Requital hope

Thirty-four

When he opened his locker there was a loud popping sound and something burst from it, covering him, the floor and splattering several nearby people with a red substance. Both Cindy and I swung back behind the wall utterly shocked.

"Uh..." I trailed, holding my racing chest in pure horror.

"W-what the hell was that?" She gasped. I looked at her wide-eyed, not speaking a word. After a moment I peaked around the corner, hoping to see what's become of this situation. Zhan stood there still in shock, but he was now holding a zip lock bag and inside it looked like there was a.note. He zipped it open and pulled out the note. He looked horrified as he read through it.

When he finished he crumpled the note and shoved it in his pocket. Was my note that bad? Heck, was that even my note? It seems someone sabotaged his locker during the short period we were gone. Zhan just stormed off not saying a single word to anyone, not even his friends that were calling out to him. There was a sea of silent laughter and gasps. It made me furious. Who could have done this?

"It seems someone is trying to sabotage our plan." She mumbled to herself. "You haven't told a soul about our plan have you?" She asked, glaring at me.

"No way!" I replied, waving my hands. I don't even think I'd have the courage to tell anyone to be honest. She seemed to be lost in thought for a second.

"Good. We have to be more careful." She stated, thoughtfully. We're still doing this? Is she crazy?

Zhan looked upset when he left so I ran after him to make sure he was okay, this was my fault, after all, at least I feel it is.

I just caught sight of him entering the boys locker room. I wasn't thinking at the time and followed him in.

"A-are you alright?" I called, raising my hand a little as if I were reaching for him.

"I'm fine." He grumbled. After much staring and a long awkward silence he spoke again. "I just came for a quick shower." He informed me with a forced smile. My eyes stayed frozen on him as he peeled his skin-tight shirt off of his toned body. My body responded in a way I hoped it wouldn't. I did my best to contain myself.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked nervously, scanning the area.

"You're going to be late for class." He notified, giving me a questioning look.

"I don't care." I shrugged.

He eyed me for a moment before responding. "Alright, well if you don't mind, could you take these to the laundry room?" He asked, holding out his shirt and socks in a pile. I nodded and took them in
my hands. Just as I was turning around to head to the laundry room he called out.

"Oh, and these too." He said. I turned back to see what he was talking about an-OH GOSH, he's taking off his pants! I could feel heat crawl through my body. My face, ears, and neck felt like they were on fire.

He finished pulling off his pants, revealing his gray boxer briefs, adding fuel to my fire. I did my best to play it off, but I probably gave myself away when I hurried for the door after he shot me a smirk.

I made my way to the laundry room in a daze and placed his clothes in the washing machine. I've seen my mother use this enough times when I was a kid to know how to operate it, the same thing with my grandma and her sewing machine.

I did a quick wash and added a little more soap than usual to get rid of that strong-smelling ketchup. That got me thinking about who could have done this. I sighed to myself trying to figure it out. Before I knew it the wash was done. I took the clothes and placed them in the dryer that sat next to the door. I took a seat on one of the benches in the room and waited for the dryer to finish. I had my head lowered to the ground and heard a noise in the distance. I looked up to see Zhan making his way over. It felt as if my heart stopped beating when I caught sight of his appearance. He wore nothing but gym shorts and his hair was still wet from the shower. I froze up in my seat as he sat next to me. I tried to avoid his gaze at all cost, but somehow locked eyes with him.