Ridget/Tigress' POV:
"Let's go to the cafete—" I immediately cut off what Dellin was about to say.
"You guys go. I don't want to go there again. It's traumatic. Literally." I said as I was fixing my things.
"Then how are you going to eat?" Messi asked and laughed.
"It's better to starve than be held between a f*cking vamp and shifters." I answered and glanced at the shifter behind me and the vampire on the front seat.
"No darling. I'm not gonna let you starve. Not on my watch." Lulu's voice was strict as he stood up and pulled me.
"Then don't look! In that way you won't see me starve." Lani, Messi, Dellin and Luan started laughing so hard that others looked at them as if they've gone cuckoo.
"That's why you're skinny." Lulu said and sighed.
"Am not!" I countered and followed them.
"Yeah, you are." I glared at Luan who just laughed at me.
"What's up?" I flinched when Envy suddenly speak beside me.
"Aatakihin ako sa puso sayo eh." Singhal ko. I was surprised when he glitched into a Filipino citizen and started talking tagalog.
"Sample nga ng atake sa puso." Sabi niya at ngumisi. I rolled my eyes at him.
"What's the discussion about?" I looked at the glutton twins who was waiting for us at the entrance of the building where the cafeteria is.
"Just telling Tigress she's skinny cause she's starving herself." Messi answered.
"I'm not! En, tell them I'm not skinny!" I turned to look at Envy who just scratched his neck.
"Well, uhm, you are a little skinny for your height." He said and averted his eyes. I huffed.
"Yeah. En's right. And you small. Right man?" The ghost twin said and laughed.
"Correct man. 100 points for 'ya."
"I am not f*cking small!" I shouted at the Glutton twins. "It's not my fault you're blessed with height." I whispered, but I know they heard that.
We went up to the second floor of the cafeteria. Lulu and En left to order for us.
"Hey, are you mad?" The ghost asked. I ignored him and looked at my phone.
"Hey." I glared at the shifter when he poked my cheeks.
"Do that again I'll cut your fingers with a bread knife." I threatened. He raised both his hands as if he's surrendering.
"Chill, girl. You might end up looking like one of our professors." The ghost said.
"Yeah. You know, prof. Minch. She's still single. Oh, look there she is." The shifter said and pointed a professor, who's wearing an oldies cloth, white hair and with a staff.
"Do you really wan to die early?" I asked the shifter calmly.
"Nah man I'm fine. Still have chicks to hook." He said and wiggled his eyebrows. I groaned and ignored them. I took my earphones and plugged it in my phone.
"Here you go. Eat a lot, love. Trust me, you're gonna need that." Lulu said and gave me a sweet smile. I sighed and nodded. I started eating the foot he got me. I stared at my phone while listening to the voicemail and eating the cake. I ignored them and got lost in the nothing.
Not until someone just appeared in front of us out of nowhere.
"You gotta stop doing that." I said and wore my facemask again before looking at Pride, who of course, glared at me. I ignored his presence and looked down on my phone again.
"I didn't like your answer earlier." He said. I didn't respond. He got irritated that he snatched my phone away.
"I wonder what's in this that you can't focus on what I was saying." He said and smirked. Lulu, Envy and the Glutton twins got alert.
"Pride, dear, kindly give the phone back to the lady. It's rude to snatch someone's belongings." Lulu said calmly but his eyes tells the exact opposite. He's not glaring, no, but he's staring. And that stare is enough to make someone uncomfortable, but not this vampire in front of me.
"Oh, this? Sure. Catch." He said and threw it down. The worst part is dun talaga niya sa baba binato. My reflexes immediately acted. I pushed Pride aside and jumped.
"Tigress no!" Lani shouted, but it's too late for him to stop me. Tinalon ko mula sa second floor ang phone ko. I tried to catch it. And I succeeded. Nasalo ko ito pagkatapos ay bumagsak ang katawan ko sa sahig. Hindi ko iyon ininda at matutuwa na sana dahil nasalo ko ang phone ko. Pero napawi iyon nang makikita ako ng malaking crack sa screen. I inhaled deeply before pressing the power button. I tried to press it a couple more times, but it really won't open.
"Sh*t 'wag naman ganto oh." Bulong ko at pilit na binuksan yung phone ko. "F*ck."
"Tig…" I looked at Green who flew right in front of me.
"Goodness Tigress don't you do that ever again! What if you got injured?!" Lulu scolded me and helped me get up. I just realized that I jumped and fell at the side of the shifters, but I didn't care about that. Instead, I looked at Lulu apologetically.
"I'm sorry." I said in a low voice. "It's just that this phone is really important." I added. I inhaled deeply and tried holding back my tears. I won't give those d*mn vampires the satisfaction, which is see me cry.
I stood up, my fists clenched as I walk towards the two vampires who stood there with a proud smirk plastered on their faces. I stopped in front of Greed and Pride and looked at them with dead eyes. I took one step forward towards Greed and pulled his necktie.
"Next time you'll try to make me cry, I suggest you f*cking try harder." I whispered through my gritted teeth and harshly let go of his necktie. I turned my back at him, and saw the Alpha looking at me straight in the eyes. I averted mine and walked back to our seat.
"You okay dude?" The twins asked. I nodded and smiled a little.
We all fell silent. Actually, the whole cafeteria fell silent. I don't know if it's because nag-mala stuntwoman ako kanina, or because of the way I talked to Greed, the king of all vampires.
"We can just buy you a new phone though." Messi suggested, but I shook my head no.
"Perhaps you know someone who could fix my phone?" I asked them instead of accepting his offer.
"Well, there's a glitch, who I heard can fix phones." Envy answered. "But everyone's been avoiding him since he's, well, let's just say, cranky." He added.
"Oh, and his name is Glitch." The twins said in unison.
"Thanks." I said and stood up. Magmula dito sa second floor tinanaw ko kung saan nakapwesto ang mga Glitch.
Based on Luan's long, scientific explanation, which Lani shortened by saying Ghosts and Glitch are the same. Well almost the same. Glitch can travel through different dimensions. But not all of them. Some who we're gifted can only do that. One of them is Luan, who's a hybrid.
"Excuse me." I said. The glitches stopped talking and looked at me. It gave me an awkward feeling, but I shrugged it off. My phone's situation is more important than this awkward feeling. "Uhm c-can you tell me where Glitch is?" I asked them.
They all looked at each other before pointing the guy, sitting alone at the end of the table.
"Be careful though. He's scary." One of them advised me. I nodded and walked towards the table they pointed. I could feel everyone's eye on me. I inhaled deeply before knocking the table gently to get his attention. He stopped what he's doing for a second, before continuing. I gulped hardly before speaking.
"H-hi. U-uhm I-I'm Tigress. Well, I—uhm w-well uhh." Oh my God Tigress why can't you speak straight?! Why stutter?! You're just asking someone to fix your phone! It's not like you're challenging him to fight you! I scolded myself. I inhaled and exhale before speaking again. "Well, I—I heard that…y-you fix phones. C-can you—" I flinched when he harshly put his pencil down. He then looked at me with dead eyes. But then it changed. His eyes widened, as if he's not expecting to see me. But he blinked it off and leaned forward.
"You have to stop stuttering. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to understand you." He said and chuckled. He then lowered his hood before looking at me with a smile at his face.
Well, he's not cranky…and not scary.
"I'm sorry." I apologized and lowered my head. I just heard him laugh a little.
"You don't have to be. Have a seat." He offered the empty seat in front of him.
"Oh…uh…no. I'm fine." I said and gave a little wave with my hands.
"Trust me, this is gonna take long. Please." He said and gestured the seat. I nodded and sat. "So, what is it?" He asked. I placed my broken phone on the table.
"I—uh—" I cleared my throat before continuing. "T-they said that…that you fix phones." I said in a low voice.
"Oh, that. Yeah. I do." He said and took a look at my phone. "I can just get you a new one though. This phone looks outdated and…well…old." He said.
"No thank you." I declined. He chuckled before holding my phone and examine it.
"What? Mommy raised you not to accept anything from strangers?" he said and chuckled. I immediately shook my head. He's not cranky at all. Mahilig naman siyang tumawa ah.
"N-no that's not it. No offense though, but that phone is not just an old, disposable phone. It, uhm, holds something…important." I explained and averted my eyes.
"Sooooo…you guys are getting along, huh?" I looked at Luan who sat beside me and smiled at Glitch.
"That is so not fair. How come she got a warm welcome while us, when we first approached you, you instantly threatened our life." Messi said and sat on my other side.
"You're annoying back then." Glitch answered casually. The two acted as if that broke their heart and that offended them.
"How rude!" Messi said dramatically.
"Whatever." Glitch said and rolled his eyes before looking at me. "Let me ask you just one question. Is your mate okay with you talking to me?" He asked and looked somewhere behind me. I also turned to look at where he was looking.
A group of shifters, including their Alpha, is looking—no, staring at me, at us I mean, right now. Wait, is that a stare or a glare?
"Psh. Don't mind him." I said and smiled a little. He too, smiled at me.
"Just keep smiling. Trust me, you're more beautiful when you smile." He said and examined my phone again. At first, I was confused, not until I realized what he meant.
"W-what?! Y-you…" I couldn't finish my sentence, so he finished it for me.
"Can see you? Yeah. I can. I can see right through that mask." He said and laughed. That made the two protest.
"What?! You know what Glitch, you're so gifted! I hope I can see her face too." Messi said and pouted.
"Yeah, why don't you take of your mask? Do you have a lot of insecurities or what?" Luan asked.
"You'll see it soon. But I won't promise that." I said with a shrug.
"Wait, I have an idea. You can draw, right Glitch? Why don't you draw her?" Messi suggested. My eyes widened when Glitch stopped examining my phone. As if he's thinking about Messi's idea.
"I can't. Not without the owner's permission." He said and looked at me.
"Oh, come one! Please? Pretty please!" Messi pleaded but Glitch just shook his head no.
"Bumer! We won't bother you anymore we swear! Just please! Just a sketch of her. Please?" Luan pleaded too.
"Hmm, your offer is interesting." He said. "Okay." He took his sketchpad and started sketching. My eyes widened on how fast his hands work.
"Done." He said and handed the paper to me. I looked at it, and was surprised. He's like a real artist! Kuhang-kuha niya, from my eyes, the brows, the hairline, the forehead like everything! And he drew it, with my mask on! I mean he didn't even need to look at me while sketching!
"Oh my gosh." Luan whispered. Messi snatched the paper and ran.
"I have Tigress' face! Anyone who wants to see her face will pay me 1,000,000 cash!" He shouted.
"Messi no!" I shouted and was about to run after him but I remembered Glitch. I looked back at him and saw that he's smirking.
"Don't worry. That drawing won't last 5 minutes. It'll disappear before someone else sees it." He said. That gave me a relief. "Anyways, just meet me here at this exact same spot at…let's say…4:00 p.m. After your last class. I'll bring this to you." He said and raised my phone. I nodded and thanked him.
Right after I say thank you, he nodded and then glitched out of the thin air. And right after he disappeared, Messi came back to where Luan and I are sitting with a long face.
"The drawing didn't last long hmp. I was planning to frame it!" He said and pouted. He looked like a child that didn't get what he wanted.
"Because it's not the right time to expose me." I said and stood up. "Anyway, let's go. Masyado na kayong nadi-distract. May klase pa tayo." Sabi ko at naglakad palapit kela Lulu na hinihintay na kami sa pintuan.