Project: Socialize

The next day, I attended class like always, but I kept my eyes on Irina. I constantly observed her, and I had no intent to conceal it. I want her to know that I'm watching her. I want her to feel these eyes penetrating her skin and digging through her body for the secrets that she sought to hide. I want her to know, that there's no escaping from me.

Break came and passed, and there seemed to be no signs of action from her end. I don't blame her. She was still surrounded by her annoying classmates, unable to move. In addition, I glanced over in the direction of the two exits of the classroom, and even those areas had shy students peeking in.

When lunch break arrived, I decided that maybe she doesn't want it to be seen by her classmates of her talking to me. Therefore, I decided that maybe if I relocate myself to a different location, she would follow after me.

I got up from my seat, ignoring the questioning gazes from Loyd and Muria, and walked out of the classroom past the crowded back exit of the room. Once there, I intentionally hang around a bit, waiting for Irina to leave so that she will be able to follow me. The wait was quite long, to the point that I became quite tired of standing and leaned against the wall in order to take some of the burdens off my legs. However, even then, she didn't show up, leaving me standing outside my classroom in an awkward state. If I were to reenter, I will appear quite foolish, so I can't do that.

God damn. I thought she would've came out already. Lunch was about to end and she's still no where in sight. I shook my head and sighed as I could feel my stomach growl. Because I thought she would leave her seat and approach me, I didn't even eat. My lunch was still in my school bag which is next to my seat. Looks like I'll be forced to skip lunch today.

As the lunch bell rang, signalling the end of our hour long lunch break, I returned to my classroom and back to my seat. Loyd and Muria seemed to be quite amused by my failure and was doing their best to conceal their laughter. It annoyed me somewhat, but I ignored it. I have more important things to worry about. My original plan was built on Irina coming to me at lunch today, but since she didn't, I highly doubt she would after school. Therefore, that means everything I had planned will have to be pushed back a day, which is tomorrow and the last day of the deadline. It looks like I must take the initiative and gather information I can use for tomorrow after school today. In the mean time, I must make my presence known to Irina and remind her through hints in my dialogue with Loyd and Muria of what I have on her.

As I waited, I sent a message in the group chat to Loyd and Muria, informing them of my decision to not attend the club meeting today. I didn't specify why, which led to them looking over at me with a confused expression on their face. However, once they realized that I was staring at Irina, it would appear that they got the idea that what I was doing will concern her so they didn't object to my decision.

I waited until Irina got up from her seat and left the classroom before I, too, rose from my seat. I intentionally kept some distance between myself and Irina along with the annoying flies that walked beside her so that it won't appear suspicious to other people while Irina knows of my presence. It would appear that I was able to produce the desired effect for Irina would constantly glance over her shoulders at me in between forced smiles and laughter in response to weak jokes those flies made to her.

It was the first time that I stalked her, so I was still unfamiliar with her after school routine, but it would appear that instead of going home, she heads directly to a studio for a shoot for a television show. At the front entrance of the school, a jet black SUV was waiting for her. These people, I believe, was her agency and was here to take her to her work place.

"Sorry everybody," a young woman that appeared to be her secretary said to the crowd of students after Irina boarded the vehicle. "Irina's gotta head to work now. She'll see you all tomorrow."

While these students were occupied by the secretary, I glanced inside the vehicle as the car window slowly rolled up. Although it was for a second, I could see that same melancholic expression on Irina's face that I was certain wasn't from frustration or fatigue. Accompanied by numerous groans from these annoying students, the black SUV then drove off, allowing her to escape from not only those annoying students but also me as well, for now, that is.

I had memorized the car plate of that vehicle, and I checked the time on my phone. According to my knowledge of the road that they drove off in, there will be a stop sign and a red light before them once they arrive at the lights. I based this assumption off of the frequency the lights change and the amount of time the lights stay on a particular color. Therefore, if I start running now, I can make it to the main road just as they start driving off.

Before I had started running, I had already called a taxi to wait for me at that location using my phone, so I didn't need to worry about hailing a taxi to chase after the SUV once I get to the lights. All I had to worry about was running to catch up. I haven't ran in quite some time, but it would appear that my conditioning was still fine since I was able to maintain a quick pace in my sprints. However, as I ran, I did had to breathe through my mouth in order to supply my body with the needed oxygen.

Like I had predicted, when I next saw the car, it had made a turn at the light and onto the larger street of Nocsinis. There was also a taxi parked by the curb, waiting for me. So I quickly approached it and entered.

"Follow that SUV," I said to the driver, who looked at me with a confused expression. "I'll pay you extra."

After I said the latter part, the driver immediately stepped foot on the gas pedal and pulled up a few cars behind the SUV. As we followed that car, I allowed myself to catch my breath and for my body to recover. Occasionally, the distance between the taxi and the SUV would increase, but we were always able to close in on the vehicle later on.

After following that SUV for about twenty minutes on the streets of Nocsinis, we finally arrived at our destination. I made sure that Irina got out of the car before I, too, disembarked the taxi car. I scanned the payment machine that was on the door as I did so, paying the taxi fares and made sure to give the driver an extra tip.

The taxi driver drove off with a content expression on his face, leaving me standing there not too far away from my target and feeling quite angry. I had to waste my precious allowance for this, so of course I wasn't in the best of mood.

I was a short distance from Irina, who entered a school's front gate and onto the school's campus. I checked the plaque that was hung on the wall next to the entrance. It wasn't a special school at all. Rather, it was one of the most average schools I've ever seen.

I followed them onto campus, careful to conceal myself by making sure that there was a distance between us and hiding behind cover. The campus was vacant, probably because the school was being used as the ground of a shoot for a television show and the students either went home already or were crowded around the shoot lovation. That was exactly the reason why it was so empty.

I carefully merged into the spectating crowd of students. Luckily, all schools in Palisia was still using our summer uniforms, which, to be honest, appeared mostly the same with the white shirt. Therefore, it wasn't easy to quickly spot me in the crowd. However, that is unless you're specifically looking for me.

Irina looked over her shoulders, probably from the threat she had felt recently in her lives, and her eyes locked with mine. When she saw me, her eyes became one of despair and horror. I smiled in response in order to let her know that I see her and that she won't be able to get away from me no matter where she goes. That seemed to have done the trick since she quickly looked away and walked in silence while having her eyes fixed on the ground before her. She was obviously terrified, and I was obviously quite proud of myself for being able to elicit such a response from her.