The sound of the bell echoed throughout the school.

“Tell me every detail.”

Holding my aching stomach, I began describing every detail of my premonition “I saw that girl… Casey… her lifeless body on the ground... pale … violet face… eyes tilted upwards… her… her mouth was open … veins under her jaw… marks on her neck--”

“How about her fingernails?”

“Hold on… I’m getting ther— mwuh— bgh—”

Covering my mouth, I hurriedly ran outside the entrance to vomit on a nearby wall. I may be used to seeing these dead bodies all the time, but there’s something this one this makes me sicker than usual. It might be because of her gaping mouth filled with foamy drool-- oh— bgh— shit— ugh— mwuh—

There goes the rest of my breakfast.

After getting a hold of my stomach, I wiped my mouth clean with my handkerchief and faced May who was staring at me as she scowled in disgust.

“Hah… some of her fingernails… on her right hand… had something red on it, maybe blood.”

“Hmm… Is there anythi--”

“Hey!” the deep, raspy voice of a man echoed through the school entrance, interrupting May. The podgy school guard began gazing at us with a stern look.

“Oi, shouldn’t you be inside your classrooms by now?”

“Shut up!” May glared at him. The guard looked at her with a face of utter disbelief. She’s got quite the nerve to shout at a school employee like that. Even I wouldn’t go as far as to scold someone like him in a bad day. But I can’t have her cause any more trouble right now.

“I’m sorry! We just got into a fight so she’s a bit hostile right now… We’ll go to our classroom right away…” I pleaded bleakly. Hearing what I just said, May began glaring at me as well.

“Don’t look at me like that, I’m trying to save our asses here.”

After giving us a few weird looks, the guard began to nod as if he came to a realization.

“Well, go on then.” The guard replied before continuing his rounds.

“Yes, thank you--”

May grabbed my wrist and began dragging me along with her. Judging by the direction we were heading, we were on our way to our classroom.

“I can walk on my own.” I tugged on my wrist and released it from her grip. After a brief pause we began moving once again.

“Someone’s going to kill her.” she stated.

“Y-yeah… I think so too.”

I’ve watched enough movies and read enough novels to know that her post mortem doesn’t suggest a natural cause for death. Especially those red marks on her neck, someone had to choke her hard enough to leave that much of an impression. Which raises a far more difficult question: Who will kill her?

“Damis” May called, coming to an abrupt halt just before we got up the flight of stairs that led to the floor of the white tie classrooms.

“Other than her body, what else did you see?”

“Give me a minute.”

Closing my eyes, I began focusing on the image in my head once again. Surprisingly, it was a lot less nauseating than before.

“I see… grass… and a tree.”

“Anything else?”

“Uh… I don’t think so.”

“Hmm…”

She began immersing herself in deep thought, striking a “right hand on chin, left hand under elbow” pose. I couldn’t help but think she was emulating some famous movie character with that kind of intellectual posture. Gazing past her, my eyes drifted towards the large glass window behind her. I noticed half of the sun peeking on the left side of the glass. I began to panic. Usually, when I go to school and walk through these very steps in the morning, the sun wouldn’t be seen outside the window at all. Mostly because with the day being that early, the sun, which is still shining on the far east of the school, won’t be covered by the northern point of view of the glass window. Meaning that if for some instance I was able to see the sun on the glass right front of me, then I am late for first period. And that’s no good at all.

Running past May, I began sprinting up the steps like some stair-aerobics activist. May began reaching out her hand in lighting speed as she tried to grab my wrist once again. Too bad I was already anticipating that kind of reaction from her, I swayed my left wrist away from her speeding hand, avoiding her vice-like grip. Her hand paused abruptly, causing me to think that she gave up at her attempt on stopping me. Realizing that, I focused my attention up the last flight of stairs and continued my race against time. But something felt wrong. As I was running up the stairs, my pants felt lighter and more maneuverable than usual. Although it may be a good thing, it still made me considerably worried. Mostly because, the only way for my pants to feel this way was if something inside my pockets were to disappear. And other than the few coins that remained on my right pocket, the phone which was on the left was no longer there.

“Are you sure about going to class like this?” she said, holding my phone for my eyes to see.

How… When did she get a hold of my phone? I didn’t even feel anything. I stood there, dumbstruck. I never knew she had a knack for pickpocketing.

She continued, “You said you didn’t know when or where a death will happen. Could you stomach going to class right now knowing that a person will die unless we do something about it?”

She reached out her hand, giving me back the phone she just snatched. Going down the steps, I grabbed it from her palm.

“That’s how I’ve always done it.” I began walking up the steps once again.

Admittedly, I’ve always turned a blind eye towards these incidents. I’ve always kept my distance. As I’ve already said before, I prefer being the spectator. If I don’t get involved, then I won’t get in trouble. Normally, people would see this as a selfish way of living. But, as much as would’ve preferred it to be otherwise, I’m not normal. So, for me, having an excuse such as that makes my actions completely justifiable. And it’s not like anyone can call me out for it.

Although, I wouldn’t say that I’ve never attempted to save anyone’s life before. I’ve tried. Back in grade school, after Noah found out about my visions, he suggested the idea that we should try and save the people I see in my visions. Our few attempts at being heroes ended well, and we ended up saving a few people in the process. But, after that one incident back in middle school, we stopped. Although, it might be better to say that only I, myself, stopped. Anyone thinks they’re a hero until they fail. And after my attempt at saving a friend ended up in failure, I became reluctant to involve myself any further. Back in September, I was foolish enough to think that I could go back and be a hero again. I should’ve known it wouldn’t go well. I should’ve just sat there on my seat and ignored it. If I did that, then I wouldn’t have…

“Then why did you save me?” May looked at me with crossed arms.

Oh, I almost forgot. This girl, staring straight at me in a condescending manner, is one of the strangers whom I had decided to save. And although my uncalculated actions almost ended up killing us both, I did manage to save her in the end. Up to this day, my reasons to why I decided to rescue her are still unclear. During that time, I felt like if I didn’t save her, I’ll end up regretting it someday. But, why did I come to that conclusion? I never knew anything about her to begin with. We never talked, shared no bond, no relationship other than being on the same class as each other. Yet, I felt a responsibility to save her. Was it because she was stalking me? Was I subconsciously aware of her actions towards me during the past year? What was driving her to observe me for such a long time? Was it mere curiosity? Responsibility? Romance?

Oh, that’s right.

I wanted to know.

After a brief pause, I began walking down the steps and towards May.

“Why are you so hell-bent about saving that girl?”

“I’m just not as apathetic as you are.”

The expression you had during that incident on the first day of class says otherwise. Although thinking about it again, receiving that gift must have something to do with her sudden eagerness.

I let out a deep sigh.

“Well, I did say I’ll try my best to help you.”

For now, the important thing is to know when it will happen. For all we know, she might already be dead by now, if not currently in the process of being killed.

“But before we do anything else, let’s try to figure out when the killing will happen. You have any ideas?”

“I didn’t get enough information.”

“… But I already told you everything I saw.”

“So far, you’ve only told me what was there.”

“… So?”

She let out a quick, exhausted sigh as she held her forehead in dismay.

“Did the tree have a shadow?”

“S-shadow?”

After uttering that word, something snapped in my head. How the hell did I not think of that? I closed my eyes and began concentrating on the image once again.

I opened my eyes wide as I came to a significant discovery.

“The shadow of the tree was pointing somewhere around the south east.”

The main entrance to our school is pointing towards the south. Which means everything behind it is more or less towards the north. If the shadow being casted by the trees in this school are pointing somewhere around the south east then the sun must be shining down on them from the opposite direction, the North West. And if the sun rises from the east and sets on the west then...

“She’ll die around four or five o’clock.” May declared, holding her chin.

“Which means we'll be able to attend classes before that.” With a grin, I began walking up the steps once again.

“A real, model student. Aren’t you?” she said as she began walking up the steps as well.

Heh, it’s not my first time hearing that.

After waiting for the teacher to leave our class room before going inside like the good students we are, we returned to our respective seats trying to avoid the curious gazes of our other classmates, especially Noah who looked like he saw someone who rose from the grave as he stared at me with such an astounded expression.

“Dude, where were you? It’s not like you to be missing first period like that. I was getting all lonely over here.”

I let out a brief sigh, “If you were feeling that way then why didn’t you just talk with those girls we hung out with yesterday?”

“Not a good idea right now. I got one of the girls mad and all of them decided to give me the cold shoulder. She shouted at me dude. Teary eyes. Now all the boys in class is looking at me like I’m some kind of criminal. To be honest it’s stressing me the hell out and I really need a hug right now.”

He covered his face with both his hands and rested his elbows on top of his table. He looked like someone who’d jump over a bridge as soon as school ended.

Still, to be shouted at by a crying girl, just what did he do this time?

I let out a brief sigh.

Not that I care about it anyway.

“I had a vision earlier.”

“A vision!?” he shouted abruptly as his expression changed from misery to utter surprise.

“Shh! Do you want everyone in our class to know about that?” I whispered sternly.

Fortunately, most of our classmates were too busy talking amongst themselves to be able to notice Noah’s sudden outburst of disbelief. Although I wouldn’t say the same for May who looked as though she heard him loud and clear, glancing at us briefly before continuing to gaze out the window beside her.

“… Who did you see?” Noah asked with a far more bearable volume of voice than before.

“A girl named Casey. She’s a white tie, like us. “

“… Are you going to do anything about it?”

“… Well--”

“We are certainly going to do something about it.” May appeared behind us, glaring at us both as she stood firmly with crossed arms.

After giving us both a brief shock, we looked behind our seats, almost in sync.

“Hey, Miss… shouldn’t you be in your seat? The teacher said--”

“No need for that. I’ve heard our class representative say that our teacher for second period won’t be able to attend class today.”

Well that’s convenient.

“And it should be okay if I'm not the only one doing it, right?” she continued, shooting a haughty grin my way.

Annoyed by that smug smile of hers, I turned my head frontwards and took out a small book from my bag to rest my eyes with. What is this, a pocket dictionary? Well, it’s better than nothing.

“So, we’re going to save Casey now? If that’s the case then can you tell me more about her? Like you first impressions about her and stuff.” Noah looked at May inquiringly, like a kid wanting to find out what gift his parents got him for his birthday. Before this conversation devolves into another one of Noah’s scouting sessions, I decided to intervene to keep the discussion meaningful.

“Say, shouldn’t we try to find out who’ll kill her?” I suggested, eyes still fixated on the book in front of me.

“Yes, but before that, shouldn’t we tackle the problem of where she’ll be killed?” May proposed in response, “If we knew when and where it’ll happen, knowing who would no longer make much of a significance.”

She has a point.

“Okay then. Any ideas?”

“Noah, could you draw a map of our school? It doesn’t have to be accurate, but make sure to mark the places where there’s a concentration of grass and trees.” Said May, slightly leaning toward our seats.

“Uh, sure.” Noah took a pen and a notebook out of his bag and got ready to draw.

“Are you sure you can do it?” I asked, glancing at the notebook on his table.

“Sheesh, I’m not that useless, Damis.”

He began sketching the map of the whole campus, even bothering to draw a few details like the dozens of trees scattered around the school. After a few revisions and many eraser shavings, he finally finished his sketch.

“Hey, that’s pretty good.” I muttered.

“Thanks very much.” Noah replied, “I could also fold this paper into a giraffe if you want.”

“Let’s save that for later,” May said.

She said that like she was looking forward to it.

She continued, “Anyway, could you mark all of the spots I mentioned, Damis?”

I took Noah’s sketch and began marking all the possible settings for Casey’s murder.

Hmm…

No good.

They’re too many.

The pathway to the entrance is studded with trees and shrubbery making it a prime location for her murder. But the courtyard had several trees in it as well as s few patches of grass. Not to mention the all-purpose field and greenhouse on the back of the school. To think I was praising the school director and his taste for greenery just a while ago. We’ll have to narrow them down somehow.

“There’s too many possibilities for the place of death so we’ll have to work on narrowing them down.”

She continued, “Since the death will occur during the dismissal of classes, it is highly unlikely for any area near the school’s front pathway to be the setting of a murder since there will be quite the number of students walking along the pathway during that span of time. The all-purpose field area won’t be good either since the school’s soccer team uses it for practice until six.”

“How about the courtyard?”

“There are a few students who do stay at the courtyard even after the day’s classes are dismissed. But, if I were to kill someone inside school grounds today, there is an area around the courtyard where it would be perfect. I heard someone say that at this time, the small washing area near the courtyard is temporarily off limits due to some needed repairs. And coincidentally, there is an area around it that is covered with grass as well as thick, waist high hedges and an old tree.”

“A perfect spot for the murder...”

“I wouldn’t say perfect, but it is ideal.”

Isn’t that basically the same word?

“Hold on,” Noah suddenly intervened, “Have you guys even told her about it? I mean, have you warned Casey that someone’s out to get her?”

“You think she’d believe some random students telling her that she’ll be killed after school?” I replied.

“Well… Y-yeah but… wouldn’t she believe it if May told her? You guys are like friends, right?” Noah said, turning towards May.

“We haven’t known each other for very long so I doubt she’ll believe me telling something as grim as that.”

“Anyway, we don’t need to tell her. We’ll just have to be there before it happens.” I took out my notebook and jot down all the information we’ve gathered so far.

“So… what do we do now?” Noah asked.

“We wait.” I replied.

“Yes, there isn’t much we can do about it now.” May added.

“Shouldn’t we like… try to figure out who will kill her?” Noah continued.

“That can wait. As we’ve already discussed, finding out the killer would no longer be necessary. Based from what we’ve gathered until now, we’ll already be able to save her with or without knowledge of who will do her in.” May concluded.

…

“Wouldn’t it be more convenient to just type those details on your phone?” May suggested, breaking the brief moment of silence.

“Shouldn’t you be on your way back to your seat by now? Third period’s gonna start .” I replied, momentarily halting what I was doing.

“Before that, I’d like Noah to teach me how to fold a giraffe.” She said, “Anyways, chairs kill you faster than old—”

“Yeah, got it.”

I closed up my notebook and took out the phone on my pocket. I guess taking notes with your phone is more convenient.

Lunch break.

Four hours before dead Casey.

With the signal of a nod, Noah and I got ready to leave the room and eat lunch at the canteen. I made it a point to leave the classroom as soon as the teacher dismisses the class for lunch break to avoid the traffic of hungry students that’ll soon pile up along the way.

As expected, upon exiting the room I saw no other students lingering around the hallways.

I glanced at Noah who was smiling for some reason.

“That’s one creepy smile you got going there.”

“I know this might sound rude but, I’m actually getting a bit excited about this.” He replied, “I mean, it’s been a while since the last time we tried to save someone.”

I remembered when I told Noah that I wouldn't be saving people anymore. He was pretty supportive about it, which caught me off guard since I know for a fact that Noah felt bad about not being able to save our old friend as well. He never really hold me accountable for any person that I could've saved since then, and that's something I truly appreciate.

“Well, that’s a good thing I guess. Anyway, let’s check out the washing area May was talking about earlier after we eat.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” May suddenly appeared beside me as we began walking down the steps. Her sudden appearance managed to shock me quite a bit once again.

“Wha— could you stop doing that?” I said, almost to the point of shouting.

“We should hurry. We’ll be going back to the student council office after all this. And I prefer to eat my meals in silence.” She began walking down the steps at a faster pace, as if she was leading us to the canteen.

I let out a weary sigh.

“Got it.”

Although the school canteen was by no means empty, the amount of people currently lounging around the area was more than bearable. And the best thing about it is, there wasn’t any queue to be seen.

“Ah, I live for moments like these.” I muttered blissfully.

“Indeed.” May said with a nod, “Moments like these feels like being in the eye of a storm.”

“If you guys feel that way then, why not just bring your own food to school?” Noah asked.

“The food here tastes better and cost a lot cheaper.”

“Indeed.” May added, “Anyway, let us eat.”

We stared at the selection of meals displayed in front of the counter as well as the prices they were labeled with. Although being the early bird has its merits, there are a few downsides as well. The menu being one of them. I wouldn’t say they were disgusting or anything of the like but, no matter how good something may taste, if it’s the only dish you can sink your teeth into, you’ll eventually get tired of it. In front of us was a tray of BLT sandwiches, a dozen boiled eggs, and of course, a hot tray of spaghetti.

“Sorry kid, you’ll have to wait a little longer if you want to eat something else.”

Ah, the irony of being too early for good food. Well, so be it. I’ll take a plate of spaghetti any day if it’ll mean I’d be able to eat in peace. And eating pasta does have its health benefits.

“I’ll take a plate of the usual then.” I said, with a sigh.

“Make that two.” Noah added.

“Three.” Said May, “And a mint.”

With trays of food in hand, we continued our way to the spot where Noah and I usually eat, more specifically, the eating area where the eating platform is directly connected to the wall, meaning we’ll be facing the wall while we eat. It may just be my own personal preference but, they’re the best seats in the house. Now seated, I began taking the first forkful of many forkfuls of pasta and stuffed it inside my mouth. Glancing at the other two, I’ve noticed they began eating their meals as well. In contrast to Noah’s somewhat barbaric manner of dining, May dug into her food with refinement. Tucking her hair beneath her right ear as she took a modest fork of spaghetti and consumed with elegance. For a split second, instead of cafeteria pasta, I imagined her eating something out of a five-star restaurant, with a glass of finely aged wine next to her. Suddenly, she put down her fork and after gulping down what she just ate, she coughed as if to clear her throat.

“I said knowing about it won’t really matter but, I think we should still try to find out who will kill her.”

Hearing her say that made me recall the vision I had earlier, as well as the nausea it brought with it. I covered my mouth as the sick feeling began spreading throughout my stomach. The red stuff’s coming back up. I ran out the cafeteria as fast as I could to let it all out on a nearby pair of trashcans beside a vending machine. Getting a hold of myself, I took a drink at the water station near the counter and walked back to my seat.

“… Can we talk about something else… for now?” I asked, holding my aching stomach.

“Yeah, like about what you did last Friday.” Noah added.

“Hmm. Very well then.” She pushed away her unfinished plate of pasta to give room on the table for her elbows as she rested her chin on the back of her interlaced hands.

“A few minutes after you left, Casey arrived at the student’s council’s office seeking help. After a brief introduction, she told me about how one of the violins the school provided have recently gone missing the day before. I accepted the request and after school I went to the music club’s room.”

“You mean the orchestra club.” I corrected her.

“When I arrived, the club members were already playing their instruments as they performed a few practice pieces. Casey invited me to listen to their performance which I gladly accepted, although I had to leave the room for a moment since you gave me a call, but after that, I began my investigation. I asked some of the members about the missing instrument but most of them didn’t even know it was gone in the first place. Which was understandable since Casey, being the one in charge of managing the instruments, only discovered about it earlier that day.”

“Wait, hold on.” Noah interrupted, “I thought you usually do jobs during lunch break.”

“Well, that mostly depends on the situation. Casey suggested that I drop by the musi—orchestra club after school.”

“Anyway, let’s cut to the chase. Who stole it?” I said, finishing up my meal.

“Stolen is the wrong word. It was borrowed by a green tie, a freshman who has recently joined the club after Casey recruited him.”

“So it was just a misunderstanding?” said Noah.

“No. He took the instrument home and used it outside school premises. And as you know, taking school property or equipment home is strictly forbidden.”

“You said he borrowed the violin, so does that mean he returned it afterwards? And why did he feel the need to do something as stupid as taking it home with him?”

“I have no idea. But judging by his cheerful demeanor whenever he’s around her, and how, according to Casey, ever since he joined the club he’d actively volunteer to help her tidy up the clubroom before leaving, I’d think he holds Casey in high regard. And that may have contributed to him doing such an act. Anyway, I didn’t even needed to think about it that hard since right after Casey left the room after offering to buy the three of us a drink, he confessed everything to me, saying that he only took it home so that he could practice with it more since, although he had experience using a guitar before, it’s taking him too long to learn about the basics of playing a violin and that he didn’t want to let Casey efforts of enlisting him to the club and teaching him how to play the instrument be in vain. Saying that he will return it immediately, he began pleading me to think of some other reason as to why it was missing since she didn’t want Casey to think badly of him.”

“So, what did you do?” I asked.

“I ignored him and told her everything.”

Ugh, talk about cruel.

She continued, “I have no intention of providing someone with false information during a situation like that. And it’s not like I cared about their relationship anyway. Not that they had much of a relationship to begin with. Casey told me the two of them were just friends.”

“And how did Casey react when you told her about it?” Noah asked after finishing up his meal.

“After telling her about his confession I left immediately to find you guys. Because of that, I did not have the opportunity to stay and watch their banter.” She paused, as if something came to her mind. She began digging through her bag in search of something. She took out the keychain Casey gave her earlier this morning as a token of gratitude.

“When she got back, she gave us canned drink with the same logo of a character as this.” She said, flashing us the keychain she was holding.

I couldn’t help but notice how the cafeteria became louder and louder as students gradually began filling up the place.

“I think it’s time to—” I saw May’s plate and how there was still quite a considerable amount of pasta left on it. It looks as though she only took a bite and pushed it aside, which, if I recall correctly, she in fact did.

“Aren’t you going to finish that?” I asked.

“I didn’t have much of an appetite today. Perhaps it was because I ate a lot for breakfast earlier. Anyway, let’s leave this place. It’s beginning to be unbearable.”

After dropping by the water station once again and buying a mint from the counter to cleanse my palate, we headed on outside with May leading the way, heading for the washing area near the courtyard aka the soon to be scene of the crime. Passing by the trashcans I vomited beside earlier, I threw the plastic wrapper of the mint I ate into one of them and saw that there were dozens of identical cans almost filling up the two trashcans, after a brief glance at the vending machines next to them, I saw that only a few of the canned drinks were left being displayed. It bears the same logo as May’s keychain. These were probably what May was referring to earlier. The brand name was printed in a large, cartoonish font. Royal Rabbit, orange juice drink. With B vitamins. I noticed something else, on one of the many cans that have been disposed of was an image of something identical to May’s keychain, as well as two other accessories of varying design. They were printed above a group of text that read: “Get a chance to win one of these cute accessories!”

“What’s the hold-up Damis? Are you feeling sick again?” asked May.

“Eugh, talk about gross…” Noah said, staring at the puke I shoved out earlier. ” What the hell have you been eating my man?”

“Shut up.” I exclaimed as I continued walking.

The small washing area was equipped with four faucets all placed on one long sink on the outside, as well as two pairs of toilets on the inside all separated by gender. As expected, there were placards on both doors saying that the washing area is currently under repair. Although, should do some trimming while they’re at it since the hedges surrounding the area look a bit overgrown, blocking the view of the waist high sinks completely. Walking around, I decided to find the specific area where I saw Casey’s body on.

“I think I saw it here.” I pointed towards the grass near the entrance beside the tree.

“So it’s gonna go down here, huh?” Noah said, crouching down as he felt the grass.

“… What are you doing?” I asked as he began to sniff some of the grass he pulled off.

“You know, now that we already know where she’ll die, why don’t we set up a trap to catch the killer?”

“Sorry but I don’t think that’s happening.”

“Why not? It’s a good idea, right May?” we glanced at May who was staring intently at the place with that signature pose of hers. Looks like nothing we’ll say will go through her right now.

“Making a trap would require a lot of time and preparation. And we wouldn’t need it anyway since we’re going to wait for the murder to happen.”

“Let’s leave.” May said abruptly.

“But we haven’t checked out everything yet. We haven’t even thought of a plan”

“We might not need to…”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

From the way May was acting as we walked to the student council’s office, it was evident that she realized something important during that visit at the washing area. Although, I don’t know why she won’t tell us about it. But whatever it is, I don’t think she’ll keep it as a secret from us for too long. She’s bound to show off at some point.

“Say Damis, what kind of person do you think Casey is?” May asked as we were approaching the library.

“Why’re you asking me that?”

“You look like you’re a good judge of character.”

“The hell I am. You should ask Noah, he’s pretty good with people.”

“He hasn’t met Casey yet. And I don’t trust him that much.”

“I’m right here you know…” Noah said with a sigh.

“Well, I can give you my first impressions… So, I think she’s umm… a nice girl… I guess.”

May let out a chuckle.

“I did say I’m not good with people.”

“Come on, I know you can do better than that.”

I let out a brief sigh.

“Fine, I’ll try harder… She looks like she’s one of the responsible types, someone who can stand on her two feet. She knows how to show gratitude which I can respect. She’s… dependable I guess, since you said she’s in charge of their club’s equipment and stuff. Patient…. Cheerful… and a bit immature. She looks like she’s good with people judging from the way she talks and the fact that she’s in a club that consists of more or less a dozen people... And— she’s right there.”

Turning left from the library, we saw Casey waiting outside student council room door. Seeing her made the gruesome image appear in my head again, but this time I managed to get through the nausea. She smiled as she saw us walking towards the room, she began walking towards us holding some kind of box inside a pouch… lunchbox maybe?

“O-oh, hi. I thought maybe we could have lunch together?” she said cheerfully, looking at May.

I kind of feel sorry to the girl. Not only is she going to die today but since the three of us already ate at the cafeteria, she ended up waiting at the student council’s room for nothing. Feeling sympathy for her, I decided to be the one to turn her down since, knowing May, I’m sure she’ll reject her offer and be as blunt about it as she can. The least I can do is offer an immediate explanation before she gets the chance to run her mouth. And besides, I don’t think she’ll mind if I’m the one being blunt about it.

“We already ate in the cafeteria earlier.”

Casey glanced at me before making a bitter smile.

“Oh, I see… I guess it’s my fault since I should’ve asked you about it earlier… I’m sorry…”

“She’s cute…” Noah whispered to my right ear.

“You say that about every girl you meet,” I swayed my head away from him, “It’s basically your catchphrase by now.”

“No it’s not. My catchphrase is something more like, “You’re already dead!”” he said as he struck a weird pose.

“Wow… I like that one…” I replied in sarcasm.

Noah continued staring at Casey.

“So, she’s the one who’s going to be killed?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s kind of weird, you know?”

“Weird?”

”I mean, why would someone want to kill her? She looks nice and practically harmless.”

“It’s too soon to think that way, Noah.”

We know nothing about her. And I’m not the type to set things in stone straight of the bat, especially after all the events in recent memory. She might be a nice girl at first glance but for all we know, she might have more enemies than Noah. And he has about a dozen of them. Mostly female.

“I don’t mind.” Said May, looking at Casey with a smile.

I turned my head to look at May, I didn’t expect to hear her say that.

She’s really gotten soft on her.

“Really?” Casey replied, fueled by a sudden burst of energy.

“I didn’t eat much earlier. I can join you if you want.”

Well, that is true.

Hold on.

Did she not finish her food because she knew Casey would—?

…

Nah, that’s just impossible.

“Thanks! I could share some of mine if you want, I made a lot.” She glanced briefly at me and Noah before looking back at May, “Your friends can have some too.”

“I’ll pass.”

More food means more puke.

“Did you happen to have some croquettes in there?” Noah asked inquisitively.

“Ah, Yeah, I have some.” Casey replied with a smile.

Ugh, what is this? It’s so bright.

Is this what they call, a newfound friendship?

I looked away as I rubbed my eyes.

“You’re free to eat here inside the student council room.” May said, opening the door for Casey.

“Oh, thanks. I’ll share some to the officers as well.”

Inside were the officers who, unusually enough, weren’t working and passing around documents but instead passed the time by messing with their phones and reading books. That included Glenn who was playing a game of Othello with Lawrence. Feeling a bit tired from vomiting too much, I sat at the sofa and made myself comfy.

“Um… Hi.” Casey greeted the silent council members, “I thought it’d be nice to share some food with you guys, as thanks for your help last Friday.” Casey took out the lunchbox and opened it in front of the all the officer’s eyes to see. Some of the officers stood out of theirs seats as they circled around the display of food, Glenn and Lawrence, however, were too focused on their game to take notice of the events happening around them. Before long, the officers began digging into Casey’s lunchbox, including Noah who immediately went for the line of croquettes inside.

“Whoa, this is delicious. You made these yourself?” one of the council members asked.

“Yes, I really enjoy cooking. I learned a lot form my mom.” She smiled cheerfully as the members praised her of her culinary skills.

“Your mom is a great teacher.” The secretary said, chowing down on one of the finger sandwiches.

“Yeah, and like, these croquettes are super good, like crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.” Said Noah who was downing all of the croquettes one by one, “We just had lunch but I can’t stop eating.”

“Here.” Casey offered May a sandwich.

“Oh, thanks.” She closed her eyes as she ate the sandwich, as if savouring the flavours of every ingredient on it.

“Here.” She then offered me another sandwich.

“No, I--”

“Please.” She looked at me with a bright smile.

That word.

For some reason, it always makes me reconsider.

“Uh, I guess…” I took it from her hands as I bit down of the soft bread.

“… This is good…” I uttered unconsciously.

“Thanks.” She smiled at me, even brighter.

I’m starting to think Noah’s right about her.

Who would want to kill someone like her?

I looked back at the farthest desk and saw that even Glenn and Lawrence, who were recently busy with their game, joined the others and ate a share of their food as they chatted with each other. Casey sat next to me, glancing at her I noticed that she was staring at my face with a curious expression, getting a bit surprised, I recoiled myself away from her.

“Not that I care or anything, but, why don’t you join them? At the rate they’re gulping down your food, I’m not sure if they’ll be able to leave some for you.”

“It’s okay,” she replied, glancing at the people feasting on their desks, “I already had some before coming here. And watching someone else enjoy something I made makes me feel really--”

She paused as she began taking a closer at my face

“You… have we met before?” she said, slightly cocking her head.

“Uh… I don’t think so. Well... we did kind of see each other earlier in the morning so--”

“Hmm…” she muttered, holding her chin as her face kept getting closer to mine.

Feeling a bit embarrassed by her sudden, eccentric behavior, I looked away towards the desks where I saw May and Glenn talking to each other. Afterwards, she headed to the sofa where Casey and I were awkwardly positioned, seeing that May was approaching, Casey stopped moving and instead made space for May to sit on.

“Did you tell him about how Casey’s going to be killed later? He might be able to help us.” I whispered to May’s ear.

“Telling him about it would might lead him to figuring out you had visions of death. So I didn’t.”

Fair point.

She continued, “Although I did tell him to exclude us of our current duties today.”

“And he’s okay with that?”

“He didn’t mind since they aren’t occupied with anything today.”

Well, that’s some good news. With Casey’s imminent death already keeping us occupied, I doubt we’ll be able to handle any more problems.

With the lunch box completely empty, the council members began returning to their seats and continuing as they were. Noah, who looked completely satisfied after eating all those food, joined us on the sofa as well, sandwiching me between him and May.

“Man that was good. Hey Casey, can I marry you?” Noah shamelessly said as he sat himself on the couch. Casey giggled in response.

“Thank you, but, I have other plans.” She answered, her face bearing a modest smile. They talked about marriage like two salary men talking about grabbing a drink at a pub after work.

“Ah, being rejected doesn’t feel that bad when I’m full.” Noah said, striking a relaxed pose.

“Oh, May, while we’re on the topic, there’s something I want to ask you,” he said, glancing at the officers who were on their seats, patting their full stomachs with gratification.

“Are you and Glenn a couple?” May looked at him with a straight expression, then after a few moments, she broke into a chuckle.

I admit, I’m curious as to what relationship Glenn and May had as well. It’s one of the questions that have been stuck on the back of my head for the longest time.

“Looks like we’ve caused a bit of a misunderstanding here, Glenn.” May said, looking towards Glenn who was letting out a chuckle of his own as he and Lawrence continue with their game.

“I hear that same question more often than I should,” He moved his piece on the board, causing Lawrence to let out a brief, weary sigh as he admits his defeat, “We’re cousins.”

Well, that explains the “uncle” talk they had last time.

“Oh, I see.” Noah replied, briefly surprised.

“Anyway,” May said, taking out something out of her pocket, “Casey, can I ask you what umm…. character this may be?” she presented the keychain she gave her to Casey.

“Oh, that. Cute, isn’t he? It’s the mascot of a new drink I saw on the TV a while ago. I’ve been in love with it ever since. And they’re really popular, the vending machines that have around school royal rabbit often get sold out after school. But, I know of a place where I can buy one without worrying about it being sold out, I’m keeping that a secret, though. ”

“Do you have another one of this, by any chance?” May asked, unusually polite.

“Yeah, I have another in my bag, although it looks a bit different than what I gave you. I got these two from a giveaway their promoting. They’re supposed to be three of these, but I’m still working on getting the last one. It won’t be long till I have all three of them.”

Judging from what I saw on one of the drinks in the trashcan earlier, what she’s talking about sounds about right.

“Hmm… If that’s the case… then maybe…” May muttered to herself. Without warning, she stood up from the sofa, “I think it’s time for us to go back to our classroom.”

“Eeh? Can’t we stay for a bit longer? My stomachs still trying to process my food here.” Noah refused to budge.

I looked at the time on my phone and saw that it was a few minutes before class begins.

“Okay, time to go.” I said as I stood up and stretched my arms. Noah reached out his arm at me as if he wanted me to pull him out of the seat, which I did. Lazy bastard.

Well, I’m one to talk.

“I-I’ll come with you guys…” Casey picked up her empty lunchbox on the desk before putting it back inside the pouch.

After Lawrence and some of the other officers thanked Casey for the meal one last time, we left the room and headed to our classrooms. As we walked, I glanced at May who was yet again engrossed in deep thought. Now I’m definitely sure she realized something important. Although, I don’t have much of an opportunity to ask her about it right now since Casey’s walking with us, chatting with Noah. Of course, I could just go to her and whisper the question to her ear, but I doubt she’ll actually notice my presence.

“I’ll ask later.” I muttered to myself.

“See you guys later! And thanks for the help!” Casey waved her petite hands as we went inside our classroom which was slowly filling up with students.

“Well, she’s an interesting character.” I said to May who was giving Casey a wave of her own.

“Did you jot down all the information we had so far in your phone?” she asked, right before I could take a seat.

“Yeah.”

“… Can I see it?”

I took out my phone, and after filling up the password I recently changed, I handed it over to May.

“Can I hold on to this for a while? I need to do some brainstorming.”

At first, I felt reluctant by habit. But it’s not like I don’t trust her enough to lend her my phone. And as far as I’ve known her, she never shared any information regarding my visions to anyone, she even went out of her way to avoid mentioning it to Glenn. I’m starting to think I should trust her more.

“Just, don’t let the teacher take it.” I replied as I gave her my phone, “Did you realize something important?”

“Kind of. I still need to think about it, as well as our course of action. I’ll tell you guys what I came up with after school.” Putting my phone on her skirt pocket, she began walking to her seat. But before she took her seat, she paused and glanced back at me.

“Could you mark the areas with vending machines on the school map of yours? Show it to me after class.”

Vending machines?

“Right, got it.”

I took out the map Noah made earlier and began circling the places around the school where vending machines are installed, with a bit of help from Noah. As we finished marking all the places, I began to notice something significant.

“Wow…”

“What is it?” Noah asked.

I let out a small chuckle.

“We almost screwed up.”

“Tomorrow we’ll be having a short quiz, so make sure to keep what we’ve discussed during our lesson in mind. Alright, that’s all. Class is dismissed.” Our final teacher of the day said before walking out of the classroom with his belongings in hand.

“Group one is on cleaning duty today, you guys better not bail out.” Our class representative reminded.

“Let’s go.” May said, wearing her bag.

Noah and I nodded in response.

“Here’s the map with the vending machines marked.” I handed the sketch over to May as we navigated through the student filled corridors.

“You look like you found something important.” She smiled as she took it.

“Honestly, would it hurt you to mention it earlier?” I replied, rubbing my neck.

“Hey guys, can I get in on whatever you’re talking about? We’re like, talking in different languages here.” Noah said, scratching his head.

“She might not die where we expected.”

“Yes,” May added, “There was an important factor that we haven’t considered. And that is, Casey herself. Casey talked about that royal rabbit thing like she was a big fan of it. She even mentioned that she has a secret spot where she could buy the drink without worrying about it being sold out. In our school, policy dictates that you could only buy canned drinks with vending machines to avoid destructive littering. The secret spot she’s talking about must be near one of the vending machines scattered around the school.”

“And that’s where she’ll die.” I said.

May continued, “Fortunately for us, her secret wasn’t much of a riddle at all. There are only three spots in this school where a vending machine is installed. Two at the canteen, one near the courtyard and, most likely to be Casey’s secret spot, the one near the greenhouse since few students often walk around that area.” May said as we got down the last flight of stairs, “We’ll still need to keep an eye on that washing area though since it’s still one of the most suggestive spots, not to mention that one of the vending machines is placed near that area. That means we’ll have to split up.”

“Speaking of which, is it okay for you to be missing out on your part time job? I mean, your shift usually starts right after school.” I asked Noah, who looked quite surprised at what I had just asked.

“Um… yeah, you don’t have to worry about that...” He said, scratching the back of his head as he looked away with a nervous smile.

“Something happened?”

“Yeah… kind of. We kind of had a… um… what do you call this…? Something like a… mutual termination of contract… ”

“You got fired?”

Now that he mention’s it, I’ve never heard him talk about his part time job since the first week of class.

“It was a mutual termination of contract, ‘Kay? A mutual termination of contract.” He insisted.

“Well, whatever float’s your boat. At least you’ll be able to help us because of it.”

Arriving at the courtyard, May paused and looked around the area.

“If I’m correct, a few minutes form now Casey’s will leave the orchestra club room to buy a drink from the vending machine near the greenhouse. Before that, you, Damis, must be positioned around the area and wait for Casey’s assailant to appear. Noah will wait here, near the washing area, just in case.” May said before walking back inside the school building.

“Where are you going?” I asked May, stopping in her tracks.

“I’m going to try get the student council’s sergeant of arms and bring them to the greenhouse. And Noah, if anything happens, give Damis a call.” She continued her way inside the entrance.

“Yes ma’am.” He replied, “I guess this is it.” Noah reached out his hand towards me.

“Yeah.” I began walking, on my way to the school’s greenhouse.

“Dude, be careful!” he shouted as I kept walking away.

Heh.

Man…

“… Should I be really doing this?” I muttered to myself as my nervousness grew to be unbearable. I’m walking towards the scene of an impending crime, hoping to put a stop to a killer.

A killer.

I’m going to be against a killer.

…

Gulp.

Snap out of it.

All you have to do is show yourself to the killer saying “Aha! Gotcha!” then May and the student council will take care of the rest.

It’s as simple as that.

Easy.

…

I went inside the second school building on my way to the greenhouse. This building in our school consists of two stories of different utility rooms for the students, such as laboratories, computer rooms, and others. It’s roughly the same size as our main school building, if not a bit smaller. On the end of the quiet corridor I’m walking through right now is the greenhouse, maintained by the school director himself. It’s as old as the school, and holds many kinds of flora, some of which were imported from other countries. Even since we had our tour inside of it during biology class in my second year, I’ve always found it to be such a relaxing place to be in. It’s soothing. Calming. Comforting. I repeat these words in my head as I fought the tension building up inside of me as I got nearer and nearer. I bet even Noah’s feeling anxious about taking on Casey’s killer. Without warning, I felt something bump into me from the right.

“Ahh… ouch.” She said.

“Uh, sorry, my bad.” I apologized before realizing that the one I bumped into was none other than Casey, who looked as though she walked into me as she gone down the flight of stairs to my right.

“Oh, if it isn’t… Da… Daniel!” she said with a sweet smile.

“Damis.” I clarified.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you or anything…” she apologized, bowing her head, “Hey, as an apology, how about I buy both of us a drink?” she looked at me, regaining her smile.

She may be smiling as she’s saying that to me now, but little does she know that this trip to the vending machine will end up getting her killed. Although I could lie to her and say that the vending machine she’s going to is currently out of order, avoiding her death and everything that will happen altogether. But, since her death will be caused by the actions of another person, that method will be unreliable. Unless we had some other way to catch her assassin. Right now, catching him red handed will be our best bet.

“Well… I guess I’ll take you up on your offer.” I replied, with a smile of my own.

“We’re going to buy a drink in my secret spot I told you guys about earlier.” She said in a cheerful tone as we walked towards the greenhouse.

“Eeh… Wow… I can’t wait.” I replied, trying to match her pace.

“Anyway, I hope you don’t mind me asking but, what’re doing here in the second building?” hands behind her back, she looked at me with an inquisitive stare.

Ugh.

That’s one dangerous question.

It almost caught me off guard.

“Well I, err, um… I’m on my way to the greenhouse.”

“For a job?”

“Kind of.”

“Eeh… you guys sure keep yourselves busy,”

I felt something strange as we were walking down the corridor. It was as if someone was watching us, piercing the two of us with its sharp gaze. I looked behind us, only to see that there’s no one there.

I let out a sigh.

Stay calm, Damis.

Let it play out.

…

Might as well tell Noah to come here—

Oh, crap. May has my phone.

“Oh, after you finished drinking be sure to give me the can’s pulling tab thingy.” Casey said as we got near the exit towards the greenhouse, “I’ll need it to get the other keychain.”

Before I managed to walk through the exit, I felt someone grab my left arm with an enormous amount of force, even stronger than how May would grab me. I was forced to turn around as the person behind me pulled my arm towards him, I got a brief glimpse of the person who suddenly lifted me up with some kind of advanced judo maneuver and threw my body backwards.

Plop.

Out and down for the count.

And to my surprise, the one who threw me was a girl.

Chapter End