Almost, Always

12. Who?

I was able to finally see clearly, the two familiar figures in front of me.

"What the hell was that for?" I asked. They answered my question with a laugh instead.

"I'm so sorry! You should have seen your face!" Milko said as he laughed. And standing next to him is Alyssa with her arms folded.

"For the record, it wasn't my idea." Alyssa cleared up.

"Hey! You agreed to it!" Milko reiterated.

"Yeah, I did. Milko called me to tell me his plan," she said.

"Wait. Why did you need to abduct me in the first place? Why couldn't you just tell me straight up what you wanted to do?" I asked.

"Well...tell her the plan, Alyssa, which plan was it?" Milko asked, his head facing Alyssa.

"Which was to take you with us by force since you didn't want to come out. You were ignoring his calls and avoiding me. I agreed with him. I didn't know he would take it to the extreme and really abduct you." Alyssa answered. Milko just continues to laugh.

"Geez, Milko! You scared the living shit out of me." I said.

"I'm sorry! It was a bit over the top, wasn't it?" he replied. Alyssa hit him in the head.

"She's going to be forever traumatized by this! What is this even? A hobby of yours?" Alyssa asked.

"Oh, cmon. I don't ALWAYS do this," he answered. My head and Alyssa's both turned at the same time to face Milko after he said that.

"What?" We said simultaneously.

"I'm joking!" Milko laughs.

Thank heavens it was just these two. I don't think my heart could handle it if someone really abducted me. Well...I would probably end up dead too.

It took me a while before I noticed myself in the mirror.

Milko is wearing a white collared shirt with a school logo on the side, a dark blue blazer, plain dark blue trousers, and a pair of black shoes. While Alyssa and I are wearing the same white shirt with logo and dark blue blazer as Milko, a white and blue checkered skirt, long white socks, and black shoes. My hair was tied into a bun.

"Hmm...guys? What are we wearing?" I asked with confusion in my voice.

"Oh. Right. We forgot to tell you. Remember when we found out that Li Fei and Elizabeth Ferri are the same people?" Milko said.

"Hmmm...?"

"Milko wanted us to go to Li Fei's book signing. She launched a book about the art of painting. That's why we are dressed in school uniforms. The book signing for today is specifically for students. This is her last day of book signing so if we want to be prioritized Milko thought we should dress like this." Alyssa explained.

"That makes sense. But, don't you think you think we look older than the other students?" I asked.

"Well, we could be doing Masters or something or all she knows. Don't worry, Emi. I got everything covered. I already made sure that we will be near the front of the line. I also have copies of her book already." Milko said, reassuring me.

"Uhm, Milko. This uniform doesn't really seem like we're doing Masters." I said.

"Trust me, they had to force me to put this on. Ridiculous, right?" Alyssa added.

"Okay, then we're students who repeated a school year," he answered.

"Couldn't we just wear casual clothes like any other students?" Alyssa suggested, feeling uncomfortable with her tight short skirt.

"Well...I didn't think of that..." Milko murmured.

"I already got this so suck it up," he added.

"Oh, okay. Gotcha. You thought about everything already, Milko" I said.

"Yeah, well even if Elizabeth isn't Li Fei, Milko would still want to go. He is such a big fan of hers!" Alyssa said.

"How can I not?? She's so amazing! She's my favorite artist!" Milko answered.

You're right, Milko. How can you not adore someone like her?

No, stop. It's not the best time to think of her like that. She's Anthony's girl now. She's your rival. I can't view her in the same light anymore.

"Wait. When is it happening?" I asked while checking myself in the mirror.

"Today. Two hours from now." Alyssa replied.

"We better get going then!" I suggested.

"Wait. Where are we even? Where did you guys take me?" I asked while the three of us walked outside of the door.

"You don't know? This is just the basement of your own office. The car was just driving you around the parking lot outside of your own building!" Milko said who couldn't contain his laughter.

"Milko! You ass!" I laughed.

Crazy friends, I got. Crazy friends!

***