VILE

Chapter 4: Stories and Lies

ASH'S POV:

2 days passed, and everybody forgot about the "Ash and Graham" incident on Saturday. Now it's Monday and I'm getting ready for Stealth 101. I grab a book labeled "Stealth 101" from under the bed and open it. Origami? This will be a treat. I sit on the bed and start skimming through the pages. Origami cicada, panda, horse, crane. I see Coral getting out of the room. Just before she stepped out of the door, she said: "You ready?" "Yeah! I am!" I answer. I close the book and carry it in my hands as I walk out with her. When we got out, Coral suddenly sighed. "Why? What's wrong?" I say. "Nothing. It's just that it's my birthday in a few days and I'm gonna have to call my whole family or else they'll think something happened to me and my dad will send a search party to look for me." I was puzzled. "Why don't you want to talk to your family?" She mumbled: "They keep pressuring me to be this perfect girl they have in their mind. Every time I talk to them, all they say is: Do this Coral, not that. Or, A proper lady always does this, Coral." She sighs. "I mean, I can do that, but it's just too much pressure on me." Whoa. I expected something worse, what with my family problems. At least your parents know you're a thief. Mine still think I'm at this fancy art college in who knows where because of a scholarship. Come to think of it, VILE's really good at making up lies and cover stories. I'm so absorbed in my thoughts that I bump into another girl. She has short, wavy blonde hair, pinned to her head by two clips. She also has blue eyes and she is also wearing lipstick. "Watch it," she says. But just then, Coral shouted out: "Sheena! Is that you?" Sheena turned around and said: "Coral? I haven't seen you since forever!" They hug each other. I was just standing there, surprised. "Ash, this is Sheena, my best friend in high school, and Manhattan's greatest Instagram influencer." "I'm not really the greatest," Sheena says. "Well, at least not anymore, what with the no phones rule." She says with a chuckle. She puts her hand out. "I'm Ash," I say, shaking her hand. "So," Coral says, "How's your dad's hotel?" "It's good," Sheena answers. "Do your parents know you're here?" I say. "No, they don't. They think I'm studying in Oxford or some other fancy school in Europe." "Ohhh," I say. Looks like I'm not the only one with a cover story.

ANTONIO'S POV:

I wake up before anybody else does. Since my bed is beside a small window, I decide to look out and watch the sunrise. I watch as the rising sun transforms the dark blue sky into a light shade of pink. I am so captivated that I did not hear somebody say: "Beautiful, isn't it?" I look to my right and I see my roommate, Jean-Paul. "If only I have my camera," he says with a sigh. He sits down beside me. "It reminds me of home," I say. I used to watch the sunrise every day from my window when I was a little boy. But, a few years ago, my father's restaurant shut down. We were forced to let go of our servants and helpers. We also had to move to a smaller, more humble home. Because of this, I had to wake up early, not to watch the sunrise, but to start working as a gardener at another wealthy family's house. As the sun rose further into the sky, I remember another memory, not sad, not happy, but rather, bittersweet. I was digging up soil in my master's garden to make space for a new flowerbed, when, I saw something glimmering in the ground. I picked it up. It was an old coin, maybe dating back to the 16th or 17th century. I hurried to the house and presented the coin to my master. He praised me and asked me if I can look for more treasures hidden in the soil. By 12:00 pm, I found 2 more coins and a diamond ring. I gave him the treasures, and as a way of saying "Thank you", he let me go home already and gave me some fried fish for lunch. I went back home. We ate the fish happily, and while we were still eating, I told them all that had happened. Mama said she was proud of me and Papa just smiled. My little twin brothers also pestered me with questions about my find. "Was it pirates' treasure?" "Do you think there's more?" I miss Emilio and Manuel. But, when I was washing the dishes and Mama was busy playing with the twins, Papa came to me and told me: "Antonio, Mi Hijo (My son), can you please go down to Don Jose's later tonight, say 10:00 pm?" "But, Papa, he let me go home already." "I know, Antonio. I'm asking you to... to try to dig up more treasures later tonight." I was puzzled. "But, they will be asleep by then!" "Exactly." Papa was whispering now. Oh. Ohhh. They wanted me to steal! But, I will never do something so bad! I'm not going to steal! "If you can give me at least 3 more treasures, I know a man who can sell them and give us money! He can even send you to a good college!" I stole 6 artifacts that night. And 10 the next. I kept stealing, clinging on to the hope that if I steal enough, I won't have to steal anything ever again because I'll be in a good college, studying hard to get a good job someday. So, here I am now.
VILE Academy. This was the "good college" Papa was talking about. But, I look at Jean-Paul gazing wistfully at the sunrise, and I think: Maybe it's not so bad after all.