I left Lydia’s house slightly after 11 in the morning. It had become cold outside; maybe autumn finally had arrived? The door was open when I came home. To my surprise, mom and dad were home. They greeted me from the kitchen table where they sat. I responded whilst I went up the stairs. Sadly, I had no time to talk to them. There was stuff on my mind far more important. Not just the CSA, but even of greater importance, we had a stupid test coming up on Tuesday. That meant I had to study hard today, and put in extra time during tomorrow's lessons. I was desperate for help, and asking my parents surely wouldn’t do. Avon was probably occupied with something, and I couldn’t ask Lydia, she deserved to not see me right now. Ian was out of the question. That leaves? No one, right… I had no more friends. Or wait… Is it? Hmm… Nah, asking Melicia? What are you Ethan, out of your goddamn mind? I laughed for myself.

Next up on the agenda is another weird thought of mine. The possibility of the police nor the government knowing about the CSA was pretty much unbelievable. Surely there had to be some contact hand in between the authorities and the CSA. It was indeed possible that the CSA operated in a franchise like way on behalf of the government. There was also no way for me to know without asking Lydia, and even if she knew the details, would she share them with a mere outsider like me? If I were to decide to go to the police with the matter I would personally be involved, probably going to court even. I could be framed for murder even, something which would make me locked up for at least 15 years. Was I supposed to be worried about the police finding the body? In all fairness, the CSA seemed to be a team of professionals, and Lydia had said that they’d taken care of many corpses before. So in an obvious conclusion, the only thing I’m able to make out of this is that going to any type of authority would be futile.

My phone buzzed and a text from Lydia appeared on the screen.

Make time after school tomorrow, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.

I was obviously interested so I replied with a Yes. Why did she want to meet? And more importantly, who was the person she’d like for me to meet?

“We’ll be gone for a couple of hours,” my mother said. What she was going to do wasn’t of my concern. I genuinely didn’t bother at all if I was home alone or not. It was quiet anyway and it wasn’t like they’d ever bother me. I pulled out one of the textbooks covering the material for the test on Tuesday and began reading. I didn’t take notes; notes were over glorified.

On the next day during morning class, I finished the final chapter in the textbook I’d begun reading yesterday. It wasn’t a relief, binging a textbook wouldn’t automatically give me an A.

Morning class was long, utterly long. Right after we finished and packed our things the lunch break began. A duration of 1 hour was plenty to enjoy the inedible school-cafeteria lunch. I took a seat alone at a 4-seat table and turned my eyes out through the window. On the table in front of me stood a lone glass of water. I didn’t have time to take a zip before I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Did your date work out, Ethan?” said Melicia.

Oh god, not her. What does she want this time?

“You mean the fake one?”

“Yes, the fake one.”

“It went great, I’m sure she understands the charm of stand-up comedy now.”

Yes, it went fucking great.

“By the way, may I know who the girl was now?”

“If I said yes, would you stop talking to me?”

“You say yes, I say no. Do we have a deal?”

“Yes…” Wait, she’s trying to mess with me using a tricky way of speaking.

She went quiet and took a seat in front of me. She’d stacked up her plate to the line of overflowing. Jees, she would make such a mess.

“Maybe you shouldn’t put so much food on your plate, don’t you think?”

She formed her face into that rare smile she sometimes gave.

“So... you think so? Well, I disagree. I do not think this amount of food is considered too much. Besides, who are you to come with complaints? You do not eat anything, you will surely go weak and slender. Do you want that? Do you want to look like a stick, Ethan?”

Oh wow, she's surely opened up a bit more than last week, as well as becoming quite vexed. What’s gotten into her? I mean, I don’t dislike this part of her. I’m just a bit overwhelmed, that’s all.

“How much do you weigh then?”

“Rude. You do not ask girls for their weight.”

“You know, if you tell me your weight — I’ll tell you who the fake date was. Do we have a deal, Melicia?”

“57 kilograms and a half,” she muttered.

I actually didn’t expect her to say that.

“Lydia; Class 12-A.”

“HER?!”

She just shouted. I’d never hear her do that before.

“Wait? You’re not in her class, are you?”

I was confused by her reaction. Sure, Lydia was quite the popular girl. But she wasn’t “that” popular. If I were to be classified as “out of her league” then that surely would be a mistake by Melicia’s side, right? Besides, it was a fake date after all. Not that anyone knew that besides Avon and her though…

“No. I am in 12-C.”

At our school there existed three years. Year 11, the one filled with the kids who’d just come out of middle school and thought that they were adults now. Year 12, our year, where we just went on with life. And finally, year 13, the final compulsory year in our country’s school system. The year where you had to figure out if you wanted to go to uni or not. The year where, once you graduated, became an adult.

“So we’re all in different classes.”

“You are studying for the test tomorrow?”

She’d spotted my textbook which I’d put in my open bag on the floor. Also, the test was universal for all year 12 students, so she was also taking it.

“Yes, I am.”

“Well then, I will help you. See you at your house in the evening at 6. Do not worry, I have already memorised your address from the student’s journal.”

“W-wait,” I said. But she had already risen from her chair and went to bring her finished plate of food to the dishing station. This was a problem, I was supposed to talk with Lydia today after school. Hopefully I could make it home to 6. I remained in my seat, observing the street outside of the window. Rain had started to come down, the cars had turned their wipers on. I didn’t have an umbrella; I would get so wet if it didn’t stop before I had my errand with Lydia. Speaking of Lydia, I could spot her sitting with a few friends of hers across the cafeteria. I didn’t notice her before, but it wasn’t like I normally noticed people. Also, no one probably noticed me, except Melicia, apparently.

I received a text from Lydia.

“We’re calling the thing after school off. If it’s okay with you, we can take it tomorrow instead?”

I answered her with a “OK” and turned my eyes back from the phone to the window. I guess she hadn’t noticed me either. In that case, she could’ve just walked up to me and told me right here. Or, maybe… The thing was that however you looked at it, she, interacting with a loner like me, wouldn’t score any points with her normie friends. No, she wasn’t like that. She probably hadn’t noticed me, that’s all. Come to think about it, why was Melicia so surprised when I mentioned Lydia? Also, why was she so keen to want to study with me? I didn’t take her as a necessary smart person. Sure, she certainly had traits that could intrigue literally anyone. But she was moody, boring even. Also, she was fucking weird. Who calls their friends “acquaintances?”

Since Lydia had called off our meeting today I was free to spend the afternoon with Melicia. I made sure that none of my parents were there when I came home. Olivia was deep down in some magazine she’d picked up that day. I wonder if people actually read magazines at her age anymore? I guess it was a good thing. Melicia only arrived about 15 minutes after me. She wasn’t wearing the uniform anymore, instead she’d changed into a white shirt and a pair of white leggings.

“Do you live near?” I asked.

“Yes, straight across the street,” she said in monotone. Her usual self was back; gloomy, boring, no happiness in her voice.

“Across the street, huh? So we’re neighbours?”

“If that is what you want to call it.”

“So what do you want to call it then?” I asked, irritated.

“How about… Partners? I mean, we are study partners after all.”

I showed the way up the stairs to my room. On the second floor in the hallway Olivia stood, leaning against the wall. She had a smug face.

“I can’t believe this, the day has finally come! My big brother has brought home a girl!”

You don’t exactly bring boys over.

I gave her a demonic look and she just giggled. Damn, Olivia. However, Melicia didn’t seem to care, she greeted Olivia, who suddenly became embarrassed.

“So this is a boy’s room?”

No this is Olivia’s room.

She began observing the clean, white walls. Then she took a seat on the bed which I’d made that morning. Yes, I really do my bed.

“Well, shall we begin?”

She brought out a textbook from her bag.

“Do you have any pens?”

I nodded and went to the drawers under my desk to search for them. First drawer, nothing. Second one, nothing. Third one…

“It is okay. I have two here,” she said and held them up in her hand.

I wonder if I should ask her some questions. I mean, we were neighbours after all, and we went to the same school. When did she decide to move? Why did she move? I wondered if she’d become mad if I asked her personal questions. Maybe it was better to keep quiet and let her do the questioning. If she asked anything personal about me I could do a comeback and ask something personal about her. Endless possibilities, but only a few ways to implement them.

“So… Ethan. Are your grades any good? Wait, I already know. Giggle”

The damn journal she stole…

To be fair, my grades weren’t exactly terrible. This study session was somewhat necessary, but failing the test wouldn’t be a career-changing blunder. No, I’d just have to redo it, that’s all.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Have you ever thought of studying at the beach?” she asked.

“No, why would that be necessary?”

“You know, some say that girls in swimsuits draw your attention away from the thing you actually need to be focused on. But, as the self-proclaimed ‘knower of everything’ I am, I say they are full of bullshit. Eroticness makes you focus more.”

“May I ask why you brought up something so out of context so suddenly?”

“‘Out of context?’ I am terribly sorry, but I believe I am misunderstanding here. I doubt something I would say would be out of context. As a matter of fact, my words are probably more in context than yours right now.”

She reached for my bag. I tried to stop her, but it was too late. She took a sheet of paper out of it. First I thought it was nothing; some old scrap paper. Then I realised my mistake, it was the damn test results from last month. I tried to get it out of her hand, but the way we were sitting on the floor and her long arms… It was indeed trying in vain. Whilst I remained on the floor, humiliated, she stood up, laughing.

“You said you were good at studying, huh?”

I never said that.

“So what is this I am seeing? E:s, D:s… Oh, and two F:s.”

I was angry, yet terrified of her demonic laughter. Was she really that high in the grades-hierarchy?

“You see, it is a good thing I am here. Dear Ethan.”

Never did I say that you weren’t welcome here…

I could hear the doorbell from downstairs going off; we apparently had visitors.

“I’ll go check,” I said.

I wondered who it could be. The mailman, one of Olivia’s friends, someone who’s got the wrong house? The list could be made long, but one thing was certain: There was no way the person behind that door was here to see me.

Fine, I was wrong. I get that already. Who stood outside the door? That’s right, Lydia.

“Am I intruding?”

She was still in her uniform. Nothing had really changed in her appearance since I saw her in the cafeteria during lunch. Or maybe, had she let her bangs down a bit?

“Actually, you kinda are.”

“Hey! Lydia, you’re here,” Melicia shouted from behind me. Apparently she wasn’t speaking with the posh, monotone voice anymore. It had changed dramatically. From sounding formal and proper, to sounding like a girl should sound her age.

“You two know each other?”

I guess that was to be expected.

“Yes, we do. Also, this is a great opportunity to discuss the CSA.”

“So Melicia knows, doesn’t she?”

“You are 100% correct, Ethan,” she said and chuckled.

She made her way through the door and undressed the outer layers of her uniform. Including the shirt. I came to the realisation that only two layers of clothing were between my eyes and her breasts.

“All hail the lord! My big brother has brought home two girls on the same day, and at the same time.”

“Why do you tend to appear out of the blue like that, Olivia?”

“Olivia… You’re in Tommy’s class, right?”

She quieted down when Lydia spoke to her. She was embarrassed when answering her question. There was no mistaking it; my little sister liked Lydia’s little brother. Is that a valid reason to date Lydia? Does money grow on trees? Technically, yes. De Facto, no.

We gathered in a circle on the floor in my room to, presumably, have our talk about the CSA. Olivia reslentenssly tried to hear what we had to say. I knew, because she couldn’t keep the door still when she tried to put her ear through the little gap.

“Hey, Olivia. What we are going to discuss right now is nothing for a middle schooler like you. If you wish to proceed eavesdropping, you do so at your own risk,” Melicia said.

The gap in between the door and the wall suddenly closed. Someone on their tippy-toes could be heard walking away.

“Now that we got that out of the way, should we…?” Lydia didn’t finish the sentence, instead, she noticed my test results on the floor. She became quiet and read through the paper. I didn’t bother to stop her, she would probably find out from Melicia anyway. Also, if I tried to take it away from her, she would obviously get more interested. Imagine if I could study with Lydia instead of Melicia. Maybe my results could get better, if the thing Melicia had said earlier was true. Whatever was going on in my mind had to stop right there, who knows what would happen if I didn’t? After Lydia had finished reading the sheet of paper she sighed and looked towards me.

“Do you plan on going to uni?”

“Yes,” I said. To be honest though, I didn’t have the slightest idea what I wanted to study.

“Well, you can spare that thought. With these results you would be lucky enough to even graduate next year.”

Hey, don’t hurt my feelings like that.

“So why does Melicia know about the CSA?”

“Right, I totally forgot to tell you,” she said and giggled.

“I used to be one of them,” Melicia said. She had become more serious than before, brushing off the arrogance she had used to talk me down earlier.

“What, an operator for the CSA?”

“No… One of them.”

“Melicia is our first cured example of one of them,” Lydia chipped in. “That’s why she moved here, as well as transferring schools. I needed to be close to her, since I was the one curing her. However, the location of her home, it’s an entire coincidence.”

“W-wait, you just told me we can cure them. Why would you kill that guy then?!”

“It was necessary. Or do you believe letting a mass-murderer go free on the streets. In other words, it was of much importance. Besides, it was trying to kill you. What else was I supposed to do, let you die? Be thankful for once.”

When haven’t I been thankful?

I turned my eyes to Melicia this time.

“Please don’t tell me you’re a murderer?”

“Huh?! You actually believe I would cure a murderer, those deserve to die. The way I met Melicia; it was a new experience for me. It was about 6 weeks ago, the last few days of summer break. I’d been at a meeting sanctioned by the CSA that evening. We didn’t discuss much, only the amount of creatures we’d killed…”

“So I was a ‘creature’ before? Hmph,” Melicia said.

“Anyway. During that meeting, something of much interest came up. It appeared that a girl in my age was one of them. There are, in fact, certain traits these creatures have. Something which isn’t of importance right now. This girl was Melicia. The terrifying, or perhaps, good thing however, was that she seemed to be completely non-violent. Everyone at that meeting got intrigued, and one of us said that we should try to talk to her. I was tasked with that mission, with the explanation being that a girl the same age as her would be best suited for it. As such, I went on that evening, visiting her house.”

“I lived in Lowchester,” Melicia added.

“Right, that was quite the train ride. And the CSA didn’t bother to compensate me for the ticket. Anyway, when I got there, you welcomed me with open arms. I was confused at first, but then I realised: You were a normal girl. Except the fact that you lived alone in a 500 000 pounds house.”

“Correct. You see, Ethan, my parents passed away years ago. Until only 2 years ago I lived with my grandparents, then they died too.”

That’s terrible, how can you be so calm about it?

“That’s the first ‘trait’—it appears only people who lost most of their family can get this ‘illness.’ For example, the guy who I saved you from, 2 days ago. I believe his name was Taran King, and he’d lost his wife in an accident 5 months ago. His parents were dead, he had no siblings, and no kids either. This formula applies to exactly everyone we’ve had to deal with to this day. We can’t obviously be 100% sure, but I’m pretty comfortable that this conclusion truly is real.”

She turned her eyes to the door.

“Hey, Olivia. Come out already, we need your help.”

Olivia, who still was eavesdropping on us, but this time with the door closed, stumbled out from behind the door.

“Y-yes?”

Lydia began writing something on a note she’d created by ripping off one of the corners from my test results. Without me and Melicia seeing what was written on it, she handed it over to Olivia. She nodded and went straight back through the door, then downstairs. Whilst we waited for Olivia to come back, Lydia changed the subject.

“So, Ethan… What’s the most important part of a girl? And don’t start with a clique like ‘personality,’ OK?”

“Who knows… Maybe I like boys?”

Her facial expression changed from smug to seriously scared.

“Jokes aside.. Perhaps, the eyes?”

Lydia blushed and turned around so I couldn’t look at them. Melicia, in contrast, decided to make hers really big, so they looked like something out of a shojo manga.

“Okay then. The most important part of a girl is, FANFARE: The face.”

“T-the face… Care to explain?” Lydia asked.

“You see, the face is the part you’ll most of the time see. It’s the part you’ll have your eyes on in most situations. For example, when we talk, when we eat, when we study... In reality, all the time. That’s why it’s so important to me.”

Suddenly I felt an elbow hitting me in the back. I turned around and saw Melicia, she’d sneaked around my back when I preached my opinions.

“You sure you only look at the face? Not somewhere else?”

That’s a lewd and an utterly unnecessary accusation.

The conversation abruptly ended with Olivia opening the door. In her hand she held a tray with three glasses of a tree-coloured liquid. She gave us one each and said: “It’s apple juice.”

It sure wasn’t apple juice, and Lydia seemed to know that as well. This smelled strong, it was definitely whisky. Melicia took her glass and drank it in an instant.

“I sure was thirsty,” she said.

“Here, you can have mine,” Lydia said and handed her glass over to Melicia. She drank that one too in an instant.

“Ehm…” I said. Lydia smacked her knee against my leg, implying that I should be quiet, probably.

Whatever was on that note, whatever the barbaric Lydia had told my sister to bring. Whatever reason, it sure wasn’t good. She’s 15 for god sake.

“I’m terribly sorry, Melicia. But this was necessary for Ethan to understand. The second ‘trait’—these creatures have no sense of smell or taste.”

“But you said she was cured, didn’t you?”

“Indeed, I said that. However, we’re only able to cure the ‘I want to kill people’-part, sadly, nothing else. But it isn’t so bad, right, Melicia?”

“It is not apple juice?” she asked, worried.

Damn Lydia. Poor Melicia had just downed two big glasses of whisky. And what would dad say? As overprotective as he was, he would freak out when he would see half a whisky bottle gone. As for Lydia tricking Melicia into thinking that it was apple juice, that’s another problem I’d have to take up with her when no one else was around. I should probably make them leave as quick as possible. Worst case scenario: I’d have to carry Melicia across the street to her house. That idiot had taken my drink as well. Not that I wanted to drink it though, I only thought of her well-being.

“This apple juice really tastes good.”

“But you have no sense of taste, right?”

“That is right… But I can definitely imagine the taste,” she said and smiled.

What a moron.

900 millilitres whisky later and I was forced to do my deepest fright. I had to carry her to her house. Thankfully, since Lydia already had left, my sister helped me out.

“What was written on that note anyway? Did she explicitly tell you to bring whisky?”

“No, just something with an alcohol percent of over 35 percent, that could easily be mistaken as a non-alcoholic drink.”

“And you agreed to do that?”

“Of course, there was a big reward involved!”

“And what’s that?” I asked and sighed.

“You apparently promised to buy me a super-mega-giant-ice cream at that cafe outside of school.”

I was hoping never to go there again.

“That’s a promise you’re going to keep, right bro?”

There it was again.

Melicia’s 57 and a half kilograms certainly made me tired. It felt like Olivia didn’t help at all, only stabilising her legs at the back. If we had switched positions my view would be right up her skirt. Hey, wanna switch positions? I wonder what Olivia would think…

If her words were anything to believe she lived alone. If you instead would’ve believed me, well I’d say she probably lived alone too. There’s simply no way someone with her moodiness could ever live together with someone. We didn’t bother to knock or anything, we could already see through the gap that the lock wasn’t in place. The door was old, and it squeaked terribly when we opened it up. This is the second time I’ve been to a girl’s house, and that’s in the span of two days. What the hell happened? We went ahead to the room that looked to be Melicia’s. Or if you think about it, all the rooms were her’s, I guess. Let’s just say we found a bed, in a sort of, extremely messy room. Clothes, including used underwear, were spreaded out over the entire floor. A shelf which should've been able to hold a decent amount of books, was instead used as a wardrobe, housing stacks of shirts and trousers.

“Don’t get any weird thoughts,” Olivia said as we put Melicia down on the bed.

I wondered if we could leave her here. The door was unlocked, and it would be a bit awkward if we just stole a key with us. I wondered if we were better off staying. But the probability of Melicia freaking out when she’d wake up—it was far too big.

“What’s your take on this?” I asked Olivia. I didn’t bother to speak quietly; she didn’t wake up earlier when we carried her across the street.

“What do you mean, Ethan?”

“What I mean is that… If we perhaps, maybe, should stay until she… Sorta’ wakes up?”

Olivia burst into laughter and quickly exited the room into the hallway. I followed and found her on the floor, still laughing like crazy. What’s gotten into her? I guess it was a bit embarrassing to say those words, but was it really that embarrassing?

“If you wish to stay, by all means, go ahead. Just don’t come to me and cry after you’ve been assaulted and put in the place where you belong.”

You don’t think that’s taking it too far? Even for Melicia?

Whilst I made up my mind on staying or not, Olivia left the house. The house certainly was big, exceeding our’s with a notable margin. I wondered why the CSA had chosen such a big house for a sole “cured” one. Couldn’t they just have gone with a simple flat in a more central part of town. The price difference certainly made sense, living in a flat was still much less expensive. If the reason was to be close to Lydia… No, that didn’t make sense at all. There were plenty of cheap flats, and even cheaper houses, located much nearer the school and the station.

I’d made up my mind; I wasn’t going to stay. Simply put it, if I now were to be assaulted by Melicia, who had I to turn to? It wasn’t like Olivia would be by my side, she’d already made that clear. As I walked out from the house I couldn’t keep the questions in my head. I aired them out with the cold wind, metaphorically speaking, that’s to say. In any way or the other,