Midnight Blues (Affluenza, #1)

Chapter 47

NIKOLAI
December 5, 2018 (Wednesday, afternoon)

"Hey, sibling-in-law," I waved at Hiro Takeda when I bumped into him in the school's hallway.

Usually, he just glances at me without greeting me back or he flat-out ignores me but today, he stopped dead in his track so I smiled at him.

"Can you stop calling me that?" there's a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Having a bad day huh?

"Call you what?"

"Sibling-in-law,"

"Why?"

"My brother and Asteria have broken up 2 years ago."

"Hi, Nikolai," bati no'ng palaging kasama ni Hiro na babae, I don't know her name but she's also a batchmate. She's known here in school for being a smart girl. Hiro only hangs out with his co-academics accomplished kids. He's a little snob.

I waved back at the girl. "What's your name again?"

"Raven," ngiti nito.

"Silly. Of course, I know your name is Raven, what I mean is your last name." Lie. I just feel bad that she knows my name, but I don't know hers. I sure enjoy talking with everyone, but one con is there's no way, I'd remember all of their names.

"Santelices... we've... we've talked back in freshman?" She said, waiting for me to remember it, but how could I remember that interaction when it happened 5 years ago?

Santelices, cool, she has the same last name as Mia.

"Right, right." Sabi ko na lang.

"Don't call me sibling-in-law Niko," ani Hiro kaya nabalik ang atentiyon ko dito.

Hiro Takeda, the smartest student in our batch, the school's golden boy always competing internationally and bringing pride to our school— and lastly, the younger brother of my sister's ex-boyfriend.

"I can't help it, you look so much like Kaito," I said, narrowing my eyes to examine him closely. If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was Asteria's ex himself. "What the hell, dude... you really do look so much like him. How the heck did that happen?"

I wasn't sure if I was imagining it, but he seemed to roll his eyes at me. "Brothers. Related. Siblings."

"Still... it's crazy, like identical twins,"

"What were you expecting, should I look like you?" he retorted, "I don't know if you're pretending to be stupid or you're really just stupid. You sound like you've never heard of genetics before." With that, he walked out.

Naiwan 'yong babae na kasama nito, si Raven, napakamot ito sa ulo niya. "Bad mood. Pasensiya na huh? Napaaway kasi kay Mr. Forestman... 'yong Math teacher,"

I smiled at her.

Shrugged my shoulders.

Didn't really care.

I went to our next class, but Vicious wasn't there. Fortunately, Tyler is present. I'm not sure if she's his girlfriend or just a friends-with-benefits, probably the latter, but they've been casually involved for like 2 years, a record for him. "Where's Vicious?"

"Session,"

Napabuntong hininga ako at umiiling na lumabas na ng room, palabas ng school.

There's a forest trail across the main building that leads deep into the woods, ending at a cliff with a view overlooking the school's field. It's a not-so-secret spot for students in Murseile who smoke and do drugs. Despite that, it's a really nice place with a relaxing and quiet ambiance, thanks to the wind blowing through the area.