26TH OCTOBER.
ORION ACADEMY:
APHRODITE AND YUMI'S DORM ROOM.

FOR THE NEXT three days Aphrodite was MIA. She woke up early and left in a rush, barely attended any lectures, almost avoided her friends and sneaked back late when everyone was asleep. She had one small conversation with Yumi last night where Yumi questioned her absence to which Aphrodite answered that she spent most of her time studying outside the campus. Yumi wasn't convinced but didn't ask any more questions either.

Today was Sunday. And even though Aphrodite was beyond exhausted, she didn't throw her day's schedule away. She woke up at the first ring of her alarm--at 5 a.m. She had a strict routine to follow--from catching up to what she missed in the past four days to make sure she is free at 9 a.m. to attend her mother's call--she had to not miss even a single task. She didn't want to raise suspicion.

She stepped into the shower. The excruciatingly hot rivulets of water tensed her body. She threw some shower gel on her hand and brushed it on her torso. She washed her hair with her favourite strawberry shampoo and turned the faucet off. She put her PJs on and wrapped her hair in a white towel.

She glanced at Yumi to make sure that she was still asleep and kept her basket near her bed and unrolled the towel. She ruffled her hair with the towel to dry the dripping water and applied a serum. She side-parted her hair, keeping them away from her face and picked up her basket. She stepped out of her room only to enter a gloomy hallway. She slowly closed the door and began walking down to the laundry room.

She halted all of a sudden when she heard footsteps echo from on the other end of the hallway. She quickly hid behind a column that stood two steps away from her. Her back rested on the wall as she waited for the footsteps to approach closer. She raised her basket, ready to hit the person once they were close enough.

A man wearing a grey hoodie walked past the column when Aphrodite swung the basket on his head.

Woah, cool down, young woman.

The man fell on the rugged floor with a groan escaping his mouth. Aphrodite's toes curled in her pink flip flops when she realised that the sound was very familiar. The man--who looked much shorter now--looks over his shoulder while massaging the back of his head.

"What the hell are you doing?" Karan screeched. "Man, this world is getting more dangerous day by day. Can't even walk down the hallway without getting hit."

"My holy spirit, Karan!" Aphrodite threw her basket away and crouched down with a sympathetic look on her face. "I'm so sorry!" She said as she placed her hand on his shoulder, assessing if he had any injury.

"What kind of expression is that? You Americans are crazy AF. Been living here for about two months now and I still don't know what Kahoot or prep rally is." He ran hand through his hair. There was no hint of mockery in his voice.

Aphrodite ignored his statement and proposed her own. "Why are you awake right now? It's Sunday and 6 a.m."

"Couldn't sleep. But what about you? It's Sunday and 6 a.m in your world too. Why are you awake?" He was still rubbing his head. Aphrodite stood on her feet and helped him to get up--still having that I'm so sorry I shouldn't have hit you look on her face.

"I have some work to catch up on." she sighed. "Including laundry." She eyed at the clothes that were scattered around. She straightened the basket and started gathering her clothes. Karan, like a gentleman, chose to help.

"I've been meaning to ask you," he started. "Where have you been for the past couple of days? Lex said you missed most of your lectures and Yumi also mentioned that you come late and leave early. All good? Are you avoiding us or something?" Hearing him say something seriously in his heavy Indian accent was new to Aphrodite. She heard him joke around, give silly one-liners or voice his snarky opinions but listening to his thick and firm voice was--bizarre, to say the least.

For a moment, she even considered telling him what she was up to. She opened her mouth but closed it again. She bit her lips. "I, um. Been a little demotivated."

"Oh." He threw the last piece of her cloth in her basket and stretched his back. "Man, been there. It's horrible when that shit hits. Take a walk through the Orion Woods, it helped me last week." He smiled. "Don't go alone, though."

"Yeah, thanks."

"I'll see you around." He left back for his room.

Aphrodite scrunched up her nose and walked down the hallway, thinking about how Karan--or any of her friends who don't call her by her nickname would've reacted if she ever told them the truth about herself. Would they still like her? Would they even consider her a friend? Or would they just label her with something she is afraid to be called?

Her phone buzzed, snapping her out of her thoughts. She pulled it out from her PJs that have pockets and swiped her passcode. Her heartbeats fasten--already guessing who it could be.

The text flashed on her screen and her eyes widened.

•••

She tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear as her eyes travelled through each word from her textbook. Her notebooks were scattered on her bed along with pens, pencils and highlighters hiding under her pillows, pages and textbooks.

She was jittery. She had started to regret bunking her lectures because studying without the notes given by her teachers was...hard. Apart from that, she couldn't help but worry about the text that her mom had sent her this morning.

I know what you are up to. Don't think you can get away with that easily. Her mom had written. Aphrodite's fingers trembled as she typed her response but ended up not answering at all. Her mom was about to call her in less than ten minutes. And she had to face it.

What if I switch my phone off and tell her it died? She thought. Before she could come up with another way of avoiding the phone call, her phone rang. She slapped her face with her palms--her folded legs began to bounce.

Without sparing a glance at the screen, she picked the call up and began to say, "Look, Mom. I can explain. I know you didn't send me here to...um, do what I did but I needed to, okay? I deserve to know the truth. And you can't stop me from that. Please, try to put yourself in my shoes. I didn't choose to--"

"You should've let me know that you're practising your apology speech on me." A masculine voice echoed from the other line. A chuckle followed. Lex added, "Gimme a little context, so I could ask the right question."

Aphrodite's mouth fell open. "I--um." She paused. "Why are you calling me? You never call me." She was on edge. She glanced at her watch. Her mother was going to call her in a minute.

"We're having a game night in our room. Karan wants you two to come as well to get to know each other," he said as he mocked the words 'to get to know each other' in an uninterested undertone.

"Why that tone? You don't wanna know the people you are forced to work with?" She countered.

"Not really. The less we know, the better. Makes it easier for me to work with someone."

"Well, then. A game night is exactly what we need."

"That's exactly what I said! See, she is on my side. You better not try to get away with this," Karan yelled from the other line. The latter half was for Lex-- who let out a heavy breath at his statement.

"We're supposed to have fun. These are pranks. Don't you like egging the car of someone you don't like? Or perhaps, sneaking out?"

"Not anymore." He deadpanned."We'll see you later."

"Aight, bye." Aphrodite shook her head in dismay.

"Good luck with your Mom," Lex said before hanging up.

header image by Margo Amala.

how have y'all been?

also, three of JB's songs from his new album Justice is added to the book playlist. you can find it under the name "let's talk about murder" (no caps (literally))

anyway, have a great day/night.

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