Nethania

Chapter 2: Mystic Lady

Four months later...

AVIA

SPENDING money on something you want was the best feeling ever! It felt like heaven when you acquired something you wished for. There was nothing in this city that I couldn't buy. Shoes, limited edition bags and designer clothes all fitted loosely into my budget.

All I wanted was just a second away. One wish, got it. That's my rule. No one could hinder me from getting all I wanted.

My clanking heels reverberated as they touched the spotless white tile. Chin was up, swaying hips and flipping hair as I strode confidently along the elegant corridors of the mall. Though it was chilly inside here, I really enjoyed my shopping. I love shopping all alone, but sometimes I prefer shopping with Hilary, my best friend. Although I have a group of friends in school, Hilary is still my favorite buddy.

I stopped in front of a boutique that was selling bags and clothes, and what caught my attention was that I saw something attractive.

"I guess this is worth my money," I said, staring directly at the bag on the stand. "Well, I like it."

I entered the boutique and a salesman approached me with a ravishing smile. "Good morning, ma'am, how may I help you?" He asked.

"I like that bag." I pointed out the bag that was displayed behind the window. "I'll get it. How much?"

The salesman stiffened as if he didn't believe his ears. He gazed at me for a minute with widened eyes and a surprised look.

I sighed, then rolled my eyes. "Hey, I'm talking to you. How much?" Talking with this dumb was just wasting my time. Didn't he hear me?

He came back to his senses when I snapped my fingers in front of his face. "Hey, I'm losing my patience. Are you selling it or not? Just tell me so that I can get out of here and forget your bag!" I raised my voice.

"I-I'm so sorry, ma'am, but that bag is already reserved," he replied, motioning his hand to the bag.

"Why didn't you tell me in the first place? You ninny! I wouldn't have wasted my saliva asking for that bag if you had removed it from being displayed and kept it for someone who had made a reservation for it. You're making me dumb."

"I'm sorry."

"But do you have stock of it?"

"All were sold out, only that one left."

"Forget about it. Just get lost!" I flipped my hair and skedaddled out of the boutique. I had no time to discuss about the things that may lead us to nowhere.

"Why are they still displaying it if it was already reserved?" I mumbled while heading to another boutique just a few blocks ahead.

My arms were getting numb. Carrying these shopping bags made me tired and exhausted. That was the disadvantage of shopping all alone. No one would carry your bags and you are the one who would suffer.

"Good morning, ma'am, what can I help you with?" The saleslady greeted me as I landed my feet inside their shop. I explored the shop, gazing at every product displayed.

I went straight to the place where that bag was placed. I scrutinized it and realized that it was authentic and genuine.

"I'll get this one. How much?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. I hope that she didn't have the same attitude as the salesman from the previous shop.

"That handbag is worth two million dollars, ma'am."

I bit my lower lip and stared at her. Her smile began to fade as I didn't respond to her reply.

"Ma'am?"

"Oh, yes! I'll get it." I flashed a firm smile.

Her euphoric facade went back upon hearing my statement. Just kidding with her.

"Here's my credit card."

My phone rang. It was Hilary.

"Hey, Hilary, why did you call me?"

[Where are you, Via? The class will start soon.]

Oh, s**t! I forgot about the class. I was so carried away with the shopping spree today that the idea of attending my class slipped out of my mind.

"I'm at the mall, Hilary, and I'll be there soon."

[Spread your wings and fly, Avia!—Give me that!—]

"Is that Vino?"

[Yeah, he snatched my phone and tried to run away with it. You know how silly he was right.]

"Here's your bag, ma'am."

"Okay."

"I'm hanging up. See you later, Hilary, muah!"

I strode my way out of the shop and headed straight to the parking lot. Christmas was over and the class resumed. I couldn't wait for summer to come! I'll visit every beautiful tourist spot on every single day of my vacation with my friends.

I got in my car and raced my way to the Academy. When I arrived at the parking lot, I transferred all my belongings to my new bag. When everything was organized and fixed up, I was ready to go! I got out of the car and began walking.

Cheap creatures never belong in this place.

I held my chin up and flipped my hair while striding along the pavement.

My heels were making a clanking sound as it touched the floor. My newly purchased handbag was shining as I flaunted it to everyone.

All of them got their eyeballs glued to me. They were insecure, envious of me. But despite being wealthy and having nice stature and appearance, I was humble, but it was just so apparent that I was much higher than them.

"Just on time," I declared, putting my bag on the table and sitting beside Hilary.

"No you're not," she hissed. "Miss Jane went outside ten minutes ago because someone from the faculty called her. You're already forty-five minutes late, Via."

I rolled my eyes. "Still don't care, Hilary. At least I bought something that was worth my late arrival."

Her eyeballs immediately gazed at my bag. Her eyes widened and she gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "New handbag? I guess it's very expensive," she said, still nailing her eyes on my bag.

I nodded and flashed a smile. "Yeah, I don't like cheap things. They make me cheap."

"How much is that?" she whispered.

"Two million USD."

"Oh, too expensive, but it's worth it!" she exclaimed. "Do you have something for me?" she asked. "Since you were at the mall earlier, I'm expecting something from you," she said, showing her sad look.

Sometimes, I may even think of her as a shameless lady for asking something when I went out shopping. But I couldn't blame her. She's like my sister, so it was fine with me if she acted like a child.

"Of course! You? Slipping out of my mind would never happen! Here, I got you this." I took out a box from my bag and handed it to her. Her eyes sparkled upon seeing the box.

She opened it and she beamed when she saw a diamond necklace shining before her. "Thank you, Via!"

The girl who loves gems, precious stones. and anything shimmering. She was a conscientious lady and sometimes a childish one. She was Hilary Liana Azteriso, my childhood bestfriend. She had stunning long black hair and light blue eyes. She wore eyeglasses in order to see clearly. Genius eh? Or just blurry eyes.

Miss Jane didn't come back for several minutes and our class with her was over. We decided to go to our favorite lounge, which was called the elite chamber, wherein first-class students were hanging out. We were not the only ones who were hanging out there. Some rich students were also chilling in that lounge.

But we are much more famous than them. We labeled ourselves as the Elite Clique. The most influential, powerful, and... wealthy group in all over the campus.

No one tried to mess up with us. If ever they did, they ended up dead humiliated in front of all the students.

"Guys! I have news! Miss Jane has been suspended! She was caught having an affair with her student in another section! And the boy was ten years younger than her. Imagine how she screwed up! I don't know if she'll get through, but I bet it's quite difficult," Vino announced, walking beside Jamsen.

He was Vino Asherdan Sileste, my silly and loud bestfriend. He had brown hair and light brown eyes and often threw some ridiculous jokes and sometimes relevant news.

"How sure are you, Vino? I don't believe you, Miss Jane, will do that bad thing. It's inappropriate, you know," Hilary opinionated, touching the bridge of her eyeglasses. She leaned closer to me and bumped my shoulder with hers. "He's just kidding, right?" she whispered.

I moved closer to her too. "Knowing him, sometimes his news isn't that reliable," I replied, lowering my tone.

After staring for a moment with Hilary, we both chuckled. Yeah, sometimes we found out that the news Vino was sharing with us was bogus. We were reluctant to believe it instantly because it was like we were fooling ourselves around us.

"Hey! I was telling the truth!" Vino protested.

I nudged Jamsen. "Are you believing him?" I asked with a smile.

He just threw a sideward glance with his dozy eyes and yawned. "Kinda, but not totally," he scarcely answered. Such a lazy ass.

I bet he burned the midnight oil last night playing games on his phone. This jerk has been an online game addict ever since we met. Meet Jamsen Kyle Fuentes, our campus heartthrob. A playboy but a lazy ass. Most of the girls had a crush on him. They would do everything merely to make Jamsen notice them. He had this spiky black hair—waxed, of course—and a helix piercing on his right ear, two earrings to be exact. He was fond of wearing a cool black wrist band. He was also fond of wearing cool attire and even when he was in his uniform, he was so cool in it.

"OMG. Your news wasn't that surprising anymore, Vin," Hannah commented and rolled her eyes.

This girl had it all when it comes to fashion. A chic brat and a mean one. Meet Hannah Therese Alonza, one of our bestfriends. She had bangs and shoulder length straight brown-black hair. She wore heavy makeup, but it suited her nicely.

"I already knew it since last week. You're too late for the news," Hannah continued.

Vino scoffed. "So what? Is it my fault that it went viral after you had already known the truth?" He walked beside Hannah. "If you just shared it with us about that affair thingy before, we could have exposed it to the authorities and gotten things right!" Vino ranted, fixing his gaze on Hannah.

"That's not a good thing to do, Vino," Hilary blurted out, turning to Vino. "That's destroying someone's reputation!"

"Well, it isn't me that made the affair viral."

"Since Hannah seemingly knew the truth, then let's ask her," Jamsen commented.

I glanced at her. "Is it true, Hannah?" I asked after a long time of silence.

I knew Miss Jane wasn't that kind of girl who would mess up with her profession. She would not do something so stupid that it could even affect her world of teaching.

Hannah sighed. "All right then. I know all of you, except this moron, aren't sure of the certainty of the news. It was true. She was suspended right after she left us in the room. She wasn't aware that she was called because of that matter."

Hilary gasped, still not believing her ears. "Hey! It's not wrong to have an affair with a student. It's love, guys. Do you know love? Love sometimes comes in many mysterious ways! Like Miss Jane's!" she expressed, raising an index finger.

I sighed. "Hilary, love is complicated, it makes our world complicated—"

"Like you and Austin?"

I stopped talking when Vino interjected, smiling like a jerk. He just mentioned a name that I hated so much! How could he do that to me? We were friends and friends respected everyone's privacy.

I eyed him. "I'm not messing up with you, Vino. How many times do I have to tell you that you are not allowed to mention his dirty name in front of me?" My voice raised, sending a warning sign that he shouldn't be messing up with me.

"Don't throw darts at me with your stare, Avia. I just wanna tease you... with him," he chortled nervously, hiding behind Jamsen.

"That's enough, Via. I knew you were already over him," Hilary caressed my shoulder, trying to calm my system.

"We're here," Hannah announced.

We were about to enter the establishment when I remembered something. We forgot to buy some snacks at the cafeteria. The Elite Chamber was only offering a lounge to settle in, but they weren't serving food and drinks. That was the only problem. We had to buy food first before coming here, so that we wouldn't be so exhausted walking back and forth just to buy food. But now we have to.

"What? Aren't we going in?" Hilary furrowed her eyebrows when she noticed that we had stopped in the middle of the entrance, blocking the doorway.

"We forgot to buy our snacks," I said, turning to the opposite side, facing outside the building.

"Can I stay here? I didn't get enough sleep last night, so I want to sleep here for a while—"

I abruptly faced Jamsen, who was yawning in front of us. "No. You're coming with us jerk!" I held his wrist and dragged him away from the chamber along with our other friends. We were now heading to the cafeteria.

"Are you going to let go his wrist or not?" I came back to my senses when Hilary asked me. I realized that I had been holding his wrist since we left the chamber and now that we were halfway to the cafeteria.

What is wrong with you, Avia?

"Fine!" I let go of his wrist and he just smiled like an i***t.

"What?" I annoyingly asked when I noticed that they were all staring at me like I had just committed a shameful act. Hilary's eyes were gleaming, Vino was examining my expressions while holding his chin, Hannah was raising her eyebrows at me and Jamsen was scratching his nape while staring at me. What is wrong with you people?

"Let's go," I ordered and began to walk, but I stopped and stiffened when I saw a girl with messy black hair covering half of her face ahead of us. There were no other students in the corridor. Only us.

I felt the temperature begin to decrease. I began to feel shivers creeping all over my body. It was like we were in a freezer. A cold wind began to blow as I stared at her directly. My heart began to race and pound hard.

"Do you know that b*tch?" Hannah whispered to me.

I thought I was the only one who could see her and I was glad and somehow my heart felt relieved knowing that we all had seen her.

"Via, w-who is she? She's creepy." I felt Hilary moved behind me and clung onto my arm.

She was in her dirty uniform. It was stained with mud and dirt. It was like she was rolled and wrestled on the wet ground that made her dirty. She was wearing the same uniform as we were donning.

"Maybe she messed up with a sumo wrestler and got beaten up on the ground, and that's the result!" Vino joked, trying to suppress his laughter.

"Perhaps she tripped over something and fell so badly in the mud," Jamsen commented behind Hannah.

The unnamed girl began walking toward us and she kept staring at us with her bloodshot eyes. I took a step backward, causing them to do the same.

Hilary was pinching my arm. "Via, maybe we should get out of here. That girl is creepy!" Her voice was hysterical. She started to tremble.

I stopped. "Who are you?" I gathered all my courage to speak up to her. She probably lost her mind and went insane.

"Yeah! Who are you, b***h?" Hannah seconded, pointing her finger at the girl.

She began to chuckle and it became louder and louder until it became a mocking laughter. It brought shivers down my spine terribly. I began to feel uneasiness when she didn't respond to our questions.

"You are all going to die!"

The girl shouted and shrilled and began to run towards us. We covered our ears because her shrill voice was unbearable. We had our eyes shut when we felt her presence passing us.

When the creepy sensation ended, we slowly opened our eyes and were surprised to see a ball point pen laying in the pool of blood.

I looked around, trying to find that girl, but she was already gone from sight.

"Who's that girl?"