Skye gaped at the turn of events.
She fluttered her eyes. Was she seeing things? Or was Xandra really in front of her? Her childhood friend stood before her with an impassive face. Her posture was stiff—as if imitating the pillar beside her. Her gray eyes crystallized like jewels.
She couldn’t decide if Xandra looked like a mannequin or a statue.
“Are you for real?” Skye breathed out a giggle. Oh, it was just too good! She received a personal visit! What a joy!
Only Alex’s mouth moved. Her lips grew into a smirk, “Why? Do you dream of me?”
“Ohohoho…well, someone grew a big head over the years.”
Alex pondered between the Skye she was looking at now versus the one she heard from the Parker Mansion’s porch. The disparity amazed her. In this empty hallway, Skye didn’t hold back. She unleashed her inner demons. Mischief covered every inch of her face. Her posture also became arrogant.
Skye swayed her hip to one side, an arm folded over her chest. Her other one was raised up and two connected by hand to elbow.
It seemed that the longer she stared, the more amusing she found Alex to be.
Alex exhaled sharply. She pushed herself off the pillar and approached her target. She stopped when they were a foot apart. Skye’s eyes hooded into a taunting look as she waited for Alex to say something.
“Mind if we go somewhere private?” Alex asked curtly.
“Oh, my! Where are my manners?” Skye fake gasped, covering her open mouth with her fingers. Then, she did a curtsy, saying, “Welcome to Freccia Preparatory Academy. How can I be of service to you?”
Alex’s temple throbbed. Her patience was wearing thin. She fluttered her eyes and smiled sickly sweet, “I already told you. Do you want me to repeat twice?”
Skye straightened her posture. Instead of being offended, she found things enjoyable. Her childhood friend now had claws! And she came out to play. She clapped slowly, showing her approval, “A private place to talk, it is. Coming right up.”
She headed for the room between her club’s and the restroom’s. If her memory served her right, this was converted to a storage unit for the school’s band.They were moved to a bigger room on the other side of the toilets and kept instruments for repair or disposal in this one.
The knob opened without a problem and Skye stepped inside. She flicked the switch. Pulling the door and bending her torso, she became the splitting image of an attendant, “Please step this way. It’s cramped but it’s private just like you ordered.”
Alex refrained from rolling her eyes.
She waltzed inside the room and assessed the surroundings. It seemed like a classroom with a podium at her right. All the chairs and tables had been mo ved to the wall on her left. Various instruments scattered on top of them, classified by categories of strings, wind, percussion and brass.
She moved to the wall across from her, gazing through the closed windows. Tall trees surrounded her vision. If she peeked through the branches, she could spot some parts of the facilities outside. A few sports players ran around the tracks below.
She didn’t expect for the whole campus to be so wide.
“Enjoying the view?” Skye smirked. She locked the door and leaned against it, her hands behind her back. She observed Alex’s movements, “I have to admit. I didn’t think you had it in you to come and find me. I am loving this new change in you.”
Alex tucked her hands on the waistband of her skirt. She shifted her feet towards Skye’s direction, “Did you expect me to cower and hide once I figured out?”
“Figure what out?” Her childhood friend asked with a tilt of her head.
Her eyebrows knitted to a confused look. Any trace of playfulness vanished from her expression. The transition was instant. Alex almost wanted to give her a reward for her acting skills. They were topnotch.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t what she came here for.
Alex clicked her tongue and fished out her phone. She raised it, screen facing Skye. Her finger pressed down on its power button and it blacked out. She tossed it lightly on a desk near the podium. She pulled her sleeves and twisted her arms slowly, showing that she didn’t have any jewelry.
Holding her hands up, Alex stepped forward, “No funny business. I just want to know the truth.”
Skye scoffed with mocking humor. Was she taken as a fool?
She approached Alex, a wild expression in her black eyes, “A phone really? You expect me to believe that there’s no other tapping device on you?”
Since Alex took the initiative, she made herself more suspicious. She came as if truly prepared for this. It was a mind game. She needed Skye to cooperate with her. In order to do that, Alex had to make Skye stop the facade—and she’d only do that if Alex gained her trust.
“Why don’t you check it out for yourself then?”
Alex projected her own provoking tone. She bowed her head slightly, making her stare appear narrow. The subtle smirk on her lips deepened when Skye glared in suspicion.
Either Alex was telling the truth or she was bluffing…
Should she succumb to it or leave? But curiosity itched in her mind. She wanted to know the answer—and she wouldn’t be able to find out if she left.
Besides, when will she ever get this chance again?
Skye closed the distance between them. She started with Alex’s raised arms. Then, made her down and around her body. She pulled off the jacket, shaking it and checking the pockets. She tossed it next to the dead phone when she was done. She inspected the skirt and asked Alex to take off her shoes.
She found nothing.
“Just for the record” Skye said softly as she stood up from a crouch, “You’re the one who came to me, not the other way around.”
Before Skye could step away, Alex clutched her wrist. Her lips curved into a cunning smile, “Why… do you think I’d let you keep your own recording device and twist my words against me?”
Her free hand proceeded to check Skye’s pockets. She felt its rubber case and pulled it out. Not bothering to check the screen, she turned it off and placed it on the desk along with others. Then, she grabbed Skye’s shoulders and made her face the other way.
Alex pulled off her blazer and mimicked her movements from before.
Skye huffed while Alex examined her clothing items, “Do you think I carry recording devices on a daily basis?”
“How disappointing.”
“What am I? A criminal?”
“Well, your record is surely not perfect…” Alex retorted, rising to her feet.
“Alright, I heard this the rooms here are soundproof and we are both clean. Now, tell me” she stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest. The indifferent expression back on her face, “What do you want with Logan?′
“Logan?” Skye blinked. She shifted her attention in Alex’s direction, “You know a ‘Logan’?”
“Oh, please. Don’t give me that” Alex snorted, “I caught you red handed.”
“Whatever do you mean?” Skye asked, keeping her innocent demeanor.
Alex clicked her tongue. It seemed like her companion was determined to play dumb. That wouldn’t do. She could see through it like clear glass but she still needed to hear the words. Otherwise, everything will only be assumptions.
It was time to use her card.
“You expect me to believe that the comment you made about me and Jae making out wasn’t directed towards Logan? Especially the part about a girl?” Alex took one step forward. Her eyes glistened like the blade of a knife, “How would you even think about saying that if you didn’t know Alex wasn’t a boy?”
She had spent too much time analyzing it.
There wouldn’t be a sense to it if Skye didn’t have that implication. Why even make that side comment in the way that she did? Just to taunt Alex? If so, she wouldn’t have needed Logan to overhear it since Jae was already around.
No, with that volume, her childhood friend wanted to reach out to her audience. Skye wanted to expose it to Logan. Maybe even imply that Jae knew. Not only would Alex be in trouble but it could cause another riff between the twins.
She sounded like a puppeteer—nudging them to move the way she wanted to.
Skye cackled in false humor. She shook a finger at Alex, strolling away, “You really are as smart as they say. You saw something as subtle as that? I have to give credit where it’s due. After all, you’re Alexandra…, the clever girl, the perfect daughter… you just have everything easy, don’t you?”
“What’s easy?” Alex scorned.
She took a page from someone else’s book. She channeled the attitudes of spoiled, bratty characters she knew from books and films. Her voice laced with vanity, jabbing each syllable, “Is that why you made it a habit to wreck my life? Or is it for revenge?”
“Excuse me?!” Skye exasperated. She made a sarcastic expression and folded her arms over her chest, “The world doesn’t revolve around you, Xandra. Please wake up from that delusion.”
Alex gave herself a mental pat on the back. The reaction was just what she wanted, “So you mean to say that you came all the way to Woodlands for something else? It surely doesn’t look like it.”
Skye glanced at the ceiling and smacked her lips. Then, she stared back at Alex. Her childhood friend looked doubtful. She also radiated off arrogance and power. The kind of personality that acted like a know-it-all. When Alex fluttered her eyes, it tipped Skye off the edge.
It irritated her to the core.
Oh, how she’d love to knock Alex off her pedestal.
“I think I can hear what you’re trying to ask and it’s my privilege to enlighten you.”
