Episode 3: The Girl That Acts Friendly

Middle of Who-Knows-where

Who-Knows-When

In Atdonus Highschool.

5:57am, Azel was walking along the classes.

The hallway was dark, only illuminated by the faint moonlight streaming in from the windows, giving him the bare minimum vision. He walked carefully in case he hit into something, his footsteps echoing through the hall rhythmically. No one was in the building yet, most of them were asleep, others doing something else not of his concern. With each step, it took him closer to his destination, to where he needed to go.

Upon arrival, he looked into the classroom, the moonlight casting a faint silver hue on the desks and chairs. It was a peaceful scene, one that he liked, quiet, no noisy people. He walked to the back of the class and placed Pandora’s bag on her seat before starting to leave. He did what he needed to do, there was no reason to stay.

Along the hallway, while walking down the stairs, a bright light shone into his eyes, along with a rough voice. The person spoke fast and swallowed a few of his words, Azel was unable to catch what exactly he was saying. The light turned off, revealing a teacher that was making their trips. The teacher calmed himself and repeated himself, “Are you not supposed to be in the dorms now?”

It was hard to see the features of the teacher, his voice was rough and aggressive, much more aggressive than Mr Andrews. Azel shrugged his shoulders and walked past the teacher nonchalantly, heading down to the ground floor and making his way back to his room. While walking, he looked at the sky, the moon shining brightly, so calming, so beautiful.

7:48am, Pandora arrives to class.

Students were talking amongst each other in their own groups and cliques, some were rushing some last-minute homework. Pandora, silent, went to her seat, feeling slightly down. She had forgotten her bag at Azel’s place, expecting the teachers to berate her on not having her materials. When she got to her seat, she saw the familiar grey patterned bag on her chair. She quickly went to check through it, seeing that everything was still there.

7:45am, Angela entered class, smiling.

She hummed a soft song and went to her seat, resting her left elbow on the desk and her chin on her right arm, she pulled out a notebook filled with her plans. Not long later, Pandora entered the class, catching no one except Angela’s attention. She seemed to be low spirited, her expression in a childish pout. With every step she took, it was sometimes a stride or a hop or a step to catch her from falling. Angela watched as she opened her bag, her expression turning gleeful, a childish grin on her face.

Angela looked away, not wanting to look suspicious for staring at her. Instead, she pulled out her mirror and looked at her through the reflection, seeing her swing her legs while hugging the bag. Angela still could not let go of what she was told, even her boyfriend was stumped when told about Pandora’s condition.

8:00am, the bell rang.

Pandora stiffened up, putting her bag down, straightening her clothes, adjusting her beret and finally sat proper. The change was drastic, from an almost childish attitude to one of proper class was too big, same with the day before when she saw Pandora crying from fear.

The words rang in her ears.

“I’m not Pandora.”

Not Pandora? She wondered what exactly it meant, was she using an alias? Or did everyone pronounce her name wrongly? Angela scratched her head, ruffling her hair. She wanted to help Pandora, but what could she even do for her?

11:30am, lunch break started.

The girls got together again to talk, Pandora was wanting to eat, but it seemed like she did not have a chance to do so. Instead, she kept her lunchbox under her desk. Angela noticed the slight movement and saw it as an opportunity to speak to Pandora regarding that topic.

“Should we have some lunch?” Angela recommended.

“Sure, we can chat while eating,” Lesley replied. “By the pond again? Or do we go somewhere different?”

“Let’s go with the pond.” Angela told her.

“Why don’t we all go down to the cafeteria to get some food?” Lesley asked.

“I’m good, I have a packed lunch.” Angela laughed.

“From your boyfriend?”

“Got a problem?”

Lesley exaggerated her falling backwards, being caught by Sylva. She said, “Then I’ll go with Sylva and Pandora.”

“I have a packed lunch too.” Pandora stated.

“With Sylva it is.” Lesley fake sobbed.

The two of them left ahead of them, heading towards the cafeteria. Angela and Pandora left slightly later, lunchboxes in hand. They walked down the stairs which Angela had chased Pandora on with relative silence, the only noise produced was from others and their footsteps. Angela was trying to figure out the best way to phrase her question.

“Pandora...” Angela asked.

“Yes?” She replied almost instantly.

“How many times a day do you ‘switch’?” Angela continued.

Pandora stopped halfway down the flight of stairs, her eyes wide with shock. Angela stood ahead of her, several steps below, waiting for an answer. Pandora space out for a moment before snapping back, saying, “What are you talking about?”

“Never mind then.” Angela told her, continuing down the steps.

Pandora followed after her.

Walking out of the building, the courtyard being on the other side, the girls were greeted by a garden, flourishing with vegetation. There were trees that grew tall, arching and forming something like an entrance. Further inside, was a maze formation of hedges that only reached slightly higher than Pandora’s waist. Angela led her through the maze with ease, obviously having experience with it. In the middle, like a not-so-secret spring, was a small pond, only around four metres in diameter, it was small for a water body.

Angela pulled out a blanket and laid it on the grass beside the pond. She sat down and placed her lunchbox on the blanket, revealing the food. Pandora looked in awe as she saw the variety of dishes, all a different colour, almost making the lunchbox look like a rainbow. Whatever those foods were, Pandora was vaguely sure she was unable to eat most of them

There were strawberries with some kind of blue paste covering them in a small box. In a separate box, was a slice of sponge cake, yellow and looked appetising to Pandora. In the biggest box, a layer of rice was garnished with fried shrimp, drizzled with some light sauce. Next to it, a small green salad inclusive of purple cabbage and carrots. Also on top of the rice, was stir-fried eggplant with what was assumed to be blueberry sauce. Slices of thin pork also feasted on top, garnished with charred garlic and fragrance.

Pandora could not stand the pork, but everything else looked amazing. She saw the fried shrimp and thought back to when she was at Azel’s place. He had pointed at a picture of the fried shrimp and pointed behind him, could he have been asking why she ate shrimp when she could not have meat?

She made a mental note to apologise later.

“Was this by your boyfriend?” Pandora asked, not pulling her gaze away.

“Some of it,” Angela replied, a big smile on her face as she pointed to the sponge cake. “He likes making these. He also helped me with the strawberry’s sauce and the salad.”

“Looks good.” Pandora commented.

Angela laughed and set her food aside, reaching out to the pond instead. She touched it slightly, sending small ripples of water across the surface until they all disappeared. She turned to face Pandora, asking, “You seem different from when I saw you yesterday.”

“Hmm...?” Pandora replied, pretending not to hear her question.

“I sa-”

Pandora interrupted Angela by saying, “How often do you come here? You seem quite used to the maze.”

Angela, picking up on what Pandora was trying to do, was about to further pursue the topic when she heard shouting in the distance. Lesley and Sylva had returned with their stuff, waving from just outside the maze. Angela waved back, trying not to look annoyed, patting the ground beside her.

As casually as possible, Angela laughed as she saw the two girls struggle with the hedge maze. Meanwhile, Pandora kept her eye on Angela, not liking where Angela had been trying to lead the conversation. Looking closer, she saw Angela’s hands on the ground behind her as she leaned backwards. The grass was pressed down, her fingers slightly digging into the dirt as the other girls made their way there.

“What took you guys so long?” Angela asked.

“The line was quite long, y’know.” Sylva complained. “Plus, Lesley had to stay away from the crowd, so I was the only one ordering.”

“Sounds tough.” Angela laughed.

Lesley took a deep breath and whined, “Why were there so many guys in the queue? Can’t they all leave?”

“Of course not!” Sylva sighed, placing a sandwich on Lesley’s head.

The two girls took their seats, chatting about what happened in the cafeteria. Angela held the conversation while Pandora tried not to speak excessively, listening to what they said and observing Angela.

11:57am, the bell rang.

Angela heard the bell and eyed Pandora, wanting to see her reaction to the bell, since she had run away the last time. Pandora spaced out, as if deep in thought, her black eyes blank. Angela continued the discussion somewhat, nodding and laughing as the two girls spoke.

“Shall we eat now?” Lesley suggested.

“Of course, it’s been too long.” Angela replied, opening her lunchbox again.

The two girls gasped.

“Pandora, what did you get?” Angela asked.

“Nothing much...” Pandora replied.

She had the same expression as she opened her lunchbox, revealing rice with some stir-fried vegetables, a mix of cabbage, carrots, spinach and lettuce. Angela looked at her carefully, trying to point out any change in expression or personality. However, Pandora remained the same as always, her expression neutral, her mannerism polite. Looking closer, Angela could see something different, that was her eyes. Looking into her eyes, instead of a patient look or a nonchalant look, there was a slight hint of another emotion, an emotion that ran deep in her, that emotion was fear.

Angela found that out, but it was impossible to naturally raise up such a point around the other girls.

Pandora, on the other hand, was trying her best to hold back tears.

Angela laughed as she ate, eating the salad before moving onto the strawberries. Lesley saw that and asked, “Why are you eating your desserts first?”

“Just felt like it, besides, there’s quite a bit of food.” Angela told her. “You can take some if you’d like.”

Angela picked up the biggest box where the main bulk of the food was, offering them some of the content. Lesley rubbed her chin and reached out, playfully snatching up the sponge cake. She winked, thinking it was fine, she took a big bite out of the cake.

There was a clatter as food spilt over the blanket laid out on the grass, the lunchbox having flipped over.

Pandora started trembling slightly when seeing Angela’s expression, she was no longer smiling, instead, a frown on her face, a dangerous look in her eyes. Lesley and Sylva obviously thought it was a joke as they did not react immediately, Lesley deciding to consume the rest of the slice of cake.

Angela reached down towards her left pocket, her fingers flexed. Her right arm was on the blanket, digging into it, pulling it towards her as she clenched her fist. Pandora instinctively backed away as Angela reached into her pocket, a clack being produced from the pocket.

“Angela!” Someone called.

Angela’s expression returned to normal as she pulled her hand out of her pocket. She faced the direction of the voice, the entrance of the garden, right outside the maze. She smiled widely, her eyes shining with joy.

“What are you doing here?” She asked.

The other three girls looked at the boy. Long white hair that was tied up into five braids, petite with a girlish face. His eyes seemed emotionless, the colour of dirty snow, he wore the male school uniform, holding a bag.

“Who’s that?” Pandora asked, her fear temporarily subsiding from curiosity.

The longer Pandora looked at him, the more something felt off about him. Not only his appearance, something else was odd, something like the air around him. He gave out an air of mystery, most of all, just like Pandora and Azel, he gave out a feeling of loneliness and something else. Pandora tried to figure what it was, not taking long before the answer came to mind, causing her to tremble slightly. The boy gave off the air of murderous intent, under that frail and expressionless face he had such intents.

When Angela went up to him, all of those feelings subsided, he only gave off an air of mystery, his loneliness and murderous intent vanishing completely. Angela crossed the maze out, speaking to him.

“I thought you didn’t like being seen?” Angela asked.

“I thought you would like more cake.” He replied, lifting up the bag. “I baked extra since you said you liked it.”

Angela’s face twisted into a big grin when she heard it, reaching out to hug him. She took the bag and waved him off.

After he left, Lesley’s hand dropped onto the blanket. “I heard rumours that her boyfriend was pretty, but he looks so much like a girl.”

“I know, right?” Sylva added.

“He’s Angela’s boyfriend?” Pandora asked.

“Yeah, at least, that’s what it seems like,” Lesley muttered. “I heard that he rarely showed himself in front of others, only showing up around Angela. I assumed that Angela had been lying about having a boyfriend, but...”

Angela entered the area, smiling.

“What did he give you?” Sylva asked, looking at the bag.

“It’s a secret.” Angela winked.

“Your boyfriend’s really good looking.” Lesley joked, bumping her with her fist.

As Pandora looked, a flash of annoyance crossed her face before she replied, “Good luck getting your own boyfriend then.”

“You know that’s impossible!” Lesley complained.

Pandora acted normally, trying to suppress her fear of her surroundings, especially of her fear towards Angela and her boyfriend. She knew they were not normal people, something about them was human, but not at the same time. The feeling was complicated and she could not fully comprehend it fully.

12:24pm, the four of them arrived in class.

12:30pm, the bell rang, signalling the start of the lessons.

12:40pm, the class was in confusion.

Their teacher who was supposed to be taking their class was not there when he would usually be on time. Their languages teacher, Mr Hart was not present ten minutes after class had officially begun. People whispered, chatting about what could have happened to him, some suspected that he was fired by the school. Some did their own things, like reading, writing or for Angela, eating sponge cake.

12:45pm, a teacher walked into class.

He was not the tallest, at 184cm tall. He had straight brown hair that was combed completely to one side, his eyes hazel with a slight glint of youth. Compared to the other teachers, he was quite young. However, he walked with a slight limp on his left leg.

“Sorry for the tardiness, I was not informed in advance for the relief of lessons. My apologies.” He said, power walking to the teacher’s desk.

“What happened to Mr, Hart?” One of the students asked.

The substitute teacher gave the class a grim look and responded, “He told me he was sick and had to take the day off, so I’m not sure how long he will be gone for.”

The class whispered amongst themselves.

“So as a result, I will be taking this class for languages in the meantime, please, try to cooperate with me.”

The students quietened down, listening to their teacher. Angela kept the rest of the sponge cake under her desk with Pandora tried to cover her head, not wanting to be spotted or called out.

The new teacher scanned the room and turned around, a small smile on his face as he wrote his name on the blackboard. He faced the class once more and said, “My name is Daniels Connor, you may call me Mr Connor, is that alright?”

There was a collective nod throughout the class.

“Hope we can get along.” He smiled.

6:06am, Azel was walking back to his dorm when he heard a crash.

He turned around, facing the building with the classes. He thought it through, he was already in deep trouble for assaulting a classmate, he should not be getting involved in another problem. He hesitated, taking a step towards the building to take a step back again. He disliked troublesome things, and getting involved with a potential accident was the most troublesome.

Despite that, he ran towards the building, more of curiosity than concern.

He raced up the steps to where he had come across the teacher, peeking out the stairs and looking down the dark hallway, lighted with nothing but the faint moonlight, the rising sun and a lone flashlight at the middle of the hall. He looked around him, trying to make sense of what was around him.

Listening carefully, there were footsteps down the hall, after hearing it, with big strides, he ran down the hall, catching glimpse of someone dressed completely in black. That person noticed him, cursed and ran off. Azel chased after him, wanting to know who it was and what had occurred while he was gone. He only managed to push the person slightly when he slowed down to make a turn, sending him tumbling down the stairs. Azel stood there, surprised. He had not expected to injure the person, only to talk to him or her about what was going on. He tried rushing down to help, but the person was already gone.

Not wanting to cause any more accidents, he walked back up to the floor, checking the classrooms to find the teacher that he saw first. In the classroom closest to the flashlight, Azel found a body lying on a desk, not moving. He went up to the body carefully, making sure to be gentle when he checked his pulse.

The teacher seemed fine, just unconscious, possibly some internal injuries too. Azel carried him, leaving him in a sitting position at the courtyard, his flashlight beside him. He ignored what he saw, thinking it was simply a student that held a grudge against the teacher.