Written by: Akosiibarra
Translated by: cas_white.rabbit
In the following days, I didn't bother talking to Loki. Even if we met in the living room or the kitchen, we didn't acknowledge each other. It was almost like he didn't exist in my sight, and seeing that he didn't acknowledge my presence, I guess the feeling's mutual.
And because I couldn't watch TV, I thought of the idea of making a blog where I can post my new experiences here in Pampanga, including my first conversation with Loki where I got annoyed with him.
In Monday, I started going to Clark High School to study. Apparently, my roommate also studies there. Fortunately, when I woke up in the morning, he already left the apartment so we didn't have to go to school together. Who knows what sort of gossip will spread if somebody found out that we live in the same apartment.
There's nothing remarkable that happened in the first week of my new high school. As a transferee, I was greeted with welcoming smiles and friendly gestures. It made me feel like I belong in Class 2-A because they treated a newbie like me as the younger sibling. There were a few who wanted to befriend me but I still try to distance myself from them.
During lunch, I sit alone in one of the tables in the cafeteria, savoring every spoonful of my sumptuous meal in my mouth. Suddenly, I would be approached by my classmates and they'd ask why I don't join them. I would smile and reply, "I'm still familiarizing myself with the environment,"
I admit that I still have trust issues when it comes to friends. Whenever I see my classmates trying to befriend me, I can't help but think to myself: Who among them will be a true friend and who will be a fake friend?
But there's one person who kept squeezing in beside me –Rosetta Rodriguez. A smile seemed to be permanently painted on her lips and she seemed like a people-person who loves to befriend other students. She had straight hair fell to her waist, a slightly rounded face with curved cheeks; if we're placed side by side, one would notice the centimeters difference in height because she's taller than me.
"Later, you'll join us, right?" she reminded me when we were in the locker room changing into our uniforms for PE class with the other girls in class.
I was about to insert my key in the keyhole of my locker but I paused when I noticed something different about it.
"Hm? What's wrong, Lori?" Rosetta asked, from her locker beside mine.
I was irked from being called Lori but then, its better than being called Lei-Lei.
"Your key isn't working?"
I turned to her and pointed at my locker's keyhole. "There are scratches around the keyhole. From what I remember, those weren't there yesterday,"
Rosetta approached my locker, scanning it with squinting eyes. "Are you sure you weren't the one who made these?"
"I'm careful when opening it with my key so it's impossible for it to have scratches,"
"Maybe someone mistook your locker as theirs and tried to open it with their key,"
That's impossible. My full name was pasted on my locker so if someone mistook it they will know it wasn't theirs instantly. Rosetta's idea will only happen if they don't know how to read.
I shrugged it off. I inserted my key and slowly opened my locker. Upon opening the locker, I was greeted with a box of Ferrero Roche chocolates and with it is a note that said, "For you, Miss Gorgeous. From your secret admirer."
"Someone really opened my locker," I commented removing the small box of chocolates. Instead of feeling touched with that kind of sweet gesture, I just felt the fine hairs on my body standing on end.
"With your beauty, of course you'll have secret admirers," Rosetta said, checking the note. "Seems like a boy has been charmed by you, Lori,"
Tss. I dislike attention the most. As long as no problem disrupts my life, it's okay for me to live incognito mode in the other people's eyes.
With the thought that the breaking into my locker was just a one-time thing, I ignored what happened. But in the following days, my 'secret admirer' left something that horrified me.
I swallowed my saliva looking at a photograph where I was looking out the window of our classroom. With the picture were red roses and on the back of the picture was a written note that said: "Please smile for me. From your secret admirer,"
This was getting creepier. This doesn't seem to be a secret admirer's work anymore. I think I got a stalker now.
"Do you know any of our male classmates who are interested in me?" I asked Rosetta who was busy changing her clothes, her hair swaying with her movements.
"From the looks of it, all of them are interested in you and want to get to know you. Some of them even ask me to help them because they're really shy. Why? Do you think that this was done by one of our classmates?"
I showed her the photo from my locker. "The shot was taken while I was in the classroom yesterday so there's a high possibility that it was one of our classmates who forcibly opened my locker and kept leaving random things inside,"
"You don't like receiving gifts?"
I turned my gaze on my locker again. "It's not that I dislike receiving gifts but this is getting creepy. Its not a bad thing to admire person, but if you want to express your feelings, you shouldn't do it this way. If he's interested in me, why doesn't he introduce himself to me?"
Rosetta finished wearing her white T-shirt and jogging pants while I was still bothered by this mystery. It's so bothersome that I can't focus on what I was supposed to do.
"I might need to report this, this time,"
"It will take them a long time to figure out the person behind it," Rosetta commented. "If you want to swiftly identify your stalker, I know someone who could help you,"
"Huh?" I raised a brow. "And who's that supposed to be?"
"If students have some problems, they have a place that they go to. If you have something mysterious situation you want to solve, you can count on that club. You can consult them about your case,"
"Like a detective club?"
"Something like that. If tomorrow the person still doesn't stop leaving you gifts in your locker, ask the club for their help. Go to the third floor, in the room at the end of the hallway you'll see a pasted sign that says, "QED Club" on the door.
As if it was predestined for Rosetta to give me that advise because on the next day when I opened my locker, a small teddy bear was sitting inside it and pasted on the teddy bear was my profile picture on Facebook. It was clear that even my social media was being stalked by that so-called 'secret admirer'.
The fact that he went through the trouble of lock-picking and stalking me in person and online was probably an indication of his obsessive nature. I think I'm no longer dealing with someone creepy, but someone dangerous.
I didn't think twice to visit the said detective club. At lunch break, I went up the third floor and went to the room at the end of the hallway. I carefully checked every door I passed to find the one with the 'QED Club' sign.
After less than five minutes, I found myself standing in front of Room 315. I didn't immediately open the door. I was having second thoughts about disturbing them for this kind of problem but well, since I'm already here, I might as well go through it. I took a deep breath, knocked on the door and went in.
It was noticeable how small their room is. The room was only one-fourth compared to a regular classroom. From the looks of it, the room can only fit five people because of how narrow it is. Inside is a rectangular table with stacks of paper filled with random numbers. Wait, this scenario feels familiar.
Usually, some club members should be present in club rooms so that there would be people to greet their visitors so I was expecting to find three or four club members inside, but I didn't see anyone inside aside from a male student sitting on a swivel chair with his back to me.
"Excuse me, is this QED Club?" I approached him slowly so I don't disturb him incase he was doing something.
"If you're familiar with the English alphabet and you read the sign on the door, then you know the answer to that question,"
My eyes widened and my body stiffened when I heard the person's voice. I can't be mistaken. That annoying, monotonous voice could only come from one person whom I had the misfortune of meeting.
When he turned around, I was faced with Loki's emotionless face. He didn't even look surprised to see me. His eyes, which was almost covered by his bangs, narrowed slightly and asked, "Wait, you're my roommate, right? What's your name again? Lorraine? Lorena?"
Wow. I don't know if he's trying to annoy me by pretending to forget my name but hey, my name's a little too unique to be easily forgotten. "You don't need to know anymore. Sorry, looks like I entered the wrong room,"
Of course, that's a lie. I turned around to leave his clubroom. If I knew that I'll see him here, I wouldn't have wasted my time.
"Oh, don't you lie. You're in the right place," he said in a toneless voice. I could sense his eyes shooting daggers at me. "You asked if this is the QED clubroom earlier, that means you really are looking for this club,"
Yeah, I'm looking for this club but not for him. I gave him a sullen glance and retorted sarcastically, "You're the last person that I want to see today so if it's okay to you, I'll take my leave,"
"That's another lie," he interjected when I was about to reach the door. "The last person you want to see is that secret admirer of yours, isn't it?
There he goes again with his ESP[A1] -like way of knowing things. With furrowed brows, I once again turned to him and asked curiously, "And how did you know about that?"
He stood up and walked towards me, putting his hands into his pant's pockets. "Let's say that I have the power to know if someone's in trouble or not,"
"Someone told you?"
Instead of 'yes' or 'no', he replied with an irritating smile. "I know our first conversation wasn't a good one but I'm interested in hearing your problem. I have nothing on my plate at the moment so, I can help you out. I'm not forcing you though. You have two options: You can walk away and be bothered by your secret admire or, you can tell me the details of your problem and I can expose the identity of the mystery man,"
I wanted to end the 'secret admirer' case before it continuous on in the following days. The problem is I don't know if this person (Loki) is trustworthy. After our brief exchange on the first day, how I wish our paths will never cross again.
"Don't worry, once your problem is solved, we can return to playing strangers again," he pulled a monobloc chair and offered it to me, "So, why don't you take a seat and tell me more about your case?"
Sounds like a good deal, going back to being strangers after this. Even if there's a voice in my mind telling me not to trust him, I still sat down and got ready to tell him what happened. He also sat down in across me, intertwining his fingers and placing them on the table. He made me feel like I was being interrogated by police.
"Go ahead, I'm listening,"
I took a deep breath before starting to narrate what had happened these few days. "This Monday, I noticed that somebody opened my locker and left a box of chocolates. Yesterday, that person again left some roses and my picture with a note that said, 'Please smile for me." And earlier, that person yet again left a small teddy bear with my profile picture from Facebook pasted on it,"
I looked at Loki's face; he had a faraway look on his face, as if my story bored him. I pursed my lips. He said he's listening but his attention seemed elsewhere.
"Typical secret admirer case, nothing unusual. Do you have an idea who's behind this?"
"I think that person is one of my classmates. The picture that was left yesterday was taken while I was in the classroom," I replied, after a pause.
His eyes slightly narrowed in faint curiosity as he really looked at me.
"Interesting observation and deduction. What time do you usually open your locker?"
"Morning, during my PE class,"
The edge of his lips curled, revealing a knowing smile. "Consider your problem solved. If you want, I'll introduce to you the person behind the mystery gifts this afternoon,"
"You know who that person is?"
"We'll find out later," he answered, plastering a wide grin on his face. He extended his hand to me, "For now, can you lend me you locker key? I wanna ask the locksmiths around the vicinity if someone asked to duplicate it,"
Because there's currently nothing important in my locker besides my rubber shoes, I didn't hesitate to give him the key.
"When do your classes end today?"
"Until four o'clock, why?"
"Meet me at exactly five o'clock at the rooftop. I will unmask the identity of your secret admirer and put an end to your problem,"
He was oozing with extreme confidence. I'm not sure if he's just all talk and arrogance or if he really had the means to solve my case. According to what Rosetta told me, this club can close cases and I can be rest assured that my problem will be solved. For once, I decided to trust this guy. Fingers crossed, that'll be the first and last time that I'll ask for help from this guy.
After my last class that afternoon, I hung around the cafeteria while waiting for five o'clock. Almost all of my classmates have gone home while I'm still here anticipating my meeting with Loki.
It was five minutes before five o'clock when I went up the rooftop to meet my roommate-slash-detective wannabe. When I arrived, I saw not a person's shadow. Only three large cardboard boxes and long 2x2 cut wood were there.
He's the one who had the guts to tell me to be there five o'clock sharp yet he's the one who's running late.
I went to the edge of the rooftop, near the cardboard boxes and looked down. There's almost nobody left here in the campus. Usually, I've been told that around this time, there are still members from different clubs hanging around doing some of their club activities.
I glimpsed at the time in my phone. It's already five-ten. What's taking him so long? Is it possible that he's making a fool out of me earlier? Sigh. Maybe he's just getting back at me after I walked out on him the other day at the apartment. I decided that if he still won't show up in five minutes, I'm going home.
I was breathing in the fresh air and enjoying the reigning silence in the rooftop when the door opened behind me. It created a scraping noise followed by slow footfalls made by someone wearing shoes. At last, he's finally here.
I turned around but was surprised when it wasn't Loki's face that greeted me. The person who was slowly approaching me looked familiar.
"Aaron? What are you doing here?" A wide smile was visible on his face, like he's so happy to see me here in the rooftop. "Did you forget something?"
"You said, you wanted to see me," he showed me a piece of paper with something on it. The writing wasn't clear so I wasn't able to read it. "So I hurried here to meet you,"
My eyes narrowed in suspicion as I watched him approach me.
"Sorry but I don't remember telling you something like that. Perhaps you're mistaken. I'm waiting for someone else,"
Confusion painted his face as he watched me with brows raised. "But you left a message for me in your locker. You said, you wanted to meet today at five o'clock in the rooftop to get to know me and thank me for the gifts I've been giving you,"
Realization dawned upon me, my eyes widened and I subconsciously took a step back. "Th-then, you – you're my secret admirer?"
He executed a 90 degree bow. "Yours truly. Hey, why're you turning pale? Are you not expecting to see me here?"
I repeatedly shook my head. I don't remember leaving a note in my locker. I still don't have amnesia. "Ex-Excuse me but I really don't know what you're talking about,"
Right then I understood who could possibly have left a note there. There's only one person I gave my locker key to and that's no other than Loki!
"During the first day you transferred here, I already wanted to get to know you," he took a step towards me and I also took a step backwards. I wanted to run away but my legs suddenly felt weak, that I can barely move them. "I was always watching the way you smile and how you laugh. Sometimes I even started to ask myself how your lips would taste,"
Ice started to envelope my body. "S-stay away from me!" I screamed at him.
His wide smile earlier morphed into a demonic smirk. His brown eyes gleamed with lustful joy as he watched me. He bit his lip, looking as if he couldn't wait to devour me.
He suddenly grabbed me by my right arm. I struggled to free myself but I could find strength to break away from his grip.
"Is this how you thank your secret admirer? Well, I like girls who fights back so I'm sure I'll enjoy you. Hehe~"
"HEL–," I started to scream but he quickly covered my mouth with his hand.
"Shh, don't be noisy. I thought you wanted to get to know me better? If you try to scream again, I might decide to push you off the rooftop. I wouldn't want to waste your beauty,"
The fine hairs on my body stood on ends when he stroked my cheek. I could feel his breath when he put his face closer to mine.
A similar incident that happened at night a few months ago started to resurface in my mind. It was as if I went back to that dark place illuminated with blinking lights of different colors. Many people were dancing and it was so loud that the people could barely hear what each one was talking about. Cups were being filled with strong liquor and wine and then…
I blinked and realized that Aaron wasn't in front of me anymore. He wasn't grabbing my arm anymore instead he was lying on the ground on his stomach and stepping on his back was Loki's shoes. He was trying to get up but my roommate wouldn't allow him.
Thank goodness that he came to save me! My legs suddenly gave out causing me to sit on the ground. I hugged myself. I felt my body trembling; I was going into a shock.
My ears registered Loki's voice. "I apologize for not taking action immediately," he spoke. "I needed to film his attempts so that we'll have solid evidence against this guy,"
My mind absorbed what he said, making me raise my head and look at him. "W-wait, you – you were already here earlier?"
He gestured at the stacked cardboard boxes, "I was hiding among the boxes while waiting for the two of you. If he sees you alone here, he will lower his guard ad take advantage of the situation. And it worked," he said smugly.
My gaze sharpened as I glared at him. Rage heated my mind as the urge to punch Loki's face prompted my hands to shake; I slowly clenched them into fists. He was already here but he just watched what was happening and didn't prevent it. I don't care about his reasons! He almost forced me to relive a memory that I sealed away forever in my head.
"You bastard!" I muttered with gritted teeth.
I forced my legs to stand up despite my trembling and walked up to him. I raised my hand with the intention to hit him when Aaron jumped up and ran towards the door, down the stairs. I was surprised that I couldn't do anything but stare and Loki didn't run after him either, he still looked confident regardless of the situation.
"Don't worry about him. We already have evidence against him," he pocketed the phone containing the video and he even smiled at me as if everything was okay. "From now on, that 'secret admirer' bother your life anymore,"
SLAP!
Involuntarily, I slapped his smiling face so hard that his head snapped to the side. My right palm stung from the impact that it even turned red.
The slap colored his left cheek red and left a very noticeable handprint.
He lost his smile and a second after he kneaded his slightly swollen cheek but aside from that there was no other physical reaction from him. "Is this how you say thank you? If yes, you're welcome,"
Tears filled my eyes but I refused to let it flow. I don't want to cry in front of this person, he doesn't deserve to see my tears.
"You have no idea what you've put me through today," my voice was a little wobbly despite my fierce words. "You lied to me and used me as bait to lure out that creepy guy. Now, I don't know which between the two of you is worse,"
"The end justifies the means, Lorelei," was his righteous answer.
He was unrepentant of what he just did. I was surprised that he even remembered my name, still I can't quell the rage boiling through my body. So before I slap him a few more times, I swiftly left through the stairs and left him alone in the rooftop. That day, I realized that crossing paths with him is the worst mistake I had ever done.
[A1]Extrasensory perception or sixth sense