Wrong Arrow

22

The following morning, Zach had to find himself rushing through the school walls to reach the classroom. He was late. But he was late for a reason.

He eventually makes it to the floor where pearl's class is.

The reason he was late today was that HQ decided to throw an emergency meeting to announce some shocking news. Apparently, a Cupid had gone missing at exactly five-thirty in the morning yesterday.

In all his years as a Cupid, this was his first time hearing such news. Were cupids capable of running away undetected? Turns out, they actually can. The whole room went into a muttering hurricane. Everyone were left in shock expect for those senior cupids who've existed in the field for as long as they can remember. It was surprising, to say the least.

Harper wasn’t too far behind. But unlike Zach, he was frustrated. The office turned his request down to change a client. They demanded an even more valid reason as to why he wanted to shift.

Unfortunately, Harper’s reason didn’t count.

They reach the classroom only to find the teacher had started their lesson. Pearl’s listening carefully, Vaeri’s about to doze off, and Stell’s scribbling on his notebook. Zach peers at the subject’s book when he passes by to see that all he’s writing down are drawings and nonsense.

Once the young Cupid reaches Pearl’s side, he plops on the floor beside her desk, sitting Indian-style. “You wouldn’t believe what happened today.” He opens his mouth to say. Resting his chin against his knuckles, Zach stares in the direction of the teacher and begins to rumble about his experience that morning to a girl who won’t hear him.

Hours went by and now it was time to go home. Vaeri meets up with Pearl right outside the school. "I had a rough day today," Vaeri utters right away when she sees her best friend. Harper can be seen running out of the building and stops by Zach- who's giving him a questioning look. The young cupid who had just come out of the building rests to catch his breath, palms on his knees. "Don't...ask.." He says between breaths.

"I was running around school the whole day. I even missed a subject."

"Where were you anyway?"

"Like I said. I was running all over the school. I swear to god that place's hunted." She looks behind her only to squeak when the sight of the building meets her. Quickly turning her head away, she links her hand around Pearl's and scoots closer to her. "I'm just throwing this thought out there. Should we transfer to school?"

"All because you think the building's hunted?"

Harper excuses himself for a moment and turns around, leaving Zach on his own, following the girls.

"I know, I know. That sounds stupid." She admits, nibbling at the bottom of her lip. She glances behind her once more and lets out a seemingly relieved sigh. "But if I keep missing classes I don't think I'll be able to graduate."

Pearl scratches the side of her head, a thought crossing her mind. "Is this still about that cute ghost you've been talking about?"

Vaeri nods and the cupid behind the girls come to a halt. Hesitantly, the girl leans in like she's about to whisper a secret. Directly to her ear.

"Yeah. Still that ghost." The girl whispers, causing Pearl to cringe from the air hitting her ear. Her whole body erupts with goosebumps. "But you know what I'm thinking? " Vaeri proceeds as she slowly backs off. " I don't think he's a ghost. Every time I come across him, his clothes change and he has these weird objects he carries around."

"Weird..objects?" Pearl repeats like she wants to clarify what she's just heard. Vaeri nods her head. "Yeah. Like arrows, vials- sometimes he even brings these weird pouches with glitter inside. I honestly thought he was a normal student when I saw him but then I noticed he kept following me around and-"

Pearl nods her head and pats Vaeri on the arm, cutting her off. "Um okay. I understand. Do you wanna stop by that new cafe? It's not far from here." her face lit up at the sound of it. "You're paying though right?"

"I mean I'm the one who invited you. So of course im paying." Vaeri squeals and begins dragging Pearl down the road. "Awesome! well, what are you waiting for? let's go. I'm starving. All that running made me exhausted."

"W-wait!" Vaeri cuts her off by pulling her suddenly and urging her to quicken her pace too. Zach on the other hand chooses to stay behind and wait for Harper. When the other cupid returns, he looks around and notices the girls aren't there. "Where are they?"

"At a cafe."

A cafe could be anywhere though. So which one is it exactly?

Nodding his head, Harper was just about to walk towards a direction of a cafe despite not knowing where exactly they were, but then stopped when he noticed Zach still stuck in his spot. Harper turns around, sniffing slightly. "You coming?" He asks.

"You go ahead. I just remember I have.. I have to take care of something." Zach says slowly as he takes a subtle step back, getting ready to go towards the opposite way.

Harper nods his head even though he can sense that something's bothering his fellow cupid. Either way, they both look away from each other and proceed towards their own destination.

Harper stops when he realizes something. "By the way. Which Cafe did they go to-" He halts when he sees no one there. The young cupid clears his throat and a bitter expression takes over his face. Now he's got some work held out for him. They could be anywhere at this point.

"This is what you get for leaving her for a few minutes." He mutters grudgingly under his breath, looking at the busy streets. Where should he even start?

As the girls make their way down the pathway, they can’t help but feel like they’ve forgotten something. “I feel like we forgot something.” Vaeri decides to voice out her thoughts. Pearl agrees with a head nod. “Do you have your phone with you?” Vaeri hums, lifting her phone. “Yours.” She asks. “I have mine. It’s in my backpack.” It’s weird how they both feel like they’ve forgotten something but can’t recall what it was exactly. Not until a familiar voice behind them decides to interrupt their peaceful walk. “I can’t believe you two. “ They utter with amusement in their voice. “First pearl and now you two Vaeri? I mean, if it was Pearl then I guess I could let it pass but you Vaeri?” Before they could wonder far away, Stell was able to catch up to them the last second. The girls turn around and stare at their friend confused. It takes them a second to remember what they had planned yesterday. And their eyes widens. Pearl shows her teeth, not smiling exactly. A look of both sorry and guilt has spread all over her face. Vaeri shows the same expression too. She slaps a hand over her ajar mouth and takes it out again to say. “Holy crap- I forgot. I complexity forgot.” Vaeri is the first to say something, making a face. She looks at Pearl, Stell , Pearl again and then at Stell. “Why didn’t you remind us this morning?” Feeling like he was at fault, Still can’t help but widen his eyes at the question. They’re the ones who forgot but the way Vaeri phrased that, it was as they were blaming him. “I believe I sent a text to the both of you.” In the end, Stell utters with a chuckle. He walks over to them calmly and stands beside Vaeri, giving Pearl a cute wave. At the same time, Harper appears on the scene. He’s across the road, squinting his eyes to find Vaeri. When he sees her and the other two, he snickers under his breath. “Dang it Zach. You really chose a bad day to leave work early uh.” As he crosses the road to get to them, he fumbles with the buttons of his watch. “So where are you guys heading anyway?” He nudges a chin towards the road and then looks at them expectedly. “No where.” Vaeri answers. “Now that you’re here. YOu’re the one picking and paying right?”

Eyes sparkling, Vaeri utters in excitement. But it doesn’t take long before that smile of hers drops. Still scratches the back of his head. “I was thinking we could visit that new cafe and then hit the arcade after.” Vaeri nods her head, looking at the road this time. She nibbles the bottom of her lip and kicks a rock from the road. “Sounds like a plan. Let’s go there now.” Since she’s between them, she links her arm on both of them and begins dragging them down the road. The cupid behind them groans and throws his hands in the air, saying. “I just came from there. I swear to god Vaeri, you’re making things harder for me on purpose.” Stell lets out a chuckle, looking down at the girl. Vaeri was the shortest when it came to the three of them. While pearl leveled his shoulders, Vaeri’s height only matched his chest. She was fun size- as to what he likes terming it. It was cute to say the least. “Excited that much?” Still utters as he gets dragged by his little friend. “Zach, you really should come right now. It’s your chance.” Harper’s trying to contact his fellow cupid using the high tech watch that sat around his wrist. Zach isn’t picking up. And if he doesn’t show up now. God knows when he’ll get the job done. Because according to him, It’s won’t be easy getting Pearl and Still together in the same place. “She’s just hungry.” Pearl answers this time with an amused laugh. “Yeah. Im super hungry I could eat a whole horse.” She grumbles something under her breath after saying that. “Too bad we ain’t going to some horse restaurant.” Vaeri slowly looks at Pearl with an unamused look to her face. She’s taken offense to her words and Pearl can’t help but think how cute she looks right now. “You know I only meant that as a joke. Right? You know I don’t and will never eat my favorite animal.” Pearl laughs silently. “Of course, you wouldn’t.”

Stell answers with a playful look to his face. He raises a hand and ruffles the top of Vaeri’s hair. “Hey!” Vaeri utters in annoyance, taking her arm away to fix her hair. When Stell attempts to ruffle her hair again, the girl slaps him hard enough so that a sound resonates from his skin. Watching her getting quite worked up- he found it rather addicting. Stell bursts into a pit of laughter at her reaction. It’s become a habit of his to tease Vaeri whenever he sees her. However, while he’s over there laughing, someone else was not having it. Behind them, Harper freezes at the spectacle that had happened. It so happen that the three have stopped under a red light. “You did not just do that.” Harper looks back and forth between the two, in disbelief. “You literally have your soulmate beside you and you’re doing that to a different girl? What the heck is wrong with you?” He grumbles and fumbles with his watch again, this time leaving a voice text to Zach. “You better get your butt right here and now or so help me.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

From inside the headquarters, Zach was just about to enter the office when another message pings him. He’s been having repeated notifications coming from Harper but he hasn’t bothered looking at them. The young cupid was just standing outside the door of the office when it suddenly swings open. Colby was on the other side of the door, carrying a basket of files. When he sees Zach, a sigh of relief escapes from him. “Thank goodness you’re here. I could really use some help.” Colby wasn’t exactly the person Zach wanted to see as of now. But then it’s not like he can say no to him either. “Go grab the box over there.”

Zach does as he’s told, noticing that the massive office was empty. He then follows Colby down the hall and into the lower room where they usually stack finished cases. The room consists of cupboards, drawers, and anything that can hold items. It’s vast and wide, similar to the ocean. Its rivers of cases are kept within stalls too. “There we go.” Colby places the files on a table and ushers Zach to do the same. “So how’s the task going along?” Zach rubs the back of his neck. “It’s uh… okay I guess.” His statement causes Colby to chuckle. Grabbing the files, he then saunters to a nearby cabinet and slowly pushes the files in. One by one. “That’s what the last one said.” Zach looks at the man clad in white. “And then next thing you know, he brings in a shifting letter.” A shifting letter is similar to a resignation letter. But instead of resigning a certain work, they’re resigning from the task. Of course, they’d have to pass it with a valid explanation of why they want to change client. Something’s itching the back of Zach’s head. He’s hesitant to ask. “Why….what exactly does a purple file mean?” Colby lets out a hum, grabbing a ladder that was just close by. Using that, he climbs to reach the top part of the cabinet. “Who knows? But I don’t think that’s something for you to worry about. You're just is to just focus on the work and then move on. Simple as that.” Silence engulfs both of them. Zach observes as the white owl set himself on top of that ladder when he could have transformed and made the task much easier. Instead, he’s stuck in his human form. “You can fly. Why aren’t you doing that?” He can’t help but utter. Colby looks at himself for a moment, before shrugging casually, continuing to put the files in the cabinet. “Can’t I not use my own body to return this books?” Zach looks away and nibbles the bottom of his lip in thought. “I just thought…Aren’t keepers supposed to use what they have to make their job.. I don’t know, less harder?” The white owl nods his head, pushing a file in. “You’re not wrong there. But in the end of the day Zach, I manage how I control my life. Or in this case, the work that was handed to me. And that’s something cupids like yourself fail to understand.” Once the files have been placed, he gestures Zach to hand him some more. “I’d get back to work if I were you. You’re missing daylight.” Zach glances at his watch and nods his head. He can ask them another time. Right before the young cupid could leave the room, Colby halts him by saying.

“Don’t forget about what we talked about. I know you’re curious of a lot of things. The only way you can get your answer, is by doing things your way. Remember that.” Colby leaves Zach confused with his words. “I know you’ve been busy but.. Stop by the office some time. We barely ever see you these days.” Before Pearl was assigned to him, he’d stop by the office almost every day. To his defense, his previous tasks weren’t that hard to tackle. This one on the other hand, it was different. “Okay.” With that, Zach leaves the huge room. Colby lets out a sigh and steps down the ladder. He walks over to the table where Zach had placed the box. It was sealed with a tape, another layer of box topped had been topped over it too. A puff of smoke appears In the air as a pair of scissors finds itself materializing in the white owl’s hand. He uses that to slice the tape in half, slowly opening the top. And inside the box sat countless purple folders that had been left untouched. It doesn’t take long before Zach shows up in the cafe. There he finds Harper sitting on an empty table. Two tables ahead from him, he could spot Vaeri, Stell and Pearl. “About time you got here.” Harper was clearly in a bad mood. He had his arms crossed and a leg over his shoulder. His eyes have narrowed down and he’s staring at Vaeri as if she had done something that insulted him. Then again, was that even new news? “Well?” When he does nothing, he looks at Zach expectedly. “What are you waiting for? Now’s your chance. You won’t be able to get another perfect time like this.” Harper lifts a single eyebrow upwards. “I..I uh.” The fact that he was hesitant to do it, bothered him a lot. This was so unlike him. Zach then reminds himself that this was a task that needed to be done. He shakes his head to disperse the thought, pulling a vial from his pocket. Inside contained a bluish and purple substance. It looks like their orders haven’t reached them yet. So before they do, Zach should be able to put the liquid inside their drinks. “And here I thought you’d be going for a more traditional one,” Harper states rather boredly. “Plans change.” Zach emits with a casual shrug. “But you know you’re only prolonging the result right? If you shoot them now, then you won’t have to wait like this.”

Zach looks at his friend when he notices something about the way he speaks. “That sounded emotionally driven.” Harper pauses before letting out raspberries of disbelief. “What? No. Of course not. All I’m saying is that it would be better to get the job done now and have Stell get away from Vaeri. That’s all.” Harper may have not realized what he had just said but Zach’s taking it all on.

“I feel like I’m missing something. “ Utters the latter. So this isn’t about him not finishing the job faster. Harper’s bothered by the fact that Stell’s comfortable with Vaeri.

But isn't that normal between friends? Harper looks up and notices the waiter heading over to their table with their orders. He nudges the cupid beside him, hissing. “There’s their drinks. Move.”