22ND OCTOBER.
ORION ACADEMY:
CAMPUS PATHWAY.

THE NEXT DAY rolled in before Yumi had time to catch up on her sleep. She couldn't sleep all night. There were two things in her mind--the hug and what if that boy saw her? Escaping him was easier than she speculated and although a part of her enjoyed it, she couldn't help but fret.

They were so close to getting caught. She can't do this. She promised her parents to be a disciplined kid and only work towards becoming a successful physician but being a part of a secret society was asking her to break the promise. Her parents had warned her that if she stepped a toe out of her line, they'll force her to return and be homeschooled for the rest of her life.

But she was two weeks in and had already broken a dozen rules. She needed to stay away from them but Aphrodite--staying away from her was difficult. There was something about her that Yumi couldn't stop admiring. She liked her presence. She reminded Yumi of someone she wished hadn't left her. She liked being with her. Aphrodite made her feel safe--like everything will be all right.

Will it, though?

Yumi's trail of thoughts was cut short when she bumped into a couple of students on her way to her first lecture. She lowered her head and apologized. The students she had bummed to huffed and pushed her out of their way. She sighed and turned around to watch them walk away--controlling her urge to punch their jaw. She bawled her fist but her fast heartbeat quickly relaxed when her eyes caught someone else.

The girl from her musings--Aphrodite stuffed a couple of loose papers in her small backpack and slipped out of the crowded pathway leading to the Grand Quarters and seemed to be headed in the opposite direction; towards the Main Gate. She tucked her blonde hair behind her ears ten times as she sprinted. Her eyes were travelling around, making sure no one was watching her but Yumi was. Aphrodite was frantic and before Yumi could even consider following her, she was out of sight.

Yumi furrowed her eyebrows.

"What are you waiting for?" Karan appeared in front of her out of nowhere. She flinched and met his eyes. His smooth tan skin gleamed under the blazing sunlight--almost making her jealous of her own pale, porcelain one.

"Ah, nothing. Was waiting for you," she lied. Karan grinned.

"Oh, that's nice. Well, I'm here. Let's go." He turned and walked into the Grand Quarters. The number of students tripled in amount as they climbed the first floor. Despite the large hallways and minimum availability of seats for students in Orion Academy, there seemed to be more people here than in her own town. Yumi followed Karan closely so as to not get lost in this ocean of harmonal raged teens functioning on caffeine.

Aphrodite was still on her mind but she tried to focus on the bright side--she had another friend who chose to sit with her in the class. It warmed her heart.

They entered the classroom and chose to sit on the fifth row between a scrawny boy with platinum blond hair and an Asian girl since it was the only two seats that were side by side and empty.

Yumi tried to make herself comfortable but the Asian girl on her left was shooting daggers at her. Yumi chewed her tongue and side glanced at the girl. She was wearing an all black outfit--leather jacket, graphic t-shirt, ripped jeans and even shoes. Her eyes were a darker shade of black than the kohl underneath it.

After a long pause, the girl finally spoke up. "Do I know you from somewhere?" Even though her exterior facade conveyed that she was the kind of girl one shouldn't mess with, her voice was softer. Not as soft as Aphrodite, in Yumi's opinion but surely softer than a stereotypical meanie.

"I don't think so," Yumi responded and snapped her head to Karan, hoping he starts one of his long conversations on meaningless topics. Adding to her bad luck, he was in a deep conversation with the scrawny dude. But that didn't stop Yumi from striking up a conversation.

"Why do you want to be a doctor?" She questioned, interrupting the platinum blondie in his mid-sentence which revolved around some Pokemon.

Karan looked at Yumi, perplexed. "Umm...to help people, I guess." He furrowed his eyebrows at her. "Why are you asking that?" He pressed on the word you as if he didn't anticipate from her to throw this question--probably because he expects their answer to be similar; to have the same motive. To help people.

"I, um, just curious. What about, ah..." She fixed her gaze on the blond boy who looked fragile and scared every time she met his eyes. "...you?"

"Um, Ben. I want to help people too. Very cliché answer but that's what convinced me when my parents asked me to become one." Ben scratched the back of his neck and lowered his eyes. Fear was a constant emotion in his demeanour.

When you're controlled by addicts at the tender age of five, you either fight back or drown in fear. But of course, Yumi didn't know his story. She only knew hers; which wasn't much different from his. When Yumi was given the option to fight back or let them control you, she chose to fight back. But even that contains small proportions of fear.

"Wait, hold on," Karan said as he straightened in his seat. All of his attention directed towards Ben. "You don't want to become a doctor?"

"What? No! I mean...it's okay. It's not bad. I mean, my passion wasn't doing good to anyone per se. Might as well study something that does," Ben responded. Yumi found herself invested in this conversation more than anything. So much that she forgot she had asked that question just to get away with the meanie. So much that she didn't notice her Professor walk in.

"That's fucked up," Karan muttered under his breath just when Mr. Melendez began with the lecture.

•••

yo having lunch with Josh. don't wait up. Aphrodite had written to their group chat. But Yumi knew it was a big fat lie, especially since you don't sneak out to have lunch. And judging by Lex's perplexed look after receiving her text, she guessed that even he doubted her. Probably because she missed all their shared lectures.

"I had a brother too," Karan said as he looked up from his phone. "But I didn't have lunch with him everyday at school. Aphrodite and Joshua must be very close or something." He chuckled and stuffed his phone back into his pocket. He leaned in and continued eating his noodles 'that isn't as good as Maggi'--as he mentioned everyday but ordered the same noodles anyway.

Had? She wanted to ask but she figured she didn't need to ask it. The tense of the sentence made the answer pretty clear.

"How did you get away with it, Yumi?" West questioned as he peered towards the person this question was asked to. Yumi pinched her eyebrows, asking him to elaborate. "How did you trick Willow junior? He must've come in your direction yet you somehow got away with it. How?" West didn't even spend a moment to hide his suspicion.

Lex shook his head.

"I threw a stone in the opposite direction and ran back to the thickets to hide. Made sure he went back to his room so as to not risk being seen when climbing back to the car," Yumi replied calmly. She was great at this--hiding, covering up, sneaking out.

"Why the suspicion, West-ie Bestie? We're all friends now, aren't we? We should trust each other. Or are you forgetting that we share a huge secret--we are going to be the Black Hole!" Karan grinned.

But despite the energy that Karan radiated, West huffed. "I'm not your bestie. I don't know you. Or Yumi. Or Aphrodite." He pulled a tissue from the tissue box and dabbed his lips to wipe the crumbs off of his face.

"You're right." Karan looked at his empty plate but his mind seemed to be wandering off.

"I always am." West shrugged. "About what, this time?"

"We don't know each other at all!" Karan's eyes travelled to each one on the booth. His lips curled up. "We only talk about the Black Hole. Never about ourselves. I don't know a thing about any of you." He suddenly stood up in the small space between the couch and the table. He slapped his palms on the table. "Let's go bowling this weekend. Or an arcade. Or have a game night!"

He was glowing.

Silence built up despite the bustling cafeteria.

And then silently, one person replied. "No."

"What do you mean no?" Karan frowned as his eyes hollowed at Lex's response. Lex sipped his diet coke. He took his own to time to keep Karan waiting for the answer. Lex yawned lazily and kept the soda can beside his table.

"No means no." Lex replied. "You wanna hear the answer in Hindi? Nuh-hee."

"But why?" Karan questioned.

header image by Zhanhui Li

a little sneak-peak into Yumi's mind. what do you think? any ideas/theories on where Aphrodite is sneaking off too? OH, and I MAY have found a song for Lexodite and Yudite. stay tuned to find out!

have a great day/ night.

{ don't forget to vote and comment! }