Lyssa sat down comfortably at one of the couches inside Julian's living room when she arrived. she put all her belongings in the round glass table right infront of her. her foot magically found its way and rested at the top of the table making her body relax, she sighed and rested her back at the couch. Julian arrived at the living room while bringing two cans of sodas, she doesn't want a bad impression from her so called "guest". she handed Lyssa the other can while plopping down beside the latter. "hey! put your stinky feet down!" Julian said while pushing Lyssa's feet that was on the table. they both opened their can of soda and took a sip in unison.
"so, may I know the reason why I'm in this house?" Lyssa said with authority in her voice, taking tiny sips of her cold drink, making her throat ache a bit. Julian quickly opened her phone and tossed it in Lyssa's lap. "see for yourself, your highness." Lyssa grabbed the phone that was on her lap and saw a picture of Yuree that was posted on her old IG account. it took her a few seconds to realize what was suspicious about the pic. she put down her can of soda at the table and zoomed the picture, making it more clearer. "wait, isn't this the uniform at that one restaurant we ate at earlier?" she said while her eyes still stuck on the screen making sure she wasn't seeing things. "bingo! you got it right!" Julian said while clapping elegantly, she then snatched her phone back and turned it off. "so basically my point is, we figured out what that number in the note meant already. I'm a hundred percent sure Yuree used to work in that restaurant." Lyssa nodded slowly, finally getting Julian's point.
"so are we going to investigate the place again?" Lyssa questioned, turning her gaze to the person who was staring at the blank tv infront of them. "nope. maybe, just maybe. we can find someone in that restaurant who used to work with her and ask them some questions. hopefully they know some small details about her that we don't. you know what they say, small details matter." Julyan answered calmly, putting her can of soda at top of the table, beside Lyssa's. Lyssa nodded slowly, processing what Julian blabbered about. she glanced at her phone and looked at the time, it was getting pretty late so she stood up and grabbed her can of soda.
"it's late and we still have to wake up early for tomorrow, thanks for ruining my sleeping schedule." Lyssa said while getting ready to leave. Julian rolled her eyes, she stood up and wore her slippers. "did you bring your car with you?" she questioned and Lyssa immediately nodded as a response. they reached the front door already and Julian yawned, reaching for the door knob while turning her gaze at the latter beside her. "thanks for sparing me a little bit of your time." Julian said while opening the door for her. Lyssa chuckled and went out, turning her back once again at the person who was at the door. "bye loser." that was all she said before making her way at her car that was parked infront of the gates. Julian chuckled and closed the door gently before turning her back and made her way upstairs, towards her room.
The next day was a sunny day, the group gathered once again at the cafeteria after their last subject before lunchbreak. everyone clearly looked exhausted, their final examination in this sem was near already. they were determined to have good grades, ofcourse they were. they were one of the top students of Berriens University after all.
"so what did you guys "discuss" at Julian's house last night?" Elyan said while wiggling her eyebrows, teasing the two girls who were busy enjoying their meal. she earned an eye roll and a bunch of laughter from the others who were at the table. Fatima raised her fingers up to her lips gesturing everyone in their table to hush. they were getting the attentions of some students and it was making her a little bit uncomfortable.
"shut up before I stitch your mouth with my bare hands." Lyssa said and raised her left hand that was gripping tightly on a fork. she pointed her fork at Elyan and Julian immediately nudged her and grabbed Lyssa's arm with a fake smile putting it down back at the table, calming her. For god's sake she didn't want to witness a scene in the cafeteria. with a damn fork. Elyan immediately made a gesture, zipping her mouth close, making the others chuckle at the scene.
Julian wiped the side of her mouth and turned her gaze to the group, ready to share what's on her mind. "about that, we confirmed something. andddd seems like we don't have a problem about finding the clue anymore." Lyssa nodded while swirling her drink in her hands before gulping it down.
"what do you mean?" Miro said with furrowed eyebrows, curious at what the latter had said with her own mouth. they gestured Julian to continue to which the latter obliged. "well based on our discussion, Yuree seemed to have a work experience in that restaurant." everyone had their mouth slightly open and their ears perked up to what they heard. "and maybe, just maybe. we can find someone in that restaurant who worked with her before and ask them some questions." Lyssa continued with a smirk on her face, everyone nodded and was impressed at the two.
"how did you guys find out?" Vauna questioned and shifted closer to the two, showing how interested she was at the conversation. she blocked Aubrey's view and Aubrey immediately pulled her hair down lightly, Vauna groaned and was about to smack Aubrey but she held her head instead. "remember when I called and asked about the uniform? yeah, it was because she posted a pic on her abandoned IG, she wore the same uniform and my guts told me it was quite familiar. just needed a confirmation that I wasn't hallucinating so, I called you guys." Julian answered calmly and sighed before resting her back at the chair. they nodded and were satisfied with Julian's answer so they shared a moment of comfortable silence.
"are you sure you two were just discussing things out?" Jannah said teasingly, to which the two girl groaned. "alright, I'm heading out first. see you guys when I see you." Lyssa said with a fake smile and stood up, she walked to god knows where, clearly had enough of the teasing. they laughed at the specific pissed person and turned to look at Julian who was biting her straw looking at them with her eyebrows raised. "stop, or I'm gonna walk out too." she said to which
everyone snickered. Jannah was about to say something again when Julian grabbed her and covered her mouth with her hand. she's had enough. she stood up dragging Jannah with her looking at the group with a fake smile. "we'll just have a talk." she said while struggling to hold Jannah since she was breaking free from her hold. the group laughed at the two who were bickering on their way outside of the cafeteria.
"gosh, they're so loud." Fatima said while straightening her blazer. the bell rang signalling them that lunch was over already, so they stood up and made their way to their perspective classrooms. Fatima, Vauna, Elyan, and Miro walked silently while sharing a comfortable silence through the school's hallway. they enjoyed this day and hoped it would be always like this everyday. but this wasn't the reality, the reality was far from this. they were still stuck on someone's past and they have to get out. no matter how long it will take, they know they'll get out.
it's time to face the reality.
