Jake Addams April 16th, 20XX

Rather than calling it a garden, it was more of a wooded area that no one had figured out what to do with yet. It looked pretty nice for a forest, and when there was fog, it looked slightly ominous, which made it a magnificent spot for courage tests.

I could have texted the rest of the group to ask where they went, but I wasn't in the mood to keep up with their hyper-speed conversations and pointless arguments. There was also the fact that I doubted that I would have gotten a response.

Besides a few people that I regularly talked to and a few others from the sports department, I wasn't particularly close or attached to my friend group.

In fact, if not for my relationship with Alice, I doubted we would ever have spoken to each other.

This school's pride and joy were the students from the performance department. Those that would become superstars in the future and would lend their popularity back to the school as alumni. The next favourite was the production departments that supported the performance kids. It was rarer than the performance department, but occasionally, a talented student would take the industry by storm and credit the school for nurturing them.

The management and accounting department was in a weird middle ground where they got enough respect through the school. But it was rare to see them hanging out with kids outside of their departments. The primary reason for this was because most of the kids that would get anywhere influential enough in the future attended North high.

Where our school could boast our talented prodigies, they could boast their money and influence.

Then there was the sports department. We rarely, if ever, won any awards or competitions since there were schools dedicated to what the school treated as an afterthought. Things had gotten better recently, and we'd got a few silvers and even gold at one point, but it didn't change the overall bleak prospects. The best-case scenario for any athlete that came out of this school was to join a team as a 'poster' member, Ie, a member that rarely got to play but was on all the merchandise and marketing pushes.

It didn't bother me too much since I wasn't all that passionate about what I did, but I saw how much it bothered some of my teammates.

Even if the school that had taken me only did so because they wanted to use my looks, it didn't really matter as long as they paid me in kind.

I rubbed at my face as I finished such a conceited thought and chuckled in embarrassment, even though I hadn't said it out loud.

It wasn't like I was the best-looking person ever, or even on my team. While I wasn't ugly, my focal point of attraction was how much I resembled someone else that was popular right now.

I quickly stopped this train of thought. After all, it wasn't fun to realize that there was nothing actually validating your attendance at such a prestigious school. Even though I was good at the sports I played, the principal reason I'd gotten into this school was because of Alice's family's help.

Instead of going to the cafeteria like I'd planned to, I wandered around the forest.

Oh well, I guess this is fine too. As long as it's peaceful.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a familiar, lithe figure sprint out of the forest. He had a black hat that covered his face, heavy work gloves on his hands, and a freshly cut length of rope hooked to his belt as he ran. I expected the hefty length of cord to slow him down, but his strides were smooth, and the weight didn't seem to bother him in the least.

He was all scuffed up, and his uniform had a lot of dirt on it, but when he saw me looking at him, he only saluted me with a nod and held a finger up to lips carved into a mischievous grin. He was too far away for me to ask anything, but before I could try, he'd dusted himself off and sprinted in the other direction.

I expected him to slow down as he approached a patchy section of the forest. In between the thickly wooded area and the clearing right outside of the school, a section had shrubs as large as a freshman and slippery rocks and trenches that could cause severe damage if one wasn't careful.

Finn had been in this school for just as long as I had, so I didn't think I needed to warn him, but I couldn't help but stand still and watch in case he slipped and got himself hurt.

I let out a low whistle as I watched him run and lamented the lost talent to the track team. If only I'd known he could move so well, I would have definitely gotten closer to him before and forced him onto the team.

No, We'd had a common gym class in our second year, and I remembered his performance being abysmal. The teacher had needed to let him retreat to the nurse's office halfway through the class.

Maybe he'd started training since then?

I added his sudden physical improvement to my ever-growing list of weird facts about Finn.

But come to think of it, he'd come to me about a month ago and asked if I could teach him a decent way to work out. I'd had the time, so I'd helped him get familiar with the equipment in the gym and had even put together a light routine for him.

If he'd stuck to it religiously, it would have helped him get healthier, but not anything as drastic as this.

I considered running after him and asking what he'd been doing in the woods with rope and work gloves, but before I could, a cacophony of loud, sharp voices drew my attention.

"Help! someone Help!"

I was slightly resentful of Finn for interrupting my peaceful walk, but I still gathered strength to my legs and jogged towards the voices. While I recognized the voices, I wasn't as reckless as Finn and I didn't like any of them enough to risk my bodily health on their behalves.

"What's wrong?! I'm on my way!"

There was a heavy silence before the voice responded with even more panic.

"Who are you?! Who's there?"

They sounded close, so I stopped jogging and slowed down to a walk.

"I'm Jake, Jake Addams! I go to this school."

Harsh and violent whispers erupted from the source before someone else took over yelling.

Well, that wasn't suspicious at all.

I wondered what they'd done this time.

"Don't come any closer! We're fine! Sorry to have bothered y-"

I walked through a prickly patch of bushes before reaching a clearing and witnessing a scene I wouldn't have believed could happen in reality if I hadn't seen it myself.

Three guys wearing the school uniform dangled upside down from a thick branch like characters from old cartoons.

The worst part wasn't just that they were three guys that I knew, No. the worst part was that they were all on the track team, and worse even was that the one in the middle was the captain I'd chosen before I left.

I'd chosen him because he was a powerful runner and the other students seemed to listen to him well enough. I knew Finn's usual MO, so they must have deserved this, but that just put me in a worse mood.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

A million questions ran through my mind as I took in the scene, but I let them down before asking any of them.

"Who did this to you? And how did they get all three of you?"

As muscle-brained as they all were, they were some of the strongest runners on the track team, so I had to take some care in letting them down.

They thumped onto the floor in a three-person heap and could only shake their heads as they massaged their sore ankles in response to my question.

"We don't know. He was wearing a black cap that covered his hair, and he moved so fast that we didn't really get a look at his face."

A blue cap?

The pieces suddenly fit themselves together. Not that there had been much or any doubt about the culprit.

I looked at the rope, and sure enough; it was the same type Finn had been carrying around. Thankfully, Finn had taken mercy on the sports department and had tied the rope over their thick socks. It would bruise, but at least none of them would be out of commission for any significant length of time.

"What did you idiots do to deserve this?"

This was all too carefully planned to be considered a crime of passion, but maybe this was his version of passion. Either way, I needed an explanation. The one closest to me shook his head violently.

"We're completely innocent! "

His voice was earnest, but his eyes narrowed with evil intent as he thought of the person who did this and probably what he did to deserve to get strung up like a pinata.

I wanted to continue interrogating them, but a harsh glare of sunlight against a plastic square stopped me in my tracks. They obviously would not tell me anything useful, so there wasn't any point in keeping them here, but I also couldn't let them go unpunished.

"Go home for now and report to me tomorrow. I've only retired for a few weeks, but it looks like you guys missed me too much."

They looked confused.

"M- Missed you?"

"Of course. Why else would you be going around messing with a senior like this? Don't worry, you've successfully caught my attention. I'll make sure you get everything. You. Need."

The new captain of the team, the captain who I'd trained myself before I'd retired, suddenly let out a small shriek and stumbled back onto his rump.

"N-NO! "

His friends looked scared, but I didn't let him warn them.

"I want the three of you to report to the field at five tomorrow. We can start by looping the school a few times and run some exercises afterwards."

"B- But captain!"

"I'm not your captain anymore. Right now, you can just call me a senior that's too worried about my lovely juniors that are trying their absolute best to get suspended from school on bullying and harassment charges."

Their faces paled as I hit the nail on its head.

"Any complaints? Or should I take this right to the coach and get you benched for the year?"

"No!"

The three of them screamed in unison and scampered away as quickly as they could. Being hung upside down affected their balance, so they tried to use each other as balance points and left the forest looking like a poor circus act.

I chuckled as I watched the spectacle before going to pick up the school-issued plastic card, which of course belonged to the culprit, Finn.

I had seen Finn take out the people who had bothered him throughout the weeks, and somehow I always ended up cleaning up after him, from last time with the chicken feather to now. I picked up the latest and most obvious piece of evidence and let out a sigh.

If I didn't know any better, I would swear that he was angling to get caught.

I looked at his ID card as I returned to school and for the first time, was grateful for the overly specific ID cards the school made us carry. Maybe now the mystery would unravel a bit. Despite him being a fellow student and sort of friend of mine, I actually didn't know that much about him.

Even his financial status, which we had all thought was confirmed, became blurry when we saw the teachers' actions towards him and the various rumours that ran rampant through the school.

He had also moved out of the school dorms with little to no explanation why and would only ever meet with me or any school partners at relatively upscale places that no scholarship student could afford.

Full name: Finley ?? Hall.

Family: Classified

Height: 181.5 cm

Age: 17

Date of birth: 16/08/20xx

Place of birth: Classified

Previous Schools: Classified

Program: Entertainment Management

Current occupation: Classified.

Current address: Classified

Affiliation: Classified

I scowled at the completely useless card that said nothing that wasn't already known and shoved it into my wallet, intending to return it to its owner.

Of course, what else was I expecting?

"Should I count that as theft, or should I take it in good faith that you mean to return that?"

I looked up to see the man himself lounging on a branch above me as if he spent most of his time up in trees. Finn stood and climbed down at an astonishing speed before landing in front of me with an outstretched hand and a rarely seen smile full of mischief.

"I was wondering where I'd dropped that"

He kept his tone pleasant and showed little to no concern for the fact that he had gotten caught; however, his sharp eyes tracked my hands as I reached into my wallet and brought out the practically information-less ID card.

"I don't suppose I can ask why you strung my juniors up like animals."

He laughed loudly and in a slightly mocking tone that left a foul taste in my mouth. Why did I have to be scorned on my junior's behalves?

"Of course you can; it's the least I can do as thanks to my guardian angel."

So he had realized I'd been cleaning up after him.

I shook my head.

"Nah, I'm sure those muscle heads deserved it."

He looked at me with a tilted head and narrowed his eyes, which sparkled right along with his Cheshire cat grin.

"Are you sure you don't have any questions? I promise I'll answer it truthfully?"

That he ended his promise like a question did nothing to assure me. However, there was something that had bothered me for quite a while.

"I can ask anything?"

His eyebrow slightly rose in anticipation and slight uneasiness, but he maintained his smile and nodded.

"Anything you want to know….within reason, of course."

Honestly, there were a lot of questions I had for him, but for some reason, the only one I could remember to ask was,

"Why do you wear fake glasses?"

The uneasiness flew off his face and was replaced with a comically incredulous expression that lasted for a solid minute before he suddenly exploded in laughter.

Yes, it was sort of embarrassing, but it was the only question I could think up, and it really bothered me. He continued to laugh until tears fell out of his eyes and he was gasping for air.

"Of all the-"

He resumed his laughter for another few minutes before finally collecting himself enough to answer. He took them off and handed them over for inspection.

"Honestly, I'm surprised you noticed, but you're right. They are fake. "

"Then why..?"

He widened his eyes as he spoke to prove his point.

"I have an overdeveloped peripheral vision, and that makes it hard to focus on things right in front of me. The frames create a sort of tunnel vision that helps with that. I wear real ones sometimes since I'm far-sighted."

"Oh."

He laughed at my dull tone and spoke in a slightly teasing tone. I didn't think we were close enough for him to mess with me like this, but then again, it wasn't like we weren't not close enough for it to happen.

"Are you regretting your choice?"

"Not in particular."

I noticed he had his backpack and school supplies with him, but he was clearly not on his way to class. He'd finished his finals before I had, but there were a few presentations on the Showcase that the school was holding. I'd assumed he would go since he, as a management student, needed to attend.

"Weren't you going to the presentations?"

"I was."

"Are you going to them?"

"I'm not."

What a nonsensical conversation we were having, but somehow it didn't bother me.

"....do you want me to lend you my notes?"

"That would be cool. I'll text you my address, then you can drop them off. I'll be out for about a week, so could you drop them off after school? Just leave it with security or the doorman."

" Sure."

I took out my phone to give him my number when I suddenly heard the same group of aggressive voices approaching us; I looked back to Finn, only to see that he'd disappeared.

He really is an odd guy.

I thought as I began walking back to the building. As I walked, I overheard the three boys still wobbling out of the forest. I guess they'd gotten lost.

"Isn't Jake dating Alice? If we'd told him who we were going after he probably wouldn't have made us do this"

"What are you talking about? Don't you know that they even had a fight about this? Jake hates hazing and bullying the most."

The third chimed in.

"Besides, I don't even know if they're a thing anymore. After all, haven't you heard that all of this is just an elaborate plan for Alice to get to that scholarship, kid?"

The other two gasped in an unnecessarily dramatic manner. What, was my life a soap opera?

"But isn't Jake friends with the scholarship kid? I heard they partner up for projects a lot,"

"Yeah. That's what makes it interesting."

They continued their gossiping like three old homemakers, but I stopped listening from frustration and headed back to the school to distract myself until Alice finished classes. It was as I walked away that yet another sparkling item caught my eye from the ground.

It was yet another possession of his, his keys, I could tell because of the name tag conspicuously named, 'Finn, Spare keys' attached to them.

Sighing, I pocketed them and planned to return them the next time I saw him. It was all fine until I remembered that he'd planned to go home and wouldn't be in class. I wondered what to do when my phone buzzed; it was an address on the other end of town, about a two-hour drive from an unknown number, which I assumed was Finn.

I saved the number in my contacts and planned to head over to his house when I dropped off the notes.

Since they were just his spares, I figured he wouldn't need them urgently.

It was only as I planned so many interactions with him I recalled with a bit of amusement why I had been so wary about speaking to him before.

Ah, I forgot I'm supposed to be ignoring him.