I was currently walking behind Vincent. I didn't  know where he was leading me but Mr. Williams seemed like a trustable man and he said that I should follow him, so I did. 

After walking for five minutes, he finally stopped in front of a door and opened it. It lead to the outside.

Was he kicking me out?

"This is the backyard." he said while getting out.

I followed behind him and entered the backyard. 'THIS' was his backyard?! cause as far as I could see it had no fencing, just a vast land of green grass which eventually lead to the woods. Walls on right and left only.

No way?

Even the woods? Don't tell me he owned the woods aswell, cause then that means I had been trespassing his property all this time. 

"Most of it, there's a small part I don't own." my eyes widened as he said that.

I SAID THAT OUT LOUD?! 

"Yes."  I looked at him in shock as he said yes cause I knew I didn't speak now.

"I figured you must have thought 'I said that out loud?'. So I said yes." 

Was he able to read minds? Or was it just me?

Looking to my left I saw two tables at some distance. Vincent started walking towards them so I did too. Reaching near the tables I saw, all the carpentry equipment's were laid out in the same way as they were in the carpentry session on Tuesday. 

"So before starting I would like to discuss some things about the parenting course." a lump formed in my stomach as he said that. I knew this humiliation was coming.

 He removed his suit jacket and threw it on the table.

"Bella, I know you aren't much of a talker but I would need you to reply and talk to me about this. We are in this together. If you don't talk to me then both of us would end up getting a substandard grade." he said while folding the sleeves of his white shirt, I could see his popped up veins on his arm.

Oh so he was going to do this the nice way? Replace me.

I knew I didn't talk much, but my head was a mess. My overthinking made up for my lack of talking. And currently the only thing I was thinking was, 'Should I run into the woods and hide there until I die?'.

"So when are you free?" he asked, pacing towards me.

"Huh?" I was confused, what?

"To go get the essentials for the parenting course? The letter said we had to do it together." 

"What?" 

"Why are you behaving like you don't know what I'm talking about?"

That's because I didn't.

Wait. Was this a prank?

"I thought you didn't want me as your partner?" I squeaked.

"When did I say that? Bella what are you talking about?" he was in my personal bubble now, so I took a step back.

"Today, I was called to the admin office and told that you no longer were my partner for the course. So I presumed that you didn't want me as your partner." the grass seemed more interesting at the moment to look at.

"What? Today? But I was not informed about any changes. And I certainly did not ask for you to be exchanged for someone else." 

Wait so he wasn't aware of this? 

"But even right now, you said something about a substandard grade, I thought you wanted to partner with someone else because I would bring down your perfect grades."

"No Bella, I wouldn't do something like that. And about the substandard, I meant that we need to have conversations and cooperate with each other in order to get a satisfactory grade. Because I have noticed that you are generally shy around people and don't talk much."

Oh. That made sense.

But before I could reply with something, Vincent took out his phone and dialled a call to someone. He held the phone in front of me and kept the call on speaker. 

But when I saw that he called the principle, I instantly regretted telling him. I tried to snatch the phone from him but his reflexes were faster than mine. He held his hand up, so that I couldn't reach the phone.

Ughhh! He was taller than me. I needed to reach the phone, he couldn't call the principle for something this small. I jumped to catch the phone but I still couldn't reach it.

"Not a chance." he said giving me a challenging look. 

 In the worry of reaching the phone I didn't realise that I was too close to him and our bodies were almost touching. But I wasn't going to give up, I kept trying to reach the phone.

But as soon as the bell started ringing , Vincent snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me in. It was so sudden that I didn't have a chance to breathe and my face got buried in his chest.

"Now stay still." he ordered.

I managed to not get my face smushed and looked up. He was already looking down at me.

"Let me call her. I want to know what happened." he whispered, his face too close.

I don't know why but a shiver ran down my spine as his fragrance engulfed my nostrils and 

Why is it that everytime I meet him, we end up in some compromising position?

 I was the first one to look away, from his stormy grey eyes.

"Let go of me." I murmured.

"No."

What was his problem? Why wasn't the principle picking up his call already? 

"Master Vincent, is there something you will be needing?" I looked to my right to see MR. WILLIAMS! My saviour!

I mouthed help but he wasn't looking at me.

"No thank you for coming today, you are free to go. " Vincent replied to him while searching for someone else's contact number as nobody picked up the call.

Finally Mr. Williams looked at me and I mouthed help again.

"Pardon me miss but master Vincent won't hurt you." he said while stifling a laugh and walking off.

But that made Vincent laugh too, his hard chest vibrating against my face. 

"You thought I would hurt you? Is that why you were asking for help from him?" he questioned while letting go of me. I stepped back keeping my gaze down, I wanted to see how he looked while laughing but I was too ashamed to even look up. 

WOAH! Where did that come from? I didn't want to know how he looked while laughing! 

"I would never hurt you intentionally Bella. Or someone for that matter, unless they deserve it." 

"Okay." I replied meekly. 

A ringtone broke the silence, it was Vincent's phone.

"Hello, can I have a moment to talk with you?" he said while keeping the phone on speaker. Principle.

"Oh Vincent dear, sure. I was just in the middle of a small meeting, go ahead." so it was confirmed he was her favourite and she had his number saved. Wow.

"I would like to know why my partner for the parenting course was changed when I didn't ask for it. Infact I wasn't even informed about it." 

"Oh dear, Bella was it? The one you had aske-" I couldn't hear the rest cause he put the call back on handset mode.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

He signalled me to keep quite.

Why did he do that?! I wanted to hear the rest, the one he had what? what about me? How does the principle know my name?

"Yeah..... Please talk to Mrs. Adelia West and let her know about it. Clara Westbrook isn't supposed to be my partner..... yes... Thank you." he kept the call after that, looking annoyed.

Adelia West..... the lady at the admin office. What about her?

I looked at him, expecting him to tell me what he talked about. I wasn't intruding, I wanted to know cause it was about me.

He sighed and said, "Clara Westbrook requested for the change. She seemingly made her father call Mrs. Adelia and asked for me to be her partner."

"Oh." Why wasn't I surprised?

"But the principle is helping, I requested her to make things go back to normal. So, should we start now?" he said with a slight smile, pointing at the tables.

I nodded and stood behind the table.

" This is the exact same set up as the carpentry session and the one for the test. So you don't get confused."

It was exactly same, a box beneath the table with all the safety tools.

"I didn't help you during the carpentry session because even I was learning for the first time and also I figured out that you wouldn't like all the attention from the other girls." he explained, standing behind his table.

Wait. What? but I didn't even ask him. But I wouldn't lie I did have the wrong idea about it.

"You were doing it for the first time? Then how did you finish so early and properly?" I asked as both us were putting on our safety tools.

"I am a fast learner." he said as I put my safety glasses on the table cause I already had my own  glasses on.

"Then you will be able to learn photography just like that too, I don't think you will need my help." I was speaking sense. 

"You see here's the thing, I have a little secret. People assume I am good at everything, I am, except for photography. I can learn anything at one go, example carpentry. But I have tried to photograph before, I didn't end up with any good pictures like you have. So there's only one thing I can't do perfectly and I want you to teach me." 

"But you can easily hire the best photographer in the world to teach you."

"True, but the principle has strictly said that we can't take help from outside and everybody's  helpers were sent home too. Your might have been too."

"I don't have one. And for that matter, Mr. Williams was here to help you."

"Only for today, he usually helping back at home when I come here. I had a lot of work unattended work so I asked him for help as the other house keepers were sent away. Even my assistant will be here only when asked for. "

"Oh."  I completed wearing my safety tools and looked left only to see Vincent too close to again. 

When did he even walk up till here?  

His hand reached out to my face and gently pulled my glasses off. What was he doing?

"Even at the carpentry session, I noticed that you weren't wearing your safety glasses. Why?"

"Oh.... I thought I already had my own glasses on so..." I whispered.

He grabbed the safety glasses from the table behind me and gently put them on me. 

"It's not the same, Bella." 

"Oh... I know that" I whispered again.

WHY WAS I WHISPERING?! 

Cause you don't want to blow his ears off. 

Shut up inner voice!

*AUTHOURS NOTE*

So Bella is shy on the outside but her head is a mess!

Why was Vincent annoyed when Clara was mentioned?

Don't forget to vote if you liked it!

xxriversxx.