CHAPTER 9
4 0 0
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A- 15px A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.

Mia and Vivi returned to their classroom and continued with the class. A while later, someone came knocking on the classroom's door and seemed to be looking for something. "Is the student named Vivi here?"

Vivi was surprised that her name was called and stood up. "Yes? That's me."

"Please come to the staff room."

Vivi felt uneasy suddenly being summoned. "I'll be right back." Vivi said to Mia with a smile.

------

Several minutes later, Vivi came back to the classroom. Mia was ready to welcome her back but stopped when she looked at Vivi's face. She had an unreadable expression. "Vivi?"

Vivi looked at Mia and suddenly hugged her. Mia was surprised and flustered. "Vivi, what's the matter?"

Vivi released Mia from her arm and said, "Sorry, I have to go."

"Huh?"

Vivi then started to gather her belongings into her bag. She turned to Mia one more time, "I'll see you later." and then walked out of the classroom at a quick pace. She seemed to be in a hurry.

Mia was left confused by what just happened. Vivi acted weirdy, causing her to be very worried.

------

That night Mia laid in her bed, thinking about Vivi's behavior at school today. Many things happened today and Mia felt exhausted and stressed. Her eyelids slowly closed as she was falling asleep, and opened again to see a familiar face in front of her.

"Mia, you're here," Vin called out to Mia with a smile.

Mia did not respond and instead just stood still, staring at Vin with a complicated expression.

"Mia?"

"Hey Vin... do you remember Julie? You know? The girl who used to hang out with us."

"...yes, of course. What's about her?" Vin replied with his usual smile.

Mia's eye twitched looking at Vin's expression. She bit her lip and groped on her clothes. It's almost as if she was choking. Mia then bowed her head and seemed to be saying something but her voice was almost as quiet as air. "...no...named..."

"Did you say something?"

Mia quickly raised her head and looked at Vin in the eyes. "I said there's no one named Julie!"

Vin was surprised by what he just heard. He was confused as to what Mia meant but a part of him seemed to understand it, but at the same he was afraid to acknowledge it. "What do you mean...?"

"There's no one named Julie. I made that up." Tears started to surface in Mia's trembling eyes. "I have been ignoring this uneasy feeling for so long. I hated myself for feeling this way... but as time went on that feeling, that suspicion... seems true and I was scared..."

Vin finally grasped the situation and his lips trembled. He stayed silent as Mia was venting her pent up feeling, and finally she stopped. "Hey Vin... are you really 'Vin'?"

"..."

"..."

The two went silent and so did the space around them where only the two people were standing. As one waited for their question to be answered, the sound of the void filled their ears and every second felt like hours. After a moment, one of them finally opened their mouth. "When did you know?"

Mia broke down crying. The short question that was thrown back at her was all she needed to confirm her suspicion. The boy who was standing in front of her wasn't Vin. But why had he been pretending to be him all these times?

This boy, whose borrowed identity was exposed, was now standing still, unable to do anything. His crystal blue eyes that resemble the night sky trembled looking at the devastated Mia who was crouching on her ground, her teardrops reflecting the light that came in contact with, just like the boy's white hair. He wanted to take her into his arms but afraid he had lost his authority to do so, so he only stood and watched.

------

"...so he will be in our class starting from today. Make sure to get along, okay?"

"Hello, my name is Cloud Winston, pleased to meet you."

("That's the rumored Cloud Winston? I can't believe he's in our class!")

("You can smell money just by staying close to him, haha.")

Cloud Winston, a newly transferred student who had just returned from living abroad recently, he's quite well known. As he made his way to his seat, whispers could be heard from left and right. Everyone can have their own opinions on him but they all agreed on one thing, that was that his mother was an individual who had helped the school tremendously and they were grateful for it. Yes, he was the son of the generous Madam Aria, also the name that had made its way into Mia's train of thoughts a lot recently.

------

Morning class ended and lunch break came. Cloud stood up and made his way to the cafeteria but before he could even get out of the classroom, the classmates approached him one by one and before long he was flocked to the door.

"Nice to meet you, Cloud. My name is ***!"

"Hey, hey, are you really the son of that rich lady?"

"I-I'm sorry, but I need to get lunch. Please let me through..." Cloud struggled to handle the enormous attention he was receiving.

"Ahh-!"

A loud voice was heard nearby which caught everyone's attention, including Cloud. It seemed like someone had tripped and was laying on the floor.

"Oh my gosh! I am sorry. Are you okay?"

"...yes."

("Hey that girl again...")

Everyone was talking about the girl who just tripped and was trying to get back up from the floor. Cloud was watching the same scene as everyone else and was curious about this certain girl they were mentioning. But as Cloud's eyes followed this girl around, he noticed something... he recognized this girl. It was Mia.

Cloud was filled with different emotions. He was about to raise his hand and called out to Mia when she turned around. Cloud flinched and stopped what he was about to do. Mia's face, which he just saw, had a dry empty expression with lightless dead eyes. At that moment, Cloud suddenly hesitated to approach Mia so he just watched as she walked away.

For the next few days, Cloud would continue to observe Mia and followed her to find an opportunity to approach her. He was almost like a stalker. Sadly, that opportunity seemed hard to come by and he would always give up at the last minutes. "Next time for sure!" Cloud convinced himself.

It seemed like Cloud's plan to talk to Mia wasn't going well, unfortunately. That was until one day. As he was peeking at Mia from the classroom next to his as usual, he saw a group of students gathered.

'Mia?!' Amongst the crowd was Mia in between. Actually, when looking closer it seemed almost like Mia was being mobbed by the other students. '...what is going on?'

The group was saying something to Mia but the voices were too quiet Cloud couldn't make out what their words. Mia, who was amids the group, looked anxious. Then, one of the students in the group pushed at Mia's shoulder.

'What?' Cloud was confused at what was going on. He felt uneasy at what he just saw. Immediately, after that, the student pushed Mia again, this time more aggressively and Mia stepped back and hit the wall behind her.

At this scene, Cloud snapped and ran up to the students, yelling, "Hey! Stop right there!" He squeezed through the group and stood before Mia, his back facing her.

The other students were surprised. "Huh? Who..."

"What do you think you are doing, bullying her like that?!"

"...bullying? What are you talking about? We're friends, we were just playing with her. Mind your own business!"

Cloud's anger rose as the bullies continued to speak. He tightened his grips and glared at them. "I'll only say this once. Begone right now and I'll let you go, or else I will report all of you to the principal."

"Huh? Who do you think..."

"Wait! This guy, isn't he the son of that rich family?"

"What?"

The bullies looked at each other spontaneously and then looked at Cloud who was intensively glaring at them and took a few steps back. They seemed to have realized that Cloud was the son of Madam Aria and had close connections with the school.

Throughout this whole yellings back and forth between Cloud and the group of bullies, Mia was shielded behind Cloud. She didn't fully grasp the situation but it seemed like this boy who was standing in front of her right now had come to help. But she was confused as to who he was and why he was helping her.

The argument went on for a little while after, before then bullies walked away, infuriated. It's over. Mia watched the bullies walk out the classroom and then turn back to the back in front of her. It was wide and tall, so tall that she had to look up high to see the head of this person. He had short hair with the color of abyssal black that shone as the sunlight dyed onto them.

"Uh, umm... thank-"

"Are you alright, Mia?"

Mia's eyebrows rose, she was surprised. How did this person know her name?

Mia kept staring at the back of his head, he turned around and stared back at her face. At that moment, Mia's eyes shook violently. She recognized this person, the black hair and amber eyes. Although the features were different here and there, there's no doubt who he was.

"...Cloud...?"

0