Chapter 11:

"Hello. I'm Barbara Gonzales. You can call me Barbara…" the girl said,

As she was introducing herself, Leon couldn't help but feel surprised. Shocked by the sight of Barbara. He didn't even know that she enrolled in the academy... not that he had her number or anything.

After Barbara's introduction, the homeroom teacher said, "Thank you, Barbara. A pleasure having you this semester." she then scanned the room and pointed to an empty seat in the back, "You can sit at the empty seat over there,"

Barbara looked to where she pointed and nodded as she got to her seat. Realizing that she was in the same row as him, Leon pretended not to notice her at first...however, she did anyway.

"Nice to see you again, Leon," Barbara said as he looked at him

Leon turned to her and nodded, "Yeah, nice to see you too." he replied, "I didn't know that you also enrolled here."

"I didn't realize that you were gonna be my classmate either," Barbara said, as she took out her notepad, "What a coincidence,"

Leon chuckled a little as she said that, "Yeah," he muttered, not realizing that he smiled. Just then the next bell rang and the homeroom teacher left in time before the next subject began.

The next classes were Science and English Literature respectively. It was pretty chill right now but Leon and Barbara didn't have much to chat about except when they asked each other for some pad papers, extra ballpens, or liquid erasers.

A little while later, the next bell rang and it was lunch break.

The English professor checked the time on the wall clock behind her, "Okay, be sure to have the essays submitted online via email." she reminded the students, "If you have submitted after the deadline, then please write down your excuse as to why you did so. Other than that, the class was dismissed."

The whole class let out a sigh of relief. Leon leaned back on his chair as he cracked his neck because it was stiff. Barbara was packing her stuff in her bag and noticed him cracking his stiff neck.

Leon looked at Barbara and noticed her looking back at him. He immediately looked the other way. "So, uh... wanna grab something to eat before the next class?" he asked her, desperately trying to escape the awkwardness.

Barbara thought about it for a moment, "Sure" was her reply as she grabbed her purse. Leon got up and they both walked out of the classroom while a few of their other classmates got a bit of a head-start towards the school's cafeteria.

But just as they were out of the classroom, Barbara, who was checking her purse, said, "Where's the restroom?"

Leon turned to her and pointed behind her, "Down that hallway and turn left. You can't miss it." he said, "Why? Are you oka-"

"Yeah, okay, Thanks!" she said as she rushed to where he pointed.

Leon was confused but he shrugged as he waited for her. Unbeknownst to him, he heard someone calling his name, "Yo! Leon!"

He turned around to see who said that and Nicole was there in the distance, walking towards him as she was waving her hand at him.

Leon waved back, "Hey, Nikki," he said,

Nicole stood beside the doorway "Whatcha doin' here?" she asked, "You waiting for someone?"

Leon's eyes widened as she said, "Uh, yeah!" he chuckled, "Funny you should mention that..." He then told her about his new classmate.

After that, Nicole's eyes widened in shock. "She's here?!"

Leon nodded, "Yeah. She just went to the restroom seconds before you got here,"

"Oh dang..." Nicole said until she smirked and nudged her friend's shoulder,

Leon got confused as she did that, "What was that for?" he asked,

"Oh nothing" Nicole shrugged and looked away,

Just before he was about to protest, Barbara got back. "Hey, sorry I took so long--" her words trailed off as she saw Nicole, "Nikki!"

Nicole turned to Barbara and said, "Barbs!!"

The two embraced each other and they let go for a bit, "I didn't know you enrolled here," Nicole said,

Barbara chuckled, "I remember that this is where you and Leon are studying so I thought why not enroll here after my semester but I didn't think that--,"

"That you'd end up being Leon's classmate," Nicole said while looking at Leon with a sly grin

"Hey, I'm standing right here," Leon said as he heard Nicole,

The three continued to chat just as they left the hallway and made their way toward the cafeteria. It was a lot more crowded than usual considering the number of students.

They found an empty table and occupied it right away. "So, anything you want?" Leon asked,

"Why? Ya going to buy it for us?" Nicole teased,

Leon scoffed, "I don't even have the budget finalized yet, dude,"

Barbara chuckled while watching the two and said, "Just a sandwich would be fine" she handed him some money from her purse. "Give back the change, okay?"

"French fries for me!" Nicole added as she also gave Leon her cash.

Leon sat there holding the money given to him by the two girls. "Yes, ma'am," he said as he got up. Though, he didn't mind because he was gonna grab some Fried Calamari himself.

As he got in line, he made sure to remember what to order. Meanwhile, Barbara and Nicole were still at their table but on their phones.

Feeling the awkwardness between them, Barbara said, "So,...Did anything happen in your class, Nikki?"

Nicole looked up from her phone and thought about it for a moment. "Nope," she replied, but then her eyes widen as she remembers something, "Oh wait--Yeah there were two new classmates in my section." she then said, "One boy and girl."

Barbara scrunched her eyebrows, "Wait, really?" and Nicole nodded.

"What were their names," Barbara asked

Nicole was about to reply but she frowned as she was confused, "I...I don't remember..." she said as she was trying to recall their names,

"You forgot their names after they introduced themselves to you?" Barbara asked,

Nicole placed her hand on her head, "It's like their names flew off my mind... Weird..."

Just then, Leon came back, holding a tray of the food he ordered as well as the ones for Barbara and Nicole, and placed them on the table, "Here ya go," he said as he handed the bowl of fries to Nicole

He then handed Barbara her sandwich, "I don't know if you'd like chicken or tuna so I went with the Chicken. I hope that's fine with you" he said

Barbara shook her head, "Nah, it's cool," she replied. She noticed him giving the change from the money she gave him to use, "Thanks!"

"Yeah, thanks Leon," Nicole said, putting up a smile as she picked at the fries despite her being confused seconds earlier,

"No prob," Leon nodded. He sat down and was about to dig in but he noticed Nicole looking a bit troubled. "Something wrong? Did I get the wrong order?"

Nicole turned to him and shook his head, "N-no..?" Leon narrowed his eyes. She knew he couldn't fool him that easily but before she could say anything, Barbara said, "How 'bout we talk about it after we had our meal."

Leon and Nicole agreed to which she looked at Barbara as if she was saying 'Thank you,'

After they had their meal, they went out of the cafeteria and walked around the hallway. They then decided to go to the library to cool off a bit as it was a very hot day. It didn't take them long to find a good spot to chill for a bit. They each sat on three different colored bean bags and they let out a silent sigh.

"So, Nicole." Leon said, "What was it you forgot to tell me earlier?"

Nicole didn't say anything at first as she had her arm on her face, covering herself from the light above her. "Oh yeah. We had two new classmates in our section," she said, "But for some reason, I forgot their names..."

Leon raised his eyebrow in confusion, "Whattaya mean you forgot their names?"

Nicole shook her head, "I don't even know but I can't explain it. I just forgot."

Leon took a while to process this. "It's alright," he said, patting Nicole gently on the shoulder, "Maybe it'll come to you eventually,"

Nicole shrugged and pulled out a book she managed to get earlier before they got to sit down on the bean bags.

They stayed there for a couple of minutes until Barbara checked the time on her phone, "We gotta head back to class." she told Leon. He was still lying down but got up as soon as he heard her, "Right." he said, before tapping Nicole's shoulder.

They all got up, returned the books they got earlier and left the library. It didn't take long for them to go back into the hallway where their classrooms would be. Barbara and Nicole hugged one more time before letting go and going to their respective classrooms.

Back in the class, at one point, Leon nearly dozed off in one of the discussions because they were in a History class, with a video presentation. Fortunately, Barbara managed to wake him up before the professor finished the presentation and could call out the students who were dozing off.

The day ended a couple of hours later as the school bell rang, signaling that it was already the end of the day. Leon and Barbara went out of the classroom after packing up their stuff and met up with Nicole on the way out.

Nicole was typing something on her phone, "Already on the first day of the new semester and we got stuff to do" she muttered,

"Yeah, no kidding," Leon said but he didn't seem stressed, or rather, his face didn't reveal that much.

As they were heading out of the building, someone bumped into Leon. It was another student and he seems to be passing through him. "Excuse me," was what he said to Leon without looking behind him.

The two girls noticed and turned to Leon, "What was that?" Barbara asked,

Leon shrugged, "I didn't do anything. He just walked past me. That's all."

They decided to drop the subject and left the building. Leon had taken the bus ride to school this morning so he'll take the bus ride back home. But right before they were about to head onto the bus, Leon felt like his arm was being pulled a little and looked down only to find the emerald bracelet slightly pulsing green.

Leon looked behind him and shifted his weight down the sidewalk and the bracelet continued pulsing.

Nicole noticed him looking at something "Leon? What's wrong?" she asked. She looked in the same direction he was looking but couldn't see what he was looking at. She placed her hand on his shoulder, "Yo, you good?"

Leon snapped out of it but he said, "Uh, I forgot to buy something."

Nicole was confused, "What? But we just got--"

"I'll take the next bus home. Just tell my uncle that I have something to buy in a store nearby," Leon told her. He then looked at Barbara and continued, "You girls go on ahead. I'll be fine,"

The girls seem skeptical, but they nodded and got on the bus, which eventually drove off. After seeing the bus leave, Leon then ran in the other direction as he continued to feel the pulse on the emerald bracelet.

He kept running, taking right and left turns based on the pulses of the bracelet. He continued on his course, with each step the bracelet would pulse, even more, signaling him that he is closer to... to whatever or wherever the bracelet is leading him to.

'Just where the heck are you taking me?' Leon thought in his head but all he got was a roar from the lion as if it was speaking in his head. He was about to reply when all of a sudden the bracelet stopped in mid-air, causing Leon to stop in his tracks and almost trip on the empty sidewalk.

"What the heck--Huh?" He found himself in front of what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse. There were some cranes left standing near it but it looked like they haven't been used in a long time. Leon was about to turn around when the emerald held him in place and wouldn't budge as it pulsed even more.

Knowing that he'll have to go into the building, Leon took a deep breath and took his steps toward the building. He looked around but found a wide-open door. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion but he carefully walked inside. It was very dusty when he entered. Clutters of broken wooden planks were everywhere. Some of the walls were filled with scores of graffiti on them.

Leon kept looking around when he suddenly heard something clattering behind him. He quickly turned around and balled his fists, ready for whatever he might face. The clattering then continued from his left and he shifted his body around again to where the sound came from.

He noticed that it was coming from the floor above so he carefully walked upstairs and tensed as the clattering continued to be louder until... Squeak! Squeak! A mouse popped from the shadows as it was coming out of the hole in the wall. It stopped to look around the room for anything it could find that is edible. When it could not, it roamed away.

Leon let out a sigh of relief as he had his hands down, 'Phew...' he thought to himself, 'It was just a mouse'

All of a sudden a voice spoke in an echo"All worked up for just a mere rat? Hahahaha... Pathetic"

Hearing the voice made Leon have a chill down his spine. He quickly turned around and got into his fighting stance. "Quit hiding and show yourself!" he demanded

The voice chuckled which echoed around the room he is in. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. -- It sounded like someone wearing heels.--Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Click.

"Your courage does you credit..." The cloaked figure appeared and materialized from the shadows speaking through three or four distorted female voices, "At long last, we finally meet…" she said as she looked at Leon through her mask, "...The one who bears the Fangs of the Lion."