I found myself in a precarious situation.

Frozen still, my breathing gradually became ragged.

I never thought I’d get dragged into something like this.

But since I had no choice in the matter, it couldn’t be avoided.

Taking a deep breath, I braced myself.

“If you don’t feel about it, just pass it to me.” Said Noah, who was positioned behind me.

“... Got it.” I replied weakly.

Our P.E. instructor picked out students from our class and the class we shared the subject with, class D, at random to compete in a game of basketball. Unfortunately, I was one of the students who was picked to play. And what’s worse is that the opposing team has 2 players who are part of the school’s basketball team.

Although, I wouldn’t say the odds were completely against me since I have Noah in my team, and he’s really good at playing the game. He used to be part of the school basketball team back in middle school before he stopped playing in 9th grade.

Our instructor gazed upon us as he held the ball right in the middle of the court. With the signal of a whistle, the ball was tossed upwards, and all of the players in quickly burst into motion.

The game has begun.

A member of our team managed to get a hold of the ball, he then began sprinting towards the opposing team’s ring. Noah was already far ahead, raising both of his hands in order to catch the ball that was tossed to him, before throwing it into the ring which was only a meter’s length away from where he was standing.

We scored a point.

This time, Noah was the one who gained possession of the ball, he began handling it in a way that was too fast for me to see clearly. I was never interested in the game, so I didn’t care to remember the proper term for what he was doing, but he kept bouncing the ball between his legs, using both of his hands as he kept both of his eyes on the opponent in front of him, as if taunting his opponent to make a move.

Other than being good at playing the game, Noah also has another trait that according to him, gives him a big advantage at playing the game.

And that is being ambidextrous.

Noah’s opponent began reaching for the ball with his left hand, hoping to take it from his grasp. But it seemed that Noah was already expecting this, and dribbled the ball to his left hand before dashing to his side where a team member near the opponents ring raised his hands to catch the ball. 

After our team member gets hold of the ball from Noah, he tosses it inside the ring, scoring us another point.

The game continued.

And after minutes of running around, passing balls, the game finally concluded.

Although the scores were pretty much neck in neck, we managed to win. Thus, securing us an additional point in our grades.

Feeling exhausted, I sat on one of the benches near the gym’s entrance, where the gentle breeze passing through the door could reach me as I drank some bottled water. The fatigue I’m currently feeling made me consider starting my daily exercise routine again.

All of the other players began sitting on some of the benches as well. Noah had a big smile on his face as he talked with the other players. They’re probably praising him for how much he scored during the game. Well, being on the same court as him, I can’t say I wasn’t impressed myself. The girls began gathering near the court since they were going to play next. The players were being chosen in the same way as us.

“You look like you’re about to pass out.” Said May, who stated the obvious while leaning on the wall next to the bench. I was too busy thinking about how tired I was to notice her, so hearing her suddenly talk like that was enough to give me a shock.

“You know, you got to stop sneaking up on me like that.” I replied, irritated.

“It would be better if you refrain from spacing out so often.” May said, her arms crossed.

“The least you could do is tap my shoulder before saying anything.”

“I did.”

“… You did? You mean you already tapped my shoulder?”

“Yes, twice.”

“Well… do it harder next time. Just, make sure I notice you before you say anything.”

May let out a brief sigh.

“Shouldn’t you be there with the other girls right now? You might get picked to play.” I said, stretching my arms since they felt a bit sore.

“I doubt that. There are significantly more female students than boys in this gym. Therefore, I have a lower risk of getting picked.” She said with confidence.

“You never know, this might be the first time you’ll get something wrong.” I said with a smirk.

She made no reaction with what I just said. It warranted some surprise for me since I expected her to make some snarky comeback. Instead, she just bowed her head and stared onto the ground as if she was trying to read something on the floor.

“We have another client.” She said after the brief pause. She gestured towards a boy who was part of the team we played against, a member of the school’s official basketball team. He was tanned and had short brown hair, with a face that, in contrast to his height, made him look like a middle school student rather than a high schooler. He was gazing intently at the group of girls who were gathered at the side court.

“Is it the guy staring at the girls?”

“The way you said that seems like you’re implying something.” May replied.

“I don’t mean to imply anything. It’s just that having a boy stare so keenly at a group of girls in P.E. attire gives you the impression that he might be a pervert.”

May chuckled as she shook her head once again.

“He’ll be coming to our clubroom in the afternoon, when classes are dismissed.” May said.

It would’ve been better if I were to spend the rest of the day in leisure, but I guess the odds weren’t in my favour on this one.

Feeling the need to wash off all of the sweat on my face, I decided to go to the bathroom.

“One more thing,” May said as I stood up from the bench, “I managed to find out where Koma lives.”

What she said made me slightly confused, mostly because I have a vague memory of what she was referring to.

“Who is Koma again?” I asked.

“It’s the guy online whom I suspect to have a similar ability to yours.”

“And you got his address?”

“Yes. He lives near Sundridge.”

That’s sounds a bit too convenient to be true.

“I’m surprised that he told you his address, what if he was just lying about it?”

“I never asked for his address, I figured it out based on his posts and followers. I tried to gauge the range of his predictions since I have a theory that his predictions occur in a specific distance within his vicinity.”

“That’s just a theory you came up with.” I said doubtfully.

“Then let me ask you a question, have you ever had a vision that happened somewhere really far away from where you were?”

Now that I think about it, almost all of the deaths I’ve seen happened somewhere nearby. Although I do recall having visions which occurred only a few kilometres away from where I was. There was this one instance where me and Noah took a cab to save a person who was about to fall from a bridge.   That was the farthest death I’ve seen. I remember it taking us 30 minutes to reach that place. Fortunately, we managed to reach the drunk man in time back then.

“No, I don’t recall anything like that.”

“Then, since you and Koma might have similar abilities, there’s a good chance that he also has a specific geographical range for his predictions.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“Now back to where he currently lives. Almost all of the predictions he posted occurred in a nearby town or within the city, not having a distance of more than 15 kilometres from Sundridge. These places can be reached within an hour using a bus, or even faster via a train. And out of all the predictions he made within that range, about 70% of them happened within Sundridge city. He did have a few posts which were set to happen in places farther away, but I noticed something peculiar about those predictions. They weren’t as specific as the ones that occurred near Sundridge.”

 “What do you mean by ‘weren’t as specific’?” I asked.

“Predictions that were either too vague or had less of an impact.” May took out her phone and presented it in front of me. On it was numerous screenshots of Koma’s posts, “Look at his prediction about that accident that almost killed me during the first day of classes,”

The way she said that seemed like she couldn’t care less about the time she almost died before, as if the event was no different from accidentally leaving the faucet running overnight. Other than the prediction she was talking about, I also noticed a recent post he made about some house getting robbed. If his predictions are anything credible, I’d have to make sure that it wasn’t going to be my place that’s mugged.

She continued, “His prediction was straightforward, saying that ‘When afternoon comes, a truck will explode in an intersection near a school.’ But then we have something like the one he made during summer vacation.”

She scrolled the screen down to where she can view the screenshots of Koma’s older posts.

“Here he said that ‘People will be late for an event near a beach.’ Unlike his prediction about the exploding truck, this event happened in a city roughly 35 kilometres away from here, leading me to believe that he might’ve been somewhere near that location temporarily when he made the prediction. The way he worded the post was vaguer. Even the one he made about the wallaby land Ferris wheel problem was more unambiguous than this one, because he could’ve just said that some ride in wallaby land will encounter a problem. Instead he included not only what ride will encounter the problem, but the fact that the incident will occur on a newly opened Wallaby Land.”

“So all of the predictions that didn’t occur near Sundridge were vaguer than the ones that happened nearby.” I took a harder look at the screenshots on May’s phone, “How did you even know where the predictions happened? He didn’t even include the location where the prediction will take place in his posts.”

“I looked for some online news articles and checked some local newspapers about the events that he predicted. I also messaged some of his followers online and asked more about Koma’s predictions. They shared to me their speculations to where he might be living. Most of them pointed to somewhere near Sundridge.”

That sounded like too much effort just to find out where someone probably lives. But knowing May, this sounds like something she would do. I mean, we’re talking about the girl who stalked me for a year.

After hearing about all of the research she did for the sake of helping me with my visions, I can’t help feel a bit moved by her efforts. I’m beginning to feel guilty for thinking that she was slacking off on our deal.

“I’m still trying to contact Koma. I want to verify if he indeed lives in this city and convince him to meet with us.” May glances towards the girls spreading out on the court and getting ready for the game, “That’s all I can tell you about it right now.”

“I guess that’s good for now. Thanks.” I replied.

As the game began, I went on my way to the gym’s bathroom.

If May keeps it up and somehow persuades Koma into meeting with us, I wonder what will happen.

Does Koma really have the same abilities as I do?

…

I might finally be able to do something about these visions.

When I reached the bathroom door, I could hear the girls scream and cheer as the first point of the game was scored.

----------------------------------------

It was already the dismissal of classes, and I was getting ready to go to the clubroom.

As I went through the door, I saw Noah and his girlfriend, Shay, leaning on the window as they talked with each other. It was a scene I’m already used to by now but, I noticed Shay having an unusual expression on her face. She looked a bit glum as she conversed with Noah, which was weird since she always had a smile on her face whenever the two of them were together. It made me think of the worse for Noah, because the only time I see one of his girlfriends unhappy is when their relationship is on its last legs.

Feeling no need to pry, I continued my way to the library.

“Hey!” a voice called out among the students walking in the hallway.

It sounded familiar.

I looked in front of me and took my earphones off, I saw Casey sprinting towards me as she waved. She joined me as I walked to the library after school, like it’s the most natural thing to do. I don’t dislike having someone with me while I walk, but I don’t find it enjoyable either. Having someone walk next to me makes me feel pressured to initiate small talk, which is I would like to avoid doing. I contemplated putting my earphones back on, but I didn’t want Casey to think I was ignoring her.

So I guess there’s only one thing left to do.

“Have you collected the other keychains yet?” I said, putting my earphones back to my pocket.

“Keychains?” she replied, puzzled.

“You know, that thing with the royal rabbit drink.”

“Oh right, yeah. I got all of them.” She took out one of the keychains from her bag to show me, “You want one?”

“I’ll pass.”

She let out a brief chuckle, “I remember hearing the same thing when I offered you that sandwich before. But now you can’t seem to get your hands off them.” She said with a smile.

“Good food deserves to be eaten, simple as that.” I replied.

Not to mention it’s free.

“Thanks for the compliment.”

Our chatting ceased as we continued to walk. Before I could think about putting on my earphones, Casey began speaking once again.

“It’s the first time I caught you walking around school.” She said.

“You say that like you were trying to catch me.”

She let out a playful chuckle, “I guess I was. But don’t get any weird ideas, okay?”

“I’ll try.”

“Then you should try your best.”

Another pause enveloped the conversation.

“I thought you and Noah always walked together.” Casey said, once again breaking the silence.

“Not necessarily. He’s free to do anything he wants. He may be an old friend, but I don’t have a leash on him. And I’m not the type of guy who likes having people stick around me all the time anyway.”

“The two of you have an unusual relationship.” She said with a smile, “I kind of envy it a little.”

Casey continued, “What about you and May?”

“Well, she’s been a classmate of mine since the first year of highschool, but it’s only been a month since I began talking to her.”

“Really?” she said in a doubtful tone, “But you two act like you’ve talked to each other for years.”

“I could say the same for the two of you. The both of you have been chummy ever since we’ve met.”

She replied with a giggle, “I really like May, I feel like I’ve even grown to admire her. Ever since I started helping you guys out, I’ve enjoyed talking to her and seeing her solve problems. That’s not to say that I don’t like talking to you guys too, I really enjoy all of your company.”

“I’m sure everyone appreciates what you’re doing as well.” I replied.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

I failed to notice that we already walked down the stairs. I guess I was getting too engrossed with our conversation.

“I wonder if someone will visit our clubroom today, it’s been a while since we had a client.” Casey broke the silence once again, “I hope Hanna is doing okay…” Casey said with concern.

A few days have passed since Eugene made his request, and no one else visited our club room to ask for help. All of us just went to the clubroom and did our own things.

“Actually, May mentioned that the club has another client today.” I replied

“Really?” Casey said, taken aback.

I don’t blame her for being so surprised, I found it hard to believe myself.

“…You know, Damis,” Casey began slowing her pace, “Back then when we confronted that Arvin guy, you were acting kind of… umm…”

Casey paused when we reached the entrance to the library. She scratched her head, as if trying to remember something.

 “I have to go back to the classroom, I think I’ve forgotten something. I’ll be back in a sec.” She waved goodbye as she began sprinting towards the stairs.

I continued my way inside the library, passing by Margo, who gave me a brief smile.

Before I could get near the bookshelves near our clubroom door, my phone began to ring. I received a message from an unknown sender, telling me to go to the student council’s office.

I contemplated, but ultimately decided to visit the student council’s office before going to our clubroom. After all, it might be something important.

As I walked to the room, I began wondering about who the sender might be.

There’s only 3 people who should know my phone number, and only 2 of them are in this school.

I’ve already saved Noah and May’s phone number, so if the message came from one of them their numbers should’ve been recognized.

Then again, it’s possible that they borrowed a phone from some else, and used it to send me a message. But with the way the message was constructed, it’s very unlikely.

So since this person is telling me drop by the student council’s room, it must be one of the members.

I knocked on the door of the student council’s office. A familiar voice replied, telling me to come inside.

Opening the door, I saw Glenn sitting on his desk looking at me with a smile. He was the only one in the room.

“Where are the other council members?” I asked, a bit curious.

“They already left. Some went home, others had their own things to attend to.” He gestured towards the sofa, “Take a seat.”

“So, you’re the one who sent me that text?”

“Yes. I just wanted to ask you about the recent activities of the S.C.A.O. Think of it as giving a report about your club activities.”

“Shouldn’t May be the one in charge of giving a report? She’s the club president after all…”

“May can be pretty difficult to deal with, so I decided to contact you.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

He does have a point.

“Okay… So um… Where to I start?”

“Just start wherever you want.”

A lot of stuff happened in the recent month. But as I began to recall all of it, I came to realize that the S.C.A.O only had one client ever since its creation.

“We only had one client so far. It was Eugene from class 3 - B. He asked us to help him figure out how his notebook disappeared and reappeared out of nowhere. Turns out it was just some misunderstanding.”

I tried to avoid saying anything more about the incident with Arvin. May made the choice to not report him to the student council, and I have no intention of messing with her decision.

I don’t really like Arvin at all, but reporting him would only result in me getting involved.

“It was Mr. Wiendlyer’s doing, wasn’t it?” said Glenn. What he said caught me by surprise.

“So May already told you about it.”

“May didn’t tell me, I just guessed. But judging from your reaction, it seems that I’m correct.”

“…”

Glenn continued, “I’ve been keeping an eye on Arvin for a while now, it’s no surprise that I’d know one of the students he messes with.”

So Glenn also has an interest in observing other people for long periods of time.

Is it a family thing?

“Anyway, you guys only had one client so far, huh? Well, that’s to be expected since the club only began its operations a few weeks ago. However, I assume May was thrilled over the request Eugene made, she always enjoyed dealing with mysteries like that. She says she likes the challenge.”

“Yeah, she was definitely thrilled about it.”

Unfortunately.

He let out a brief chuckle, “Although the club may not have gotten many clients, it seems as though May still managed to keep you busy.”

“Yeah, I can’t deny that.”

“Much to your dismay, I presume? I’ve been there myself, swept along with May’s schemes. Oh, this reminds me of the kidnapping incident you got yourselves into. How’ve you been since then?”

This club report is gradually turning into something like a random after school conversation between two good friends.

Honestly, I’m starting to feel a bit tired.

“I’m fine. The only thing that bothered me about the incident was the rumors.”

“I see. I’m sorry if the rumors had gotten slightly out of hand, we tried our best to handle the situation.”

“It’s fine, it doesn’t really bother me that much anymore.”

“Then that’s great. How are the other members? Are they doing alright?”

This question made me think about Noah’s frequent absences. I’m not sure if I should mention it.

I’ll just be a good friend and try to cover for him just this once. Then again, I can’t do anything if Glenn decides to check the club’s attendance record.

“Yeah, the other members are doing alright. No problems there.”

My phone began ringing in my pocket.

I received another text. The message was sent by May, telling me to come over to the clubroom immediately.

Since I couldn’t think of anything else to tell him, I decided to head back to the library.

“I should be heading back to the clubroom now, we have a client today.”

As I got up from the sofa, I realized something about this meeting that I thought was unusual.

“… Why me?” I muttered.

“Come again?” Glenn said, puzzled.

“Why choose me to give a report? You could’ve just asked Casey for one, the two of you are in the same class anyway.”

Was this the only time he had to meet with one of us? Did he choose me because Casey had something else to do? If that’s the case, then how did he know that Casey would want to go back to their classroom when her decision to do so was spontaneous?

Glenn looked at me as he smiled, gently shaking his head. He looked impressed.

“You’re quite a sharp one. No wonder May took an interest in you.” Glenn stood up from his seat and began pacing towards me, “In addition to a report about the S.C.A.O’s activities, I wanted to ask you about something. Something that has been on my mind ever since that incident involving you and Ms. Lore.” He stopped moving upon being 2 chairs away from me.

“By the way, I should give you my thanks. May mentioned how important you were during that incident. If it weren’t for you, Casey might’ve gotten seriously hurt. Now, on to the part that piqued my interest.”

I began feeling tense and nervous, the same way I felt back when I was with May on the rooftop.

“How did you come to the conclusion that Casey would get attacked that day?”

My heart sank.

I didn’t expect Glenn to get suspicious about that.

“I heard that the two of you just met each other for the first time. Even Kate, the girl that attacked you and Casey, had no idea who you were. It might just end up being a coincidence, a case of the odds being in Casey’s favour, but I find that hard to believe.”

Glenn leaned against the desk to his right, “So tell me, Mr. Simontel. How did you do it?”

My thoughts were in shambles.

I thought I was already used to confrontations like this, but I couldn’t think of any way to get out of this situation.

Should I just lie to him and try my hardest not to give it away?

What if he still finds out I’m lying?

I mean, if May managed to know I was lying then what’s to say that Glenn can’t do the same thing?

Even if I try my best to not hide it, what if he still manages to find out?

“I-I…”

It’s no use, I can’t get my thoughts together.

At this rate, he might find out about my visions.

My feet began pacing backwards, as if they were moving on their own.

Suddenly, the door behind me busted open.

“What’s taking you so long?” said May as she held the door open, “You know we have a client right now.”

Glenn sighed, “I guess I shouldn't keep you here any longer. We’ll continue our chat next time.” He politely smiled before walking back to his desk.

May grabbed my arm to pull me outside the room. She closed the door as soon as I got out.

I leaned on the wall in front of the closed door, letting out a deep sigh of relief.

“Thanks.” I said to May who was in front of me, arms crossed.

“Did he find out anything?” she asked.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“I’m sorry. I should’ve been more discreet about your involvement during Casey’s incident.”

After getting myself together, we began walking back to the library.

“Glenn is suspicious of me...”

“I’ll do something about it.” May said.

“I’m guessing you gave him my phone number?”

“Yes. He wanted the phone numbers of all the S.C.A.O members.”

 “How’d you find out I was in the student council’s office?” I asked, as if hearing her explanation was the most natural thing to do.

“When Casey arrived in the clubroom, she was surprised to see that you weren’t already there even though you went there first. I thought it was unusual, so I decided to go search for you. I asked Margo about where you might have went. She said you walked out the library after you checked your phone. I assumed that someone contacted you. I had a feeling that Glenn might’ve had something to do with it so I decided to visit the student council room first. When I got to the door, I sent you a text and listened for your phone to confirm if you were really inside.”

“You should’ve gotten me out sooner.”

“I wanted to see if you could deal with it on your own. But judging from your complete silence and the way you were stuttering, I guess he was too much for you.” Said May with a grin on her face.

“I can’t believe you can still find that amusing.” I said irritably.

“It just reminded me of our conversation back then on the rooftop.”

“Don’t even remind me about that. And for the record, it was more like an interrogation than a conversation.”

“What’s the difference, really?” she said.

“Well for starters, you don’t threaten to stab someone’s eye out during a normal conversation.”

“I’m surprised you know so much about conversations even though you don’t talk much.” She said with an annoyingly smug grin.

“I’m more surprised to find out that May, the student council’s consultant, the girl who’s never wrong, didn’t know what a wallaby is and is still having trouble holding a decent conversation.”

May stopped in her tracks before glaring at me. It was enough to send shivers down my spine.

“… She also can’t take a joke… “I said, looking away.

She let out a brief sigh before continuing to walk.

“You have to work on that.” She said.

“On my jokes?”

“On that sharp tongue of yours. I don’t really appreciate how blunt you can be, especially during that encounter with Arvin.”

“… I didn’t expect you to get so affected by it.”

“I don’t mind it. Just try to avoid being too frank with other people.”

“It’s not convincing hearing that from someone who can get pretty blunt herself. And why are you telling me off all of a sudden?”

“Just keep what I said in mind.”

She’s beginning to remind me of Sir. Nathan and the way he scolds me about insignificant things.

…

As the two of us arrive at the clubroom, my attention was quickly drawn to the peculiar development happening inside. I saw Noah and our client standing on each side of the desk, their hands clasped with each other, which looked like they were arm wrestling. Casey was bent over facing the front of the desk, her eyes focused on the arms of the two boys as if she were acting as the referee in their match. Her open lunchbox was placed on top of the small table. It merely contained a single sandwich.

“What are you guys doing?”

“They’re trying to decide who gets the last sandwich.” Said May before taking out her phone and sitting on one of the vacant chairs.

“May is… correct… yet again...” Said Noah as he struggles to keep his arm upward.

“Come on Noah! You can do it!” Casey cheered.

The other guy was visibly having a hard time beating Noah. Beads of sweat were dripping down the bridge of his nose and onto the desk. Veins were visible on each of their arms as they tried their hardest to win.

They’re working this hard for a clubhouse sandwich?

I mean, Casey’s sandwiches are godly, but I wouldn’t say it’s worth getting exhausted over.

…

Who am I kidding?

I’d do the same if I were in their situation.

The only thing keeping me from joining their squabble is the fact that I’m not hungry right now. Considering what just happened earlier with Glenn, I already lost my appetite.

After a few more seconds, a winner has been declared.

Even with the help of Casey’s constant cheering, and his insatiable desire to eat the hell out of that sandwich, Noah failed to best his opponent. Unlike what happened during the basketball game earlier, he lost. Noah’s reaction felt unusual. He looked more bummed out than I expected. Was he really that hungry for a sandwich? Or maybe… Shay had something to do with it?

…

I’ll just ask him about it later.

Casey began comforting the down casted Noah, telling him not to worry about it and saying that she’ll make enough sandwiches for everyone next time. Meanwhile, the winner of the match has already claimed his prize, which lasted about 3 bites before it went straight into his digestive system.

“This is probably the best sandwich I’ve ever had.” Said our client who sat on the bench with a satisfied face, “You should sell these.” He told Casey.

Casey smiled as she sat on one of the chairs, “I already plan on selling my food in my own café in the future. For now, I’m trying to perfect my cooking.”

“You can expect me to be a regular at your café someday.” Our client replied.

“Save a special table for me too, I’ll come eat there every day.” Noah added, who was acting a lot more like his usual, happy self.

She let out a chuckle.

“Thanks.” Casey said. She looked quite pleased at the praise she was getting.

After wiping his hands and mouth with his unusually patterned handkerchief, our client glanced at all of us which caught all of our attention.

“So Caleb, now that everyone’s here,” Noah said as he sat on the desk behind us, “Tell us your request.”

He took a brief glance at May whose attention was still on her phone, “I already approached May about this earlier during our P.E. class,” He let out a brief sigh. “I want some help with this girl I know…”

Help with a girl?

Does it involve him wanting to ask her out or something?

“What kind of help?” Casey said inquiringly. Her eyes sparkled at the possibility of his request being that of a quest for romance.

Caleb let out another sigh. His face gradually reddened, “So, this girl…. I want to ask her out…”

…

After a brief pause, he went on, “And I want you guys to help me make sure she gives me a ‘Yes’.”

I swear.

The requests we get are all consistently ridiculous.

“We accept.” May said with no hesitation, even though her eyes were still glued on her phone.

“Hold on there,” I said, trying to get her attention, “can’t we let the guy give more details before we accept it?”

May let out a sigh as her gaze finally leaves her phone, “I can’t believe were gonna have to go through this again. Anyone in favour of helping Caleb raise your hand.”

Looking around the room felt like de ja vu.

Once again, I was the only one with my hands down.

“Come on Damis, it’s been a while since we had a request.” Noah said as he laid back in his chair, “Why not help Caleb in his quest for love?”

“Fine. But you can’t skip out on this one. You should stick with us until we finish the job.”

Noah shrugged, “Fine by me. It’s been a while since I spent time with you guys anyway.”

Somehow, it felt like it was easier to convince Noah today. I expected him to put up more of a fight like the last time I told him to visit the club.

“Can you tell us more about this girl you’re referring to?” Casey asked.

“Right. Her name is Haley, she’s a red tie. We’ve known each other since we were kids.”

“You were childhood friends? That’s so cute.” Casey said, who looked like she was really enjoying the topic.

“If that’s the case then having her say yes will be easy.” Said Noah.

“I wouldn’t say it’s that easy…” Caleb’s eyes were pointed to the ground as his lips curled into a nervous smile.

“Is she already fond of someone else?” May asked, eyes still on her phone.

Judging from Caleb’s reaction, it looks like May hit the mark.

“That’s twice…” He muttered.

“Huh?” Casey asked, probably confused as to why he said that.

“It’s the second time you guessed something right.” Caleb told May.

“I told you earlier, didn’t I?” Noah said, who was amused with his reaction, “She’s never wrong.”

“To answer her question, yeah. She already has someone else that she likes.” Caleb confirmed.

So he’s basically asking us to play cupid and make a girl who isn’t romantically interested in him agree to go out with him.

“You know, on second thought, that doesn’t sound too easy.” Noah remarked, basically reading my thoughts.

He went on, “Fortunately, we have two highly intelligent people with us today. So rest assured, they’ll think up a solution to your problem in no time. Right guys?” He glanced at me and May with a confident smile. An expression that resembled a salesman presenting his products to a would-be customer.

May put down her phone, “Although being labeled as ‘highly intelligent’ is flattering, I don’t really have faith in such a statement. I believe everyone is as smart as anybody else, the only problem is where and how they use that intelligence. Most of the people that are perceived to be dumb are just too lazy to do anything smart. Anyway, I have a question for you.” She looked at Caleb with a focused gaze.

“Could you tell us the name of your childhood friend’s crush? Surely you were interested enough to find out.” She said.

Without a word, Caleb turned his gaze towards Noah, who looked surprised at what he was implying with his gesture. This caused Casey to glance at Noah as well, with an equally astonished expression.

“You’ve got to be joking.” Noah said, completely dumbstruck.

“It’s true.” Caleb said with a nervous laugh.

“Don’t act so modest, it’s not like it’s the first time this happened. A lot of girls approached me in the past just to find out more about you.” I said.

“So Noah always had a lot of admirers, huh? No wonder he’s constantly off to somewhere.” Casey commented with a grin.

A large number of those were instances where I thought they were interested in me. Needless to say, I was disappointed. But all of that happened back when I still cared about such things.

Noah chuckled then shrugged, “I’m just surprised that it’s me of all people.”

“Is she aware that Noah already has a girlfriend?” May continued.

“Yes, I remember seeing her bummed out about it. But I know she still has feelings for him.”

Suddenly, I felt May’s stare. A feeling reminiscent of that time during the school’s opening ceremony.

“How do you suggest we deal with this predicament, Damis?” She said.

Is she putting all the work on me again?

First she accepts the client’s request as fast as she could write and send a text message, then she asks me to come up with a solution for it.

She should know that I’m smart enough to see through her actions.

…

Hold on.

If we’re going to do this, then being the one to solve the problem might be a good thing.

I’ll just have to come up with something that will involve the least time and effort from me. And then May’s shenanigans might just end up backfiring.

I have to take this chance.

…

I already had thought of something but this will entirely depend on Noah. He’ll be doing most of the work, but this is what he gets for always skipping out on the club.

I stood up and walked towards Noah, I wanted to keep what I was about to say only between the two of us.

I tapped him on the shoulder then gestured him to come with me to the corner of the room next to the window.

“So, you thought of something?” Noah asked as we faced the stack of books in the corner.

“Yeah, and you’ll have to do something vital to that plan.” I said, keeping the volume of my voice low.

“What will I do?”

I feel hesitant to tell him about it since I feel like his relationship with Shay is on a thin line right now, but since I’m confident that he will take it pretty well, I decided to tell him. If he ends up rejecting my idea then we’ll just have to come up with something else.

“You’ll pretend that Shay broke up with you.”

Noah didn’t say a word as his eyes drifted away from me and towards the window. It looked like he was deep into his thoughts, but it wasn’t anywhere near May’s level.

Noah let out a brief sigh then smiled, “Alright. I’ll do it.”

Even though that response was what I wanted, it still caught me by surprise.

“Not gonna lie, I expected to see more apprehension from you.” I said.

He let out a soft chuckle, “Caleb’s a good guy, so I want to help him.” He said, as if he’s known Caleb for a good amount of time.

”And besides, I won’t really be pretending.”

----------------------------------------

The can of lemon tea toppled down through the vending machine and on to bottom where I picked it up. The soft fizzy drink trickled down my throat as I sipped. It wasn’t as cold as I expected, which meant that the machine must have been restocked not too long ago. 

While I walked across the courtyard, I kept thinking about the plan I concocted. I can’t deny feeling a bit nervous about it, but since May and the others agreed with my idea then there’s no reason to turn back now. Most of them were hesitant when I initially pitched my idea, which was understandable. But as I explained it further they eventually agreed to make it happen. Casey especially expressed her objection to the plan I came up with, but she decided to go with it in the end.

I passed by the pool where I threw the now empty can of tea in the trash bin next to its steps. I glanced at the field where some students were using the verdant ground to practice some backflips and rolls for whatever reason. I also saw Casey and May sitting on one of the benches as they chatted with each other. It was one of the rare instances where May wasn’t focused on her phone. There was also no sign of a royal rabbit can next to Casey, which was equally rare.

Feeling the need to sit down and take a break, I walked towards the bench next to theirs and sat there as I stared at the direction of the storage house meters away, the venue of the plan.

“What are you doing, Damis?” Casey asked. She looked puzzled for some reason.

“I’m keeping an eye around the storage house. Just wanted to make sure that everything’s as expected.”

“Not that,” Casey chuckled, “Why are you sitting over there? We still have space here.” She gestured towards the bench they were sitting on.

“Well, I like the feeling of having something just for myself.”

May leaned forward to look at me, “I saw some of the students standing on that bench to practice their backflips. I heard one of them had recently stepped on dog feces.”

“…”

Suddenly feeling the need to switch benches, I stood up and sat next to them while Casey tried to hold her laughter.

“How’s Haley?” I asked May, who had a grin on her face.

“Caleb already convinced Haley to confess to Noah.” May replied.

“The two of them are probably behind the storage house now.” Casey added.

She continued, “Still, I can’t help but feel guilty about all of this.”

“Caleb himself agreed to the plan without much reluctance. And since he knows Haley more than we do, there should be nothing to worry about.”

“That might be true but, it feels like we are toying with her feelings by doing this. Noah already has a girlfriend, right? It feels wrong to have him lie about their break up just so Haley could confess to him.” Casey looked glum as she bowed her head, “And to have Noah reject her, it just feels wrong. But even if Noah say yes it’ll still be wrong since he already has a girlfriend.” She raised her head up and stared towards the sky, “Everything about this is wrong. If this plan had a name, it’ll have the word ‘wrong’ in it.”

“Noah and Shay already broke up prior to this arrangement.” I clarified.

Casey turned her head towards me with her gloomy expression, “That’s just even more wrong!”

“If I remember correctly, the goal of this plan is to put Haley in a state of emotional vulnerability, am I right?” May said.

“Yes. That way, Caleb will have a better chance of getting her favour and eventually form a deep romantic bond between the two of them.” I said.

If Caleb supports her in her time of need, there’s a good chance that Haley might become more trusting and affectionate towards him in the process. Although this will still depend on how well he will handle the situation. If his feelings for her are genuine, he should have no problem in doing that.

“I see.” She turned towards Casey, “I’m sure Damis has everything figured out already.” She told Casey, rubbing her back as if she was trying to comfort her.

That’s the first time I heard May say something like that about me.

She might just be messing with me but I’m kind of unnerved by her sudden display of confidence and trust in my plan.

I noticed Casey’s gaze drifting towards the direction of the storage house. Me and May’s eyes followed suit as we turned towards the plan’s venue.

Then, Haley could be seen running away from the corner of the storage house as she sobbed, wiping her tears with every step she took. Her brown braided hair swung as she rubbed the teary eyes behind her glasses. As the red tie disappeared into the school’s courtyard, Noah came out of the corner as well. He glanced at the running girl for a while before turning his eyes towards us onlookers. With that, I guess the deed has been done.

May already sent Caleb a text about what had transpired. Since the rest of us had nothing else to do, the four of us began walking home.

“Man, I can’t stop feeling guilty about it…” Noah said as the four of us exited the school building.

Noah went on, “Are you sure this is going to work? It really didn’t look like she took it well...” Noah looked back at the school building, down casted.

“I can understand how guilty you’re feeling right now but everything’s going to be okay. Caleb will handle the rest. I don’t think he’ll let someone he cares about be miserable for too long.” I replied.

“Still, when I saw Haley crying like that, it felt like my heart stopped. Couldn’t we have come up with of a different plan?” Casey turned towards May who was focused on her phone. It doesn’t look like she heard Casey’s question.

“You guys didn’t have to agree with my plan, you know. I wouldn’t have done it if you guys didn’t want to.” I replied. With the two of them looking so blue like that, I can’t help but feel guilty about it as well.

“But that’s because Caleb was really okay with the plan, and since he’s our client I thought that we should do what would please him.” Casey replied.

“Yeah… We couldn’t think of any other options anyway.” Noah added.

“Then that’s it. The client was okay with it and we had no other options so we went with the plan that we already had.” I concluded.

Without warning, the sound of distant rumbling caught my attention. I looked up to see if the weather is turning bad but the sky was clear. Glancing at the others, I noticed Noah holding his stomach with a flushed face.

“Ugh… So embarrassing…” Noah muttered.

That sounded like something a girl would say.

“You guys want to drop by a café?” Noah suggested.

“I can’t, I have something to take care of at home.” May said as she sheathed her phone back to her pocket.

“Take care of?” Noah asked, looking curious.

I’m also curious to know what thing would require all of May’s time and effort at home. Good thing Noah asked before I did.

“Nothing you guys need to know about.” She replied.

“I also can’t come.” Casey said apologetically. “Have to do some grocery shopping today.”

“That’s too bad, I guess.” Noah replied, suddenly dejected.

“We can still go to a café next time. How about tomorrow?” Casey suggested, trying to cheer Noah up.

“That would be great.” He replied.

Casey waved goodbye when we reached the school gate. May also went on her way to the train station.

I glanced behind me and saw Noah staring at the storefronts as we passed by. It was apparent that he was occupied with his thoughts.

This is my chance to start picking on his mind.

“So, what really happened between you and Shay?” I said, trying to get Noah’s attention.

He kept quiet, eyes still focused on the distance.

I guess he still doesn’t want to talk about it.

Suddenly, he let out a brief sigh.

“Things got pretty bad… between the both of us. It’s been like that for a while. I tried to keep it under control but… I guess it was just bound to happen.” He explained.

“You know, since middle school up till now, I’ve always been a spectator to the aftermath of your break ups. Somehow, the way your acting right now reminds me of the time when you broke up with your first girlfriend.”

He let out a chuckle.

“Is that so? Heh, I guess you’re not wrong...”

I noticed him trying to make a smile. It looked unnatural.

“Well, it’s understandable if you think about it. You just went through a break up, then you had to do something pretty mean to a girl you didn’t even know.”

Noah looked as though he was deep into his thoughts once again. He looks so occupied that he might trip when he steps on a crack on the sidewalk.

It’s weird to think about how he used to keep telling me to pay attention when he’s acting this way.

He can be pretty annoying sometimes, but I still prefer him to be the talkative, playful, and persistent guy that he is.

Seeing him like this, I just can’t get used to it.

“Wanna visit the new noodle shop again instead of the café? The discount they give students is too good to ignore.” I suggested, partially because I wanted to save money. He looks like he could use some hot soup in his stomach.

“Sure.” He said with a modest smile.

As we continued to walk through the same sidewalks and streets we used for the entirety of highschool, I still couldn’t let go of this minuscule trace of doubt in my head.

The possibility that maybe, that wasn’t the only thing on Noah’s mind.

CHAPTER END