Chapter 33: Breaking Point
The school year end party was in full swing, but Reina could barely focus.
Her dark eyes darted over to Guzmán, who was looking deep in thought at one corner.
She also saw Lu standing by the punch bowl, downing a glass moodily while throwing furtive glances at Guzmán every so often.
Trouble in paradise for those two, I guess.
Reina licked her lips nervously, wishing that Ander was around to calm her nerves. He would probably crack a lame joke, and she would probably roll her eyes and laugh anyway.
Her thoughts drifted to this morning. How she woke up to find her face smooshed against Ander's shoulder. Tucked into the safest place in the world. She didn't want it to end.
And so she had gently closed her eyes again...
"Reina! How's it going?" Christian's voice boomed right next to her ear, giving her a startle.
"A less loud greeting wouldn't have hurt, you know," she retorted as she pointed at her assaulted ear and took half a step away from Christian.
Christian shrugged. "It's a party, Reina. Not a funeral."
"It feels like a mix of both, honestly," Reina muttered.
"Worried about tonight?" Christian asked, his jovial smile toned down for a second.
"You're not?"
"Well, we have a plan in place. So all we can do is to execute it and hope for the best. No point overthinking it."
"You're not wrong, I guess."
Christian patted Reina on the arm. "Hey, if Ander needs me, tell him to call me, okay?"
"Where are you going?"
"I need to go grab something from the lockers."
Reina raised an eyebrow quizzically.
"It's just something that Carla was asking for."
Reina chortled. "Can't she go get it herself?"
"I'm sure I will be appropriately rewarded for helping her out." Christian winked. "Anyway, after I've settled things with Carla, and you guys have settled the shit with Matteo, we'll celebrate. Go fucking crazy and end the night on a high. Deal?"
"I can always count on you for staying optimistic, Christian."
"That's what friends do, right? We don't allow anyone to feel too down."
Reina's heart softened.
Friends. I have friends at Las Encinas. Who would've guessed I would end up being not 100% miserable here.
"Right," she told Christian before he pivoted and made his exit.
Just two seconds later, she felt the buzz of her phone. There were messages in the group chat that Ander had created.
Ander: Guys, Matteo has entered our school
Ander: He is with Noel and Eric
Ander: Guys..?
Ander: Guzmán? Polo? Christian? Where you all at?
Reina looked up and tried to locate Guzmán but he was no longer at the party.
As for Polo, she had not seen him since they arrived at the party at the same time, and that was awhile ago.
Her fingers flew across the screen as she typed rapidly.
Reina: Christian is at the lockers. He told me
Reina: Not sure about G and P
Reina: How can I help?
Ander: No worries
Ander: I can rely on the spy cameras we have set up
Ander: Will move into action when it's time
Reina: Okay
As Reina looked up again, she caught sight of Marina who was dancing on her own, looking beautiful in a black disc sequin dress.
"Hey!" she called out, waving.
Marina walked over and flashed her a quick smile. "Reina, hi. How's the party going for you?"
"I'm hardly registering anything. Super nervous."
"About Matteo? Don't worry. Ander has it all planned out, hasn't he?"
"Yeah well, some people have gone missing. Guzmán. Christian. Polo. Have you seen any of them?"
Marina shook her head. "I'm sure they're around somewhere."
"The thing is, they were supposed to be on standby at their assigned spots. When Matteo strikes, there won't be a lot of time to waste."
Marina bit her lip, and Reina noticed how she seemed pretty distracted.
"Are you doing okay?" Reina inquired.
"Yes. No. I think I'm just feeling under the weather."
"Again? Did you see the doctor?"
"It's nothing. I'll be fine," Marina assured her. She stole a glance at her phone. "I think I'll step outside for a bit..."
"Do you need me to come with you?"
"NO." Marina must have realized how adamant she had sounded, and she continued in a calmer tone, "I'll be back in no time. Really. See you later, okay?"
"Sure..." Reina tilted her head and couldn't help thinking as she watched yet another person leaving the party in a hurry.
Is it just me or is everyone acting really odd tonight? Like there are other major stuff happening that I don't know about.
"Excuse me," a steely voice cut through Reina's thoughts. "Are you going to get out of the way, or just stand here the whole night with that dazed idiotic look on your face?"
Oh great.
Reina smirked as she swiveled and came face to face with Bianca's deep scowl.
"Oh hi Bianca. I'm busy right now. Can I ignore you another time?" she said in her best fake syrupy sweet tone.
"Busy with what?" Bianca let out a nasty laugh. "Definitely not with Ander, obviously."
"Of course not. Ander can't be here. He has to hide from a crazy bitch who can't stop obsessing over him and randomly starting nonsense fights over him. I wonder if you know her – oh wait..."
For one second, it looked like Bianca was going to raise her hand and give Reina a slap.
Bianca was practically spitting. "You little pathetic c–"
Reina was so ready for a proper fight with Bianca. But before she could unleash her next comeback, her phone lit up to indicate that Ander was calling her – which caused her to fully tune out Bianca.
Shit. Had something gone wrong?
Reina began retreating towards the gym exit. "Whoops. I got to go," Reina threw one last fake smile at Bianca. "Bye! See you never."
As soon as she had pushed past the gym doors, she answered the call. "Ander? What is it?"
"Reina!" Ander's panic was evident. "The spy camera is not working – the one at the boys' locker room. And that's where Matteo and gang are at. I have no way to see their every move and to record them. It keeps saying it's offline. Fuck."
"Fuck," Reina echoed and began absent-mindedly pacing in circles at the hallway. "You can't reboot it remotely?"
"I did an online search and it says remote rebooting is not possible. Shitty camera!"
"So we need to be physically there... To switch it off and on again."
"Yes."
"No other way?"
"Afraid not." Ander sighed. "We're fucked. If any one of us barge into the locker room now, Matteo is going to abort his plan for sure."
Reina squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, thinking hard. "Or maybe..."
Ander prompted breathlessly, "Maybe...?"
"Matteo will flip if he sees a Las Encinas student. But if he sees a San Patricio student – or someone who used to be a San Patricio student..."
"Reina. Are you saying you want to go in there? And that won't make Matteo freak out?"
"I have a plan but we're losing time. You just have to trust me. Can you?"
Ander was quick to reply. "I do. But promise me you'll be careful?"
"Of course. And I'll keep you on the line, okay? My phone will be in my dress pocket. So you can hear everything. And you'll know right away when I can reboot the camera."
"Okay. Let's get this show on the road. But just remember – don't do anything stupid."
"Yes. And remember, no matter what happens after this.. no matter what you hear – you must trust me. Please?"
"Okay, Reina."
Reina had to remind herself to calm down as she neared the boys' locker room.
She was about to put on the biggest show of her life yet.
As someone who naturally loved the spotlight and would never hesitate to push herself to the extreme in order to capture her audience – even if it required emotional manipulation – this shouldn't be too hard.
But it was hard.
Still, she had to carry it out.
The rivalry between San Patricio and Las Encinas had gone on for too long. It had heated up to an immense breaking point...
And if she could put an end to it, then she was willing to do just about anything.
