A week has passed since the formation of our club. During that time, our club activities remained stagnant. By that, I mean no one dropped by our clubroom in need of assistance. Seriously, nobody. Thinking about it again, I’m sure the rumors about the recent incident that involved 4 higschool students and a group of criminals might’ve something to do with it. Not to mention the fact that one of those 4 students was someone who had initially dropped by to make a request. With that said, it’s easy to think why no student decided to visit the clubroom.

But it’s not as if no one else decided to visit our book cluttered room. Margo occasionally visits the clubroom to take some books out to the shelves, Lawrence also occasionally checks our club’s activities and overall attendance. Eventually, probably due to boredom, May began laying on the scattered books around the room whilst reading a book about “Economic Stability in a Changing World”. To put that in perspective, it’s the first time I ever saw her hold a book and read it. Even though she was doing so in a manner that I could only describe as unusual. She read it beginning from the last page. I couldn’t even remind her about our deal without her hissing at me. Noah on the other hand seemed to forget about the club all together, not even bothering to visit the clubroom after school. Well, he did tell me he’s planning on getting another part time job soon. So, it’s either he’s looking for job openings, or hanging out with the girls in class. Probably the latter.

Although Casey, already being a member of the orchestra club, managed to keep a perfect attendance. Even bothering to bring snacks every time she entered the room. Both her and May seem to hit it off pretty well, even referring to her as “May-ple” in every recent conversation they had. Unusually enough, May never really seemed bothered by it, unlike the time when I decided to call her by that nickname on one occasion. I’ll just say I learned my lesson.

“Excuse me?”

The girl behind gave me a nudge as I stared in front of the vending machine in the school courtyard, holding an un-opened can of cold lemon tea.

“Uh—erm, go ahead...” I replied, giving her way to the machine as I began to walk away from the area.

“Hey, aren’t you the guy that got kidnapped a week ago? With that other girl?” she asked, causing me to halt in the process.

“I… may not be the person you’re talking about.” Dismissing her inquiry, I continued to walk.

“Huh…” she uttered before letting out a soft chuckle, “So, what happened to that girl?”

Ugh.

What a persistent one.

“I don’t know.” I said, picking up my pace.

June.

I wonder how she’s doing this past few days.

Is she attending another school?

Probably.

I like that about you…

Seriously, what a way to say goodbye.

“Hey, I’m still talking to you.”

The girl’s voice grew colder, causing me to stop as if I froze still.

What’s more, her voice sounded really familiar.

Terrifyingly familiar.

It almost made me reluctant to turn back.

“Don’t worry, I’m not planning on doing anything like the last time.” she said, “I just wanted to say sorry.”

I stared at her, standing still, not moving an inch. I never really had the chance to get a good look at her during our first encounter (mostly because I was busy trying to fight for my life), but looking at her now, I could see she’s a bit tall for a green tie, being almost as tall as Casey. Other than that one, minute detail, I can’t deny seeing her in school grounds was anything less than unpleasant. It’s like feeling a headache coming back even though you’ve already drank some medicine to get rid of it.

Honestly.

What an unpleasant surprise.

“… How’d you get back to school so soon?” I asked, instinctively clenching my fist. My wounds may already have healed but I still haven’t gone over what she did to me a week ago. Damn psychopath.

“My parents talked it over with the director.” Kate said, her attention still on the vending machine in front of her, “My suspension supposed to last 3 weeks, but they managed to get it down to one.”

“But…”

How the hell did they manage to do that?

“They’re both lawyers.”

Well, ain’t that convenient.

“Then, how about the other guy?”

“Oh, him? He left school.” Her drink fizzed as she pulled off the tab with incredible force.

I felt the urge to ask about what happened to him afterwards but, prying was something I didn’t want to do. Reliving bad memories was something I tried to avoid while talking to her. Didn’t want her to go on a rampage again.

“Here.” She tossed me another drink, a Royal Rabbit, “I’m sorry about before, wasn’t thinking right back then.” She continued, “Tell your girlfriend I’m sorry.” She began walking away, taking a sip from her drink as she paced. I felt the need to make a clarification about Casey being my girlfriend, but something else caught my attention.

“Hold on. If you really regret what you’ve done, why’d you come back?”

What she did back then was by no means a small prank that can be brushed off easily. People got hurt. Specifically, me. If she really felt remorse for what she did, she wouldn’t have the guts to go to school and see our faces.

“I have something I needed to take care of.”

…

As she walked away, I stared at the orange can once again.

It was cold.

“Casey would enjoy this more than I will.” I told myself as I walked towards the main building. I drank up all my lemon tea in one go before tossing it in a nearby trashcan. Before going through the entrance, I decided to make a quick detour towards the nearest wash area where I splashed my face with cold water, rubbing it dry with my handkerchief as the faucet kept running. Before long, my phone rang. A message waiting to be read.

I have a feeling this day will be a busy one

On my way to the clubroom, I passed through the library’s entrance where I noticed Margo eyes fixated on me as she sat behind the librarian’s desk, staring at me with unusual intent.

“You look oddly pale… like you’ve seen a ghost,” she said with a tad of confusion and concern,” And your hair’s a bit damp too…”

“A monster’s more accurate.” I muttered as I wiped my wet hair with a handkerchief.

“What?” she uttered as I passed through some of the bookshelves in the library.

The muffled sounds of a lively conversation emanated through the clubroom door.

Do we have a client right now?

May told me through a text that “somebody’s waiting in our room” so that’s probably it.

Without any delay, I reached the clubroom door. Hanging on the front of it was a hand-written placard bearing the initials of the club’s name which swung along as I pushed the door open. On the inside was all the other club members, Noah was sitting behind the desk, his head resting on the crossed arms on top of his desk as he glanced at my direction, a smile popping out of his face. May was just where I left her, laying atop a bunch of stacked books on the side of the room, for some reason staring blankly at the ceiling instead of playing with her phone. Casey sat on one of the chairs in front of the client who was sitting on the small bench, having a conversation with him as she shared some of the contents inside her lunchbox. Well, whatever was left of it anyway.

…

Hold on a minute.

I think I left Casey’s drink back at the courtyard.

“Hey Damis, look who decided to drop by,” Noah said with a mischievous smirk as he pointed at our client.

“Damis?” the boy said as he clumsily stood up from his seat, “He… he he he… I never thought we’d see each other again in a place such as this…”

I could already tell just by the sound of his voice that this guy is someone I knew from a while back. Someone I shared some of my time with but never really enjoyed the company.

After letting out a couple more unnerving chuckles he gradually turned his head towards me.

“Long time no see.” He looked at me in a menacingly awkward way, more awkward than menacing, really. It was enough to make me wince. Well, it’s not like it’s the first time I saw that same look on his face.

“What do you want Eugene?” I said, walking over to an open seat next to Casey. His eyes still fixated on me.

“Eugene?” Casey’s wide eyes drifted towards me as I took my seat.

He let out another annoying chuckle.

“He he he… I never thought I’d see you and me in the same room again. Reminds me of the time when we were in Biology class. Back then we were engaged in a battle of wits as we tried to—”

“I don’t really remember anything of what you’re saying right now—”

“Argh! Would it kill you to just play along for once?” he palmed his face as he nagged.

“Actually, I think it would—”

“And didn’t I tell you not to call me by that name? It’s Gene, got it?”

Ignoring his minor outburst, I picked up a random book from where May was laying and proceeded to flip through the pages, trying to find something to occupy myself.

“I wouldn’t expect much from Damis.” Noah said, letting out a playful chuckle.

Hearing him say that made me grunt in response, “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“So you guys do know each other,” Said Casey as she tidied up her empty lunchbox and removed it from the table, “Gene and Noah have been talking about you earlier—“

“Let me guess, was it about how I’m Eugene’s self-proclaimed ‘rival’?” Closing the book, I placed it back to where I took it and laid back on my seat,” You see, this spectacled guy right here has been going on and on about how I’m supposed to be his competitor or something ever since we were freshmen in the same class.”

“That’s right,” said Casey, “He told me how you guys used to compete with each other in class. I never knew the two of you were such good friends…”

“Stop Stop Stop. Hold it right there, I never said we were friends.”

“Whoa, that’s pretty harsh dude.” Noah’s voice echoed from the back, “Didn’t you guys used to compare your quiz and exam results with each other? Man, you guys were real assholes back then, comparing your scores with mine always ended up making me feel really stupid.”

“That was your own damn fault for not studying. And the ones comparing scores was the two of you. Eugene would just grab my paper out of nowhere and compare it with his. But, maybe if he was less annoying, then I might’ve… You know what? Never mind. I just can’t see it happening.”

“W-well…” Eugene uttered weakly as he sat back down on his seat, his head tilted downwards as he clenched his hands, “I s-see y-you’ve still got t-that… sharp tongue of y-yours…”

“Are you okay?” Casey asked with concern as she tried to look at Eugene’s face.

“Don’t worry, he had one year to get used to it.”

Eugene raised his head, his face bearing an uneasy smile as he held his chest,” S-sorry… I haven’t heard someone t-talk to me like that in a while s-so… I didn’t get the chance to prepare my heart…”

A brief silence filled the room as we continued to stare at each other.

“Seriously though, are you okay?” Noah broke the silence.

“Aren’t you forgetting something, Damis?” May suddenly asked, catching me by surprise. It’s the first time I heard her say something ever since I came back from the courtyard earlier. I almost forgot she was even here.

“And by something, do you mean ‘You’?”

“Not entirely,” she sat back up in a way similar to a zombie from a movie I saw a while back, she even groaned like one, “I don’t think your friend decided to pay us a visit just so he could reminisce about the past.”

“Ah, I forgot to ask him about that, sorry May-ple…” Said Casey.

“I think I’d like it if you’d refrain from calling me with such a name.” May replied.

“Oh, I’m sorry… I guess it’s my fault for suddenly giving you a nickname like that without asking you first… I’ll stop now…” Casey replied, looking a bit down.

“No, I didn’t mean—” she let out a sigh, as if bracing herself before surrendering to fate, “I guess you can call me that from time to time.”

Casey turned to her with a smile, “That’s a relief, I thought you hated it…”

“I don’t hate it,” May insisted, “Actually, I’d say it’s kind of… endearing.”

Noah let out a sudden chuckle, “So, does this make ‘May-ple’ her official nickname?”

“I’d be happier if you call me by my given name, Noah.” May replied.

“So, you do hate it…” Casey said wearily.

“No, that’s not what I mean—” May clarified hastily.

“Aaanyway,” I intervened, attempting to change the subject, “Why’d you even decide to come here, Eugene?”

“I thought I already told you to—” before he continued, he let out a brief sigh. “Actually, I came here wanting to make a small request.”

“Go on…” May said, sitting on the other chair next to mine.

“This is about something that happened to me yesterday, about 4 in the afternoon. So, I was alone in my classroom, room 3 – B, where I decided worked on my Math homework before going home,”

“Hmm… You even share the same habits as Damis. Are you sure you guys aren’t associates to some degree?” May glanced at him with an inquisitive stare.

“I thought we’re already done with that topic.” I replied, “And doing homework at school isn’t as uncommon as you think. Some of us prefer to finish those activities before coming home and spend the rest of our alone time liberated from the suffocating binds of the educational system.”

“… That last part was pretty poetic.” Eugene commented, looking quite impressed.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah,” Casey added, her expression similar, “Do you like write, Damis?”

“Well, not really…”

I could feel May’s mischievous grin beaming next to me, “Actually— “

“Let’s move on.” I said sternly, preventing May from further adding anything to the conversation. I heard Noah’s faint laughter at the back, perhaps finding our meagre exchange of dialogue to be somewhat entertaining.

He continued, “So, as I was working on my homework, I noticed something really strange with one of the questions,”

“Was it from Sir Mavene?” Noah briefly intervened,” I’ve had a few problems with his homework before.”

I can relate to that. Even I had problems with Sir Mavene’s math homework before, mostly because they were so damn hard.

“Yep. Anyway, one of the questions he gave was really advanced compared to the other ones so I went to the faculty room across the hall to ask for some clarifications. Then when I came back, it happened. My notebook disappeared.”

May, Casey and Noah remained silent as they kept their eyes on Eugene.

“I searched my bag and my desk but it wasn’t there. I thought that I might’ve just left it back at the faculty room so I went back and searched for it. I even asked some of the teachers but I never found it there. Then, when I came back to the classroom, this part might surprise you as much as it surprised me; my notebook was back on top of my desk as if nothing had ever happened.”

…

“So… what do you want us to do?” Casey said, once again bringing the conversation to a start.

“I just want you guys to find out how it happened. It’s been on my mind since yesterday and I just can’t figure out how it all happened. I mean, isn’t it mysterious? One time my notebook was on my desk, and the next thing you know it’s gone, disappeared without a trace. Then when I came back, it was right on my desk again. How does that even happen?” Eugene said, glancing at all of our faces.

“… Could you guys be a bit more impressed?” He said, letting out a nervous laugh.

“It is pretty mysterious…” Casey commented.

I let out a brief sigh, “I think you’re confused about something here. We help students solve the problems they can’t solve themselves. And so far, you’ve told us nothing that could be considered as problematic.”

“Well…” Eugene uttered weakly, squinting as he scratched the back of his head, “It’s been… it’s kind of bothering me for a while now so—”

“Still not a problem.”

“What if I say it’s been affecting my performance at school?”

“How can that even affect your performance? Your notebook came back.”

“I-it creeped me out, okay? I just want to know how it all happened so I can go back and do my homework without worrying about how my stuff will get transported to the 4th dimension and back to my desk.”

“So, you’re saying that you saw something vanish without a trace, then return as if it had never left in the first place?” May said, crossing her arms.

“Yeah, that sums it all up.”

He suddenly let out a chuckle, “Get it? Sum? Math homework? Eh? Eh?”

Noah began laughing at the pun, “Ha ha ha… oh… It’s so bad but I can’t stop laughing… ha ha ha”

Casey covered her mouth as she began giggling on her own, probably after hearing Noah’s overpowering, hyena-like laughter.

“I still see no reason why we should even help you.” I said as their laughter began to cease.

“Aw come on—”

“Interesting,” May uttered as she stood up, “I accept your request.”

“R-really!?” he retorted, ecstatic.

“Hold it right there, did I miss something here?” I said, once again perplexed by her sudden eagerness, “Why’d you accept his request?”

I thought for sure this job would the last thing she’d consider accepting.

“I have no choice…” May said feebly as she looked down.

What’s up with this sudden dramatic tension?

“I’m at my limit and I might LOSE IT if we don’t get to do something today.”

“… Is it really that bad?” I muttered.

“YES.” She said, glaring at me with her piercing red eyes.

Well, I’m also starting to get sick of being inside this room doing nothing.

…

No,

That won’t do.

She may have had the pleasure of calling the shots during the last few times but I won’t let her do as she pleases anymore. I’ve been through enough crap to know that when May gets all worked up, chaos ensues.

“I’m telling you this job is pointless.” I declared firmly.

“Tsk.” She uttered in spite as she looked away.

“Are you guys alright?” Eugene asked in an anxious tone.

“Can I suggest something?” Noah said, raising his hand, “How about we make a vote? All four of us.”

“That’s a good idea!” Casey cheered, “Let’s do it.”

Well, that seems fair.

After taking a brief glance at each other, May and I nodded in agreement.

Noah stood up from his seat behind the desk, “Okay. All who are in favour of accepting Gene’s request, PUT YOUR HAND UP!”

May shot me a haughty grin as she raised her right hand.

With both of my hands still on my lap, I let out a brief sigh.

3 to 1.

Noah, that damn traitor.

I was sure he’d be against it too.

“So, it’s decided then.” May declared triumphantly, “We’ll all met up at Gene’s classroom after class.”

“Thank you so much!” Eugene said with joined hands, joyfully expressing his gratitude to the arrogant girl to my right, “I’m in your debt!”

With the school bell ringing and my cumbersome reluctance in tow, we headed back to our classrooms.

Well, at least this job won’t involve any kidnappers or bloodthirsty maniacs.

…

Hopefully.

Classes for the day were dismissed. I threw my things back in my bag and got ready to meet up with Eugene with the others. I glanced at May’s seat and noticed she was already gone, she’s probably on the way there by now. Talk about impatient…

“Hey,” Noah tapped the back of my shoulder, “As much as I really wanted to go with you guys, I don’t think I’ll be able to that today…”

“Wait, you’re bailing on us?” I said as I stood up from my seat,” You’re the reason why we’re doing this in the first place.”

“Wha— me?”

“Yes. If you didn’t raise your hand up earlier I would’ve been on my way home right now.”

“Ugh, Dude. I just can’t right now. Something REALLY important came up.”

“Does this ‘something’ involve that girl waiting by the door?”

Noah looked towards the door where a classmate of ours was waiting.

“Uh… yes.” He bowed his head, like a kid preparing himself to get scolded.

Why is he acting so guilty?

“I thought you were looking for another part time job.”

Not really.

“I am, but, Shay and I both hit it off pretty well and, now, she’s my girlfriend.”

Shay’s the name of one of the girls who came with us to the amusement park a while back. She’s the same girl that borrowed Noah’s pen that one time.

“Wow, you never fail to impress me.”

I could say the same for Shay.

“I know right?” he said with confident smile, "I even surprise myself, teehee~”

“But that doesn’t mean you can just go on a date while we do all the work.”

“Aw, come on dude. It’s not even going to be a full-on date, I just wanted her to go with me while I search for some job openings. And do you even NEED me there? How much work will you guys even do?”

…

Damn, he’s good at making excuses. He’s even better than I am.

Well, I had to learn it from someone.

“Fine.”

“Thanks! I love you man!” he smiled as he began shaking me by my shoulders.

Well, at least he’s happy.

Although being “happy” is already like his default setting.

“Just, make this one work.” I moved his hands away from my shoulders.

“Don’t’ worry dude, I have a good feeling about this one.”

“Sure.”

“I’d better go now, wouldn’t want her to wait.”

“You kind of already made her wait.”

“Sayonara, Damis.” He began walking to the door.

“Goodluck.” With my bag on my back, I gave my final retort before walking towards the other door in the front of the classroom.

As I continued walking to room 3 – B which was in the next room over, I saw May leaning against the open door, her smartphone in hand. As I got closer, she turned towards me and briefly glanced at my direction, before looking straight at me with a puzzled expression.

“… Where’s Noah?”

“He bailed.” I retorted as I peered thought the side of the door, checking if no one other than Eugene and Casey were still inside. I didn’t want anyone to see, let alone have people talk about what we’re about to do in this room later. There were still a few other students inside the room but most of them left as I peeked inside. I noticed a peculiar pair among all of the students going home. One of the pair was carrying two bags, probably belonging to the both of them. Despite having a hard time handling the two bags, the girl, who was wearing a red tie, had a weird smile on her face as she looked at the guy walking in front of her. I described her smile as weird since, other than that curve on her lips, she didn’t look at all too happy. Wait, why is a red tie catching my attention all of the sudden?

I might still be hung up on what happened during lunch.

Seriously, I didn’t expect a trip to the vending machine would end up being so terrifying.

“It’s a shame,” May muttered before going into the room, “But then again, it’s not like we particularly needed his presence for this task anyway.”

…

“You know,” I paused before walking further, “If you think about it, even I—”

May shot me an ice-cold glare before I could even finish my sentence.

“… I’m joking.” I continued.

That was a lie, of course.

“Are you okay Damis?” Eugene asked as he leaned on his desk, “You look kind of pale…”

“Or maybe he just got brighter.” Casey said, sitting backwards on a chair next to Eugene.

Brighter?

“It’s nothing.” I replied, placing my backpack on top of a vacant desk.

May stood in front of us, “So, now that we’re all here—”

“Where’s Noah?” Casey interrupted.

“He’s got something else to attend to, namely a girl.” I replied as I sat down.

“Oh, I see…”

“Noah’s still the Casanova, isn’t he?” Eugene said.

“I guess you can call him that.”

“Anyway,” May intervened, “Now that everyone’s here, could you give us a brief rundown of what happened here during the disappearance? Show us exactly what happened during the event.” May said, turning towards Eugene.

“Okay, I’m just gonna stimulate my memory for a sec…”

All of us stared at Eugene as he tried to remember.

“Hurry up Eugene, some of us have homework to do.” I said, signaling Eugene to get a move on.

“Geez… give me a minute will you. Having people stare at me so intently is making me feel uncomfortable.”

All of us looked away as we waited for Eugene.

“Okay,” Said Eugene, our stares fixed back on him, “So here I was, doing my homework on my desk,” He took out a notebook from his bag and laid it out in front of him, “I worked on it for about half an hour before noticing something wrong with the questions.” May held her chin as she stared at him closely. Casey began taking a few quick glances at her, probably taken aback by May’s current expression. Well, that’s to be expected. It’s the first time Casey saw May in deep thought after all. I couldn’t help but grin at the sight.

Eugene continued, “Then after that—”

“Are you sure you were the only one left in this room?” May intervened without warning, as usual.

“As far as I can remember, yes.”

“So, all of your classmates already went home that time?”

“Yeah… well no, actually. I remember seeing a couple of stuff left in the room. Some of my classmates left their bags and notebooks and a few other stuff, probably planning to go back for them after club activities. Or they could’ve forgotten about them completely… Or they intentionally left them there to make me think about them, and make me more paranoid about what happened… or maybe—”

“Have some of your classmates did something to you that’s similar to this before?”

“… Well, to be completely honest, there was this guy that used to mess with me a lot but things have mellowed out since then. The last time someone pulled a prank on me was back when I was still a red tie… but…”

“But?” I said.

“I used to find my stuff next to a trash bin or under someone else’s desk. They don’t usually put back my stuff once they’ve hidden them…”

“Oh dear…” Casey uttered.

“…Huh?” Eugene retorted.

“I’m… I’m so sorry you had to go through those things!” Casey shouted apologetically as she held back her tears.

Wait, why is she crying?

“It’s okay. I’m not really bothered by it anymore. It’s just one of those things that happen.” Eugene replied with unusual fortitude.

I remember when people would steal my books and put stuff in my bag then call me a thief the next morning. I usually mark them absent when I’m in charge of the attendance and switch out their quiz and test papers with ones that I made to make sure they fail every time. In the end, I was never called out for it. One of the benefits of being a straight “A” student is having teachers take your side no matter what. It may seem unfair but when it comes to things like that, it’s a convenient perk to have.

“I’m sorry you had to go through all that. People can be really… malicious sometimes.” May added, “Still, are you sure that none of them would consider messing with you again?”

“Well…” Eugene replied meagerly, bowing his head.

“Y’know, people like that only leave you alone when they find someone else to mess with.” I intervened.

“That’s… about right, yeah. And it couldn’t have been them since my notebook was on top of my desk when I got back.” Said Eugene.

“And you’re certain the room you entered when you came back was indeed this room?” asked May.

“Yes, I’m sure about that. I mean, I recognized the bag on my chair when I got back. Plus, the board had my name on it since I was in charge of homeroom that day.”

Well, that possibility is out the window.

“… I think someone did take the notebook when you weren’t looking,” said Casey leaning towards Eugene, “I mean, that’s the only way it could’ve disappeared, right? That’s just what I think though…”

May nodded.

So, there were other stuff left in the classroom, bags, notebooks, and maybe even textbooks.

That kind of situation is pretty common and not unusual at all.

Then maybe it’s possible…

“What if someone did take your notebook, but took it by mistake? And returned it afterwards?” I said.

“What do you mean?” Eugene asked, curious. May remained dwelling in her thoughts.

“Oh, I get it!” Casey said cheerfully.

“Do you remember seeing a notebook on top of left most desk in the front row?” I asked.

“I don’t really… actually… I think there was. I remember seeing a lone notebook on that desk yesterday.” He replied.

If that’s the case,

Then it might just be possible.

“Wait, why’d you think it could’ve been taken by mistake?” he said inquiringly.

“If you stood in the back of the room, you’ll see that your seat is on the last desk to the right of the last row.” I said, “But—”

“If you gone inside the room through the door in the front” Casey continued, “The left most seat from here would look like the right most seat from there.”

Eugene scratched his head.

“A mistake in perspective.” I added, “It could’ve went like this: Student A asks Student B to get the notebook from room 3-B, Student B is probably from a different class. Student B asks for directions, Student A tells Student B that the notebook was on top of the last desk to the right.”

“Oh, I see…” he exclaimed as he held his chin, “Then Student B found the room and went through the door in the back, where my desk is the last one on the right. Then, when Student B came back with the notebook, Student A told B that it wasn’t his, so Student B returned in and took the right one.” He said with a brief sigh. It was almost as if he felt relieved.

“Was the notebook on the front row still there when your notebook returned?” I asked.

“I don’t really remember, sorry. I was too dumbfounded by what happened that when I came back, I went straight home.” He answered.

Went straight home? Was he really that creeped out about it?

“Anyway, your theory makes a lot of sense.” He continued.

“Yeah!” sad Casey, “That was pretty good detective work, Damis.”

“Thanks.”

Can’t say I wasn’t flattered by all that praise, but, something kept bugging me.

I turned towards May, “You’re not really convinced, are you May?”

Hearing those words, May snapped out of her trance.

“Actually, your theory was pretty good.” She said, “But, there’s something I want to confirm first.”

May turned towards Eugene.

“Could you give us the name of the person who used to mess with you before?” May asked.

“… Arvin. Arvin Wiendlyer.” He said with a bit of reluctance.

That’s an unusual surname.

“I see…” May said with a smirk that I found equally unusual, “Do you have the notebook with you?”

“Oh, right I forgot, I should’ve shown it to you guys.” Eugene grabbed a plain, orange notebook from his bag, “Here.” He said, passing it to May

“Have you noticed any changes with the notebook when it came back to your desk? Maybe a piece of paper slipped in between the pages?”

“No, not really.” He replied, “Well, to be honest, I never really checked. But, if something were placed in there I would’ve noticed it eventually.”

May opened the notebook and began flipping pages, carefully looking at each one of them. It took her a whole minute before closing it shut.

“I think I more or less know what happened.” May declared, causing Eugene and Casey to look at her with expectant eyes, “Well actually, I already knew the moment I heard his name.”

“You mean Arvin Wiendlyer? You know him?” I said inquiringly.

“Yes, more than I want to admit.” She reached for her bag and took out a pencil. Using the pencil, she began shading a page from the notebook.

“Here.” May presented the shaded page to Eugene. His expression quickly changed to that of utter confusion and anger. Feeling curious, I decided to take a peek.

On the shaded page, the word “Lizardboy” all in uppercase letters could be seen.

I guess that means my theory is out of the window.

“… Its… really him…” said Eugene nervously, “I don’t understand… why would he do this? Why now? After things got better… why?” Casey placed her hand on his should as if to comfort him, “I don’t understand…”

“If there’s one thing I know about him, it’s that he never let things go that easily.” May said.

“Why does he call you that?” I asked before realizing how insensitive that question must’ve sounded, “Never mind, forget I said anything.”

“I had this skin condition a while back when I was a red tie.” Eugene said, shaking his head as if trying to get a hold of himself, “The skin on the back of my neck got really dry and eventually it began looking like there were scales on my back. One day he saw that and then, he began calling me names.”

“This was originally written in one of the pages inside the notebook but was later ripped off judging from the leftover paper in the notebook’s spine, leaving only an impression of the word on the next page.” May explained.

“That would explain why the notebook was returned… So that he’d see what he wrote.” said Casey.

“Hold on there for a second, why did he go through all the trouble of writing an insult if he was just going to remove it later?” I asked.

“It just means someone else returned it. And that person removed the page before placing it on the desk.” May answered.

“If that’s the case, then who?”

“I believe you already caught a glimpse of her.” she replied.

What does she mean by that?

Wait.

Does she mean THAT…?

“The red tie…” I muttered, “Then that means… the one he’s messing with…”

“Come,” said May as she walked towards the doorway, “Let’s pay them a visit.”

“May’s really good at this,” Casey whispered to my ear, catching me by surprise as the four of us exited the room.

“She’s really something.” I replied.

Even though I really don’t enjoy saying it, May’s thought process never fails to amaze me.

It’s as if, every time she encounters a new problem, she steps inside her own world full of possible answers and solutions. And when she steps out of that world and back to us, she already found the answer. And just like what she said to me the first time we talked to each other, the conclusions she always came up with were always correct.

Ever since our first encounter, she’d never been wrong.

“He should be at the soccer field right now,” Eugene said, “They might be practicing for the upcoming sports meet next month.”

“I still can’t believe you never noticed that girl, Eugene.” I said as we continued our way down the stairs of the main building, “I mean, they were in that room a few minutes ago.”

“I never really… I never saw them walk together or anything like that. And, I never really cared about them to be honest…”

“That’s too cold of you, Mr. Gene.” May uttered as we went past the courtyard.

“Huh?” he replied.

“The girl was merely following Arvin’s orders, yet she was considerate enough to rip that page off your notebook so that you wouldn’t get to see it.” May continued, “Why would a young girl like her do something as dangerous as disobeying orders from some bully? I wouldn’t think she would’ve done the same if Arvin tried to mess with Damis.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” I replied.

“I think that girl likes you, Gene.” Casey declared.

“W-what? How is that? W-why?” Eugene said, flustered.

“Well, it’s either that or she’s just really, REALLY nice.” I added.

A whistle could be heard as we got near to the field. Members of the soccer team was sprawled all over when we arrived. All of them were in a formation. It seemed like a practice game was being held. A quick glance at the benches next to us and we saw the girl, sitting alone while holding a towel and a bottle of water.

“There she is…” Casey muttered, “So what do we do now? They seem to be occupied.”

“Let’s wait.” May replied as she sat in one of the benches.

“Okay.” Casey joined her.

Eugene remained silent as she stared at the girl 2 benches away from us.

With the blow of a whistle, all of the students in formation began to move, as if a video that has been paused continued to play again. Without much difficulty, I noticed the guy called Arvin among all of the players. He had an unusual air about him, he looked like someone who can be trusted but dangerous at the same time. Someone very difficult to deal with. The game continued. He played well, scoring a few goals by himself. Admittedly, his looks were as good as his skills at playing the game.

“Look at that guy go,” Casey uttered, “Is that Arvin? He’s really good.”

“Yep,” said Eugene, “He’s a real bastard, but no one can deny his skill at this game. He helped the school attain 4 championships ever since he joined the soccer team. Can’t say the same for his academics though…”

For all my time in this school, that statement has never been truer. I can group most students in this school into two types. The extracurricular specialists, people who are more focused on sports or things that are unrelated to academics, and the academic achievers, who put more time and effort on doing well in class and getting decent grades. I’ve never heard of anyone that was both good at sports and academics. People will always prioritize the other since each of them compensates the other. If someone sucks at studying, they’ll pour all their effort into extracurricular activities, since that would make them feel adequate. Vice-versa. The only case when a sports freak becomes good at academics is when they get someone else to help them, whether the person likes it or not. And that’s how bullying born from inadequacy comes into play. That’s why becoming the best at both is nothing more than a delusion. A pointless dream. A jack of all trades will always, and surely be, a master of none.

“Here they come.” Eugene said.

The match seems to have finished. After a brief team huddle they gone and went their separate ways. Arvin never seemed to notice our presence as he went towards the lone girl on the bench, offering him a dry towel and a bottle of water.

“Let’s go.” May stood up and began pacing towards the couple. We followed.

As we got near the guy dripping with sweat finally noticed our presence, glancing wide-eyed at May with a slightly surprised expression.

“Well look who it is, the scarlet princess graced us with her presence.” He said jokingly, “Hello, May. Amy missed you, why’d you never visit anymore?”

Amy?

May didn’t answer as she took a brief glance at the girl.

The girl wore a weary expression as she greeted us with a bow.

“So,” he continued, “What made you come near me again?”

“A job.” May replied, stoic.

“Job? Oh right, that’s what you’ve been doing all this time. A consultant for the student council,” he let out a brief chuckle, “What the hell even is that?”

I really don’t like him.

Just being near him irritates me.

“Come on,” he gestured to the girl, “I’m tired, let’s go home.”

May grabbed his wrist almost immediately.

“Ow ow ow, what the hell!?” he uttered, pulling his wrist off May’s grip.

May took out the notebook from her bag.

“I believe you were the one responsible for this?” May showed him the shaded page.

He let out a smirk I found greatly aggravating, “Yeah, I did. It didn’t look like that when I wrote it though.”

“The page has been ripped.”

He glared at the girl behind him who looked away as she gripped the water bottle so hard it nearly burst.

“Heh,” he turned towards May, “What now? I wrote that thing on that notebook to mess with lizardboy over there, so what? You gonna report me to the student council? For a stupid joke like that?”

Eugene remained silent as he avoided eye contact with the perpetrator. See him like that made me come to a realization.

The reason he was so nervous earlier about the disappearance of his notebook was because he was afraid. Afraid that after all this time, his days of attending school in peace might be ruined once again. And born from that fear was his anxiety.

“That’s right, we’ll report you! Right May?” Casey declared in a serious tone.

For some reason, Arvin winked at Casey then made another grin. She recoiled as it caught her by surprise.

“No.” May replied.

“What?” Arvin said.

“I won’t report you.”

“Are you sure about this?” I asked closely to May’s ear, but she never responded. Her eyes looked cold and focused. It was fixated solely on the arrogant man in front of her.

“But in return, you’ll have to leave that girl alone.” She continued.

“Hmmm,” Arvin held his chin, “… Nope. Not worth it.”

“Then how about… I take her place.” May declared.

Arvin smiled.

“May! What are you saying?” Casey asked, utterly confused.

“… I made a promise.” She replied softly, “I don’t take my promises lightly.”

A promise?

To who?

“No, I’ll take her place instead.” Said a voice behind us. A familiar voice. A voice I heard not too long ago.

“… Kate!” shouted Hannah, the girl behind Arvin.

“I’ll take her place, so leave her alone!” Kate exclaimed.

“No… It’s okay… Really…” The red tie said as she tried her best to smile, “It’s okay, I don’t want you to do that, I’m fine, you don’t have to—”

“No, Hannah! This isn’t right! You shouldn’t let this guy order you around school! Let me help you!” Kate shouted, holding her chest, “I made a stupid mistake, I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have left you alone… I knew this would happened… but still…”

“It’s fine, Kate. It’s really fine… I don’t hate this…” Hannah continued.

Saying it’s fine with a smile, even though she’s trying so hard to hold back her tears.

This just isn’t right. And the fact that Arvin was holding his stomach as he began laugh made it worse.

“What the fuck is this? Looks like something out of a TV show.” He said as he continued to laugh, “But I’m surprised, Kate. I never thought you’d come back to school so early. How long were you suspended again, Katy?”

…

I just about had enough of this crap.

“…What is this?” I uttered, “Are you seriously asking that question?”

Hearing what I said, he glared at me.

“Don’t you get that all this happened because of you?” I continued.

“Excuse me,” he intervened, “Who are you again?”

“My name isn’t important, you’ll just forget it immediately. Because that’s just the type of person you are.”

“Okay, WHY THE HELL are you telling me that like you know everything about me?” he replied, aggravated.

“I don’t know anything about you, what I said was fuelled by my first impression of you. But y’know what they say, first impressions are important.”

“Oh, god. I’m REALLY tired right now, okay? Just had a game earlier. So, if you guys would be so kind as to leave us alone, then I’ll be on my way home—”

“I’m not done talking.” I replied sternly, “I wasted a lot of time during this job and I have to intention of leaving things unfinished.”

“You, Hannah.” I called out to the girl walking with him, “Are you sure about this? Aren’t you making some stupid mistake right now? Or do you just have a sick case of Stockholm syndrome?”

“What are you…” Kate muttered.

“Damis…” said Casey.

“You aren’t fooling anyone with that messed up smile of yours, so why don’t you just take up Kate’s offer.” I continued.

She paused then said, “I can’t do that…”

“I really don’t understand what’s wrong with you. You have the chance to get away from that pathetic life of yours, but you still won’t try? Do we have to wrench you away from him? Or are that messed up as a person? To be honest, I think you just one hell of a masochist—”

Before I could finish, I was pushed off balance and fell next to the benches in front of us.

“How… how could you say something like that?” said Eugene, looking down on me with disdain.

“Holy sh—” said Arvin, “That’s it, I want none of this right now, things are getting too crazy for my taste. I’m leaving.” He took a quick glance at May,” See you around, May.”

Arvin waved as he walked away, with Hannah still in tow. After a few steps, he paused and sighed.

“… Why’re you still following me?” he glared at Hannah with piercing eyes.

With that, she finally stopped following him.

“Hannah!” Kate screamed as she ran towards Hannah.

“Oh dear, is she alright?” Casey followed.

As Kate reached Hannah, she fell down to her knees.

Eugene offered his hand to get me up, which I grabbed and got on my feet, “I’m… sorry about that.”

“It’s okay.” I replied, dusting myself off.

“It’s just that, you can be blunt at times… but… you weren’t like that before… saying something so cruel… it’s like ever since Sir. Nathan died, you changed…”

“What’re you going on about,” I said, sitting down on the bench, “I was always like this.”

After a moment, Eugene’s serious expression faded into a subtle smile, “If you say so.” He sat next to me, “You always liked to speak your mind. That’s something I admire about you.”

He turned towards me, “But, could you tone it down a bit next time? Not everyone’s used to your barrage of bluntness. Especially that girl.”

He continued, “Unlike her, the numerous battles we had in the past has made me abrasive to those sharp words of yours—”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Gene.” I said, cutting him off before he could say more of that spiel.

For some reason, after our conversation, he smiled.

“I’m alright…” Hannah replied as Kate and Casey propped her up.

“I’m sorry…” Kate muttered.

“Everything’s okay now, there’s nothing to be sorry about.” Casey said.

“No, I mean… I’m sorry about last time…”

“Oh, it’s alright. What happened, happened. No reason to dwell on it. You should apologize to Damis instead. He’s got it worse…” Casey replied.

“I already did.” Said Kate.

“Is that so? Hmm… You know, Kate?” said Casey, “The both of you seem to care a lot for each other.”

“We’ve know each other for a long time.” Hannah replied, “She’s always been my best friend.”

She let out a smile different from the ones she made earlier.

It was genuine.

“Thank you so much.” Hannah said to May.

“Um… yeah, thanks for accepting my request.” Kate added.

I think it’s safe to say that this was the thing Kate said she needed to take care of, and she asked May for help.

I still don’t get why she never told us about it, though.

“It’s not over yet. Arvin isn’t going to let it end like this. He’s just tired so he was being a lot more dismissive.” May replied.

“I think we should really report him to the student council.” Casey suggested.

“Even if we did, we won’t get rid of him that easily. Even if he gets sanctioned, he’ll work his way around it. If he somehow gets expelled, he’ll just get into another school using his family’s connections. Then, he’ll just do the same thing to some other student in some other school.” May replied.

He sounds like a real pain in the ass.

May continued, “I’d rather he be close by, where I can keep an eye on him.”

“Don’t worry. If something else happens, I’ll take care of it.” Kate replied, “I won’t let it happen again.”

After saying their goodbyes, Kate and Hannah walked back to the main school building. Eugene smiled at them as they walked and for some reason, Hannah looked away, flushed.

I guess she did like him.

Before they walked any further, Kate paused.

“You know,” said Kate as she glanced at me, “I take back what I said earlier. I’m glad I beat you up.”

With those last words, the two red ties left the field.

After the ordeal, Eugene stayed back at school to work on some stuff for his club and Casey went to visit the orchestra club as well. Leaving only me and May to walk home together.

“The way you dealt with the situation earlier was quite unconventional, don’t you think?” May said as we walked to the school gate, “Although I have no right to judge you for it.”

Now that I think about it, I’m glad Noah wasn’t with us during all that.

Things might’ve gotten a lot worse.

“I just thought that Kate had a plan of her own and that’s why she offered herself to Arvin. I mean, that’s why you did it, right? It’s not like she’s serious about being Arvin’s pet. I just wanted Hannah to realize that.”

And I guess I also wanted to say something to Arvin.

“Well, that is true. But it could’ve been handled a bit more delicately.”

“I’m not really good with delicacy. Besides, it sounds like too much work.”

She let out a brief chuckle.

“Just… who is that Arvin guy, anyway?” I asked.

“… The Wiendlyers have always been old acquaintances of the Frendricks, as well as the Ellaines. We used to play a lot when we were young, Me, Glenn, Arvin, and Amy. But to be frank, I never really enjoyed their company.” She explained.

“He does like calling you princess a lot, doesn’t he? It was starting to annoy the hell out of me.”

“That’s just something he used to call me when we were kids.” She replied.

“I still don’t understand why you never told us about Hannah and Kate.”

“Kate approached me and made her request to me personally. I took it as a sign that she didn’t want anyone else knowing about it.” Said May, “And I don’t think she had the audacity to ask for assistance from the people she hurt a few days ago. So, I took it upon myself to work on it alone.”

“That makes sense.” I replied.

“That was the plan. But fortunately, another job came up that coincidentally involved the same guy.”

“Listen,” May continued, “You shouldn’t involve yourself with any of them, especially Amy. Like Me and Arvin, she also attends this school as a red tie.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not interested in getting myself knees deep in all that crap. As long as they don’t do anything that affects me, or my way of life, I’ll act like they never existed.”

“That’s good to hear.”

That’s right.

I already got enough stuff to deal with.

Adding more would just be, torture.

As May and I parted ways in the intersection, I decided to head on over to the convenience store to buy a light snack before heading to the apartment. I should’ve expected it but, that whole talk with Arvin really wore me out. As I browsed through the food packs on the shelves, I couldn’t help but reflect on what happened earlier.

How could you say something like that?

I’m glad I beat you up.

…

I like that about you.

June.

Just… what did she like about me?

…

“Hey, your name?” said by voice coming from my right.

I turned to see who was talking and I was surprised to see it was none other than Arvin, who was standing in front of a freezer filled with carbonated drinks. He asked for my name in a somewhat serious voice, it was enough to unnerve me since the way he talked sounded a bit different compared to the way he talked earlier at school.

“Don’t worry,” he continued, “I’m not mad about it anymore. If anything, I’m too tired to hold a grudge right now.” He said, almost jokingly. “So, what should I call you?”

I thought May said that he doesn’t let things go that easily.

Nevertheless, I had no reason to do otherwise so I decided to tell him my name.

“Damis.”

He took out an energy drink from the freezer and began staring at it.

“So, Damis. How long have you known May?” he asked as he turned towards me.

“I’ve known her for a couple of weeks.”

He let out a slight chuckle as he puts the drink back on the freezer, before taking out a different one.

“I’ve known May ever since we were children. But these days, our relationship has become awkwardly cold. It was like one day, she just decided to forget about us.” After looking satisfied at the drink in his hands, he closed the freezer’s door and turned towards me.

Based on what May told me earlier, that “us” must’ve meant him and Amy.

“You know, after what happened earlier, I kind of took a liking to you.” He said as he paced towards me. “Not in a ‘gay’ way, of course.” He let out another soft chuckle.

The way he switches from being serious to being almost “Noah” like makes me feel really uncomfortable. It’s like I have no idea what he’s thinking and how to approach him.

“You’ve got some balls to say something like that to somebody like me. I respect that. I could even see the two of us being good friends if things ended up differently.”

I wouldn’t really bet on that.

He continued, “So, right now, I’m going to offer you some friendly advice.”

He paused before walking past me, “Don’t get too comfy with May.”

“… What do you mean?” I replied.

“May is the kind of person that puts her own goals above everything.” He continued, “It doesn’t matter what she does to reach that goal. As long as she accomplishes it, she’ll be satisfied. I’m sure it’s one of the reasons why she distanced herself from us, her old friends, and treated the time we spent together like it was nothing. It’s like she’s living that quote. You know, that famous quote somebody said a long time ago. I can’t really remember it well…”

“The ends justify the means?”

“Yep, that’s the one.” He said as he taps my shoulder.

Well, depending on how you look at it, that might be a good thing.

“I don’t really care if you follow my advice but, you seem interesting, so I hope you’ll keep it in mind. Bye.” He began walking behind me, towards the counter of the convenience store.

“Why did you do it?” I asked him before he could walk any further.

He stopped and turned around, “Do what? Are you talking about what happened earlier?” he began scratching his head as if he was wondering about the answer, “I just thought it was fun.”

“It was fun to have her follow you around against her will?” I replied.

“I just wanted to make somebody jealous. I never really planned on using her, but she was the most convenient choice. Plus, she didn’t look half bad.”

Just wanted to try something?

She was the most convenient choice?

How can he always say things that make me feel really annoyed?

“Anyway, I’ll be on my way. I really want to drink this right now.” He raised the drink on his hand.

Waving his hand, he continued to walk away from me.

As the sky dimmed and dusk came, I came out of the convenience store with a plastic bag in my hand. As I walked to my apartment, my conversation with Arvin kept lingering in my head. And as I glanced towards the intersection, I remembered what May said to me earlier.

You shouldn’t involve yourself with any of them…

CHAPTER END