Project: Socialize (Chapters 1-197)

48. Hidden Message

When I returned to the classroom, I saw that Irina had put on that mask of hers and was acting the persona of the pop celebrity, Irina. Everything was as usual, almost as if nothing had happened, but I noticed the difference in the seemingly peaceful scene before me. Irina, as she smiled and merely listened to the flattering praises delivered to her by our classmates, glanced over at me with a cautious glare in her eyes before she quickly looked away in order to not draw unnecessary attention.

With a satisfied grin that obviously proved to be irksome to Irina, I strolled back over to my desk with both hands in my pockets and sat down. I was ignored by the whole class except Irina, but that didn't matter to me. The only person I needed to pay attention to me was paying attention, and that is all that matters.

"Loyd," I said in a casual voice that sounded normal to anyone other than Irina, who probably caught the mocking and provoking tone that I concealed in my voice just for her.

"What is it?" Loyd looked over at me. On his face was a smile that concealed fatigue, probably from the frustration that was building up within him after not being able to acquire any information from Irina.

"Don't you just hate it when certain people blackmail you with revealing the one secret you want to keep hidden the most?" I said to him, intentionally raising my voice to a volume that drowned out the flattering of the students that crowded around Irina so that I was certain she was able to hear me.

"I wouldn't like it," Loyd awkwardly smiled at that sudden question but went along with it after he met my gaze. "But if it's a secret that I don't want anyone to know about, I guess I would just comply with the blackmailer's wishes."

"I agree," Muria chimed in after sensing that we were plotting something.

"Right?" I continued speaking in a provoking tone that could only be picked up by Irina.

I glanced over at her in order to check her status and was pleased to discover that she had fallen silent and was no longer smiling. She seemed to be listening to what we were saying so obviously she's picked up the hidden message in my words. What a smart girl.

"But what if you just let that secret out?" I suggested. "Maybe it might not be as big of a deal as you would've thought."

"I wouldn't say that," Loyd smiled as he realized what I was trying to do and also sneaked a glance over in Irina's direction. However, it would appear that his intent was different from mine for he wasn't as aggressive in his words. "I would choose to talk to a trusted friend and see what we can do."

"But that is if you have a trusted friend," Muria added in. She, too, seemed to know what I was planning and was silently voicing her opinions. "There's certain things that you can't tell anybody about, even if it was family or friends. Besides, what if you don't have any friends or people you can talk to?"

"Then you just go out and find someone like that," Loyd suggested. "I know it won't be easy, but it's something that needs to be done if you don't want to become a puppet of the blackmailer and suffer."

"I wouldn't say that's the best choice," I shook my head, interlaced my hands, and brought them behind my head to use as a head rest as I leaned against my chair. "There's a better way, a way that you can silence the blackmailer without spilling your secret."

"Well," Loyd chuckled, almost as if he didn't believe such a method existed, "what is it then?"

I quickly observed my surroundings. Loyd and Muria were listening attentively, and as for Irina, although she pretended not to pay any attention, I was certain that she focused on every single word that I said. The evidence for that can be found in her silence and a lack of smile on her face while her fans crowded around her desk.