Jae couldn’t distinctly describe the shock that enraptured his nerves when he came out of the classroom. He met an entire mess. Foot traffic in between classes was bad enough… but with flyers everywhere? It became chaotic. The hallways were cramped. Nobody thought of moving somewhere else. Everyone merely stood still.
The teachers and staff did their best to discipline the students and take away the evidence.
That was all they could do.
Yet, it wouldn’t be enough.
Unless they had a memory erasing device, it would never be enough.
After Jae got over the initial shock, he immediately went on a hunt for the person responsible for this mess. He dashed through the bystanders and searched for signs. He squeezed himself at every possible space. What would make this person stand out? A pile of papers in their hands maybe? Was this executed by more than one person? How did they manage to distribute these quickly?
“Jae!” Lauren shouted as he passed her by,
He stopped in his tracks and jogged back. They met halfway, her ponytail bouncing in the air. Both of them had the same questioning look in their eyes. Lauren had flyers in her hands and she ripped them apart, letting the pieces fall back into the mess.
Then. she’d start over again.
“I know,” he told her as she picked up another pile.
Lauren gripped the sides tightly and pulled. The sound of paper being torn flowed into her ears. She’d give anything for a paper shredder right now, “Who do you think did this?”
“I think it should be Skye.”
Both Jae and Lauren shifted their attention to their left. Carla came up to them, stepping over the piles of paper.
“So the person you really meant back then is Skye?” Lauren asked.
Her head cheerleader nodded, “It has to be unless Alex has another enemy. The text in them are personal attacks against her too.”
“Well, there’s Courtney” Jae thought out loud, “But I kept an eye on her ever since. She runs even just at the sight of us. She wouldn’t do this large of a scale.”
Lauren shook her head. She had been ripping the same stack of flyers during the conversation. They became tiny pieces of confetti. The menacing threat in her voice was evident, “If I ever see that bi—”
“Look, there she is!” Carla yelled.
The crowd moved enough for her to spot a black haired girl a few meters away from them. She spoke to a couple of boys and handed them each a number of papers. She smiled at their help, compelling them into her charm.
It was absolutely disgusting.
Skye flickered her gaze as if she felt someone looking. Her black eyes widened at the three stares aimed at her. None of them seemed welcoming. She inched back slowly. Then, she turned away and made a run for it. She had worn her backpack upside. The zipper was found at the bottom. It was pulled open to let flyers drop out whenever the bag bumped against her bag.
They littered all over the floor.
“GET BACK HERE YOU, DESPICABLE PIECE OF S***!” Jae shouted over the endless chatter. Since he caught everyone’s attention, they all knew to step aside the moment he sprinted towards them. He kept his focus on the bag with flying paper. His legs and his arms moved in sync, adding more to his speed.
His target pushed on the entrance doors and exited the building. She took off the straps and dumped the bag into a corner. She jumped over the last few steps of the front stairs, dashing towards the car that waited for her.
“Floor it!” She instructed the driver as she opened the door.
He didn’t think twice. He didn’t have to when he spotted the group that followed behind Skye. His foot pressed on the gas pedal. The tires squeaked at the sudden speed. He pulled on the steering wheel, trying not to hit anything. He aimed for the open gates and wheezed through the streets.
Jae cursed, memorizing the plate number.
He should have known that she had a getaway car. He ran for his own convertible. He wouldn’t let her get away this time. He didn’t wait for any passengers and rolled out of his parking spot. He could see that the guards spotted him. They immediately tried to close the gates.
He increased the pressure on the pedal and zipped for it.
He felt a slight bump hit his side mirror of the passenger side. He checked on it and saw it was still intact. He figured it was good enough, making a turn. The roads had a few cars but, at least, traffic was mild. He grabbed every chance to take over the other drivers. When he met an intersection, he chose the path that led out of the town.
She would have aimed for that.
Lauren and Carla panted on top of the front stairs of the school. They had their knees bent, hands resting on top of their thighs. They didn’t dare to join Jae or they’d just slow him down. With him as the only person in the car, he’d have less to worry about and concentrate on the chase.
“Your father is in the police force, right, Lauren? Can you ask him to help Jae out in this?”
Carla watched her visibly stiffen. She had somewhat expected this. Lauren had never mentioned more than a word or two about her father. Although, they did live together. None of them dared to ask before but Carla figured that this could be an exception.
“I-I…” Lauren stammered. She hardly thought about her father. He left before she could in most mornings. Then, he’d be back late. Other than that, he kept the kitchen fully stocked with food. She didn’t find a necessary reason to talk to him because of it.
“It’s okay. I’m sure Jae will get her” Carla comforted her, straightening her spine. She patted her fellow cheerleader’s shoulder, “You don’t need to do something you don’t want to do.”
Lauren took a deep breath and leaned back. Eyes on the ground, she shook her head and sighed, “Nah, I can’t let that come between what’s right and what’s wrong. Right now, Alex needs our help and I will do it with everything I got.”
The phone felt heavy as she pulled it out of her pocket. She unlocked the screen and pressed on the speed dial. She jumped on her feet when the call picked up after just one ring.
“Ren? What’s wrong? What happened?” Officer Williams spoke through the receiver. He sounded gruff like he usually did but a hint of worry laced in his words.
“I’m fine,” Lauren spoke softly. She forgot about her inner emotions and focused on the situation, “But something happened in school. A trespasser decided to create havoc and drove away from the scene. It’s really important. You think you can track the vehicle before it escapes the town? The plate number is EYE 7673.”
“Absolutely” her father responded without hesitation, “I’ll have all available units help out. We’ll bring the passengers in as soon as we can.”
Lauren bit her bottom lip. She hadn’t expected for the favor to be taken easily.
“Thank you.”
“No problem, kiddo. Whenever you need something, don’t ever hesitate to call me, okay?”
“Yeah…” she breathed out, “I’ll keep that in mind.��
“Alright, stay safe now.”
“You too.”
The call ended and Lauren tucked her phone back into her pocket. Her body trembled a bit from the conversation. When was the last time she talked to him? At the airport when her flight landed? What did they even talk about?
“You okay?”
Carla’s question brought Lauren out of her daze. She blinked away the blank look in her eyes. It would take some time before the gap between her and her father would shorten. A part of her was grateful today happened. It gave her hope that maybe things weren’t as bad as they were before.
She should find topics to converse about.
“Can you not tell anyone about this unless necessary?” Lauren asked, still looking at the parking lot. Carla hadn’t let her shoulder go during the phone call. She appreciated the support but she also needed another thing.
“Sure” the head cheerleader replied. It wasn’t her business to meddle with anyway, “Let’s go back inside. You’re probably worried about Alex.”
“Oh, gods, Alex!”
Lauren sprinted through the entrance. At first, she wasn’t sure where to go. Then, she remembered that Colin had the same class as Alex. She changed directions and headed for the Math and Science department.
The hallways were still filled with loiterers but more staff members could be seen. Some of them snatched the flyers directly from the hands of students and reprimanded them for their behavior. A few also grabbed any phones that took photos of the papers’s contents. It left a bad taste in Lauren’s mouth. How could these people take this circumstance so lightly?
Were they really about to post it on social media? Where did their traits of sympathy and understanding go? The trash?
“Guys, the craziest thing just happened at my school!” a female sophomore yelled at her phone’s front camera. She lifted it so the angle could capture the mess behind her, “Can you all see that pink and blue paper? I feel like I teleported to that scene when the Burn Book took over North Shore High School! Except they’re all about one person.”
“Hey!” Carla called out. She beelined towards the student and yanked the cellphone away.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
The head cheerleader ignored the owner, searching for the delete button of the live video. A thought ran in her mind. Just how many of them were doing this at the moment? Just how far would this storm spread?
What could they do to spot it? Once it was out on the internet, it would only be a matter of time before it reached thousands of people—maybe even millions. After all, the richest heiress in their country is the subject of the incident.
How was Alex coping up with this?
