Of all the days of the week, Miranda was permitted to leave the house only twice. The first day was to get groceries, and the second was her free day when she could leave the house for just an hour to visit her friend, knowing the only friend she had was Loretta.
These rules were put in place as soon as she graduated from college, and severe punishments await her should she break anyone of them.
However, she never complained. It was already enough that she was not restricted to the house every second of the day. At least she got to see the outside world and speak to other people sometimes.
With that joy, she stepped out of the house that evening and headed to Loretta's place. Her friendship with Loretta started in their last year of college and remained strong even after two years.
A beautiful smile graced her features the moment her eyes landed on Patrick as soon as she stepped into Loretta's house.
He wore a black and white striped shirt, white pants, and his brown hair was combed backward, accentuating his unique facial structure.
"Hi..." She announced her arrival, dragging out the word with her smile still intact.
"Beautiful as always." Patrick also put on a smile on his face. He pushed himself up from the chair and opened his arms, inviting her for a hug.
Miranda accepted the hug without hesitation, melting into the warmth his gesture shot into her heart.
"Guys, that's enough, please. There's a single person here. Have mercy on my heart." Loretta announced, leaning back against the sofa and wearing a blank expression.
"Go get a boyfriend." Miranda fired back at her while pulling back from the hug.
"Can I have your brother? He looks like the perfect boyfriend." Loretta queried, not picking offense from Miranda's words.
"Good luck with that," Miranda responded, then plopped her butt down beside Patrick, opposite Loretta.
"How have you been? I've missed you." Patrick threw his hand over her shoulder, pulling her closer to him.
"I missed you too. I've been looking forward to our next meeting since the last time."
"I wish we can see more frequently, or I can take you on a real date." Patrick confessed, and as soon as he noticed the slight change in her expression, he added, "but I understand we can't do that now, so it's alright. When I am ready, I will come to talk to your parents myself."
"Thank you," Miranda uttered in a small relieved voice. She sent a small smile to Patrick, which he returned as they held each other's gaze.
"Ahem." Loretta cleared her throat loudly, prompting them to return their attention to her. Seeing the way they were going, she knew she would have to give them some privacy soon as they were too engrossed with each other.
However, there was something she was eager to find out before she excused herself.
"Did you bring the book?" She asked, directing her question to Miranda, and the latter nodded.
"I did." Miranda unzipped her brown sling bag and pulled the book out of it. She stretched it toward Loretta, who received the book from her. "There's an extra page with instructions on how to get justice for the king written with ink. The person couldn't get enough of the book and decided to continue the story, I guess." She let out a short amused laugh, imagining what could have been going on in the mind of the previous reader.
Loretta, who was eager to see what Miranda was talking about, went directly to the last page when she opened the book.
"Umm... Where exactly?" Loretta asked, her expression turned confused. There was indeed an extra page, but it was blank.
"That's the one. That one you are holding." Miranda informed her, so Loretta looked closely at the blank page, hoping she had somehow missed it.
However, even after looking for several seconds, she still found the page to be blank. "There's nothing here, Mira."
At this point, Patrick also furrowed his brows as he wondered what they were talking about. What was Loretta supposed to see? Because he also couldn't see anything on the page from his point of view.
"Huh? I can even see it from here. What are you saying?" Miranda shot Loretta a 'stop kidding' look as she was pretty sure that her friend was doing this on purpose.
"What is she supposed to see? Can I take a look?" Patrick chipped in, and Loretta willingly handed the book to him.
"There are supposed to be words on the last page—"
"Not supposed to. There are words on it." Miranda cut into Loretta's words, donning an annoyed frown now.
Patrick took the book and scrutinized the page carefully, while Miranda and Loretta watched his face, waiting to hear what he had to say.
"There's nothing written here, Mira." Patrick finally said to Loretta's relief and Miranda's puzzlement.
"Did you both plan this?" Miranda sent them a look with narrowed eyes, as she was suspecting they were doing this on purpose.
"Plan what?" Loretta asked.
"Plan to tell me there is nothing on the page just to see my reaction?"
"Why would we do something like that? I for one really wanted to see what you were talking about." Loretta spoke in her defense.
"Can you show me what you saw?" Patrick extended the book to Miranda and she accepted it.
"Injustice right? Well, the king is still locked up to this day and you can..." Karina started reading the content of the page with all seriousness, oblivious to the strange stares she was getting from Loretta and Patrick.
"There are ten symbols that I know nothing about, before the next warning. How can you both tell me you can't see all these and you expect me to..." She lifted her head and her words trailed off as she saw the way they were looking at her.
"Are you alright, Mira?" Patrick probed, looking at her with concern and puzzlement. He didn't know what to make of what he just witnessed. However, he didn't feel good about it. Searching her face carefully, he could see the sincere confusion in her eyes, which even worsened the way he felt.
At that question, Miranda's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that they really weren't seeing what she was seeing? If this was still an act, then they were taking it too far already. But what if it isn't and they were being serious? Could it be she was the only one seeing this? If yes, then how and why?
She refused to believe it. This must just be a well-planned act and they were still playing on her intelligence.
"You really can't see anything?" She asked again, giving them one more chance to come clean.
When they both shook their head, she nodded. "Fine. I'll have to ask other people. I'll believe I'm the one with the problem when every other person confirms what you said." She slammed the book shut and returned it to her bag.
Now she wished Connie was still around. He would have been the easiest to approach with such a question. Once she gets home, she would have only her parents around.
Maybe she should ask one of them, but in a coded way that they wouldn't know why she was asking. Their answer, at least, would be trustworthy.