To Be the Perfect Childhood Friend - Chapter 54

As Anita sighed and spoke, the two men awkwardly avoided her gaze.

The silence that ensued was heavy. Nobody spoke, and Anita felt relief in the unusual calmness. She was weary of evading Rutger’s inquiries and appreciated the break.

Quietly moving forward, they soon reached the entrance of the dormitory. Anita expressed her gratitude to both of them for the ride. Despite them insisting on taking her, she could have managed on her own, but it didn’t matter now.

“Oh, where’s my bag?”

Entering the dormitory, Anita remembered that her belongings were still with Rutger.

“It’s still with me. I was studying.”

Rutger replied shamelessly.

“And what are you learning that requires my bag?”

“People who draw need to learn anatomy.”

“….”

Anita, who had opened her mouth to argue, closed it again. Upon reflection, Rutger’s words weren’t entirely untrue.

“Will you carry my bag tomorrow too?”

“Who said I would? I’m studying.”

“Ah, I see. So, what have you learned? Let me hear.”

Maybe because they were standing on the stairs at the dormitory entrance, Anita’s line of sight was higher than Rutger’s. She just stared at him with her fist clenched.

Although he had been shameless just a moment ago, Rutger now prevented Anita’s gaze and mumbled,

“I’m still learning.”

“Really? Well then, just give it to me. You hate reading books anyway.”

Anita found his kindness burdensome. When she believed Rutger was unaware of her injury, she thought his attitude was just a joke. However, observing his recent actions made it seem like a genuine concern.

Moreover, Anita couldn’t just accept the kindness without knowing Rutger’s true intentions.

If he liked Anita romantically, it would be understandable. However, judging by his actions of consistently pushing her away when she approached, it didn’t seem to be the case.

On the other hand, treating her like a friend wasn’t the answer either. Anita knew how Rutger treated his friends. He was the type to laugh if a friend hurt their leg and wouldn’t secretly help them from behind.

“You’re not a seven-year-old kid. You can take care of yourself. Just give it to me.”

Anita, speaking with a firm tone, extended her hand to him. While Rutger was still hesitating, Edmund, who had quietly watched their talk, stepped in.

“Is the theft on campus a disciplinary matter?”

It was a mischievous voice. Anita bit her lower lip to suppress her laughter. Rutger, on the other hand, seemed to be irritated.

“If possible, just give it back. She’s an adult too. She should handle her own matters” he said.

“That’s just because you don’t know her” 

Anita’s smiling lips quickly turned downward. If they were going to fight again, she wished they would exclude her from it.

“I’ll go in now”

She abruptly said, unable to figure out a peaceful way to end the situation. She hurriedly said farewell, she entered the dormitory, and as the door closed, the voices of the two were no longer audible.

***

Several days passed since that day.

Anita cautiously unwrapped the bandage that had been wrapped around her ankle. To the naked eye, her leg seemed fine. She got up from her seat at a slow pace. After moving around with the bandage for a few days, Anita found it amusing that she had quickly adapted to putting more weight on her left leg.

She carefully shifted her weight to her right leg. She had prepared herself for a possible twinge of pain, but there was none. Anita chuckled at how she instinctively leaned more on her left leg without any discomfort.

Anita carefully tested her balance on her right leg, expecting it to hurt, but to her surprise, there was no discomfort.

She felt no pain, and her leg moved well without any discomfort. Anita, staring at her perfectly functioning leg with a familiar face, suddenly checked the clock.

It was already 5 PM.

Today was the day of the welcome party for the new students. If she wanted to arrive on time, she had to start getting ready now. In her heart, she wished she could just skip the welcome party and take a break from everything.

However, Anita had a reason to attend. Not long ago, when she met Liliana at the shooting range, Anita informed her about not being able to attend. She explained that she was busy and apologized for the inconvenience, but Liliana was adamant.

In the end, Anita reluctantly agreed to briefly appearance at the event.

Wearing an outfit that was fitting but not overly formal, Anita exited her room. Though she had always been meticulous about checking her door, since the Charles Bennet incident, she had developed a habit of checking whether the door was locked five times.

Today, like usual, after locking the door and confirming it several times with the key, Anita stopped. She had forgotten to ask Edmund about what happened to him.

Even if she had a record of stalking, expelling someone without any evidence would be a challenging task.

She made a mental note to ask Edmund later and turned around, only to be surprised.

“Well, what… Why are you coming out from here?”

Anita managed to speak, calming her startled heart. She was surprised because as soon as she turned around, she met eyes with Liliana. Moreover, it was a very close encounter. Judging by the fact that Anita didn’t hear her footsteps, it seemed like Liliana had been standing behind her for quite a while.

“Why are you coming out from here? Disappointing. I live next door.”

“…….”

“I thought I’d check since you’re on the attendance list, but you seem to be playing dumb. Hm.”

As Liliana narrowed her eyes and approached, Anita who was still in shock. Instinctively, Anita stepped back, fumbling as her back pressed against the door.

“Why, why?”

The gaze scrutinizing Anita up close was intimidating. After thoroughly examining Anita for a while, Liliana finally took a step back.

As Anita, feeling uneasy, fumbled around behind her, it seemed that Liliana had been standing behind her the whole time since she hadn’t heard her footsteps.

“This should be enough for now.”

“Huh?”

“Even though there’s no specified dress code, you should at least have a somewhat decent attire, right? There are people who occasionally dress ridiculously, causing embarrassment to the school.”

The intensity of her presence which was fierce just a moment ago suddenly relaxed.

“Alright. Shall we go now?”

Once again, Anita was caught without a chance to escape.