Chapter 36：Does Matthew hate Renae?

"Uhm anyways, it's getting late... you should head back home," Renae suggested.

"Are you sure? What if something bad happens to you again? I should stay here with you..."

"No... no really, you should go back home. I promise I'll be more vigilant," she persuaded for him to go home.

Matthew wanted to insist on staying with her for the night but realised that the next day would be her birthday and he hadn't gotten the puppy from his Uncle yet. He also had to tell Cathy and Kaiden about the birthday party he planned for her after school. So, he nodded his head and drove away.

Instead of driving to his house, he drove over to his Uncle's place. On the way there, he contacted his uncle and informed him that he would be coming to pick up the puppy. His uncle replied with an 'okay' and the called ended. Matthew focused on driving and reached Uncle Julian's house in a few minute's time.

He pressed the bell on Uncle Julian's house and he opened the door with the puppy in his arms. Matt greeted his Uncle and took the puppy from him. Uncle Julian had prepared some dog necessities for Renae as he heard from Matthew that she was a first-time owner. He went inside Uncle Julian's house and put the puppy down. He took the stuff he prepared and brought it into his car first. Then, he came back into the house for the puppy. He waved goodbye to Uncle Julian and off he went, back to his house.

He arrived back at his house to the sight of his worried parents.

"Where have you been? We got a call from school that said that you skipped school," Auntie Ann asked worriedly.

"Oh mum, dad, about that. Renae was kidnapped and I received a call from an unknown number saying to go to a particular location. Kaiden called for the police and now they're in jail. The police said that Min would be seeing us in court to try and pay off her punishment in jail."

"That's serious."

"I know... I'm sorry I missed school..."

"It's OK, son. We'll inform your principal about this," Uncle Jeffery said.

"Thanks dad."

"But the real question is why is there a puppy with you?" Uncle Jeffery questioned.

"Oh! This! Tomorrow is Renae's birthday and I adopted this dog, well more like Renae adopted this dog, from Uncle Julian. I questioned her through the phone and she passed the interview so I'll bring this dog to her tomorrow."

"I see..."

Matthew walked upstairs to his room with the puppy still in his arms. The puppy sat down on his lap as he made a conference call with Kaiden and Cathy. He called them to talk about the party he planned out for Renae since it was her birthday. Kaiden and Cathy had already gotten a gift for Renae as Matthew had been talking about it when Renae wasn't around. They talked about the plan arrangement and Matthew left the call.

Kaiden and Cathy however, didn't end the call there. They continued talking. He explained to her what happened and why all of them weren't at school.

"So why were y'all not in school?" Cathy asked.

"Oh, about that... Renae was kidnapped the night before and that was why she didn't pick up the phone. The person behind this kidnap is not surprising, it is Min. She paid 3 men to carry out this kidnap. Matt received a call when I was with him. He answered the call and it was from an unknown number. I overheard the conversation and made a police call when Matthew drove off to the location the caller told him to go to," Kaiden explained.

"Oh... are you OK? Nothing happened to you right?" Cathy said, concerned.

"Yep I'm fine, Renae and Matthew are both alright too."

"That's good to hear."

After talking about the kidnap, they still didn't end the call. They talked about what he missed out in school, their interests and so on. They lost track of time and it was already 2 AM. They ended their call as they had to wake up in a few hours time for school.

The school gates open and students start pouring in soon after. Matthew pulled up and parked his car in the outdoor parking lot since it wasn't very hot that day. Renae gets out and they walk to class together. After settling down in their seats, Renae looks at Matthew with an expecting look, but he doesn't say or do anything. "What?" Matthew tilted his head as he asked. "Oh, it's nothing... hahaha," she replied with an awkward laugh following behind. He shrugs and continues playing with his phone.

"Ah! Renae, happy birthday! I wasn't able to prepare much, I'm so sorry..." a female classmate says to Renae, in her hands was a small bag with a cute ribbon keeping it closed. Renae's eyes lit up. "Thank you! There's no need for you to be sorry, it's already good enough you remembered it," she replied, her smile was so big it almost reached her eyes.

After that, a few people also wished her happy birthdays, yet Matthew, Cathy and Kaiden didn't say anything to her! A million people could wish her a happy birthday, but if her close friends didn't, it would hurt her greatly.

The periods all passed by in a flash and soon, it was time to leave the school.

As Matthew and Renae get into the car, he asks her, "Hey, want to hang out today? I have something BIG to show you!" She regained all the energy she had lost that day when she heard that. "Mmh, sure!" She replied with a satisfied smile. After their conversation, Matthew started up the car and they were off.

Matthew parked his car right outside of Renae's driveway and they went in together. They place their bags on the floor against the couch. "You want anything to drink?" She asked cheerily from the kitchen. "Hmpf. Why would I want anything from your house? Just come so I can show you the thing," he replied without sparing a single glance at her.

Renae was a little shocked... and confused. Why was Matthew acting so weird? She decided to shrug it off and just grab a coke for herself. She joined him on the couch and took a refreshing gulp from her cup of coke. Matthew looks over and unconsciously drools. "Er... do you want some?" Renae asked, holding the glass of coke towards him. He shook his head and turned the other way. "There's no way I'd drink something from your house. Who knows what you could've put in there," he replied haughtily with his arms crossed.

"But you've drank and even eaten at my house be-" "Anyways, look look, this is what I wanted to show you!" Matthew interrupted Renae rudely, shoving his phone infront of her face. It was just his number of wins in a certain game. "Oh... ha ha... is this... all you wanted to show me? That's all?" She asked, her mood dropping drastically. "Yep. Why? It's all I wanted to show you. Also, your couch is comfortable so I wanted to chill here. You can go do whatever you want now," he said, continuing to fiddle with his phone.

Renae gulped and hung her head and stared at the drink in her hands, taking mini glances at Matthew once in a while. After about 2 hours or so, she had a realisation and her heart fell. Could Matthew, maybe, be starting to hate her? He didn't seem to care about her at all, the entire time he didn't talk or look at her.

Renae really had the urge to cry but she tried her best to hold it in. Even if she hid in her room, her sniffles would still be heard from the living room.

As she thought about that, Matthew suddenly turned his towards Renae. She felt his gaze on her so she looked at him too. "Come," he commanded, without giving her a choice. He stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder. "Why? Where are we going?" Renae asked, standing up too. "I said come. Just come," he responded, walking towards the front door.

"Why should I listen to you?" Renae almost laughed as she said that. She never thought she'd ever say something like that to Matthew. He was always such a nice friend. Matthew let out a frustrated sigh and walked towards her. He forcefully grabbed her wrist and pulled her along towards his car.

"Hey! What are you doing? You're grabbing too tightly... it hurts," Renae said, her last few words got softer. Matthew loosened his grip unknowingly. Sadness was written all over her face as he pushed her into the passenger seat. He started driving before Renae could even buckle her seat belt. He was driving very fast, at a dangerously fast pace.

"Close your eyes," Matthew said. "Otherwise I'll force them close for you," he added. Renae had to sallow the big lump of saliva which got stuck in her throat and nodded. She obediently closed her eyes, her hands were tense and her nails dug into her palm, almost digging into her skin.