2 Encounter

Chapter 2: Encounter

New York

She missed the bus.

It was expected, but still, it managed to catch Eliana off guard. She immediately felt the frustration building up. However, out of sheer hope for punctuality, she decided to hail a cab. A very expensive idea but she was desperate.

Most of her savings for summer art school were taken off for the taxi fee. Dreadful but not as regretful as arriving on time.

With a heavy heart, due to the money she painfully spent, Eliana decided to meet her friend for a company in passing the requirement. She left her friend a message and made her way to their rendezvous.

A couple of minutes passed by, Eliana remained patient albeit worried about the time. Until finally.

"Eliana!" A voice from distant calls.

Eliana's passive face lit up, a smile drawing on her lips. "Zoey!" She sprinted meeting her friend halfway, they greeted each other with a warm hug.

Zoey was Eliana's only best friend. Although they belong to the same circle of friends, Eliana was closest to Zoey among the rest. And they even planned to attend the same University for college.

"Zoey!" She breathed. "I'm so glad you replied, let's pass our essays together." On the other hand, her friend laughed at her request. "Don't tell me..." She trailed.

Zoey let out a chuckle before replying. "Silly, how am I not surprised. Eli, I already passed mine a while ago." This placed a worried look on Eliana. "But, I'll be happy to accompany you with that." Zoey offered.

Eliana heaved out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." She grabbed ahold of her friend's wrist and started dragging her to the faculty office. "Come on, I'm already seconds late."

Zoey shook her head with a low chuckle.

Eliana received a scolding from her lady professor. "I'll be here until 70 minutes from now, so hurry up." Her professor said.

"Thank you miss, I'll be sure to pass it on time. I'll be back." Eliana replied with a smile and a shaky gaze. She felt stupid.

She left the faculty and speed-walked towards their school library. Zoey, who was waiting outside, caught up to her pace.

"What's wrong?" Her friend asks. "You passed it right?" She added, still puzzled by the panic look on Eliana's face.

"I forgot it was supposed to be printed." Zoey was surprised but decided not to comment, instead, she replied with a subtle nod and walked side by side with Eliana.

The print on the library was costly.

Eliana ended up, again, using her money for the summer art class. However, she thankfully passed the document on time and in the right format.

After that stressful morning, being the teenagers the two girls were, they decided to stroll around the city. Stopping by the Mall. Their energy ran out after spending most of the time in the arcade.

"I'm beat," Eliana said, she wrung her neck side to side, easing the tensioned muscles. "Where to next?" They were standing outside the arcade they previously played in.

"I don't know, is there someplace where you want to go?" Her friend asks.

Eliana pondered, a thought came to mind. "Bookstore, I want to check out some new Rick Riordan books." She beamed, she was a big fan of the author after all.

Zoey yawned. "I think I need to pee and maybe freshen up." She ran her fingers through her black hair. "Restroom, you coming?"

Eliana shook her head. "I'll wait for you here."

"Alright, I'll be back."

Zoey left for the restroom. Eliana walked towards the Mall's veranda. She rested both of her elbows on the metal railings and allowed her eyes to roam around the lower floors. The arcade was located on the 3rd floor.

A few people gave her looks, staring curiously. Specifically fascinated by her hair. Her ash grey-silver hair was mysteriously natural and looked beautiful as ever. Many of them would always think it was dyed anyway.

She ignored the looks and sighed.

She was tired and filled with thoughts. Eliana was entering college next school year, and she was still unsure what to take up. She ran away from making a decision, albeit highschool bought her time. Now there was no turning back, she needed to decide. It was inevitable.

On the ground floor. Something caught her eye, snapping her out from her thoughts. Something, no- someone, was standing in between the hollow receding part where the fire exit door was located.

Base on the person's built, there was no question the person was a man. He wore an outfit that looked medieval. A blue outer suit that reached right above his thighs, navy blue polo on the inside. Finally, as if to hide his presence he wore a green cloak, the hood hiding his face.

Eliana's brows knitted in confusion. There was no notice about a cosplay competition in the mall neither was it an entertainment show. The man tilted to his side as if searching for something from a distance. His cloak swept subtlety from the action revealing his left leg.

A glint of light reflected from something that dangled by his side. It was held by a chestnut-colored belt firmly circling his waist.

Confusion and suspicion rose in full alert when recognition came to Eliana. "A sword!" She blurted, her voice shaky.

The man, as if to have heard her, looked up to meet her gaze from the ground floor. Bewilderment flashed on his face. However, as fast as he caught Eliana's stare, without a blink he ripped his attention away from her as if something caught his attention once again. With no warning, he suddenly sprinted.

Surprised, Eliana was worried and overwhelmed in a bad sense. He caught a man, with a sword, and he was running across the mall. It was dangerous. 

'Who in their right minds would even do that in such a place?'

She was always impulsive and curious. Panicking, she made a stupid decision.

She followed the man.