"Goddamn it!"
I shouted as I walked away from the guidance councilors office along with Jandrei and his goons.
I remembered that we had an important test today with Mr. Sheldon, and I just wasted my time together with these idiots. I felt very irritated but I had nothing to calm my nerves. So I punched the mirror in the bathroom and quickly walked away from the scene.
The class probably ended now so I just went to the Gardening clubhouse for my first club activity.
As I was walking, I saw Ocho with Kyle near the entrance of the garden. I then approached them from behind.
"Yow Ocho! Kyle!"
I called to them. Even until now I still suspect Kyle as the one who killed Jackson, but I still have to find proof. And as soon as I've proven he's guilty, I'll deal with him myself.
But for now, I need to chill myself out and act normal.
(Kyle)
"Hey there Darren."
(Ocho)
"There you are. You finally showed up."
(Darren)
"Why? Did I miss something? Except for that damn test?"
(Ocho)
"Could you please explain to him Kyle?"
(Kyle)
"You see that's why we've been looking for you, Darren. See, Ocho here took the liberty to list you down in the attendance and even took the short test for you. So you were basically present the whole time during Mr. Sheldon's class."
"Seriously?"
(Kyle)
"Yeah. You missed out on the short lecture though."
I then looked at Ocho and put my left arm around his shoulders.
"You're actually a good guy, Ocho. I owe you one."
"Sure.....So could you lend me your bike tomorrow after school?"
"....There it is. I knew something was up. It was too fucking good to be fucking true. But whatever man, you owe me one again. Just please don't damage my darling. I saw a little scratch on the muffler earlier, but I won't take it to heart. Since I'm a good guy myself."
I wanted to break Ocho's finger earlier when I saw the scratch, and I had a hard time controlling myself. But what he did for me was a very big favor.
I could fail Mr. Sheldon's class if I ever miss out on anymore activities. And since I still don't have a club, until recently, to supplement my grades. I might have needed to attend the summer class, and that's a total bullshit for someone as busy as me.
------
When we got in front of the club house, we saw Levi and Rizannel both working on the flower beds. It seems that they did not notice, or pretended not to, as they continued working, so we just went and entered the clubhouse.
Then Minji greeted us inside, but I did not see the weirdo together with her.
But.
My mood started going off the chart as soon as I saw the other new member.
"So you're all finally here. Take a seat and I'll start the debriefing. Oh but first, could you please hand me Joseph's whiskey, Ichika? Its hidden in his drawer. He's helping the computer club right now, so why don't we all drink as I brief you guys?"
I was still feeling iffy with the fact that I would be in the same club as Ichika. But when I heard what Minji said, my mind went blank for a second.
We all looked at Minji with dumbfounded expressions as nobody knew what to reply to her. She then continued speaking and mocked us.
"What? Is this your first time drinking on school grounds? Tsk. Don't worry no one steps foot inside this clubhouse except for members. Even the teachers and faculty members only posts the requests at the board outside. And yes, Teachers and Faculties could make a request for us too."
Then Minji took out a shot glass from inside her table drawer and started pouring the whiskey for herself. Then she poured another one for me.
"Ah screw it. I needed one after all."
I said in a tone of giving up as I took the glass and downed it. And trust me when I say this, it tasted like Satan's Jalapeño fermented in his butt crack.
'Holy shit that was strong'
It was very strong, and it was just half a shot glass that I just drank.
Minji looked at me with a smirk and said. "Heh, pussy."
I could feel my vision swaying a bit, but I did not want to look like an idiot in front of Ichika. So I acted like I just drank an apple juice.
"It actually tastes nice, you should try it too, Ocho."
"Okay, sure"
I handed Ocho the shot glass and and Minji gave her the bottle as she said "go serve yourselves as I brief you guys."
I was waiting for Ocho to have a worse reaction than me after one glass, and maybe, just maybe, Ichika would realize that I'm better than his womanizing ass.
He poured a full shot glass of the whiskey, and I could already imagine his expression once he drank it. But when he did downed the whiskey, the bastard didn't even flinch, and was licking his lips like he was a food critique searching for the after taste.
Then he poured another full glass and downed it again, with the same nonchalant reaction.
While Minji was preparing a board for visual aids. Ocho handed the bottle and the shot glass at Kyle.
"Sorry guys. I just had a severe wound, so I'm passing this time."
Kyle kindly rejected it so Ocho asked Ichika.
"You should try it, there's not much of a kick so its good."
'This bastard is showing off! How the hell could he even have a straight face right now?! I'm trying my best not to crumple my face.' I thought to myself.
Then Ichika took the bottle and poured a full shot glass for herself and drank it.
'Wowee! Fuck me upside down! She actually had the same reaction with Ocho! Am I going nuts?! I'm pretty confident with my alcohol tolerance. I've been drinking hard liquors since 15 and I'm hella sure that, that whiskey is fucking demonic!'
Ichika downed another 2 more full glasses and passed it to me.
I smiled wryly at her and accepted it. At this time Minji just finished her preparations and started the briefing.
"So as you all probably know about the conditions of the Gardening club, I will skip on that now. First, I'll explain the pointing system, then the request validation process, some tips when dealing with certain clubs, and lastly are the merits of joining the Gardening Club. So could you please drink your shot already and pass me the stuff Darren!"
I gulped and poured a full shot for myself and downed it all in one agonizing fell swoop. Then as I handed the bottle and the shot glass to Minji, I felt my vision starting to blur, and my stomach silently bubbling with gases.
'Oh...fuck'