We continued eating when suddenly I noticed in the corner of my eye Owen and his friends coming into the cafeteria. Maximus wasn't with them thankfully, but that wasn't what made me so concerned. They were all painstakingly staring at me. Just like the other students, but even more diligently. For all I know, they were probably plotting a revenge plan on me because I got their friend expelled for two entire weeks. I mean, why else would they be keeping their eyes so sternly onto me ?

However, I soon noticed that Owen was glancing in my direction with a completely different expression than his other friends. His eyes were somehow softer and brighter. It really seemed like he was looking at me as if somehow, he noticed that I was the most incredible being to roam this earth. I mean I probably am, judging by the species I actually belonged to. But that only made me wonder even more ; why is Owen suddenly acting so different towards me ?

"Hm, it doesn't seem like Maximus is hanging out with them. Maybe we misunderstood and his expulsion was starting as of today." Mira noticed.

As soon as she glanced at the group of friends, Owen immediately averted his eyes off me and into his tray of food, his face blushed with the slightest tint of pink.

"What's up with him ?" Mira voiced out, while she stayed fixated onto the blushed boy.

"I don't know Mira, he has been acting this way ever since first period. I'm a bit scared that he might've discovered what is going on with me. I mean, he is the son of a powerful CEO. Mira, do you think he..."

Mira turned her face back at me. Her eyes were shooting out of her sockets and her mouth was slightly gaped. She quickly shook her head and pulled herself together. With her fingers holding her chin and her gaze on the ground she answered my speculations.

"Maybe, or maybe not. Knowing Owen, he's probably feeling guilty of what Maximus had done to you yesterday. Maybe he wants to find a way to make it up to you."

"Yeah, or bring me down." I said sarcastically.

Mira furrowed her eyebrows at me, totally not amused at what I had just said.

"Cut it out Akari. You know he wouldn't do something like that. Owen is a nice person, right ? I mean he seems very nice, I wouldn't think that... he would... "

"Fine," I sighed at her. "Maybe I was being to hard on him. But that doesn't mean that I am going to be all chummy with him anytime soon."

"Yep, I'm not expecting you to do that anymore. You've already made your point clear and I'm too tired to argue on that anymore."

I lightly chuckled on her words, and it somehow relieved me of some stress I had bottled up inside. Mira took notice that I haven't touched much of my food and started pinching out some fries off my plate, which I let her do.

"Not hungry shortie ? You're missing out, this is delicious." She grinned, her teeth full of bits of salad and other unholy things that I didn't have the guts to identify.

"Yeah... I guess I don't have much of an appetite right now. I'm still coming to the realisation of all the things that had happened to me. It has only been 24 hours and my life was completely turned upside down. It's as if the gods suddenly hated me..."

"Well, screw them. When you are feeling down and melancholic, you just have to prove to the world that you are stronger than all of this. Just point a middle finger to the sky and scream to the top of your lungs 'You can't beat me you suckers !'"

I stared at her wide eyed while she was raising her fist in the air. I smiled at her action pose, then heavily sighed out of desperation.

"You're right, I guess. But I am still feeling... vulnerable for some reason. I don't think I feel confident enough to head on with my day alone."

Munching on the hamburger that she had taken out of my plate without any hesitation whatsoever, she thought for a few seconds and looked back at me after swallowing her bite.

"Tell you what ? I don't have any classes for the next hour or so. I don't know if it will do much, but I could ask the teacher to attend your next class and stick around with you. Like that you'll be a lot less alone ! What do you think about that shortie ?"

"Really ? You would do that for me ?"

She nodded with a bright smile on her face. I went up to her and pulled her in a tight hug.

"Thank you Mira, I could have never hopped for a better friend."

"Oh, come on, you flatter me too much. I've been friends with you since forever, so it does break my heart to see you feeling so down. I know you'd do the same if I was ever in your place."

I laughed silently at what she had said.

"Yeah ! Like the time when that stupid block head Rony stole your favourite hairpin back in middle school ! We had planned all this enormous scheme to steal all of his belongings from his locker. Do you remember that ?"

"Yeah I do ! And we got into so much trouble because the teacher saw us trying to break into it from the inside with two rulers and a chewing gum. I still remember the face you pulled once we got busted."

We both laughed at our silly memory.

"Yeah, we were so stupid back then."

"And we still are !" Mira answered with a giant smile on her face.

Before we knew it, the bell rang throughout the school and everyone headed out to their next class. As Mira had promised, she asked the teacher to stay during the lesson. She gave the pitiful excuse that she was failing this class and wanted to cram in a few more hours in her schedule. The teacher, believing her to be a very serious student, accepted without any second thoughts.

She probably should have had those second thoughts though. Judging by the face she was giving out, I can probably guess that she eventually regretted it, because all that my friend was doing was fooling around with me, joking about meaningless stuff and diving back into memories of our childhood times. She kept insisting on how I was such a 'cute little cinnamon roll with the biggest cutest eyes in the world'. I found myself chuckling at each of her remarks. I swear I didn't know how the teacher even managed to finish her lesson without throwing either of us out of the classroom. And after the look that gave the teacher to Mira once she stumbled out of the room, I knew that I wouldn't be seeing her anytime soon in a classroom seated next to me.

Time slowed down painfully after that Mira had left, and eventually after a long and awful wait, it was time for the afternoon break. I swear to god that if I heard another word coming out of that teacher's mouth, I would literally murder myself with a compass and die from a long and painful death.

I eagerly waited for Mira just outside of my classroom. I didn't feel like roaming the corridors alone and getting all eyes and gossips on me. Or in a worse case scenario, getting attacked once again by one of Maximus's idiotic fan. I was jumping up and down on my feet when I received a buzz from my pocket.

New text from Rainbow-girl:

OMG I AM SO FED UP ! Our teach is keeping us in for like 10-15 more minutes or so. Classmates were being too noisy so he decided to punish the WHOLE CLASS (how unfair is that ??!) Soz shortie, looks like u gonna have to face this breaktime alone :(

I sighed heavily as my stomach turned upside-down. Great, looks like I'll have to deal with this break time by my own once again. Stupid teacher, I'll make you swallow all your grading pencils one day.

With nothing better to do, I decided to head out to my locker. Hopefully I'll have a bag of chips wandering around the back that I could grab. I could munch on them while I wallow in my own despair. With a heavy sigh, I put in the combination and opened the door. I saw at the back an abandoned Snickers bar to which I grabbed, along with some needed textbooks for the next two hours of class.

It was then that a small folded note fell on the ground. I stared at it in confusion before picking it up. Was this here before ?

I opened it very slowly, in fear of what I would find written on it.

As I read the words on the sheet, my body froze. My breathing stopped, the air became cold and the world seemed like it came to a sudden halt. I turned my head into every direction possible to see if I found the culprit of the message, but I was too paranoid to even focus my sight on the different students.

I quickly left my now open locker and rushed into the closest bathroom stall, leaning onto the edge of the toilet. I feel sick, I feel my head spinning around, I don't know what to do.

I picked up the piece of paper again, reading out the words in my head before realising that no, I wasn't in a nightmare but in the real, too real world. I read the letters again and again until they became permanently engraved into my skull for the rest of my life. Now I could only think of the sentences written down on the scraggly piece of paper.

'I know who you really are. Meet me after your classes behind the sports field, in the alley between the gym and the assembly hall. Make sure you are alone. I will be waiting. ~ Anon'.