"You lied to me!" Oxy protested regretfully. "You don't have a dress for me!"
Selena just smirked because she had managed to trick Oxy. Oxy could not believe she agreed to attend that stupid Star Night Party.
"I seriously have a lot of dresses, but I left them all."
Selena had invited Oxy to her room in her father's apartment, and Selena's room was still empty. Most of Selena's things were still in the suitcase, showing that she had no intention of living a long time here.
A knock on the door almost made Oxy startled. That was Selena's mom, Olivia Dome. She came inside the room to deliver the drinks and snacks.
Oxy smiled awkwardly at Mrs. Dome who was looking at her with a gentle look.
"Hi, Oxy," said Mrs. Dome softly and kindly. "I'm really glad you and Selena are being good friends."
Oxy just nodded while still smiling awkwardly. Mrs. Dome had already said that at their first meeting before, but Mrs. Dome looked still not satisfied to say it again or just forgot.
"Selena is a terrible child, you have to be patient with her," said Mrs. Dome.
"Mom..." Selena warned in annoyance.
"She loves to eat anything, you must be tired every time she invites you to eat something. I've had many reprimands from other mothers, they complain about Selena's influence on their children. They said Selena made them fat."
Instantly Oxy felt horror. Seriously?
"Oxy is different, Mom," Selena said. "She doesn't like to eat dessert."
"I just prefer fruit to something with sugar." Oxy hastily corrected.
"Fruit? Oh, I see," Mrs. Dome's expression looked like she noted that seriously. "I only have dessert in the refrigerator, tomorrow I will prepare some fruits."
"Mrs. Dome, you don't have to bother yourself," said Oxy.
"No, it doesn't bother me at all." Mrs. Dome immediately stood up. "Please continue your discussion, girls. I have an appointment."
"Don't listen to my mom," Selena said after her mother left the room.
But Oxy believed in that fat problem. Selena's friends might be difficult to follow Selena who loves to eat at any time.
"Maybe one of your abilities is never getting fat no matter how much you eat," Oxy guessed.
Selena still not wanted to mention her hidden abilities. Even though Oxy had confessed her ability at the group chat. She regretted that. Next time Oxy must be careful when introducing herself to anyone. Do not tell too much about yourself before they knew each other.
"That's gonna be a cool ability," Selena commented. "But if I end up getting fat, that's fine, as long as nothing keeps me from being happy when I eat," she smirked.
"So when will we see your father's computer?"
"Wait a minute, my mom is still in here. She'll be out in a minute."
"Where is she going?"
"Meeting the lawyer, of course."
"You're not accompanying her?"
"Oh, my mom is a very strong and brave person. She doesn't need me. I'll just be a bother for her," Selena was back eating her snacks
Oxy just took a sip of her orange juice, instantly feeling refreshed. She didn't notice that she was very thirsty.
"Well, there she goes," said Selena when Mrs. Dome called out for her.
"Wait here," Selena immediately jumped out of the room to go to Mrs. Dome.
Oxy waited for Selena while observing the room. Selena had pasted their school's Star Night party invitation poster on the wall. Selena was very enthusiastic about the events next week.
Selena was back in the room. "Come on!" She took Oxy's arm.
Oxy immediately stood up, then followed Selena to another door in the room. Selena unlocked the door with her key, then pushed the door.
Oxy followed in after Selena. The room was very small with a desk and a shelf full of messy books. Mr. Dome's apartment was indeed small, so every room inside was a bit tiny, pretty minimalist standard.
"That's why most people don't want to be principals," commented Selena. "A job like this won't make you rich."
"It depends," protested Oxy because she felt that Selena was underestimating Mr. Dome's work.
"I was just kidding," Selena said, grinning. "Okay, I'm sorry. But seriously, my adoptive father and I were not very close." She continued hastily.
"Really?"
Selena nodded.
It was no different. Oxy and Bill weren't close enough either, but Bill always tried to take her somewhere together to complete his duty as a good father to his daughter. Although Oxy never agreed to come.
"Yeah. I told you. My father was a weirdo, he was... how should I explain it? I still remember very well, he only often saw me. Always on his work chair."
Maybe that's why Selena seemed not to care very much about Mr. Dome.
"Are they on good terms?" Oxy asked.
Selena shrugged. "Not good enough if you want to know. Just see. My dad lived alone here while we were in another town."
"Doesn't he live here to work?"
"Nonsense," Selena snorted. "At first I thought he was just avoiding his responsibilities to be a husband and father figure. But maybe he's just an idiot who is too fanatic about his stupid secret job."
Selena exhaled. "What am I talking about? Hey, I'm not a rebellious kid. I still like him as my father. He's nice sometimes," she said.
Oxy was so amazed because of Selena's honesty in answering her question. Didn't that mean Selena seriously considered her as a friend?
"Let's see what's inside the computer," Selena said when the computer was on. "Damn it. There's a passcode."
"Just try to guess. Maybe the code is your birthdate." Oxy suggested.
"Impossible." Selena looked incredulous, but she typed the date of her birthday anyway.
"Access denied"
Selena's face darkened, increasingly convincing her that her father didn't like her enough as a child.
"You know he's a very mysterious person," Oxy said hastily. "He couldn't have used an easy-to-guess password."
"Yeah," Selena pouted, still frowning. "Then what it could be?"
"Try to remember anything your father could use for his code," said Oxy.
"Ugh, I don't know..." Selena complained.
"Come on..."
--
More than an hour had passed and Selena was still at the computer, typing any number that she thought could work, while Oxy was getting sleepy.
Oxy covered her wide yawn with both of her hands. She could not let her sleep at this time, because she would enter the dimension.
"Damn it, my dad never seems to care about his family at all..." Selena who was getting tired started to get angry. "If so, why did he marry my mother? And also raised me as a child? Argh, how annoying!"
Oxy felt guilty because it was her fault to ask Selena to open Mr. Dome's computer.
Selena was very mad because her date of birth was not used as a passcode.
That shouldn't be a problem. Bill certainly wouldn't use Darren's birthdate for his password too.
"Hey, just stop," Oxy said before Selena smashed the computer. "Put it off."
Selena pouted her lips even more. "But I'm curious about what's inside the computer! I want to know what his secret is!"
Oxy was even flabbergasted to see Selena who was getting more and more challenged.
The sound of a cell phone notification distracted Oxy. She immediately took her cell phone. Hydroxxx was back online and sent a message to the group chat.
Hydroxxx: Hey!
"Hydroxxx just got active," Oxy told Selena.
"Oh yeah?" Selena seemed unconcerned, still trying to guess the passcode with an annoyed look.
Oxy decided to answer the message.
OxyJ: Hey, you.
Hydroxxx: Sorry about before. I forgot that you guys go to public school.
OxyJ: Are you not?
Hydroxxx: I'm not going to public school. Prefer private school.
OxyJ: Good for you.
Hydroxxx: The other one is with you, right?
OxyJ: Yup.
Oxy knew if "the other one" meant Selena.
Hydroxxx: What are you guys doing?
Oxy remembered that Hydroxxx was the one who found their account and created this chat group. It could be that Hydroxxx was an expert in computers.
Oxy: We are pretty busy. By the way are you a computer expert?
Hydroxxx: What's wrong?
OxyJ: We want to enter someone's computer but we can't guess the passcode.
Hydroxxx: Hey, are you guys violating somebody's privacy? But...
Oxy waited for Hydroxxx who was typing.
Hydroxxx: Unfortunately, that's my specialty. Let me help you.
Instantly Oxy felt relieved. Hydroxxx wanted to help, that's pretty good. But, could she trust him? Was it okay for the three of them to look inside Mr. Dome's computer?
But Hydroxxx was also one of the children who survived the lost city, and he had also been watched over by Mr. Dome all along, just like Oxy.
Maybe the three of them should work together to solve this mystery.[]