[23rd December]
I awkwardly shifted in my seat while I chewed on the stale canteen bread (I forgot to pack lunch).
Rikki was seated across me for heaven's sake!
Though he paid no mind to me and indolently poked his tiny piece of cake, it was still uncomfortable to be near him. I could barely breathe!
I averted my gaze to Dylan who was watching Ethan play the Gameboy he had brought to school. Dylan was mainly there to make the eldest feel less lonely as he sat beside him wordlessly.
We've all decided to have lunch in the school's garden today. Luckily the only table in the field wasn't occupied.
I turned to observe the twins acting like they were traders in a morning market as they exchanged dishes from their home-cooked lunches.
"Hm, that luncheon meat looks marvelous." Nick drooled over Silas' lunch.
"Yes, you made it." Silas rolled his eyes and aggressively stabbed the piece of meat.
"That's why you should give it to me." Silas scowled and bluntly told his twin to get lost, his lips jutted out in annoyance. Nick whined and attempted to steal meat from Silas with his fork.
"Hey you little-" Silas threatened to jab his twin's hand with his own fork.
"I'm older than you!" Nick speedily retreated his utensil.
"Doesn't make you less of a child!"
"Johnny," I turned to Jay who sat next to me, our shoulders brushing.
"Are you not going to eat?" I stared at the piece of bread in my hand and grimaced.
"Err..."
"I have an extra sandwich if you want," Jay offered, dusting his hands off bread crumbs.
"No, it's fine. I'm full, anyway," thank god for the breakfast Jay had provided me in the morning. Suddenly, Jay side hugged me and muttered that I should take care of my health.
I had noticed Rikki in my peripheral view. He peered at us but looked away in an instant. I swore I saw his tongue poke the inside of his cheek. Being affectionate with Jay in front of Rikki might be a little insensitive. I gently pulled away from Jay and stood up from the bench, he looked at me with worry. "I'm going to the washroom," I excused myself and disappeared into the busy hallway.
A group of girls was gathered in the corridor speaking in a solemn demeanor. They weren't loud but I could hear bits of their conversation. One of the girls said something and it got me walking slower to eavesdrop.
"You told us you were at the carnival with your boyfriend yesterday night, how did you not see him get killed?" the girl crossed her arms.
"You know, I'm not feeling quite myself so can we discuss this later?" the girl who I assumed was Nathaniel's girlfriend dodged the question and peered down with a shaky sigh. The others in the group exchanged glances before moving to comfort the girl. That must've been difficult for her. I halted in my steps and blinked in confusion. Where was I even going?
With a groan, I turned around and made my way to the garden outside.
"Nathaniel's girlfriend was in the hallway with her friends," I informed, bringing my leg over the bench.
"Did something happen?" Nick asked with a brow raised.
"Nothing out of the ordinary. I did find out she was at the carnival with Nathaniel when it happened." I looked over my shoulder to see the girl and her friends returning to the cafeteria with grim expressions.
"Speaking about the carnival," I started and the others perked up.
"How did no one in the carnival witness the murder? This has been on my mind for a while." I asked.
"That's a good question." Nick thought about it.
"But we have no idea. Our dad didn't go into detail about what happened at the carnival." I hummed and studied the school premises. This school was so pointlessly enormous.
"Oh right, have we decided on where to go later? To discuss the project?" I shifted to Jay and Ethan.
"I was thinking of a pet café but we all know there won't be any studying done." I chuckled.
"You guys are going somewhere later?" Silas questioned, looking up from his lunch box.
"Yeah, to discuss the project."
"With Ethel?" Dylan narrowed his eyes on us.
"Yeah...why?" he stayed silent and chewed his lips.
"Just wondering," he mumbled.
"Ethel did say he had to ask his guardians for permission, so it's not confirmed yet." I sighed heavily and leaned against Jay who didn't seem to mind. Rikki abruptly stood up from opposite me and made his way to the trash can not far from us. The boys' eyes lingered on his figure with furrowed brows.
It was disheartening to witness the usually charismatic and bubbly boy so sullen and deadbeat. We continued to observe as the youngest staggered to the water fountain at the center of the garden.
"Is it just me or is Rikki acting outrageously out of character today?" Nick whipped his head towards us with knitted brows. I sat uneasily in my seat.
"It is...we should try talking to him," Ethan suggested, extending his upper body to get a glimpse at Rikki. The pink head was wordlessly watching the water in the pond.
"Has Rikki ever told you about his crush or someone he liked before?" I blurted out, instantly regretting whatever came out of my mouth. All of them turned to me, dumbfounded.
"What? Did he get rejected?" Dylan scoffed.
"His crush?" Nick glanced at Rikki before turning back to me with wide eyes.
"Who's the girl? Or boy, whichever way he swings." they stared at me expectingly.
"W-what? I don't know!" Nick's face dropped.
"Then why did you even ask!?"
"It was just a guess!!" I threw my arms around. They sighed exasperatingly.
"If he's still like this again tomorrow, I'll ask him about it." Dylan volunteered, already ready to leave the garden. I gulped. What if Dylan found out it was because of me? There was literally no running away.
"Okay." all of us agreed and stood up to leave. The bell should be ringing in five minutes.
Nick beckoned Rikki over and the youngest sheepishly made his way in between the twins. They ruffled his hair and offered him a lollipop. To their surprise, he declined. It was his favorite flavor too. I chewed my lips as I observed them.
I have to make up with him soon. But how am I even going to do it!? 'You'll find someone better' that's too cliché. 'you're too good for me' that sounded the same as the last!
My phone pinged all of a sudden. My eyebrows jumped in surprise when I realized it was a text from Ethel. I surveyed the area for any sight of him. Why text me? He could've just looked for me...
'I can come to the meetup WAHOO :p' I smirked at his message and hovered my fingers over the screen to write a response when another text arrived.
'They also said I should get out of the house more :/' I let out a giggle. It was true. "Who are you texting?" Silas peered over my shoulder.
"Ethel," I responded and keypunched a reply.
'They are right...okay cool, meet us after school at the front ;]' Silas hummed and moved to stand next to me.
"You've warmed up to him quicker than I'd thought." Silas gave me a side-eye.
"It's surprising to me too, especially since I've done atrocious things to him," I sighed.
"He might be shy but he's actually really entertaining to talk to," I said matter-of-factly. I called Ethan and Jay to tell them the news.
"Ethel said he can come."
"Crap, we've not even thought of where to go yet." Ethan groaned. There was still plenty of time.
-
Class finally ended and the four of us met up outside the building. "Good job on the presentation, by the way." Jay glimpsed at Ethel who was beside him.
"Oh," he shifted in his steps. "Thank you."
"Right so, where are we actually going?" Ethan turned around, swinging his arms in the air. We've been walking on a straight path for the past eight minutes with no clear destination. None of us could come up with a place. I was simply out of the question-I barely knew the way around my alleged house!
"Why don't we play rock, papers, and scissors? Loser has to pick," I proposed. They smirked.
"You know what they say. The one who suggested it is more likely to lose!"
"Well, I'm about to prove them wrong!"
"Rock, papers, scissors...SHOOT!"
Ethan let out an animated noise when he beat all of us with scissors. "Didn't this happen the last time we played at the carnival too?" I scowled at him but he just did his little victory dance.
"Guess I was just born a winner!" Ethan rubbed the wound.
"Whatever, let's go again. Rock, papers, scissors...SHOOT!!" it was as if the gods above had favored me when I made the impulsive decision to ball my fist.
"HELL YES!" I followed Ethan and we joined hands before whirling each other around.
"I guess it's just you and me," Jay muttered and lifted his hand for another round, Ethel gulped.
"Wait! Let's make it more interesting!" Ethan suddenly stopped them.
I glanced at the sky. It was already a pinkish color. "Ethan, let's make it quick."
"It will be! Well, if they aren't clever." the two of them scoffed and crossed their arms, eager for a challenge.
Ethan told them they had to make up a sentence and never let it end. He told me there was a game like this named Endless Sentence. "Okay, go! Remember it has to make sense!" Ethan clapped his hands. Ethel was to go first.
"I woke up this morning and..." we turned to Jay in anticipation.
"grabbed my toothpaste but..." Ethel suddenly clapped so we all followed along.
"I found out I was out of toothpaste so..."
"This is so boring!" Ethan groaned exasperatingly and Jay shot him a look for interrupting him.
"Be quiet! Anyways," Jay cleared his throat.
"I brushed my teeth with a bottle of Jack 'cause..." not the song reference!
"I-a bottle of what?" Ethel was taken aback as he quit clapping to gape at Jay questionably. We fell to the floor in laughter at Ethel's defeat.
"Wait...did I lose!?" he looked so lost. Jay bounced around in victory. We looked like drunkards on the streets.
"Lead the way, Ethel!"
"Well, I don't know many places but I know somewhere." he started pacing and we all simply tailgated him. We went through multiple shady alleys under his lead and it was beginning to be disturbing. We kept questioning where Ethel was leading us but he didn't say much about it. It was much more chilled in the alley and I was basically shivering. Jay was quick to offer his jacket but I told him to put it on.
"Are you sure you're not going to kidnap us?" Jay tensely chuckled, rapidly dodging a trash can that rolled out from the dark.
"Shit! That was frightening," he muttered, rubbing his palm over his chest.
"Keep talking and I might change the route." Ethel glared at us over his shoulder, his eyes glowing in the dark. Ethan swallowed audibly from beside me.
"He's kind of scary," he whispered to me.
"You don't say."