THE LOOP HOLES

Ben, Fred and Patrick wearing a blithe look sauntered through the busily filled hallway with students hurrying down the canteen in pairs and groups for their lunch. Their expressions closed up, cold and impassive, everyone who saw them approaching, crawled aside to make way for them. They dare not pass close by to them if they want to have their lunch in peace.

"Hey", Patrick spoke up with a nudge on Ben's shoulder. "what do you think about that newbie in our class–"

"Yeah, do you think it's time we let him know who we are in this school", Fred added.

"Umm_", Ben stuttered with a brooding and calculative gaze.

bang!!

someone suddenly run into Ben from behind which made him involuntary pause in his words, almost falling to the floor.

"Damn it!, who the hell is that! ", his voice hallowed through the hall which made the students using the hallway suddenly pause. The hallway went dead silent, making it possible to hear the drop of a pin or droplet of water.

It felt like the whole world suddenly came to a halt for a moment. But then everyone turned back to their various activity in a swift with the attitude that bluntly screams 'I don't want to know what happens next.'

"Wow, what just happened? ", Rubin mumbled as he shrugged up from the floor, composed.

Ben and his friends deftly turned towards the culprit only to find Rubin. Their faces immediately turned roguish with a set smile curved at the corners of their lips.

Ben, with a fixed gaze, drew closer to Rubin who was already on his feet now.

"Oh, sorry guys, I was so in a hurry", pleaded, Rubin.

"Huh, talk of the devil ", Ben eluded.

"And there you have him– right under your nose", Fred and Patrick added, expressionless.

Rubin who didn't know what he had really gotten himself into with a sardonic expression, queried.

" Pardon?– are you talking to me?". Just then, his subconsciousness dawn reality on him, the reason for his rush before the sudden encounter.

" Oh, no, I'm so dead ! Alixes", he mumbled and turned to leave. " Sorry again, guys, I got to go. We'll talk about this some other time", he exclaimed and rushed off.

"Damn, how could I forget this– and where the hell is this Laura girl".

His back faded away in a second as he took the stairs to the rooftop.

Ben, Patrick and Fred with pained and glowering expression gazed darkly in the distance. His face screaming the wrath and want to beat the very breath out of him.

" Did he just walk out on us?", Fred asked, his teeth gritted in anger.

A mischievous smile explored Ben's face, his hand instinctively clenched in a fists, ready to devour a pry.

" We'll handle him later after the meeting with my dad– I heard he's getting furious and impatient", he tilted his head and beckoned ," come on, let's get out of here".

He glanced for the last time at the stairs Rubin took to the rooftop and smiled as he glided away. Fred and Patrick followed suit.

PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE

Mr. Hansel sat behind his desk with a brooding look. His eyes fixed on a particular document and a pen drive in front of him. His mind kept running wild and his face screaming out his impatience.

Just then, he heard a knock on the door.

"who's there– come in", his voice echoed as he gathered the unknown documents which he was brooding over and hurriedly kept it away in his drawer.

The door slowly cracked open with Ben half way through. Fred and Patrick crept after him.

Mr. Hansel raised his head to find them standing a few meters away from his desk.

"You called, Dad", Ben spoke up first.

"Yeah, and you finally came after that long while?", he roared with quiet a cold voice which sent shivers down Fred and Patrick. They really know what that voice meant, "trouble". No one dared to answer.

He lowered back his gaze back to the drawer in which he placed the documents and pen drive and retrieved them again.

"What's the meaning of this, Fred and Patrick?", he queried angrily.

Fear crossed their face at the very sound of their names. Ben who looked blankly inscrutable, gazed back at his two friends who stood behind him, gawked.

" What's going on?", his voice finally found it's way out of his mouth.

"I don't really understand what all this is about", Fred trembled, his words barely escape his lips.

Mr. Hansel furiously threw the file at them which made its content of pictures and pen drive scatter on the floor. Fred, Patrick and Ben's eyes flared wide– awe transformed their faces.

"What's the meaning of this?", asked Ben, staring at the blank faces of his friends.

They stared at him without a word.

"Speak out, God damn it ! – these are images of you guys at the police station. Is it about, Laura?", Ben yelled.

***************

At the other end, Mya approached the Principal's office to hand over some records of her class. She stopped at the door, about to knock when she suddenly heard the name Laura. The voices and the tone of the yell made her grow suspicious of them.

"Is this about my sister?", she mumbled to herself. Her investigative genes immediately came in action. She slowly and quietly leaned more closer on the door as she set her phone's recorder on.

**************

"Speak up, already ", Ben urged on angrily.

"Yes, Ben", Mr. Hansel answered. " I know those friends of yours could be cowards at a point in time and they finally proved it right after the incidence which led to your black out."

He spoke on with a set smile as he settled back in his seat.

" They decided to let the cat out of the bag".

Just then, they heard a sound from the door which made them flinch.

*********

Mya found it quiet difficult to get their words and voices clearly since the voice was no longer high pitched like earlier when she heard the yell.

" why are their voices so low", she cried as she struggled to get a better and clearer recording.

Just then, a sudden touch from behind made her jerk up, dropping her books and phone in the process.

"Oh, no.... ", she gasped.