as the water runs down our skin, cleansing our whole body.
'But what about the impurities of people's minds?'
I asked myself how do we clean that? My train of thought was distributed with a series of doorbells. Someone was constantly ringing it. This never happened!
I turned off the shower to hear properly if it was in our house or not. Unfortunately, it was our house!
I wrapped myself in a towel and ran down to check if it was some emergency. I looked through the peeping hole of the door and was freaked out.
"A purple rose!" I saw a note with a purple rose was kept in front of our main door. So this guy knows where I live!
I was hesitating to open the door and pick it up. l didn't want my parents to see it and think something weird about me. On the other, I was bewildered to know what was written in that note. Between the debate of safety and curiosity in my mind, curiosity won this round. I opened the door and picked up the rose with the note in a flash.
He gave me a beautiful purple rose this time too. I opened the scented note while smiling for no reason,
'Don't be afraid my love
I'm not a stranger...
I'm just a forgotten fragment
Of your past.
Who was once your whole world...
Seriously now what is this supposed to mean? I was puzzled. What is he trying to say? I knew him in the past but not anymore? This man can only arise questions in my mind but not give me any answers. Who is he? He calls me 'love' with such command. Pretty brave huh! I laughed. I could feel something other than the sense of danger this man was giving me. Something more pleasant, something blooming and beautiful...
Snap out of it Bella it has only been two days. I warned my foolishness. Something unknown can be a bliss or a danger at the same time. You never know which one it is. Cautious my dear heart! Don't fall in love already!