Someone I'm Not

21 [pt.2]| Arcade of Truth

It was already after lunch, and they're all preparing to get out. Soroya wanted to tag along as well, even though she doesn't want to have another encounter with the woman with an attitude that she already had forgotten her name and professor Lucas, who is still unknown to her. Well, maybe because someone's soul has taken over her physical body temporarily.

But then, she knows she has to because of Eduardus. His message sound intense and urgent, and that she has to meet him there. . . At least she'll have a reason to stay away from the possibilities of bombing the last person she wanted to see.

Nico comes to her side as he wraps his hand around her shoulder. Soroya sees Phoenix looking at them for a split second which makes her feel less comfortable; before she lifts her gaze to the man beside her.

"We should unquestionably push through on the pranks, Roy. You know, we make a pretty good team! Too bad you weren't here the last time to see him get pranked." He says in a whispering manner, making her grin.

"We should do it where I can be here then. So you won't get the laugh by yourself." She says that makes him chuckle.

"But, who should we prank next? I'm thinking Philip, but maybe he's got something up on his sleeves as well because he seems to be liking the idea of being alone and thinking a lot." He says, making Soroya realize that Nico, his friend, is a pretty observer himself. "Do you think Phoenix would have a hint if we target him next? He seems observer too if you ask me. But I like his challenge aura."

"Maybe he won't, maybe he will. What matters most is that we plan it in every mysterious way, and we deliver it without a trace in our path that could make him get cautious. Besides, if you're the master of pranksters, you'll most definitely pull this up. Your friend knows what you do, and yet, they still haven't learned, right?" She motivated him not to feel so doubtful anymore. She's not a fan of confidence, but no matter what the administered challenge is on her plate, she will always be up for it.

"For a second, you do sound like my mom when I confide into her, but then, it's a good motivation for me not only in the aspect of pranking. . . Gosh, you made me miss my mom." He sighs as he opens his phone, revealing his lock screen wallpaper. Nico then shows it to Soroya as she examines the picture.

"That's my mom." He clarifies. But instead of saying, "aww, you two look sweet in there," she didn't. She couldn't. She doesn't know what to say after cause it's not the best moment to discuss it. But before she could say anything else, Bret, Philip, and Phoenix interrupt them.

"Come on, guys! Let's go. I don't think we'll be late this time, but I hope the security guard has not yet arrived so that Soroya here would slip into the gate, so we don't have to deal with the ID excuse anymore." Philip says as he carries his bag on one shoulder.

"He seems inspired to go to school today." Bret notices as he finished tying his shoelace. Nico chuckles as his arm still rests on Soroya's shoulder.

"It's because he has a girlfriend to see. And besides, he always looks the same to me. . . Nothing suspicious." He says that makes Soroya wholly disagree. She knows that what Bret noticed is true because he's not the only one who saw it. Soroya felt his happiness, too, even if she disregards the reality that they had a sincere heart-and-mind talk yesterday.

"Whatever, dude, I know what I saw, and I won't agree with you anymore. . . Phoenix, you ready, man?" Bret asks as he throws a glance at Phoenix, who is busy on his phone. When he hears his name mentioned by his friend, he looks up at him.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm ready. I just don't want to interrupt you two with your conversation." He says before walking straight towards the door. Bret follows, leaving Nico and Soroya.

"Bret seems off today. . . Or maybe I was just missing out on something?" He asks himself as he sighs before Soroya decided to wrap her hand around his waist, pulling him closer.

"You think too much. Maybe Bret just has a rough day for the past few days and is trying to distract himself from it. And besides, of all of you four, you're the only one who looks carefree. So, how about we go out now, or they might and up chatting our names to hurry up, hmm?" She says, in hopes to cheer him up. . . And she didn't fail. Seeing him wear a bright smile, Nico messes with her hair lightly.

"And you seem like in a good mood." He says before they start walking, now headed to the door.

•••

When they arrive, they all sigh in relief to see the guard hasn't come yet, an opportunity for her to gain access to the gate freely. She waited for them to go to their respective rooms one by one before she could sneak out without leaving any traces of notion.

"Alright, I'll head first now guys, see you at the school canteen?" Nico asks as the rest nodded. When he walks towards his room, the others start to do the same. This time, they're going to different classrooms, making her realize that this Saturday's schedule is far different from the first time she came.

When they're already gone in her sight, she takes out her phone and gives Eduardus a call.

__________

Soroya

Calling

-----

After just a few couples of rings, Eduardus decided to accept the call. Eduardus chose to throw the first bomb of the question, not wanting to prolong the agony of waiting.

[Where are you?] He asks as he just got into the location where they're going to meet. It wasn't that far since Eduardus decided that they should complete within the school premises.

"Sorry. I just got the boys going to their rooms. I don't want them to get suspicious of me; that's why I waited for them to go first into their rooms. But don't worry, I'm walking towards the Algebra park." She explains. "By the way, why Algebra park? Do you seriously like Math a lot?"

[Of course, I love math! Now, why don't you come here now so we could talk already? You do understand that this is urgent, right?] He asks, not sounding pissed at her astonishment.

"Yup, sorry. Just give me a few more seconds, and then, I'll be there in no time." She pleaded as he hears him sigh in defeat. Either way, he's the one needing her to come.

[Sure. . . I'll be sitting on the first bench.] He says before ending the call. As soon as Soroya ended the connection, she groans in frustration before running her way into the park, where she will see stuff such as figures and equations that she hates the most.

On the other hand, as Philip is about to sit on his assigned desk, he remembers that he has something to tell Soroya. He doesn't want to get out of the room, but he won't risk his privacy by messaging her because his friends would most definitely do anything to access his privacy. Not that he doesn't trust his friends, but this is something that he could only confide to Soroya. . . For now.

"Sh*t! Why didn't I remember that? If I did, then they would be most likely be wary of me. So, it's better to get I her and tell her in person. Hopefully, she hasn't gone wandering around the university yet because this school will be like a maze for me if that happens." He suggests to himself before looking at his watch. "I still have fifteen minutes to look for him." He says before talking to the person, he's seated next with.

"Hey Martin, if I won't be back here after ten of fifteen and the teacher arrives already and asks for my name, tell him that something urgent came and that needed immediate attention. Okay? If he asks where just tell him I'm just going to meet the person urgently within the school premises."

"And what's in it for me?" The man named Martin asks as he places his pen down and leans sideways on his desk; his chin rests on his back of his palm as his elbow balances his weight on the desk.

"What do you mean what's in it for you? Are you asking something in return? All you could do is tell the teacher that I'm out for an urgent matter, but I got early here!" He says, recalling this type of attitude Martin has.

"Well, either you tell someone to excuse you or take a perilous path, now that our professor for today is Mister Claws." Martin threatens as he wears a sly grin on his face. The thought of Professor Claws scolding him for the nth time about being late makes him gulp in fear. Philip couldn't sacrifice this moment because this is his last resort, and if he blows this up, the professor would have no choice but to FAIL him. a big intimidating F on too of his paper is the last thing he wanted to have.

"Okay, Fine! What do you want?" He asks as Martin grins in a victory that Philip didn't have any other choice but to agree.

"Well, I just want two double patty burgers and a large in-go cup filled with diet coke and one rabbit cotton candy."

"Okay fine. . . Here, I'm sure it'll be enough for you to buy those." He says as he takes a fifty-dollar bill out of his wallet. Martin giggles as he quickly grabs the dollar bill into his grasp, like he has been fighting for it for the last few days of had life.

"Thanks, bro. . . Don't worry, you can count on me." Martin thumbs up before Philip thanks him and runs his way out of the room to find Soroya. But as soon as he arrives at the location where they start to head into their designated classrooms, he comes, seeing no familiar face. Before he could even turn around, someone calls his attention.

"Professor Lucas!" He greets.

"What ads you still doing here?" He asks after he peeks into his watch.

•••

"Are we there yet? This city is unquestionably thrice as massive as our villages from the province combined." Vianne complains, feeling that she's been sitting inside the car for what felt like forever.

"And. . . We are here," Houdini announces as they stop right in front of a big black and gold-colored theme gate. Vianne rolls down the window as her mouth agape open.

"Wow. . . This gate looks expensive. Like an elite school!" She says as her eyes are wide open as if it would help her see a more comprehensive view of one perspective. But then, the reality that she's not aware of anything happening makes her turn to raise a brow in Houdini's direction.

"But, what will be Soroya doing here? Does she secretly work here? Is she a maid at this mansion? Is that the secret she has-" instead of finishing her sentence, Houdini decided to interrupt, her question triggering his impatience.

"It's a university, Vianne. Not a mansion." He says as he turns the car towards the gate.

"Really? Then I can say that whoever designed the exterior of this University is a true genius because he deceived me, and probably a lot more before me!" She exclaims as she continues to look out of the window. The gate opens for them as she got a full view of the school. "Wow. I would certainly rate the beauty of the school a 15 out of 10. And if the education system is as better as the exterior design, then this school is near to perfection." She says, still admiring the view before her.

"Good morning, ma'am, sir." When Vianne hears an unfamiliar voice, she then turns to see the guard who bent down to level his face on the window, expressionlessly looking at them.

"We're students. We just shoot to come late." Houdini excuses. Vianne's about to protest his lie when the guard instantly replies.

"May I see your IDs, please." He says. Vianne wears an awkward smile.

"Here's my ID, sir." Houdini hands him his identification card as the guard swipes it. They all get a beeping sound, indicating that his identification card is valid.

"Here, sir." He says as the guard hands the ID back to him. The gatekeeper's attention then turns to her as Vianne shrugs.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't have one," Vianne says as she sighs. But instead of receiving a response that she couldn't get inside due to the NO ID NO ENTRY POLICY, the sentry only raises a brow at her.

"Are you trying to be funny with me, miss? Because I'm honestly NOT in the mood for stupidity." He says it clearly and deeps that makes her chuckle awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not-"

"Ahem!" Her words got interrupted when Houdini clears his throat that makes her turn to him. Houdini then mouth something that she couldn't read what he means, but as soon as he points at his neck, that's when she realizes what he is trying to say all the time. Without another single second out to waste, Vianne immediately looks down her chest. She gasps as she sees an ID and strap. When she realizes what is happening, she awkwardly laughs as she removes the ID and points at it.

"Sorry, I forgot about it." She says before handing it to the sentry, who looks pissed. When the guard gives her a glance before swiping the ID, she takes the opportunity to look at Houdini as her eyes widen.

"How did that happen?" She mouths silently, but Houdini only did is to shush her.

*beep!* they both turn after hearing the beeping sound of the machine after the card being swiped. The guard then stares at her identification card one last time with a narrowed eyes before giving it to her with suspicion.

"Have a good day, ma'am, sir." He says that makes Houdini smile and nod at him.

"Thank you for doing your job properly, sir." He says before driving inside.

"What the hell just happened there? How did I get an identification card that valid? I'm not working here, and I am certain that I finished studying way too long." She questions as Houdini sighs.

"You'll know soon enough, so I won't answer those questions for now." He says as he parks into space beside a maroon Honda Accord Sedan that looks too familiar on Vianne's sight. That got her distracted from the question she had a while ago.

"Vianne, listen to me. . ." Houdini says as he stops the car and then the engine off. That made Vianne snap back to reality.

"What is it?" She asks as her gaze goes back to the car beside the car she's in.

"We have to split up to see your sister. And if one sees her, we should give each other a call, okay?" He suggests.

"But, I don't know the school! You could have at least reminded me of what school this is so that I could have had my research to where it is where. And you're even suggesting that we should split up!?" She asks, a bit angry.

"Well, do you want to see your sister real quick? Then this is not the time for touring or even an argument. If you feel lost, give me a message immediately. Okay?"

Vianne didn't have much of choice but to agree. They did go into separate ways, Soroya heading to the first college building while Houdini watches her disappear after going on a left turn. He then sighs as he goes straight to the park, a bit advantage for him to know where they are.

But little did Houdini know that Vianne is just playing her cards right. . . Because she's paying close attention.