Chapter 63

“Bizarro Girl”

The lunch bells ring and the students all simultaneously walk out of their respective classrooms. Denzo immediately gets a text from Aida, asking him if he could meet them at the student council room for an urgent meeting. He wrinkled his brow thinking how bothersome it was to be ordered around again by the council, but since it was Aida who was putting out the request, he felt he had no choice but to comply. Fearing he might upset her.

--No need to buy food. Just go straight here! :) --

She follow up texted. Putting more questions into his mind than answers as he obliged and skipped lining up at the cafeteria to get his lunch. He knew he could’ve just asked why with a reply, but he was too lazy to do so.

He arrives at an eerily happy aura inside the parochial as he gets horrible flashbacks at the shitshow that happened over a week ago at champworld. He gets ideas of backing out to avoid potential drama but Aida was already waiting for him by the door, quickly latching onto his arm as she guides him inside towards the common hall.

Upon entering the hall, he finds most of the council members present except for Yukino and Tisha, replaced by two unlikely people, Pai and Nica, with the latter seemingly avoiding eye contact.

‘What’s this?’ Denzo asked.

‘We’re going on an impromptu field trip.’ Pete said as he got up with the others following suit.

‘What? Where?’ He asked, confused.

‘Listen. You wanna ditch school for today?’ Pete rests his hand on Denzo’s shoulder as he wears a sly smile on his face. Denzo felt something fishy was happening and refused to give an answer, keeping his silence as he stares back with questioning eyes.

‘C’mon Lo-- Denzo let’s gooo, it’s gonna be fun!’ Aida interjects, reading his thoughts and assuring him as Denzo finally caves in and nods his head.

‘Geez… you’re hard to crack, but at least I know who my bargaining chip is.’ Pete responds as he turns to wink at Aida.

‘Thanks for telling me that. Now I know not to trust even Aida.’ He replied as Aida went wide eyed gasping at the audacity of his reply.

‘Ugh! Fuck you!’ She reacts, drilling her heel on Pete’s foot, making him jump in pain while she swings her bag hard into the back of Denzo’s head as she passes by between them. ‘The Both of you!’ She shouts again before storming out of the Parochial.

‘Girls…’ They both muttered simultaneously as they both noticed they said the same thing, shaking their heads and chuckling as they followed Aida out of the building. Meanwhile Pai stared at the two with a longing look in his eyes as Nica pats his back with a soft understanding smile, pulling up from his seat as they close the lights behind them and join the group outside.

‘I really don’t understand all this.’ Tisha muttered as she looked at two girls who shared the same sentiment in front of her. One was Yukino, who, for the first time in a long time, ate her lunch outside of Little Edgar's and the other, Neeya.

‘So you’re Nica’s undercover bodyguard?’ Tisha asked for the nth amount of time.

‘Shhhhhhh!’ Yukino hushed her immediately as Neeya rolled her eyes.

‘Yes. Now please stop asking.’ Neeya responds.

‘But if you’re… that. Why are you here instead?’ Tisha pokes her nose even further.

‘Orders. Speaking of which, our food is here.’ Neeya dryly replies as their food finally gets delivered to them by none other than Simon, who for some reason, was dressed up like a businessman.

‘And him who’s--’

‘Tisha. In time… okay?’ Yukino pleads as Tisha sighs, annoyed that things were being kept from her. Though from Yukino’s perspective, she can clearly see Neeya readying her pocket taser hidden in her hoodie, fearing what she might do if Tisha doesn’t stop asking.

‘We are here to officiate Miss Zereneya’s enrollment. I am disguised as her father.’ Simon said, filling the awkward air. Neeya raises an eyebrow at Simon as he smiles back in response.

‘You talk a lot. I’m surprised she hasn’t scrapped you yet.’ She said.

‘Incorrect. When it comes to talking I know when and how. Including how much.’ He replied smugly.

‘Ugh… whatever… I’m just annoyed that Pete gets to go somewhere and we’re stuck here…’ Tisha complained. ‘Why are we stuck here, Keeno?’ She asked.

Yukino happily takes her tray from Simon before acknowledging Tisha’s question.

‘It’s because they have their own stuff to accomplish, and then we have ours.

Pete has his own agenda and I believe he needs to do it on his own terms, meanwhile I need you here to make Neeya’s entry at this school to be as smooth as possible, and since you also know the school principal, I need your weight in words.’

Tisha sighs knowing it can’t be helped but deep inside she was curious at what Pete was up to.

‘Well since we’re done can’t we follow them?’ Tisha asked as Simon handed her her tray.

‘And what? Skip class?’

‘But they--’

‘Tisha. None of them are major council members. Pete and Denzo are more likely to do stupid things like this and Nica’s family already decided to cover for her, Aida and Pai.’

‘Shit.’

Tisha could only curse in response. Yukino’s plot was more tightly knit than expected and she failed to find any holes to exploit.

‘Why are you so antsy about not seeing Pete today?’ Yukino asked. Puzzled at Tisha’s current behavior.

‘I… -sigh- It’s okay…’

‘NoNoNo… tell me. You’re acting weird.’

‘Well… I had plans.’

‘You? Not… both of you?’

‘No just me.’ She sighs as her shoulder shrunk knowing that things were all for nought.

‘Eh? Whaddya mean, just you?’

‘I… ugh… Today’s our anniversary.’

…

…

‘Oh.’

[Fiesta Carnival]

[Coliseum Entrance]

‘Oh wow. Not bad.’ Denzo commented as they arrived. The group alights the van they rode, courtesy of Pete’s parents and made their way up the floors of the mini mart near the Coliseum. The only way to get to the fairgrounds entrance from this side is via the overpass above as they all walk across the bridge that connects into the coliseums kiosk area. Whilst they cross, Denzo notices something peculiar in the parking lot below them.

‘I guess the tire marks are still here huh..’ He thought as he looked in envy at the patterns of the tire marks left on the parking lot below where he assumed Val had started the chaos that put her actions in the news. From where he stood it looked as clear as day that they had used it for racing as the distinct black marks still scar the asphalt until today, clearly marking the path that all of the cars took as they all exited the premises to go racing on the streets of the metro. Standing in silence as he imagined what the whole thing would’ve been like had he been there when it happened.

‘Yo! Denzo.’ Pete hollered from the front.

‘Huh?’ Denzo said, regaining consciousness as he turns and sees the whole group already far ahead of him.

‘You hungry or what? We’re getting lunch.’

‘Oh… Yeah, let’s go.’

The five of them make their way towards the fairgrounds where they were greeted by an almost deserted space as everyone suddenly felt how out of place they were by being there so early on a weekday. But one of the perks of being there at a wrong time was that they didn’t have to compete with other people when it comes to picking where to eat their lunch as every restaurant and fast food place were virtually empty and they could pick and choose where they wanted to eat.

They all stand and stare at all the choices that surround them as they are faced with a tough decision.

‘Burger?’ -Pete.

‘Yeah cool.’ -Denzo.

‘Hmm… no I don’t like the burger place here they make their burgers too greasy. How ‘bout the mom and pops over there?’ -Aida.

‘Oooh home cooked meals are nice!’ -Nica.

‘Yeah that’s fine.’ -Denzo.

‘Ehh… I have home cooked stuff at home. I wanna eat something heavy. Pizza?’ - Pete.

‘Pete. We already said we don’t want anything greasy.’ -Aida.

‘Italian?’ -Pete.

‘Ugh…’ Aida.

‘Goddammit guys I’m fucking hungry can’t you just pick anything?’ -Denzo.

‘I did. I already said either burgers or pizza!’ -Pete.

‘Well we want to go to the mom and pops!’ -Aida, with Nica nodding behind.

‘Ugghhh. Goddammit…’ -Denzo, putting his palm over his face as he spots Pai looking uncomfortably quiet.

‘How bout you Pai?’ Denzo asks as Pai reacts to the sudden attention. Looking like a deer caught by a car’s headlights.

‘Huh?!’

‘What’s your take, Pai? Where d’you wanna eat?’ - Denzo.

‘Yeah Pai, Be the tie breaker you want the mom and pops or whatever shit Pete wants to eat.’ -Aida.

‘Heyyyyyy.’ -Pete.

Pai looks nervously at how everyone’s eyes are trailed at him. These are exactly the kind of situations that he wants to avoid at all costs as he doesn’t want to feel responsible for any choices that he makes, especially if it's for a group. He looks towards Denzo, seeking help:

‘No not me I can eat anything.’ He responds, sensing what Pai was asking of him.

He takes a nervous look around the choices that they have as he struggles to think on a decision. One one hand he was adamant to pick none of the choices in fear of disappointing the other party so he wanted to decide on a third choice. But since he didn’t feel any preference for any particular food that day, he couldn’t really pick.

‘Well Pai?’ Aida impatiently asks.

He was about to buckle under pressure when they all heard a loud rumbling noise from afar as Pai quickly traced the source before anybody could find out. It was a rollercoaster that swiftly went through above a restaurant at the end of the corridor.

‘How bout there?’ He points at the said place with a bright yellow track protruding through the side of it where the coaster barges in.

The other four contemplated for a moment as Pai tries to read their expressions and so far, none seemed to look disappointed.

‘That seems cool.’ -Pete.

‘Yeah I wanna check it out. Nice choice Pai.’ -Aida.

Denzo Pats him in the back as the five of them finally settle on a place to eat.

-Click-

The light switch flicks open as the lights in the hall illuminate, welcoming in a new member into their humble abode. Yukino flicks open a few more switches to light up the christmas lights on the common room ceiling as Neeya gasps at how ornate their offices looked.

‘Wow… this place looks straight out of a 90’s movie… The only thing missing are the drunken parties and the rampant sex in one of the rooms.’

-Pfffft-

Tisha almost sprayed out her smoothie after hearing Neeya’s last line but shrugs it off using brain freeze as an excuse as the trio enter the interiors of Little Edgar’s Parochial.

Simon had waved them off after he had served their lunches, stating his return to the Loran household for his “duties”. Meanwhile, since there was still half an hour left before classes resumed, the three girls decided to hang out inside the Parochial to kill some time.

‘Wait. You serve alcohol here?’ Neeya joyfully asked after going straight for the freezer box to inspect their loot.

‘Yup!’ Yukino answered as she grabs the air conditioner’s remote to bump up the cold temperature.

‘They allow you to?’ Neeya further investigates as she takes three fruit beers from the freezer. The cling clang of the bottle annoys Tisha knowing that Neeya was just casually going through their stash like it was hers all along.

‘No. but they don’t inspect us anyways… Why? You gonna snitch?’

‘No!’ Neeya immediately answers as if it was a life or death question, appearing from the bar with three bottles in hand. ‘As long as these are free… No problem with me.’

‘Bitch please, it's always been free.’ Yukino responds, but Tisha gives her a light nudge on her side.

‘Keeno… our budget.’ She whispered but Yukino just pats her shoulder to assures her feelings.

‘Let Aida handle that.’

‘Eh?’

‘Why? She’s the treasurer. Let her do the purchasing.’ Yukino smirks as Tisha couldn’t help but let out a worried sigh, reluctantly grabbing her share of the bottles from Neeya’s grasp.

‘Geez if you’re worried about the booze getting dry I'mma still refill what I consumed…

I’m not a freeloader ya know?’ Neeya sat down looking at Tisha as she quickly filled up with guilt in her conscience. Her tough exterior quickly gave way to a softer more apologetic one as she realized she judged too quickly.

‘Sorry… I wasn’t thinking properly… I…’

‘I get it no worries. Though I’m surprised you’re well self aware of your actions. Most people your age don’t even realize they’re already acting a fool.’ Neeya said as Tisha breathed a solemn sigh of relief as she relaxed onto the back of the sofa.

‘Oh believe me I know more people who’re like that… Tisha’s one of the good ones.’ Yukino chimed in as she smiles dearly looking towards Tisha.

‘Oh really? Like that Robbie girl?’

‘Heh!’

Neeya answers Yukino’s retort as Tisha couldn’t help but fail to hold her laugh upon hearing the savagery in Neeya’s reply. Apparently her laugh was so sudden she had to quickly cover her mouth as she spits some of her beer out due to Neeya’s timing.

‘Yup! You know if you don’t talk it’s hard to imagine you just as old as my sister. And then you open your mouth and unleash that same snarky energy and I'm reminded of the age gap between us.’ Yukino said.

‘What? It’s just six years? I’m not THAT old…’ Neeya responds.

The three enjoy their bottles down to the last drop before the bell strikes to sound off the end of lunchtime. Yukino hears it and stands up to pat the dust of her skirt as she gets ready to leave.

‘Keeno wait!’ Neeya interjects as she holds up a finger. Both Yukino and Tisha look back and see her on her phone talking to someone.

‘Yeah?’

…

‘It’s an emergency.’

…

‘Yes. Absolutely crucial. ‘

‘Yup.’

…

‘Okay thanks.’

…

‘Buhbye!’

She closes her phone and throws it on the table in front of them like it was some piece of trash as she stood up in urgency towards the bar, only to emerge with an armful of beers stopping in the middle of the hallway with her feet apart and a naughty stare;

Deliberately standing in their way.

‘Neeya? We’re gonna be late for class.’ Yukino said.

‘I know. It’s my first day.’ Neeya flatly replied.

‘Soo… why?--’

‘I don’t like school and it’s my first day… I just made a call.

We’re all free…

And If I remember correctly, Tisha here has some things she needs to vent out…’

‘Wait what? I don’t have--’

‘Anniversary?’

Neeya blurts out raising a brow as Tisha looks at her confused with Yukino having absolutely no clue on how to handle such spontaneity that she’s frozen in place.

‘Good! Tell us all about it! We have the rest of the day.’ Neeya continued as she walked past the two of them and took back her place by the sofas, right after she set down all of the freshly opened bottles on the table.

‘C’mon! Sit with me! Sit!’ She further urges them as the two looked at each other, feeling a mixture of threat and anxiety that they felt no choice but to follow the peer pressure.

‘Keeno?’ Tisha worriedly asked as Yukino could only shrug her shoulders in reply. The two of them cautiously went back to their respective spots on the central sofa as they reluctantly got a share of their bottles from the table. Neeya then, with a sly smile on her lips, leans over to them before asking:

‘So.

Tell me about this boyfriend of yours…’

‘I’m feeling the coma coming… I need coffee…’ Pete sat back on the sofa looking heavily drowsy after finishing a big bowl of Tori king ramen.

‘It’s that chicken fat working inside your brain.’ Aida answered, looking annoyed at Pete as she sipped on her iced tea.

‘Chicken fat, Bacon fat, I don’t care… Let’s go for coffee after, we’ll discuss the plan there.’ He replied.

‘Why not here? We’re all stuffed so we’ll be immobile here for at least an hour. Seems like a good place to--’

He was about to state his point when the loud noise of the roller coaster passing ahead made him grind to a halt.

‘Your point?’ Pete smirked.

‘Aww fuck it…’

‘Sorry…’ Pai bowed his head and apologized as the others turned to his direction.

‘Ehh don’t sweat it… We all agreed this place was cool so we went along.’ Denzo responds whilst looking a bit tense, his face buried deep in his phone.

‘Pai don’t feel guilty, we have all day today; We have a free pass so we can freely discuss this thing today with no problems okay?’ Aida leans over to pat his head as he nods, feeling slightly better now knowing he didn’t screw anything up.

‘Anyways while we’re waiting for our stomachs to settle can we at least get a rundown on what you're proposing on how we can lure in Neil?’ Denzo insisted, still looking irate from his phone. Pete sighs as he slouches back on his seat, contemplating on what and how to say what was on his mind as he sighs at his concerns, which turned to a yawn and soon after he started to doze off to sleep.

‘Pete! Thefuck?!’ Denzo shouts as he sucker punches him awake, unknowingly just in time for another rollercoaster to fly above their heads, shocking him back to life.

‘Huh?!’ Nica sounded out loud after seeing the coaster speed by.

‘What is it?’ Aida asked as she herself yawned from having a heavy set meal.

‘No nothing… I’m just seeing things…’

‘Ohnonono.’ Aida interjects. ‘You looked spooked for a sec. So you better tell us no matter how stupid you think it was.’

‘Well… ugh it’s so stupid… I think I saw Neil on the ride.’

…

…

‘Well shit.’ Denzo muttered for a moment before he and Pete started to move out of their seats, but Nica quickly stopped them.

‘No wait please, It might be my eyes playing with me.’ She begged but the two would not listen as she tried to recall some details to help calm down the two from rushing in. ‘The guy I saw had a lady beside him on the ride. So… I don’t think it could be--’

‘Yeahhhh… I don’t think so.’ Denzo quickly sat down after hearing those words, but Pete was unconvinced.

‘I’m not taking any chances Denzo.’

‘Just sit down and chill… You heard her. For all we know we might be barking up the wrong tree.’

‘Heh. You think I care about a little embarrassment?! I don’t care as long as I get to pummel that bitch and if we get the wrong guy then so what? We’ll just say sorry and leave.’ Pete’s hot head finally wakes him up and ready to go but Aida wasn’t having any of it.

‘Pete sit the fuck down! You’re not thinking again!

Besides… I know you brought us here not -JUST- because of Neil. So unless we know it’s really him I suggest we continue with your true intentions first.’

‘Fine.’ Pete settled down as Denzo grew a little more suspicious after hearing what Aida had to say. As out of all the times they had been together recently, she never told him anything deeper than what Pete had briefed them the day before. On one hand he knew that her and Pete had been friends way longer than the two of them but then again he can’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy that the two of them shared something he didn’t know. The only solace he could latch on to, to keep him from being volatile was that Pai also seemed to know what was up. Citing that whatever the info was it’s not just the two of them who knew.

‘Wow. I hate this…’ He told himself as he calmed his heart down while the whole table looked at Pete in anticipation. Annoyingly, just as he was about to speak, the coaster comes by flying above their heads again, almost seemingly cutting him off intentionally.

‘You know what?’ Pete said as he immediately raised his hand.

‘Bill please.’

‘So he’s organizing something to catch this “Neil” guy huh…’ Neeya said after taking a long swig from her fourth bottle as she refuses to show any signs that the alcohol has affected her. Meanwhile the other two had already stopped after their third. With Yukino already passed out on the sofa and Tisha looking a little bit tipsy from the drinks she’s had.

‘Yeah… other than that I have no idea what he’s up to.’ TIsha replies, struggling to keep herself upright. ‘What the hell did’ya put on our drinks?’ She said.

‘Huh? Whatchu mean? You guys are just lightweights which is understandable since you’re just highschool kids.’ Neeya replied seemingly mocking the two girls who had lost against her in a drinking match.

‘Ya know what? I’m just gonna go on a stroll around the campus while you guys recover here. It won’t be a good look after all if the teachers would see you in this state.’ She continued as she chugs down the remainder of her bottle and takes her leave. As soon as the door shuts behind her, Tisha quickly falls back on her sofa, letting herself surrender to the unexplainable dizziness she was trying to hold back to prevent Neeya from taking pride for beating them in a drinking session. However, as soon as her head touched down on the soft pillows of the sofa, Yukino miraculously awakened from her drunken stupor to immediately ask how she was feeling.

‘Wait? You’re okay already? Damn you’re a heavy drinker.’ Tisha slurred as Yukino shakes her head.

‘No you’re not drunk Tisha, she drugged us.’

‘WHAT?!’

‘Shhhhhh….’ Yukino silences her before she runs back to her office to get something as Tisha lies on the sofa feeling disoriented of her surroundings. She could already feel the cold sweat dripping from her forehead as she suppressed the urge to vomit while she waited for Yukino to return. Thankfully she only needed to wait a few moments before she comes back with a glass of water and some medicine on her hand.

‘Waiittt… I’m not on my red day… what’s this for?’ Tisha took one look at the pill Yukino has on her palm and immediately recognizes what it was.’

‘I know but it’s got Ibuprofen in it to counter the drug in your system. I should know.

This saved me.’

‘Wait you’re on your-’

‘Yes. Now drink!’

Tisha willfully took the pill and laid rest on the sofa until the antidote kicked in. Meanwhile Yukino stood guard by the door, peeking by the window to check if Neeya was about to return, but when Tisha regained her senses, she went back to check on her condition.

‘I’m fine now… thanks.’

‘Good.’

‘Damn… got saved by the bell huh?’ She said as Yukino offered her another glass of water to replenish what she had sweated out.

‘Yeah dumb luck… took the pain meds right before we went out for lunch. Didn’t know it would save me from something else today…’ She replied.

‘But you did fall asleep though? How’d you get up again? Did the meds took a while before it took effect?’ Tisha asked as Yukino shook her head.

‘The moment I took a sip. I can tell by the taste it was drugged.’ Yukino reveals as Tisha was about to react loudly, prompting her to shush her again to avoid making a noise.

‘But then why didn't you warn me?’ Tisha whispered in protest.

‘I can’t. I need her to think her plan is working. So I just played along till she left.’

‘Then you swoop in to save me. Awww.’ Tisha blushed as she leaned in to hug Yukino. But the medicine hasn’t fully taken effect yet, making her slump back to her seat as she could still feel the dizziness at the back of her head.

‘Don’t. It’ll take at least an hour before you completely recover.’ Yukino said as Tisha laid back on the sofa again to ease her nausea. The two kept their silence as Yukino was on high alert, watching the doors for any signs of Neeya returning. During this time Tisha was able to settle the spinning inside her head allowing her to continue with her questioning.

‘Keeno?’

‘Yeah?’

‘How do you know what those drugs taste like?’

‘Huh?’ Tisha asked a peculiar question which confused Yukino.

‘The drugs in our drinks… How’d you know?’

Yukino understood what she meant as a flood of painful memories came haunting her back, unsure of whether she could share them or not.

‘Not now.’

‘Oh… yeah I understand.’

The pair fell into silence once more as the air around them became awkward all of a sudden. And though Yukino wanted to clear the awkwardness off of them, she thought it best to move on and think about how they would deal with Neeya from this point on.

‘Tish. From now on don’t try to ask Pete about whatever it is he’s trying to do.’ Yukino said, which in turn, made Tisha look at her with a confused expression.

‘For some reason she’s interested in something that concerns Pete. I don’t know what it is. But I think Pete’s stubborn secretive bullshit saved him today.’ Yukino commented.

‘I know… It just sounds like Pete’s about to do something stupid again.’

‘Well he sees girls as a moral compass so… yeah… It’s gonna be something stupid.’

‘But Aida’s there though…’ Tisha complained.

‘C’mon Tish… Honeymoon phase? Remember when you had one?’

‘Shut up…. Fine… I get it.’

The both of them laugh after remembering some tidbits of their past. But Yukino still felt like she was operating on a timer, and quickly moves on to the next topic.

‘But seriously Tisha. Whatever it is that Pete’s trying to do… Stay out of it.’

‘Yeah… sure… but should we warn him?’

‘No. Don’t tell anyone about what we learnt today. Let Neeya work her way to whatever it is she’s trying to do. Cuz if we did give a warning to anyone, she’ll immediately know that we’re on to her.’

‘Got it. So we’ll just watch from afar then?’

‘Yes.’ Yukino said. And with that out of the way she instructed Tisha to go back to sleeping or at least to pretend that she was, just to fool Neeya that her drugs were still in effect.

It wouldn’t be until another hour before she got back and when she did, she had Simon in tow to wake them up.

‘Uhh… huh? Simon?’ Yukino put all of her acting skills to the test as she pretended to groggily “wake up”.

‘Hello little miss I’m here because Neeya called. She said she wants to treat the two of you to ice cream.’ Simon said.

‘Ehh? Why?’ Tisha asked as she sat herself up from the sofa. From the way she acted, it looked like she really did fall asleep.

‘Well I felt guilty for getting you drunk on a school day. I didn’t know my own tolerance was abnormally higher than most but that’s on my own negligence. So I wanna make it up to you guys.’ Neeya said.

The two looked at each other with a shared understanding of their silence as they both nod in unison, accepting Neeya’s apology treat.

‘Next time get a better gauge of who you’re drinking with.’ Yukino sounded off sternly while Tisha nodded in agreement.

‘I know I’m sorry.’ Neeya plainly apologized. ‘Anyways… shall we go? Same place as the last time?’

The two nodded and picked up their things as they made their way out of the Parochial, closing the lights and the air conditioner on the way out. But little did they know, somewhere in the room there was a little red light that was blinking.

--Bzzzzzt--

‘Oh! I’ll get it!’ Aida volunteers, getting up from her seat with a pep in her step as she goes to the counter to retrieve their coffee. After the annoyance in the diner earlier, Pete had decided that the place was not suitable to have a decent conversation so he instead brought everyone over to one of his favorite coffee places in the metro, which is coincidentally another branch of the posh coffee place near their school.

‘I didn’t know they had another branch here?’ Pai commented, only just noticing it having the same design cues and branding as the one near their school where he hung out with the girls a few months ago.

‘Yeah, they do.’ Pete replies. ‘But I like this place better than that other place… Too many noisy High school girls.’ He said, which sparked the ire of Nica.

‘Well sorry then! Just so you know we girls are glad we don’t have any sweaty stinking jocks coming in to stink up the vibe!’ She retaliates as Pete responds with an annoying chuckle that made Nica roll her eyes with a sigh.

‘Anyways let’s get to business.’ Denzo cuts in, looking mightily impatient with all the useless banter. ‘Why did you have to bring us all the way out here? What are we gonna talk about Pete?’

‘Umm shouldn’t we wait for Aida first?’ Pai asked as he didn’t want her to be left out.

‘No Pai she volunteered for the coffee. She knows she’s not part of this.’ Denzo answered.

‘But why did she--’

‘Me and Pai are planning on dismantling Omega Epsilon.’ Pete declared, talking over Pai as Denzo looked taken aback with what he had just heard.

‘Umm… What's Omega Epsilon?’ Nica asked.

‘A fraternity I’m part of.’ Pete answered.

‘And why would you want to dismantle something you’re part of?’

‘Cuz I don’t like how they’re running things. And besides… I have reason to believe Neil is being helped by them.’ Pete said as Nica’s eyes widened, as the mention of Neil getting help with his perverse activities was something that surprised her.

‘How could he--’

‘That just means that they’re his clientele. Am I right?’ Denzo said.

‘Correct.’ Pete answered as horrifying thoughts began to litter Nica’s mind.

‘You okay Nica?’ Pai asked as he saw her get wobbly on her set for a brief moment, raising her palm towards him before he could lend any help as she took a deep breath to calm herself down.

‘I’m fine. Anyways, what's this fraternity about?’ She asked, trying her best to maintain a calm facade. Pete can sense something about her that didn’t sit well, but until she asks him to, he figured he’d just continue.

‘They used to be a place where the best and the strongest would gather to hang out and support each other. Well… at least that’s what my dad told me.

But now… just being in the pre collegiate program I’m already seeing things that are way different from how my dad described it and to make it worse…

I used to be one of the participants in their shitty games.’ Pete describes, as Nica grew slightly suspicious of him after hearing his past with them.

‘Participated?’ She asked with suspicion as Pete can sense a growing hostility from her tone.’

‘Yes. In order to solidify my place in their ranks we were all encouraged to dominate in any aspect we chose to partake.

Mine was, and IS, Basketball.

And I decimated everyone I faced in, and OUT of the court.’

Denzo raised his brow upon hearing the word “out” as he reptiles: ‘-Out- meaning?’

‘Psychological warfare.’ Pete admits. ‘And sometimes it involves bullying the other party to make them lose confidence.’

‘THEY ALLOWED THAT?!’ Pai raises his voice after hearing Pete’s statement but Denzo grabs his shoulder, sternly warning him to calm down and let Pete tell his story.

‘Yes. The only reason I stopped was because of Tisha.’

‘Why Tisha?’ Aida said with a teasing voice as she suddenly makes her entrance as it destroys the heavy atmosphere that was building up around their table. A welcome blessing as both Pai and Nica were starting to feel uncomfortable around him. Pete sighs but he realizes that he’ll need to tell them anyway so it was no use in feeling annoyed.

‘She was the active President at the time. Caught wind of how I and other Omega Epsilon hopefuls were being dicks and decided to personally stomp on our activities.’ He said.

‘Stomp how?’ Nica asked as Aida distributed their coffee.

‘Like literally.’ He answered. Which made Nica look confused even more.

‘Oh I see why.’ Aida reacts, sitting back on her spot on the table as looks at both her and Pai, confused as to what Pete meant. ‘She might not look like it but Tisha’s a taekwondo black belter. Won a couple under sixteen competitions during our middle school days.’ Aida answered as the both of them had their mouths open in surprise.

‘Yeah… She knew guys like me never listen to diplomacy so she resorted to having her staff track us down and trick us into a one on one fight--’

‘And that’s how he fell in Looooovveee!’ Aida cuts in.

‘Shut up!’ Pete throws back his rebuttal quickly.. ‘Anywho It was then where I slowly realized how fucked up everything is on the Omega Epsilon side that I was starting to piece together some clues on where the roots of this mess are anchored to.’ Pete paused to take a sip before resuming.

‘Sadly the people involved are far too powerful to uproot but that’s why I’ve planned for a different approach.’ Pete said as the group leaned in to listen closer.

‘Our target is the current president of the agustinian chapter of the brotherhood.

Remo Sebastian.’

…

…

…

…

‘Nica?’

…

‘Nica?’

…

‘Hey?’

She pops out of her stupor as soon as Aida starts to violently shake her for being unresponsive. Unfortunately it took the group long enough to notice her state that Pete had already run through the plan.

‘Hey! Did you get everything?’ Pete asked her but she just looked back at him with a blank expression making him realize she didn’t listen as Pete noticeably look upset at her ineptness.

‘Wait! Let me handle it. You and Pai do what you need to do alright?’ Denzo butts in before Pete could react any further.

‘Just make sure she does her part right.’ He responds. Nica on the other hand was not fully aware of everything that was happening around her.

All she knew right now was that she was feeling nauseated because of something. Because just as when Pete started speaking of his plans, she saw a clear unmistakable image of Neil, standing and waiting right outside of the coffee shop. She was dead-frozen and nervous at the moment she saw him, and the first thought that came to her mind was: ‘Please don’t look our way!’

She thought hard on whether she should inform the other of his presence. Continuously contemplating on her mind on what she should do. On one hand they would finally apprehend him and make him pay, but on the other hand she knows he might be hiding something under his sleeve and since she knows what he was capable of with how Jack & Barry’s turned out. She didn’t want to risk it. She spent all of those moments just watching, analyzing, hoping that there was an inkling of an opening to confirm for herself that he was safe to capture. She also got into wishing that Neeya was there with them as she felt confident that Neil would never stand a chance with her there, but since she wasn’t, she felt unsure and scared. And to make it worse, it was true that what she saw earlier was not a fluke.

He was with someone.

But just as the person got close enough to give her a glimpse. Aida steps in. And by the next time her eyes tried to resume tracking him, he vanished. At those moments she started to feel the nausea coming through, coupled with the thought that Neil had somehow found another victim to brainwash into doing his deeds. Though she has no proof of said brainwashing, she felt it safe to speculate as she absolutely knew he was the kind of person to do so. The swirling thoughts, the surge of fear, it was all making her feel unbearably unwell.

And the first words she was able to muster were: ‘Help me..’

Aida quickly reacts and puts her hand on her forehead, feeling the cold sweat on her brow. ‘Are you dizzy?’ She asked, to which Nica replied with a weak nod. Aida excused the both of them as they both made their way into the bathroom outside of the coffee place. Pete looked peeved about this but Denzo kept him cool. Pai also took the opportunity to go relieve himself as well, to which Pete nonchalantly agreed as he’d already heard the extent of the plan once as Both he and Denzo were left to discuss things further.

…

…

‘Oh gosh what has happened to you?’ Aida said in concern as Nica hurls parts of her lunch onto the toilet as the both of them lock themselves in one of the cubicles inside the women’s bathroom.

‘Sorry…’ She weakly replied while coughing as she pats her skirt for a handkerchief.

‘Here.’ Aida said as she handed her some tissues that she got from the coffee place’s counter, thanking her for concerned assistance as Nica flushed down her unsightly mess.

‘What happened?’ Aida asked again as Nica bit her lip as a way of silencing herself. But she was feeling excruciatingly antsy about what she had seen, and that she trusts Aida not to make any sudden decisions that she finally caves in and decides to tell.

‘I saw Neil. It was him. It was really REALLY him.’

Aida was shocked speechless as Nica was pleading with her eyes for her to not freak out. Aida saw this and took a deep breath.

‘Are you sure?’ She responds in a serious tone.

‘Yes.’

‘Fuck…

We should te--’

‘No!’

‘Nica!’

-Creaaakk-

The door swung open, making Aida cover her mouth in response. Both know where they were and know they were safe from any eavesdropping but for some reason they reacted as if they had to keep their secret to their grave. Aida lifts her finger to her lips to make the hush sign as Nica nods in response. She silently signals to Nica that they should move out once the other person gets inside the stall but after waiting for a few desperately long minutes of silence, both of them decided that whoever the person was, was gone.

And as they opened the door;

They were greeted with a sweet sounding “Hello.”

‘Uhh… H-Hi.’ Aida said as she quickly bows her head down, embarrassed at making eye contact as she interprets the greeting as a tease by the young lady who caught them. Insinuating they were doing something”inappropriate” inside the stall. She hurriedly pulls Nica out with her but unlike Aida she held her face high and somehow got a look at the lady in the mirror. And once again she thought she was seeing things as she apparently saw a copy of her looking back.

The pair hurriedly made their way to the door, but the girl by the mirror stopped them with a single word.

‘Wait a minute!’ She called out. The pair froze as they felt a deep seated fear rising up their spines, not knowing why they felt such a thing.

‘You girls look pretty too! Can I ask you a favor?’ The girl asked. Again for some strange reason the way she spoke made them feel an uncanny fear as they slowly turned around to face her.

‘Y-Yeah? What is it?’ Nica asked. And as soon as she does, the both of them quickly connect the dots as to why they felt afraid.

Because she sounds exactly like Nica.

The way she talks, the cadence in her voice, the tone, everything. It’s just the personality behind it that doesn’t match.

This girl seemed; Happier. In an eerie kind of way.

And it got worse as they finally got a glimpse of her.

‘Can you tell if my hair is messed up?’ The girl innocently asked. ‘I’ve been riding the rollercoaster with my master this whole afternoon.

I’m afraid he might think I’m ugly.’

They were dumbfounded. If it weren’t for the difference in color in their eyes and hair. They both would’ve thought they were looking at another mirror. The person in front of them was scarily proportioned exactly like Nica.

One look and they can see the eerie resemblance, all the way to her measurements as her bust, waist, hips and height was exactly like her, how fit she was, her skin tone and blemishes on her body, and even the way she stands.

Everything down to the last detail. A carbon copy.

‘Umm… N-no it’s fine.’ Nica blankly replies. Mostly as an automatic response, but in truth, she was flabbergasted. Aida herself was trying to get out but seeing a complete carbon copy of her friend mesmerized her in the same way a person looking at an accident does. The uncanny fear and the feeling of imminent danger looked fascinating enough that her mind and emotions couldn’t process it to sanely act. The both of them, frozen in time.

‘Oh thanks then. And I was worried for a second there.’ The girl gleefully replies as she walks past them with a skip and a hop. She was about to exit the bathroom, her hand already grasping the door lever, when she suddenly stopped.

Her happy-go-lucky expression had faded and it turned into the same surprised face that Nica was making when she had witnessed her. And as if the pair had traveled back in time, they both witnessed her do the same exact movement Nica made, turning around slowly as she faced them with the same disturbed look in her eyes.

‘You.’ The girl finally said.

‘I know you.’