The Technique

Chapter 17: Over

I splashed some cold water on my face to keep myself awake. I couldn't sleep last night that my eyes dilated. I'd been overthinking, and I figured that that was the main reason I couldn't get enough sleep these past few days. 

I turned around to look at the knife I covered with black fabric. I took a deep breath and picked it up. My hands began to shake again. As though the knife itself was challenging my character. I hid it under my bed. I made sure that it was safely hidden behind my Night at Jackville comic books. I sat on the cold floor, thinking if Kylie saw me last night or if she heard my footsteps while getting out of her room. 

It was a real nightmare. 

I was forced to dress up for school while my head was preoccupied with what happened last night. I put my bag around my shoulders and tried to look at the sunlight outside my window. But I felt like burning. It seemed like I needed darkness more than the light. I opened the door when I caught a shadow standing outside. 

Greg showed up in his normal attire, in his black jacket and resting face. He stood there and looked at me as if asking me if I did my job well. I locked the door behind me and faced him. "Look, I tried to, but the guard came in---" 

"You didn't?" He looked away. I could sense his disappointment. "What a waste of time." He looked at me disgusted. "I knew you're weak as a feather. I shouldn't have trusted in the first place." He turned around to walk away. 

"But at least you know my loyalty, right?" I asked. 

He stopped and quickly got back to his place. "What? Did you kill her? No! I won't even buy your damn loyalty!" 

I knew at that moment that he'd never give up on being the top 1 student. He'd never flunk himself. But at least I did my best to stop him from harming Kylie last night. 

"Fine," I whispered with a broken voice. I stood up straight and looked him in the eye. "But don't you ever touch my best friends or even look at them." 

He laughed sarcastically. "Oh, here you are again, fake bravo." 

"Or I might kill you." I felt myself heating up. I kept eyeing him up for a few seconds before walking past him. 

I'd never been that brave before. 

The entire day, I was with Kylie and Mike. Fortunately, Kylie didn't mention anything about last night. We were having a normal day. And as usual, we stayed in the cafeteria after a long period. Mike had been overeating plenty of tacos. He had been arguing with his father about the gift he should get by the end of the midterms. That was sort of a tradition. We were used to receiving gifts for surviving the midterms. Or perhaps it was a bit of motivation to survive another half of the semester. 

"Guys," I propped. They both stared at me. Mike even stopped chewing. I looked at my hands first before talking, "Guys, are you still investigating about Greg?" 

They didn't respond, but by looking at their reaction, I knew they were. 

"Okay," Mike said, finally going on eating. "We admit we're having this little spying on Greg." 

"I'm sorry for not telling you about that," Kylie apologized. 

I forced a smile. "Don't worry about it. But guys, please, I want you to stop now. Because what you're doing is not good. You might get harm." The look on their faces almost threw me up when I realized what I had just said. "I mean, what if anyone sees you doing that, you know? It's not just a good idea." 

Mike opened his mouth. "But---" 

"Mike, please." I turned to Kylie. "Kylie, please. Just stop, okay? I'll beat him with what I can do. You don't need to do this for me. I will do it, okay?" 

Kylie looked down and sighed. "Okay, we're very sorry." She looked at Mike. "We shouldn't have done that in the first place if we knew we were only getting a single fact of him being a Night at Jackville fan." 

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Thanks, guys." 

Mike tried to look away. "But we're still supporting you, alright." 

"Yes, you should," I joked. 

We smiled together and quickly replaced it with laughter. 

We spent plenty of time in the cafeteria watching Mike finish off every single bite of his tacos. I looked very exhausted when I got to the last period. Plus, the teacher hadn't given us enough of her energy. I almost didn't recognize what she was talking about. She didn't even care if some of the students were sleeping. I tried to keep awake until the last minute of her discussion. She adjusted her glasses and spoke to us, "So in the last week of this month, we would have a small event involving your parents. It is like get-to-know. They would have some discussions with the teachers. So I want you to invite your parents. And I hope they squeeze in for this little event." She picked up her thick books and got out the door as the bell rang. 

"Don't tell me they're going to lay some cheesy parlor games," Mike whispered beside me. 

I looked at him while trying to put my stuff in my bag. "Come on, Mike. We're in college already. Do you think they would do that?" 

"This school, so far, is strange. So you can't stop me from thinking about it." He put his bag around him and looked at the other side of the room. "Look at Greg. Is he mad or something?" 

I turned to Greg. He aggressively put his book and papers in his bag that they almost tear up. But it seemed like he didn't care. His face said it all. The expression he always did when he was mad or about to kill someone, was what he looked like now. 

He marched forward very quickly that he bumped a bunch of students.