“Okay, we don’t have the time to talk,” Emily said in a rush. She grabbed Alex’s hand and yanked her to a narrow corridor. She kept her eyes straight, walking at a fast pace, “We have a small window of opportunity since it’s time for club activities. If we miss it, we’d have to wait for another one.”

Jae followed them, staying at a good distance. Emily led them through several passageways until they reached the back part of the campus. Clubrooms had been stationed on either side of the main building. A few indoor ones had special needs such as soundproof walls and platforms or stages so they had a modern exterior design instead of a medieval castle.

They rounded a corner when Emily stopped in her tracks.

“Damn it” she muttered. Then, she pushed Alex and Jae behind a pillar. They all hid while she peeked into the corridor, “Skye just went inside her clubroom. We missed it.”

“Would we have to wait for her to use the restroom?” Alex thought out loud. She tucked her head under her cousin’s and also spied on the students passing by, “All your blazers are blue?”

“Yeah” Emily answered, “Unless you’re a member of the student council. You get the cream one with black borders and gold buttons.”

“And boys don’t have a vest?”

“They do but a lot of them don’t like to wear it so the administration gave everyone the options. If a student didn’t want to wear both, they either wore the blazer or the vest and can’t take it off. Boys are just too lazy to wear the vest so they chose the blazer.”

Alex nodded her head slowly. She never wore a uniform before, not even in her elementary years. She didn’t imagine that it could have complicated rules.

The building has doors on the right side while the left had glass windows. The rooms slowly got filled up and the hallway gradually became deserted. The noise faded into silence. Sunlight streamed through windows, brightening the ambiance.

Who’d suspect that a confrontation was about to happen?

Emily sighed. She pulled her head back and leaned on the pillar, biting her bottom lip, “We need another plan.”

Alex also hid herself away from the other students. It surprised her that no one used the stairs from their side—or were the ones that did already went ahead of them?

“Any ideas?” Alex raised an eyebrow.

“Unless someone of authority calls for her, we can only hope she goes to the bathroom” her cousin groaned, “Then, you can corner her before she goes back.”

“Then, let’s just wait,” Jae spoke up. He pressed his back against the wall, next to a window. He had his arms folded over his chest, “It’s better than coming up with another diversion… but I do believe girls like to travel in groups. Any ideas on how to fix that?”

Emily shook her head, “I’m not sure if Skye has a following with her inside the club—who am I kidding? She probably does. If she tries anything on you, Alex, I’ll take a page from her book and expose what she did to you. She’s lucky I’m decent enough not to do it.”

===

“Thank you for coming with me, Skye.”

The female student had a bob haircut and a pair of round glasses. The freckles around her nose had faded a bit since summer ended. Her deep copper hair color glowed vibrantly under the sun. Her blazer was slightly bigger than her frame. The end of the sleeves almost covered her entire hands.

Skye stepped out of the clubroom behind her. She wore a pleasing smile on her face, “Not a problem, Marisa. We’re friends. It’s natural for us to help each other out.”

They walked down the hallway, heading for the restrooms.

Marisa laughed awkwardly. Her hands fidgeting against each other, “But you had to ask the supervisor on my behalf. I keep troubling you.”

“Don’t worry about it” Skye comforted her, placing a hand on her friend’s shoulder, “As friends, we look out for each other. Someday I’d also need your help and I know you’d have my back.”

“Of course! You’re the nicest person I know!”

Passing by another room, they reached the girl’s toilets. Marisa stepped inside first. She tried to endure it but her bladder really wanted to go. The smell of lavender hit her nose. Her eyes landed on the mirrors.

She froze.

“Marisa, are you—” Skye’s voice dwindled when she noticed what made her friend stop.

Emily stood in front of the mirrors and sinks. She stood at a 45° degree angle with her front leg elongated. Keeping her back straight, she placed her weight on her other leg. Her hair was tied up in a half-do with the front strands framing her face.

She held up the tube of a rose pink lipstick and wiped the tip on her bottom lip. She started from a corner, dragging it down and towards the center. She did the same on the other side then, moved on to the top lip. This time she began on her cupid’s bow and made a little heart before pulling the lipsticks from the corners again.

When she was done, she smacked her lips together and stared at the newcomers’s reflection.

“What are you doing here?” Emily sneered as she closed the lipstick and placed the cap back.

Marisa stepped forward, glaring in her direction, “It’s a restroom. What are we supposed to do here?”

Emily scoffed. She folded her arms and twirled a piece of her hair. Then, she faced them directly. Her tone dropped into a clipped one, “I’m not talking about you, Marisa. I mean that conniving bitch behind you.”

“That’s not a nice thing to say.”

“Welcome to reality. Not everything is nice” Emily replied with sarcasm. She chuckled humorlessly and checked on her fingernails, “Maybe you don’t believe me but someday you’ll realize it’s true.”

“Still—”

“Marisa!” Skye called out, grabbing her friend’s arm, “It’s not good to argue. We must be the bigger person. It’s the right thing to do.”

“How cute” Emily remarked, using a high-pitched voice, “You? The bigger person? Is it April Fool’s already?”

“Emily, that’s—”

Skye pulled both of Marisa’s arms and forced her to look away from Emily. Her friend’s nostrils flared in anger and her eyebrows knitted to a grimace. She was usually a quiet girl that her sudden outburst caught Skye off guard.

“Calm down,” Skye said, rubbing Marisa’s upper arms.

Emily merely rolled her eyes and waited for them to finish. She warned Marisa several times but the girl was relentless. It didn’t help that Skye used an angelic demeanor around her. It disgusted Emily to the core.

She even tried to threaten Marisa for them to break up. She had to do it for Marisa’s own good—even sacrificing what reputation she had. She only heard a bit from Alex’s story but she really didn’t want someone else to fall into Skye’s manipulating hands.

Did Skye plan to live her whole life this way? Because it sounded stupid.

“But I can’t let her insult you,” Marisa told Skye, worry in her eyes, “Like you said, we’re friends. We should look out for each other.”

Skye responded with a gentle smile, “It’s okay. It’s not a big deal. We shouldn’t waste our breath. I’ll go while you use the toilet. I’ll be waiting for you outside.”

At that moment, Marisa’s bladder asked for her attention again. She could only nod timidly, “I’ll be quick then.”

Emily returned to the mirror and checked the lining of her lips. She wiped away any lipstick that went over it. From the corner of her eye, she watched Skye step out without a word. She smirked quietly.

That went easier than she thought it would.

If it had failed, she wouldn’t have hesitated to literally kick them apart.

===

Skye stood in the middle of the hallway. The dainty expressions vanished from her face. She scowled at the empty corridor, fuming internally. If Marisa hadn’t been around, she would have scratched off Emily’s eyes out of their sockets.

She paced around. Her breath came out in puffs under her nose. Her skin crawled with frustration. She clenched her hands into fists. If not, she might do something that she’d regret.

The past week hadn’t been in her favor. Not only did her stepbrother ignore her but also she didn’t achieve anything in the past weekend. She was running out of ideas and the pressure was on. Jae looked murderous that day. It wouldn’t surprise her if he popped out suddenly.

Even Emily hadn’t spared her a breather.

Skye paused in her tracks and faced the direction of the clubroom. Stomping her foot, she hissed, “How dare she act all high and mighty? We’re on the same level.”

“I wouldn’t think so.”

A figure emerged from the stairs across from her. Blonde hair on a petite frame, she strolled into the scene. Her feet tapped on the floor lightly. She took her time and watched Skye’s reaction, fixated by the shock in her black eyes.

Alex headed for the pillar near Skye, her arms crossed over her chest. She leaned her shoulder against it, saying, “I think you’re still a million light years away from reaching her level.”