Page 40 of Follow My Voice
Perla leans over with a raised eyebrow. “Kla—”
I cover her mouth. “Shh! Whatever you do,do notsay my name.”
I move my hand away and she gives me aWhat the hell!look.
“It’s a long story, I’ll tell you later,” I whisper, using her words against her.
Perla is about to object, but, suddenly, the lights go out. Shrieks and gasps echo down the darkened hallway. I hear Mrs. Leach’s voice. “Everyone, please remain calm—the emergency generator will kick on soon.”
I lean closer to Perla. Between the storm and the nerves of having Kang so close, my poor heart feels like it might burst. At least I can hide from him better in the dark. But fate is truly not on my side today. Out of the silence and darkness, my cell phone dings twice, alerting me that I have new messages.
I don’t think anything of it until I hear Kang speak. “What the… Did you hear that?” he says to Erick. “I just sent a couple messages and a phone alert sounded at the exact second.”
Crap. Kang messaged me.
Erick snorts. “Dude, shut up. You’re imagining things.”
“Could be, but it seems too coincidental. I’m going to send another one to check.”
Shit, shit! I fumble in my pocket for my phone, but I’m not fast enough and it dings again.
“Hear that?” Kang asks.
I can feel his eyes probing the darkness of the hallway. Sitting on my phone to muffle it, I press the button to silence it.
“It’s a coincidence.” Erick chuckles. “There are a hundred cell phones in this hallway. Look around you—everyone’s using their phone.”
Kang sends another message. This time my phone doesn’t ding but the sound of the vibration is clearly audible in this narrow, enclosed space. I should’ve turned the phone off.
Kang stands up.
“Hey, come on, sit down, man, it’s a coincidence.” Erick sighs. “Dude, Kang!”
Kang puts his phone to his ear and my phone starts vibrating in my pocket. It’s an incoming call. He stands up, trying to figure out where the vibration sound is coming from. If I pull out my phone, he’ll see the light from the screen.
He begins to move toward me and I panic.What should I do?Without thinking, I get up and rush in the opposite direction, to the end of the hall.
“Hey!”
I hear Kang behind me, and I run even faster.
“Stop! Hey!”
“Excuse me…” I hear Mrs. Leach say as I rush past her into the main hallway.
Please don’t follow me, Kang, please.
To one side of the hallway is the main entrance to the Blue Ridge Health Sciences Center and on the other are bathrooms. There’s a staircase that leads to other classrooms upstairs, but I’m unfamiliar with that part of the building. I can’t go out into the storm—besides, I’m sure the door is locked—so I run for the women’s bathroom, the sound of footsteps trailing behind me.
“Hey, stop!” Kang’s voice is close; I know it won’t be long before he reaches me.
I grab the edge of the doorframe and slide into the ladies’ room. The door swings shut behind me but there’s no lock. I press my back to the wall, trying to hide. My chest is rising and falling. Kang wouldn’t come into the girls’ bathroom, would he?
“It’s you.” Kang’s voice on the other side of the door destroys me. “I’m not moving from this spot until you come out, Klara.”
I slide down the wall and sit on the floor. I turn my face to the entrance and catch a glimpse of Kang sitting against the wall as lightning strikes and the strong winds outside make the door sway gently open and shut. A smile plays on his lips.
“I can’t believe I found you. You don’t know how many times I’ve imagined seeing you, pictured your expressions. I’ve been dying to put a face to your name, Klara with a K—the girl I haven’t stopped thinking about since the first time I talked to her.”
