Chapter Two: Enigma.
'Over here, Alana!' Teresa called, waving her hand to get our attention. I waved back to let her know we saw her.
The café near our school was expectedly crowded. Jenna, Alexis and I pushed our way through the sea of people chatting and gossiping. In the middle of our "surf in the ocean", Jenna tripped over someone's foot and almost fell but she managed to balance by clinging onto another dude's shoulder.
He turned around and raised his left eyebrow. 'Jenna, please watch your step next time. William Sanders said and something in his eyes told me Jen's tripped scene just gave him some bad news.
As usual, Will was sucked into the world of Dota and obviously, Jen distracted him from "defeating the evil dweebs". Jenna quickly straightened herself up and shot an icy glance at him.
'It's not like I wanna clung onto your shoulder on purpose. Some idiot put their big foot out and I accidentally tripped over it.'
'Well, you accidentally bothered me from my game.' Will fought back and started babbling about his game.
'Whatever. But as a friend, Will, you play that game way too much. You've gotta take a break and breathe fresh air.' Jenna placed a hand on his shoulder as if to comfort him.
'If you can only drag me away from Dota.' he grinned at us and started clicking into his game.
'Told you not to wear killer heels. They kill.' I smiled at victory. Jen glared at me.
'It wasn't the heels. The problem was it's so crowded here that I can barely see where I'm stepping.' Jen explained.
I chuckled and scanned the room for any more familiar faces. Eric was there with his friends, joking and fooling around.
'Okay, do you have any ideas how are we gonna trick those boys?' Morgan asked as we finally sat down.
'Whatever the idea is, we've got 45 minutes to plan and buy things for it.' Amanda looked at her watch.
'Oh, oh! How about spraying them with syrup?' Alex suggested, raising a hand like a pre-school student trying to answer a question that goes, 'What's the letter after B?'
'We've sprayed them with orange, mango and apple juice on Wednesday. Today is our last day to prove them our woman skills.' Morgan put her arm up as if to show her non-existing muscles.
'Bring the flour here, man!' Yee Ling shouted from behind the counter and she was waving at Jason who seemed to be very busy serving those screaming for service people.
'Where the heck are my drinks, Jason!?'
'Waiter, waiter! JASON!'
'Make me two cups of coffee quick! We're rushing to school right now.'
Poor dude. To be tortured like that every day, imagine what I'll do if I was him. I'll probably be shouting back at the customers with colorful words out of my mouth – if I was being filmed, it'll probably sound like; 'Who do you think I am, you… tut, tut, tut…' and my mouth will be censored – and get fired in the end.
It's not like he's the one and only waiter in the café. Others are just too darn lazy to serve these irritating customers. Jamie and Sook Teng were not here yet but I bet they won't show up until when we all went to school because when the students are all gone, there's only like young workers or tourists paying a visit left.
'Coming, coming!' Jason shouted over the annoying mixed up voices in the room – which included my voice and my friends' but whatever. We're much quieter compared to those bursting-out-laughing-like-nobody's-business people. He put the bowl of flour onto his tray and nearly ran to the other side of the room. Sook Teng AKA ST showed up in front of him, tying an apron around her waist.
I didn't really saw who did what to Jason but when I turned around, it looked like he tripped and his tray went straight to ST's direction.
Soon, the whole room was quiet when their conversations were interrupted by ST's high pitched scream. Everyone's gaze fell on ST with her mouth wide open and Jason with his hands held up in a 'I surrender!' way.
Someone started chuckling and it sounded like it came from Eric's gang. Some even gulped or whispered to one another but none of them could take their eyes off ST who is now covered with flour and some kind of blue color thingy.
'OH MY GOD! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, JASON!? YOU POURED BLUE SODA AND FLOUR ALL OVER MY CLOTHES!' ST cried, breaking the silence earlier. So much for a morning peacefully quiet moment in this café.
'I-I'm s-s-sorry!' Jason stammered. Geez, that guy need to brush it up. It sounded like he was being bullied by ST.
'Okay, okay. No more show people, go back to your daily chatting routine.' Yee Ling gestured and almost everyone turned back to their talks and gossips. ST was shouting at Jason historically behind the counter.
And did ST looked alien-ish with the flour plus blue soda thingy. Wait, ugly, blue and alien-ish.
'Yes!' I pushed my elbow downwards like I just won something. Well, I did thought of an idea. So that's kinda considered as "winning".
Morgan, Jen, Alex, Amanda and Teresa all looked at me as if there's something on my face.
'I've got an idea. How about we throw balloons of flour with coloring inside at the boys and some other girls will hold the hose to spray them with water![Credits to my friends for the idea] That way, they'll look exactly how ST look like now. And they can't wash it off unless they wanna be disqualified from the event.' I smirked.
'Sounds awesome but why they can't wash it off?' Teresa asked already smiling.
'Because when the flour dries it'll be harder to wash it off. It'll take them a long time to get rid of it.' I answered, rubbing my palms against each other like how I saw the evil villains do in cartoons. I've always wanted to do that but now I kinda feel stupid yet victorious.
'That will be way awesome if they look like colored aliens for the whole day. Why not take pictures of them, then? For… remembrance.' Teresa took her camera from her bag. 'Ka-chak! Gotcha boys!' she pretended to press to the capture button.
'All right, then. Let's go to the speed market to buy the stuffs we need.' Jen got up and we all followed.
The speed market was a small shop where we can buy groceries and stuffs we need. It's just a few minutes' walk from our school.
'So, we need balloons, flour, coloring and hoses.' I commanded. 'I'll go for the coloring.'
'Oh, I'll come along.' Jenna walked behind me into the baking aisle.
'What color should we "dye" the boys?' Jen giggled. 'Let's see… blue, red, and yellow, green… oh my God, purple! It'll look so awesome on them.'
'Yeah, and maybe we should put some glitter into the balloons. A little spice will make them shine' I was walking backwards and didn't really see what was behind until I hit someone.
I turned around to apologize but frozen when I found myself staring at a tall handsome hottie in front of me.
'Sorry, I bang onto you.' he apologized, which was ridiculous since I was the one who didn't look.
'Oh. No, of course not… I- see- you're' I took a deep breath, considering I'm actually embarrassing myself in front of him. This is so not the right time to be drooling, Alana!
'Never mind. It was my fault for not looking.' Yeah! I've succeeded not hesitating in between every word. 'Well, um… once again, sorry. I have to go now. Sorry.' Okay, that was even more embarrassing. Acting like a fool who just met a dude. No wait, it's actually acting like a fool who just collided with a hottie.
I took a step back smiling dumbly at him and turned to run down the aisle, took a turn back in the next lane, grabbed some bottles of glitter and ran off.
I didn't want to meet him again. He'll probably think I'm weirdo girl from planet Venus or something- who is a complete idiot made of stupid. If I ever ran into him again, I'd hide my face and never go back to that place like ever again.
'So, we've got everything we need.' Morgan clapped her palms against each other and frowned when she saw me leaning over and breathing quickly.
'Al, did you ran to the other side of the town just to get these glitter bottles or did you just got into a fight and came out uninjured?' Alexis guffawed to herself.
'NO. I just couldn't find those stupid stuffs and had to run all over the shop for it.' I lied easily.
Morgan pointed at something and I followed her finger's direction. 'It's written on the boards of what they have in each lane. And it's written there "STATIONERIES and ARTS & CRAFTS STUFF". Don't tell me you didn't see it, did you wear your contacts?'
'Ah ha, ah ha…' I paused to find a way to explain. They're my best friends. And best friends don't keep secret from one another, right? So why not tell them?
'And that was why I was out of breath and humiliated into the next century.' I admitted as we got out of the speed market and walked to school, carrying plastic bags.
'Oh. My. God. No wonder you don't dare to confess to Eric. You have crush confession issues even when you're sixteen!' Teresa burst out laughing so hard, it looked as if she was gonna laugh out tears. And apparently, she said that too loud.
'Shh!' I shushed her. 'No, I don't have crush confession issues. I just feel nervous when it comes to confessing to another boy who barely notices you.'
'I understand you. But the world has change, Al. Nowadays; girls dare to launch the first step, for crying out loud. It's just depending on if the girl has the guts to do it.' Jenna responded.
She always knew I had… nervous breakdowns when it comes to confessing to a boy who maybe treats you only as a friend. 'Yeah. And obviously, I don't have enough guts to do it. Besides, he's always flirting with other girls. I bet he just treats me like one of his plays-video-games buddy.' I glared at the picture of Eric with another girl in my mind.
'That's because you act like one of his video game buddies. Of course he'll treat you like one. Who knows, maybe he actually likes you.' Jen winked at me.
Just then, a gray BMW flew passed, nearly hitting me and made me fell down along with the stuff I was carrying. Whoever idiot driving the car didn't even bother to stop to apologize. It was a guy, I saw it in the reflection of his stupid BMW side mirror, who I couldn't remember his face because he was wearing sunglasses. I did catch a glimpse at his hair color though and it was black. Pure black.
I could recognize him if I had the chance to run into him. 'Are you alright?' Alexis helped me up. 'That dude in the car has no manners at all. I'm sure he saw what he did but he didn't even look back. This is why bad boys are bad but we're attracted to them.'
'Don't mind that. I'll meet him, eventually. I just can feel it.' I stood up, grabbed the things and continued walking. 'He's heading to our school isn't he?' I asked, gazing at the lane where the BMW disappeared to. Must be some parent or new teacher, who already made a first bad impression, showing off their driving skills.
Amanda shrugged. 'Guess so. Let's check it out then.' she walked ahead, swinging the things she carried back and forth. Why was she in such a good mood today? Has she met another hottie but didn't embarrass herself like I did?
I started walking behind her, glancing back every few minutes to make sure no car was coming towards me. As we walked, we finally reached the buildings painted in white and pale yellow. They were five blocks with four floors in each block. I wouldn't say my school sucked because they were kind enough to apply AC in classrooms, laboratories and studios.
It would be a dream school excluding the strict rules they made or the serious-ness of the principal when it comes to pranks and tricks. These Girl Rule and Boy Strength events are planned by the younger and livelier teachers but the old and dull teachers strongly disapproved. So, it was up to our Principal, Mrs. Jenny to decide.
She nearly got onto the evil side when we, the brave students, planned to have a campaign – well, sorta a campaign if shouting and threatening is allowed – and we won easily. Best of all, surprisingly, those old teachers let it go without a fight because Mrs. Jenny said so. Who will fight the Principal? NO ONE! That's the only weakness the old group has. The 23 years old Principal was on our side, the bright and sunny side not the dark and evil side.
'Hey!' someone shouted and slapped my back, nearly making me tumbled. I groaned and turned around only to find myself nose-to-chest with Raymond Yew – father Chinese and mother Japanese –, my dancing partner. Who also happened to be Eric's best buddy.
Glancing up, I growled, 'What?' However my expression was, it made Ray backed away, holding his hands up as if I was gonna attack him any second. His reaction almost cracked me up.
'Dude, don't need to be so scary.' he muttered, still stepping back. 'I was just gonna ask you when would you like to practice, that's all.' he stopped by banging onto another guy his height. I narrowed my eyes at him, scrambling in my brain to figure out who he is.
He shook his short layered Zac Efron hair – which is black – just to "style" it. I thought it looked ridiculous, the move I meant. Aside from his stupid move, he was wearing a blue slim tee with black surfer pants which showed his "lookable" – if that was even a word – biceps. And boy is he hot!
'Awesome ride, dude!' Eric greeted and stroked his… GRAY BMW!? Okay, even Mr. Way-Too-Rude looked as hot as Eric. Or maybe even hotter… I immediately shook away that thought and glanced over at Alexis, who was wide eyed and mouth opened. She was as shock as I am, that's a fact. So, I knew I was on my own until she comes back from Hottie Wonderland.
'Hey!' I pushed Raymond to the side, cutting off his awesome-ing with Eric. 'You! You're that guy who nearly hit me and made me fell!' I pointed a finger at him and he just stared at it with bored eyes. And that pissed me off more. 'Shouldn't you apologize of something!? You NEARLY HIT ME!' I pointed my thumb back at myself but Mr. Way-Too-Rude did nothing but stare. Stare, stare, stare. Is that was he do? Stare until I go insane?
'You better apologize or I'll report you to the police.' I tried again now, lightly shoving him back – which didn't work anyway. Suddenly, he trembled. Yes, HE TREMBLED like my threat just made him trembled. He greeted his teeth, trembling even more and looked to his right and left like he was looking out for someone he just escaped from.
'She knows I'm here.' he mumbled.
'Hey…' I wanted to catch his attention again but then he took my free hand and placed something on my palm. 'Dude, what is this!?' I asked, opening my fist and saw a beautiful white gold blue topaz pendant necklace resting on my palm.
'Keep it as a secret.' Mr. Way-Too-Rude mumbled again and I looked up to see no one in front of me. Searching, I found no trace of him. He just disappeared. Just like that. Did he have powers or something like Hiro has in Heroes?
'Dude! Where are you?' I shouted, feeling stupid because I was practically shouting to nobody. 'Hey, Alex…' I whirled around to see Alex still wide eyed and mouth opened with Raymond flashing his teeth next to her. 'Alexis?' I waved my hand in front of her eyes but still no respond. I felt myself frowning and stared down at the pendant, checking it. On the back of the metal it was carved there, "Joseph". Pretty name. Was this the name of Mr. Way-Too-Rude/Mr. Left-Without-An-Answer?
A hand waved in front of me and I was taken aback by that move. Shifting back to reality, I saw Eric staring at me. 'You alright?' he asked. 'Nice necklace you have. Given from your boyfriend or someone?'
'What? Boyfriend?' I scoffed. Didn't he just saw who gave it to me? Joseph left it with me and vanished, leaving me blur with no answers about why I MUST keep the necklace.
'Uhm… The dude who owned the gray BMW. The one you stroke just now and said it was an awesome ride?' I gestured at the place where Joseph parked his car which was now GONE!
Eric gazed at me as if I'm an alien who just spoke in alien language. 'Yeah… I would love to understand what you're saying but unfortunately, I can't.' he changed his gaze from me to the now empty spot then back at me. Horrified, I stuttered, 'But I-I saw J-Jo-Joseph. He gave m-me this necklace.' Eric put his hands on my shoulders and surprisingly, I felt nothing. Maybe I was too shock to even feel what I'm feeling now. S-H-O-C-K was all I felt right now.
'You look pale. Maybe you should go see Ms. Chong or something. Alexis!' he put his hands down. 'Your sister… I think she's sick? You should bring her to a clinic.'
Alexis walked over, placing a hand on my shoulder. 'You 'Kay, Al? Oh my gosh, you do look pale! What are you, having a fever?' she put her hand on my forehead.
WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!? First, Eric was stroking Joseph's car and I shouted at him next he left a pendant necklace with me calling me to keep it a secret. And now!? Eric and the others don't remember a thing!? 'No way was I hallucinating…' I wondered aloud, my hands shivering. Not only my hands I could feel my whole BODY shivering! Did I just see a GHOST!? But Jenna and the others could see him, too. So, I'd better not jump to silly conclusions like supernatural ones. However, he just vanished in front of my like that could make me think he's some kinda freak who has powers like Sylar in Heroes! I was so sucked into my thoughts that I can't even realize what was happening in reality.
'Man! What's wrong, Alana?' Eric was waving his hands madly. And I've created quite a scene outside the school with my wide eyed expression. It was like as if my body was there but my soul isn't. 'You need an ambulance or something!? She's turning pale, dude!'
I'm not sick! I wanted to answer but my mouth won't allow me to. I just saw a guy vanished himself right in front of my eyes! Without light or smoke but he just poof-ed! Disappeared!
Wait, but if I told them that, will they think I'm nuts? My good side was begging me to tell them to get the confusion outta my head. "Of course they'll think you're a total cuckoo! If you want them to think you're normal then you've better go find answers yourself!" My bad side had said. And I sided the bad thought for one reason, I wouldn't want my friends to think I'm nuts.
'Never mind.' I hesitated, 'I-I'm fine. Do-Don't need an ambulance.' I managed to choke out of horror in a faint voice. Whatever or however Joseph disappeared, I know I gotta find out and find him on my own. Myself and my easily jump-to-conclusions brain.