'I left Janet in the infirmary and never returned…' Rudy suddenly remembered what he was forgetting.
However, he couldn't be blamed for that. He sat by Janet's side and waited for her to regain consciousness until Eric called him out where he found out about the plane crash.
He had to go save Eleanor, who later asked him to save everyone on the plane. Once he had done that, the only place and person in his mind was Eleanor. Things got steamy with Eleanor, and they ended up spending the afternoon and evening together.
'Well, why am I feeling anxious? So what if I left her there? It's not that big of a deal, is it? I am sure she woke up soon after and then left. She was injured, but it was just a scrape.
She wouldn't have waited for my return. That would be a stupid thing to do. It's already close to 9 PM. There is no way she is still at the school… right?
I mean, the school closes at 7 PM maximum, including all the club activities. The faculties on patrol duties check each and every room of the school before locking them, and then they ultimately close the school for the day.'
"Yeah, I am just overthinking."
"Hey, bro," Lucy greeted Rudy.
"Why do you always wipe your hair after coming out of the bathroom?" Rudy asked with a knowing look on his face.
"Unlike boys, girls have long hair, and it takes forever to dry them. I don't like to stay in the bathroom until my hair is dried. Also, the bathroom has no power outlet, so I can't use my hair dryer there."
"Good point. So why do you use a towel and come to the living room instead of going directly into mom's room and using your hair dryer?"
"Geez. You are being so annoying for no reason. Give me a break. I came to greet you, and here you are, making me angry for no reason."
Rudy squinted his eyes and muttered, "Is this what they call the rebellious phase?"
Even though he said it in a low voice, it was audible enough for Lucy to hear.
Lucy sharpened her glare at Rudy and said, "You know nothing about my rebellious phase."
"Okay, that's enough." Rebecca quipped. "Stop fighting, you two."
Lucy turned to Rebecca, who was sleeping on the couch, and raised her brow.
"Why are you still here? Uhm… I should have phrased it better."
"Yes, you should have," Rudy remarked.
"I was asking why you are not at your job. Are you taking a day off? And why are you lying down on the couch? Are you okay? Do you feel ill?" she asked with a concerned look on her face.
Rebecca slowly sat up and acted as if she had just woken up.
"I thought of lying down after eating and ended up dozing off. I should leave now." She stood up and grabbed her purse from the table. Then, she glanced back and forth at Rudy and Lucy.
"And don't fight while I am away. You both will turn eighteen soon, so you need to learn some maturity."
'You are the most childish one here,' he uttered inwardly.
Rebecca left the house in a hurry, while Lucy went to her room to dry her hair. Soon after, Rudy could hear the sound of the hair dryer revving once in a while.
Rudy was getting bored, so he thought he should mess with Lucy a little bit to make his evening entertaining.
"Hey Lucy!" he called out to her.
"What is it?"
"I heard that using a hair dryer actually damages your hair in the long term. Is that true?"
Lucy immediately stopped and turned off the hairdryer. A moment later, she ran into the living room and stood before Rudy with a puzzled and curious look on her face.
"Is that true?!" she asked.
"If you don't trust me, then you can search for the same on the internet. I am sure you would believe that over my words."
Lucy squinted her eyes and stared at Rudy, seemingly wondering if she should trust Rudy's words or search on the internet.
'I wouldn't mind if Rudy is messing with me, but if he turned out right, he would think that I didn't trust him. What should I do? I don't want to hurt his feelings. I have to be careful of my word choices and phrases… otherwise… I will miss that event.
I tried to trigger it sooner, but I was afraid of messing up the timeline. This time, I will do everything as they are supposed to happen. But it's strange… really. Everything is going differently.
I don't understand. I always make sure that I don't do anything that could divert the happenings… but one after another… the more I notice my surroundings, the more I realize that Rudy is… different.
How should I put this… he is… more honest, blunt, confident, active, handsome, charming, and… the way he looks at me is not the same. Even my seducing moves and suggestive remarks didn't have an effect on him. They should have worked! They totally worked the last time!
Is it because I made a big change by arranging dad and Rebecca's meeting sooner than they were supposed to meet?
I just wanted to meet Rudy sooner, so I assumed if Rebecca and dad met, they would take a few months to get married, but they got married a lot sooner than they were supposed to.
Even then, I only started living together with Rudy after a while. Paul has gone missing in this worldline too, but like… he went missing the next day of the family meeting at the restaurant.
I don't care about him in the least, but he is still my brother regardless of how he is and how much I hate him. I am just curious. Was he against marriage or something? But why would he? It doesn't make sense.
Nevertheless, this time… I have to make sure that Rudy doesn't meet Elise, no matter what happens. He will meet her at university, so I have time to be prepared. I will study hard to get into the same university as him and ensure he never interacts with Elise. He can be saved if Elise doesn't enter his life.'
