O E R T O
"They waited for us to settle and be ready to answer the next question," Vince said, smiling in amusement and shaking his head.
"They're really watching," Ally said while nodding. Even though she was standing, she kept a close distance from Ella who was still sitting on the stairs with Lia.
"What the hell is that?" Jerome asked with a frown.
"A code?" Paul also asked.
"It's not," Ally said seriously. Everyone's eyes turned to her again. "I know the answer but I want answers too."
Kingsley frowned. Hailey was the first to react. "What?"
Vince slightly raised his right hand. "Same here."
There seemed to be tension building between the remaining graduates. Silence prevailed for a long time as everyone was trying to read the atmosphere before the former leader of the Student Council spoke.
"Answers for what?"
Ally met Kingsley's gaze casually. "What do you know about this?"
"Wait, what?" Hailey was the first to react again but Ally didn't budge.
"Or maybe you, Noah?"
The lips of the young man in question parted. Although he did not expect his name to be mentioned, he bravely met Ally's gaze.
Arkin stepped closer and frowned as he pointed at Vince. "Had this geek already convinced you that my cousin is involved with whatever shit is happening right now?"
"It's not about him being the only non-engineering graduate among all of us here," Vince said seriously.
Ally looked again at the former president of their Student Council. "You lied, right?"
Kingsley did not speak. He didn't show any reaction to what the young lady said.
"You didn't ask him to come and help today." Ally seemed sure of what she said. She looked back at her partner in the last task.
Noah swallowed but maintained direct eye contact with the pair of orbs he had stared at several times that morning.
"Just a moment." Arkin took another step closer to the young woman who didn't even move from where she was standing. "It's your classmate who confessed to killing and we got a gun. Why are you questioning Noah?"
"A dead person won't answer my questions," Ally replied with a straight face.
"Or, maybe, you're really the one involved in what's happening and you're just looking for someone else to blame?" Hailey asked, standing tall with her chin up.
"She doesn't have anything to do with this," Paul defended Ally.
Hailey frowned when she looked at her former classmate. "Why, Paul? Do you know this girl?"
"I do," the young man answered without hesitation.
Hailey was about to speak but the young man in question took a step forward, closer to Ally. Everyone's attention went to him but he was only looking at Ally.
"What made you think that Kingsley was lying?"
"So, he really was?" Vince asked with a smirk, but Noah paid him no attention.
"Because whoever's behind this knew that you'll be here today," Ally answered in a serious tone, making everyone fall silent. "I don't think they're someone who would just hope that Kingsley would ask you to help. They know that you have a reason to come here today."
"The guy who fell from the rooftop, those who died on the gates, the girl who was shot…" It was Vince's turn to share what he and Ally think is happening. "…it was all planned. They were all killed to end up with the same number of males and females before entering Louie's Hall. If this really is just about Engineering graduates, why is the only Information Technology student still breathing?"
"Noah was not with us when we tried to ask for help and he didn't stay away from this group either. Maybe there's just no chance to kill him?" Jerome tried to reason out.
"That girl was shot while being surrounded by all of us," Lia reminded them, referring to the young lady who screamed and suddenly collapsed.
Hailey also stepped closer. "Noah didn't shout—"
"We won't be able to survive together if we're doubting one another," Kingsley said seriously causing silence again.
Vince's smirk grew wider. "You really know something we don't."
The former leader of the Student Council sighed and then looked at Ally. "Noah isn't here to help, but you are wrong. I really did ask him to come."
"Kingsley..." Hailey called softly but the young man ignored her.
"Hailey wasn't supposed to be here either," the former leader of the Student Council continued. "She already asked the registrar for her documents two months ago."
Everyone's eyes went to the young lady with short hair and wearing a pink dress, except for Ally who remained staring into Kingsley's eyes.
"I asked the two of them to come because it's been exactly one year and I thought we're the only ones who could remember that day."
Silence prevailed again. After the last words of the former Student Council president, none of them could find a word to say.
"W-What exactly happened on the ninth of March 2020?" Lia almost whispered.
Kingsley, Hailey, and Noah looked at each other. Vivid images of that day flashed inside their mind.
"Good morning, Noah." Eyes glaring and arms crossed, Hailey bitterly greeted the young man she had waited for an hour that day.
"Good morning too," Noah greeted with a smile as he took the key to the Student Council Office from his pants pocket. He nodded at Kingsley and then looked back at their frowning friend. "I'm not late, am I? There are hardly any students yet."
"I've been here for an hour already! I was so happy when Kingsley arrived, fifteen minutes ago, but the office still can't be opened!" complaint of the then secretary of the Student Council. "Why do you have the key?!"
"I gave it to him yesterday," Kingsley answered. "Mom had to go out of town for a business trip and as I have to take care of my siblings, I thought I would be late this morning."
"You even came earlier than this man."
Noah just shook his head and laughed then chose the office key from a bunch of keys attached to a keychain. "Why did you come to school so early anyway? You've never been this early before."
"I can't study at home," Hailey said softly.
Noah stopped picking the key and frowned when he looked at the young lady again. "Study? For what?"
"She has to retake an exam," Kingsley said.
"Seriously?" Noah asked in disbelief. "You're already graduating and you still have removal exams?"
"Sorry, Mr. Smart Guy," Hailey said, annoyed, and then looked away. "You both know that I never wanted to take an engineering program. I want to be a flight attendant."
"Yet here you are in your fifth and final year," Kingsley told her like a proud father.
"You can still shift courses if you want," Noah said with a shrug as he continued searching for the office key again. "Look at me—"
"You were an incoming sophomore when you shifted courses, Noah Reyes," Hailey reminded. "You only lost one year. You even entered college early, so your age is just the same as us whom you will graduate with at the same time."
The smiling Noah just shrugged his shoulders again. He and Kingsley were both used to Hailey's blabbers so they just let her talk. When he found the key, he immediately inserted it into the doorknob.
"If I were to shift now, the last five years would be just a waste. Even though my future classmates are from K-12 and went to senior high, I'm still three years older than them," the former Student Council secretary lamented. "Gosh, I can't imagine my classmates calling me sister, while I'm wearing my bloody red lipstick—"
As usual and natural in his behavior, when Noah opened the door, he immediately stepped aside to allow the only lady with them to enter first. He was surprised by her sudden stop talking. She was not able to step inside and just stared in front of her.
"Why?" Kingsley asked then also approached the door. Like their secretary, he also froze on the spot.
"W-What the hell?" Noah unconsciously uttered when he also took a peek inside their office.
That day, right inside the Student Council Office, between the receiving area and the desk area, the body of a student was hanging.
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