29TH NOVEMBER.
ORION ACADEMY:
THE RESTRICTED SECTION.

APHRODITE and Lex marvelled at the view in front of them. The room was wide with shelves filled with new and old books, journals, diaries. Aphrodite tried to process the names of the shelves and aisles. Half of them didn't even make sense to her but neither did her life and well, she wasn't dead yet so she ignored the howl in her stomach--the gnawing feeling that this is going to be a dead end. It was a long shot, at best.

Lex turned his head towards her. His eyebrows raised and mouth puckered.

But hey, he was with her. Maybe it's not all bad.

Not yet, at least.

"Which section should we look up first?" He questioned.

"Um, history seems like a good choice." She pointed at the section.

His brown eyes glowed as his fingers brushed against her palm. She released her clenched fists at his gentle touch. His long fingers tickled against her skin as he interlaced them with her fingers. He rubbed circles on her skin and his lips curled upwards. It was that curve of smile that only Aphrodite had access to. "Ready to break a new rule, Ms. Rose?"

"As long as you're with me, Mr. Rivera." He chuckled at her response and pulled her towards the history section. They passed through the aisle, their eyes reading the names of the files and books that they walked past. Aphrodite was tempted to check the yearbook pictures of Orion Academy's graduates but was reminded by Lex that they had less than forty minutes to both find relevant information and escape without getting caught.

She paused at the Other Societies section and tapped on Lex's shoulder. They exchanged a few looks. Lex jammed his hand forward to pull volume one and pass it to her and took the second one for himself. With each new page that she turned, a crispy sound echoed around. These books haven't been opened in years. The yellowing pages and dusty covers made that undoubtable. They scanned through the pages but no new names striked out. Strangely enough, The Black Hole wasn't mentioned even in the slightest.

"In all seriousness," Aphrodite spoke, which made Lex pry his eyes away from the book. "What kind of academy names their own library as the supermassive library? Self-centered, much?"

Lex gave her a perplexing smile. His eyes wandered off to somewhere past her. He carefully pushed the book back onto the shelf and he chewed his tongue. The playful smirk on Aphrodite's face faded when Lex ran past her. She followed him to the main entrance to find him staring at the name board.

"God, I am so stupid." Lex facepalmed.

"No shit, Sherlock." Lex rolled his eyes at Aphrodite's un-Aphrodite like comment. She pressed her lips in a thin line. "Right, sorry. Why do you think you are stupid, my dear smart boyfriend?"

"I loved reading and watching movies about space and everything related to that topic. Supermassive is a type of black hole--the largest Black Hole. So, when you said that it was self-centered for them to name their own library supermassive--it hit me that it has nothing to do with the adjective."

"Wait, so this whole restricted section is--"

"--about The Black Hole, yes! That's why we haven't found anything in those Other Societies books. We have to--"

"Oh, My God. Follow me!" She ran towards the farthest shelf. Her eyes traveled through the names of the files. "Look at this!" She said and gestured towards the sections. Lex's eyes read the words Current Members, Past Members, The Management System and his lips parted in amazement because under that section, they had files with names of the members including the five of them.

Aphrodite pulled a file with her name and read the pages. "Thirsty to find her biological father? That's in my remark?" She scoffed. "Oh, Gosh--they have mentioned Riley too."

"Who's Riley?"

"A friend that hates me," she said silently. "The recent update mentions that we are in a secret relationship with you. Why are they keeping tabs on us? That is so undeniably sketchy of them."

Lex's phone buzzed. He pulled it out and a face of Oh, shit. I've seen a ghost! Was carved in the next three seconds. "Oh, damn," he mumbled under his breath as he read the text. "Mrs. Lu figured that she lost the card key. She's coming in to check." Lex grabbed his girlfriend's hand and they ran towards the last shelf.

"Lex, the lights!" She whispered when Lex and she ducked under the tall shelves.

"I'll switch it off. If I get caught, hide. And if you get an opportunity to sneak out, go. Don't wait for me." Without a word, Lex rushed towards the entrance. In the next few seconds, the light was switched off and the sound of the door opening echoed at the same time. Aphrodite couldn't make out what happened first. She sighed in relief when she heard footsteps instead of voices. Lex wasn't caught yet.

The footsteps went farther away from where Aphrodite was so she took it as an opportunity to go back towards the shelves they were previously investigating. Her eyes paused on two names--Yumi Cho and Sienna Rose. She sighed, grabbed a file, tucked it under her t-shirt, buttoned up her coat and stepped forward to find Lex. She was just a shelf away from Mrs. Lu when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Her mouth opened to let out a gasp when a palm was pressed on her mouth. Her gasp was swallowed when a familiar set of eyes met hers.

"Let's leave. Hurry!" They ran outside. Yumi, West and Karan were waiting for the two of them. The smile on their faces after finding out that Lex and Aphrodite were safe told her one thing--she had made true friends. Lex quickly tucked the card in one of the drawers of Mrs. Lu's desk and they ran out of the Grand Quarters.

"Was it successful? Did you find anything?" West asked as they walked back to the residential quarters.

"We didn't get much time." Lex said. "All we know is that the whole restricted section is the library for The Black Hole. Past members, current members, potential members, management...everything."

"No shit," West murmured.

"And the fact they love to dig dirt on us. They keep tabs on everything. It's creepy. And that's coming from a stalker herself!" Aphrodite added.

"Stalking your exes and rivals on social media doesn't count," Karan teased her.

Aphrodite sent a dagger in his direction.

"So, the whole mission was a dead end." West sighed.

Not for Aphrodite.

header image by Henry & Co.

hey, sweetpies! I don't write a lot of author notes because I somehow find that writing something irrelevant or personal things is just...irrelevant? but today...I'd like to say something:

so, with each new chapter--we are inching closer to the end. and it hit me tonight that sometime in the next few weeks, I'll be fleshing these characters for the last time. it took me more than seven months to write this novel and soon, I'll have to say goodbye. no more Karan's teases, Lexodite or Yudite, no more West's advices. no more of Black Hole tasks. lol why am I getting so emotional?! it's gonna be a roller coaster of feelings--not just for you. I hope you enjoy every bit of it.