The Drift that Made Us

Chapter 5

MYSTY

“Uno is so hot it makes my morning even better,” Zai whispered. I couldn’t see him clearly because he was still inside the car. He drove a Xavi, one of the most dreamt rides of every car enthusiast. Even Reed wanted the brand. How the heck did he afford one? Maybe he was a celebrity and earned a lot of money, or he was crazy rich. I would say the latter.

A few seconds later, he decided to climb out of his car. He tapped on his phone and lifted it to his ear. The guy called Uno was wearing a white shirt and topsider shoes. He also wore skinny red pants and a snapback hat the other way. His hair was dark brown, and I wondered if it resembled his eyes. Uno’s skin was a rich terra cotta color; it worked well with his calm aura.

He looked more pissed when he ended the call. Oh, I forgot about our classes. “We should probably head to class,” I said.

“Mysty girl, there are no classes on our first day,” she said, smiling at me. No classes on the first day were an excellent idea for socializing.

“She’s right. Should we grab a bite?” Rejine May suggested. Zai and I nodded. We were about to go, but someone yelled, catching my attention.

“Guys, who owns this blue Pod?” I owned a Pod, so I looked back at the guy and the car. I checked the plate number; it was my car, but why was he asking for its owner? Did something happen to my car?

“Mysty, I know we just met, but let me tell you one thing, Uno Trinidad is dangerous and an asshole,” Rejine May said. I wondered why. I nodded to acknowledge her warning. Was he a drug lord? Gangster? Vampire? An adviser to the mafia? Goblin? Grim Reaper? Con artist? Alien? Psycho? Serial Killer?

“Rejine May, you make Uno look so bad. Mysty might misunderstand you! Don’t mind her, Mysty girl,” she said, directing me to the cloud cafeteria.

“One moment, Zai, the guy was asking for the Pod’s owner; it’s mine,” I said, and she let go of my arm.

“Hi, that Pod is mine. Why do you ask?” he flashed me a nervous smile. Was I in trouble?

“Can you please move your car? This space is reserved,” he said. Maybe it was a teacher’s parking lot. My bad. They should place name cards so students won’t park in them.

“Uh, sorry, okay, I’ll move it,” I said, but I got distracted by a familiar voice. No, no, no! I only had one wish for today, and I didn’t get it. Of all the places, why the university? Like, why would he sabotage my new life without him? He said his piece that night. We’re far from randomly dropping by.

“Stay where you are, Mysty…” the voice lingered in my ears. What the heck was he doing here? I looked in his direction and almost facepalmed. The audacity of this guy to come here and ruin my day!

“Reed, what are you doing here?” I went an hour away not to see you, but you’re here. Great! Dang, it!

“Why is Reed here? And why does he know the new girl?” This situation sucked! Of course, they knew the guy. I closed my eyes, back at deep breathing, and counted ten. I didn’t want it to get the best of me. Okay, there must be something I could do to handle this with class. That was the least I could do.

“I’m picking you up.” He said and smiled at me. I was so screwed! Reed! You didn’t have to cause a scene. Oh, right, I dropped his call earlier. Was this my fault? No, no, I would not blame myself for his choices.

“No, thanks!” I said and walked away. But he grabbed my pulse. As usual, I didn’t let him. I grabbed his pulse and dragged him, but another voice emerged from the crowd, so I froze.

“Can you move the car? We’re not watching this drama of yours!” That guy Uno said; I didn’t know him personally, but based on Rejine May’s description, he was a “dangerous asshole” to some extent. I still had no idea why he was dangerous or an asshole. The word asshole weirded me out; it came to my mind incorrectly.

“Can you shut up?” Reed said, looking at him with his stern and intimidating face.

“What?” Uno’s voice rose, and he almost attacked Reed because of what he said, but the guys he was with restrained him—telling him that they were in school and not the right place to cause a brawl.

In K-dramas, the guy always dragged the girl somewhere to “talk,” which I did before a fight broke out.

A few meters away, Reed asked, “Where are we going?” I wanted to go to a forest and push him off the cliff, and I would hold him by his shirt. His life would hang like a thread, literally!

“We need to clear things up,” I said, and he answered, “I like that.” You wouldn’t like what I was about to say. I let go of his pulse when I couldn’t see any people in my sight.

“I’m just gonna say this once, so listen,” I said. I was not breaking my serious appearance. I wanted it to end here and now, and it might be hard to swallow, but it needed to be said.

“Us, we’re not happening, ever! So, stop doing this as if you care. Just stop. If you still think of me as your friend, don’t make it harder than it is.” I walked away after those words escaped my lips.

“Can you please talk to me? I need to tell you something important. Let’s talk in my car?” He said I would be lying if I was not curious about what he said.

“No! I am not going anywhere with you!” I yelled while walking away. I just went back to the parking lot and climbed into my car. Seconds later, Uno knocked on the front door glass beside the driver’s seat. He was about to say something and expected me to roll down my window, but I didn’t.

“Get out of the car!” He yelled at me. Why would he do that? Eventually, I exited the car and wore my lightning bag because everything I owned was inside. After finding a new parking space, I needed to find Zai and Rejine May. I was about to apologize about the parking slot, but he yelled at me, so never mind.

“Next time, know your limits,” Uno said. As if I cared about what he said, I could only handle one asshole daily. Hard pass!

“Look at me when I am talking to you!” I faced him and met his eyes. I gave up, apologized to get it over with, and walked away. Uno grabbed my bag to stop me; when I turned to face him, he was lying on the floor, unconscious. New bag! What the heck happened? You would get me in a lot of trouble! I picked it up and wore it on my back. Welcome back, Mysty! Shock report: An unknown human snatched the bag, and I deployed a level three electric shock.

A crowd formed around Uno. Three guys separated from them and knelt to check if he was still alive. One guy checked his pulse and if he was still breathing. They asked the people to move away for air. Oh my god, I didn’t murder my schoolmate. I would go to jail, and my bright future was down the drain if he died.

“Master, wake up,” one guy said, tapping his shoulder. The other one, who had massive arms, slowly lifted Uno’s head and placed it on his lap.

“Can you please send a doctor and a stretcher to the parking lot?” The third guy said what I thought was the cloud clinic on a call.

Uno, please wake up. You won’t die. Because you were a wild grass, oh I mean, you’re stronger than this? And I couldn’t go to jail because of this weird bag. The guy who tried to wake Uno a while ago asked me something.

“What happened?” I didn’t know what to say. It sounded absurd to say it out loud, but the guy asked. I wondered if they were friends because if they were, goodbye, dear freedom.

“I’m Toby, and you can talk to me,” he offered his right hand for a handshake that I gladly took. He smiled, too!

“Gago, now’s not the time to introduce yourself,” he called him a fool, but instead of striking back, Toby smiled at him.

The other guy looked stern, “Kiro’s my name. What’s yours?” he winked at me and raised his hand for a high five; I accepted it. What was happening? It escalated weirdly and fast!

“I’m Mysty!” I said. They smiled at me. Why were they smiling again?

“Bro, he needs medical care. We need to carry him,” the guy who had Uno in his lap said.

“What happened? You can tell us,” Toby asked in the calmest voice.

“Uh…” how could I say this without sounding so childish? “You saw what happened. He grabbed my bag and got electrocuted,” I said, almost whispering the last word of the sentence.

“You mean your bag has an electric shock feature?” Kiro asked while looking at me.

“Yeah, it’s a new bag. I had no idea it did that,” I lied because it was so strange.

“Where did you buy it?” Kiro asked. And it earned him a smack on the leg from the guy who had Uno on his lap. “I meant that maybe they could deactivate the shocks,” he said again.

The three guys planned on lifting Uno to the Cloud Clinic, but the infirmary staff arrived. They carried the guy on a stretcher while the three guys followed them to the clinic. I went to the medical center to ensure that Uno would be okay and he wouldn’t sue me for what happened. When we arrived, the nurse attached an IV drip immediately.

“Mysty, we’re heading to the cloud cafeteria. We’re starving,” Kiro said. The other two just smiled at me and headed out.

“We’re buying you food. Wait for us, okay?” Zai assured me.

“Go ahead, thanks!” I told them, and they both headed out with Rejine May.

While waiting, I checked my bag for something to eat, but the only one close to it was the chocolates with a turtle shape, my favorite! This delightful thing would save me from starvation. Munching the chocolate, I observed that the walls were white and blue-painted clouds. Uno was peaceful for once, like an angel lying on the bed.

“Ma… ma? Wait, Ma!” Was he having a nightmare? Why was he calling his mother? Good lord! He might die because of this, and I would end up in jail. I splashed water on his face to wake him.

“You!” he said in an accusatory tone. His forehead had lines formed.

“Yes?” I cringed and almost let go of my turtle-shaped chocolates.

“What did you do to me?” Wow! As if I violated his privacy or even his human rights.

“Nothing,” I said in a defensive tone.

“Then why am I here? God, my head hurts like hell. Did you throw water at me?” He said while checking his damp face.

“Your friends will explain everything, and I should go,” I said and stood.

“Wait!” he exclaimed and held my pulse. What was it with men and their fixation with women’s pulse? When this happened in K-dramas, there was always a slow-mo, but no slow-mo for now. And oh, I had chocolates in my hand. I shut my eyes and thought, where did the chocolates go?

“Did you feed me chocolates? f**k!” He was furious. I apologized and ran out. The chocolate he just ate was the best in the universe. I had loved those since I was young. And there was nothing that tasted close, nothing. It combined the sweet caramel taste, nuts, and great growing-up memories.