[22nd December]
"Uh..." my fingers fumbled under the table as I attempted to think of a valid reason.
"Have you not heard about the new horror movie premiere?" I blurted out with as much confidence as I could muster.
I couldn't let him know that I wasn't Johnny! At least, not now.
Just as Jay was about to speak, his uncle wandered to our table with a light whistle.
"Enjoying the dessert so far?" I immediately tended to him, nodding with a tight-lipped smile.
"It's delightful," Jay simply gave his uncle a curt nod. "Well, I came with some complimentary drinks. They are our best-sellers! Again, it's on the house,"
"Thank you so much, uncle," I thanked him too. Jay's uncle smiled before returning to the counter. Jay immediately turned to me.
"A movie?" he raised a brow.
"Yeah, my sister told me about this new horror movie release," I mentally patted myself on the back.
"Hm, it sounds exciting. Tell me when it comes out, maybe we can watch it together." Jay beamed and pushed his bowl aside. I let out a small sigh of relief.
"You're done?"
"Hm. Take your time, I can wait," he assured me.
"Are we going somewhere else after this?" I asked, shoving a spoonful of ice cream into my mouth.
"It's only thirty minutes past nine right now...I was thinking we could watch a movie back at my house," Jay suggested, already deciding on the movie in his head.
"Sounds great to me," I've come to love watching movies a lot during my first few days on Earth. They amazed me so much.
-
We returned to Jay's house for a movie night but it was cut short when the twins suddenly requested a video call with us and the others. "Seriously? I was about to commence the movie," Jay clicked his tongue in exasperation, feeling for his buzzing device.
"What movie?" I asked with a mouthful of packaged popcorn.
"Peter Rabbit," Jay turned to me with a grin.
"Yeah, what's up?" Jay angled his device so it showed us both.
"Hey, I couldn't reach Rikki for some reason," Silas responded. I stiffened up in my seat.
"Johnny, you went to his house today. Did anything happen?" Nick appeared on the frame with furrowed brows. I gulped when he called me. I can't tell them!
"He went down with a cold, all of a sudden," Jay glanced at me. The twins nodded and went to sit on the barstools.
"Why'd you call us? I was about to sleep," Dylan emphasized with a yawn.
"Well, uhm...
another body was found in the carnival,"
"Another one?" Ethan stopped chewing on his cereal. Was that his dinner?
"In the same place, position and way of death-being strangled," Nick told us. We all took a moment to grasp the information.
"Wait,
not to be rude or anything...but what does this have to do with us?" Dylan voiced; his brows raised. Nick blinked, taken by surprise.
"We thought you'd like to know...?"
"I hate to be the one to remind you this but we have a test tomorrow? I don't wanna remember a dead body when the question paper is in front of me," Dylan groaned exasperatingly, earning a chuckle from Silas.
Boy laughs at anything.
Nick swiftly shot him a look.
"what's so funny?"
"Your face," Silas blew raspberries at his twin.
"We have the same face, you idiot," Nick retorted, playfully smacking Silas' face out of the frame.
"Can I leave? I can already feel the information I've revised for the test leave my brain," Dylan cut in.
"Okay, good night," with that, he left the call.
"Is your dad home?" Jay asked the twins.
"He was the one who told us about this. He said he was glad we've not been to the carnival yesterday or tonight,"
"How is the killer not found yet?" I asked. If they arrested the killer before Ethan's birthday, my mission will be a breeze.
"No clue. They've asked the area's patrol team but they all said the same thing; no one came close to the carousel. How is that even possible?" Silas scoffed.
When the first body had been found, the carousel was closed off with an 'under maintenance' sign so no evidence in the scene would be tampered with. The carousel was also the main attraction of the carnival so many visitors were disheartened.
"Our dad also told us that they've managed to identify the victim. He was from our school," I accidentally choked on popcorn.
"Lee Nathaniel. You might know him, he was a grade lower than us," the victim was only 17?
"Did they find the identity of the first victim?" Ethan questioned as he perched himself on the kitchen top.
"No, whoever the killer was, they smashed her face pretty badly," Jay winced.
"It was pretty weird how the victims were already severely injured before they were even hung. I mean, a rope couldn't have done that kind of damage, right?" come to think of it, it was odd.
"Just thought we'd let y'all know. Apparently, Dylan doesn't appreciate it," Silas rolled his eyes while Nick snickered.
"Isn't he afraid of gore stuff or anything horror?" it was like a light bulb went off in Silas' head as his mouth formed an 'o' shape. "
Ah, no wonder," we laughed as we poked fun of the presumably sleeping male.
"Well, what are you guys up to?" Nick returned to the camera after hurrying off to get a glass of milk.
"Johnny and I were going to watch a movie," Jay said, causing Ethan to scoff.
"Without us? Rough,"
"We're on a date, idiot. Maybe if you got a partner, you wouldn't be hunched alone in a dark kitchen eating dry ass cereal," Ethan feigned offense and clutched onto his chest.
"Well now you know what I'm doing, I guess," we all burst into laughter as Ethan pursed his lips and poked his cereal.
After a while, we ended the call and realized it was already eleven. "My parents will start lecturing me if I don't go home soon," I turned to Jay with a sigh. We didn't even get to watch a movie.
"Let's go, I'll send you home," Jay patted my thighs as he stood up to leave the room.
As we were about to leave through the front door, Jay paused to stare at the translucent backdoor across us. I walked over to him, eyes locked on the glass. I could see nothing in it as the lights were turned off.
"What's up?" he sighed.
"It's just...I wanted to show you something I've been working on." I grinned, interest peaking.
"Oh? Is it for a school project?" he turned to me with a small smile.
"It's for you."
My eyes grew as my cheeks warmed up. "Oh!" how dense I was. Jay chuckled.
"I recently got into gardening and thought I'd surprise you by growing your favorite flowers in my backyard." he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"I called it the Yang Garden. My parents don't go into the back that much so I had the whole premises to myself. I wanted to make something useful out of it." I began to grow excited but then I remembered I was not Johnny, to begin with.
So I decided to just relish on the news and have Johnny come back and view it himself.
"I guess that can wait, it will also give me time to clean the garden and finish the decorations." Jay chuckled.
"I'd show you right now, but we're in a rush. Now come on, let's go before Mr. Yang disapproves of me." we laughed.
-
"You can come over tomorrow, if you want to," Jay suggested, turning the corner into my neighborhood.
"I can't, I have a family dinner to attend tomorrow night," I exhaled as I opened the car door to leave just as Jay parked across my house.
"See you tomorrow, Jay. Today was really fun," I grinned and turned to leave.
"Wait!"
"Hm-?" I was silenced when Jay unbuckled his seatbelt to give me a soft kiss. I instinctively closed my eyes while my lips tugged into a smile. Jay pulled me closer by my jaw and turned his head. I immediately stopped him before it could escalate, gently placing my hands on his chest. he pulled away with a dejected huff.
"I have to go now, babe," I caressed his cheeks and he leaned into the touch, reluctantly nodding.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Jay took my hand and placed a kiss on it. I blushed a faint pink, giving a small nod.
"Alright," with that, I got out of his car, closing the door before me. I waved and watched as his car disappeared onto the main road. When he left, I took notice of how cold it was outside.
"Oh my God, it's freezing!!" I rushed to the front yard.
I silently opened the front door to see my parents watching the sports channel in the living room. "Hey mum, hey dad," I removed my boots to put on the shelf. I realized I was still dressed in Jay's clothes.
Making a mental reminder to return them to him tomorrow, I turned to climb up the stairs. "Ah, Johnny. You're back," my mum hummed in acknowledgment.
"Johnny, do you mind shoveling the snow in our front yard when you come home from school tomorrow?" my dad tilted his head to look at me.
"Sure, I can do that,"
I shuffled into my bedroom, an immense wave of tiredness overcoming me. Setting a reminder on the clock app to visit the printing shop in the morning, I dropped my phone onto the desk and leaped onto the bed.
-
"What do you think you're doing?" the familiar voice of a woman spoke with a tone of aggravation.
"What...?" my eyes blinked open to see the crimson lady stood at the edge of the bed I laid; brows knitted.
"What do you mean?" I sat up, amazed to meet her. I had expected to see Johnny tonight so I could tell him all about the date.
"You went on a date?!" her usual calm demeanor vanished.
"Yeah! What's wrong with that...?" I watched in confusion as she pranced around the room.
"You're going off-script!" she exclaimed.
"I had a script?" my eyebrow raised.
"Johnny has never gone on a date before! It may affect your death!" the lady had a face like thunder. It was making me shift uncomfortable on the bed.
"How? I'm in Johnny's body, not Ethan's!" she scoffed.
"Johnny is friends with Ethan, am I not correct? You don't even know who your murderer is! You might even be dating him right now?!" my frown deepened.
"Jay would never do that," the lady turned to me in utter disbelief.
"That was not my point!" she flung her arms around, rubbing her face frustratingly. The lady suddenly stopped at the edge of the bed and stared me down.
"Break up, right now," she demanded. I looked up at her, horror written all over my face.
"N-no! I can't!"
"Need I remind you: you are here to save yourself, not date!" the lady spat. my lips quivered at the thought of ending it with Jay.
"My death date is still so far away! Can't I live a little?" I pleaded. It wasn't for another six days. This was not my life, I knew that, but to live as Johnny was like a dream, I often found myself forgetting about the mission.
She stared at me with an unreadable expression. "You can live life however you want after you reincarnate," she spoke, voice unwavering and stern. It made me gulp in fear.
"Now focus on the mission,
and do what you're told to."