The Technique

Chapter 7: Lies

"What are you talking about?" I asked. I shuddered as Mike asked that unexpected question. I looked at him in furrowed brows, and he looked so serious about it. 

He shoved his hands in his pocket and then suddenly burst out laughing. He looked at me as if I had the most embarrassing reaction in this entire humanity. He was always the joker, but I'd never expected him to joke about Greg killing someone. It was the scariest joke I'd ever heard. I thought he actually knew about it. "I'm just kidding, you know," he said just after laughing so hard. He looked behind him to check if anyone was there, then turned to me and whispered, "Well, that guy is so mysterious, and every mysterious guy hides eerie things." 

I tried to ease up before speaking, "You watch too many thrillers." I shook my head. I walked past him, and I heard his steps following me. 

We didn't talk while walking down the cafeteria. We stayed silent after that not-so-nice joke. Though I knew deep down his joke was deadly real. 

Kylie waved at us from one of the tables. She sipped some juice as Mike and I sat down across her. "Where had you two gone?" she asked, not looking interested at all. 

I opened my mouth to answer, but Mike prompted, "We talked about the best strategy I'd ever created." 

"What?" 

"I mean the top-thing issue." 

They started to talk about the plan that Mike created. I wasn't sure about it, though. If they started searching down for Greg's issues and tried stalking him, they would probably also catch me having a connection with him. I could almost hear Greg saying the word conspirator every time I remembered what happened last night. 

I made my way to the counter and get my lunch. When I came back to the table, they were still talking about Mike's plan. "I think my plan's going to work this time," Mike told me as I laid my tray down on the table. 

I looked at Kylie and I thought she agreed to it. Most of the time, Kylie hated Mike's ideas and it was random that she agreed easily. 

"What?" I asked in confusion. I looked at the two of them back and forth. "You're never going to do that." 

"You don't trust me?" Mike asked. 

I just realized I sounded like I wasn't interested in it. And I never wanted my friends to think I was out of their league now. "No, I mean, if you're going to wait for him to make a mistake when he doesn't do a single thing, we'll find ourselves wasting time, right? And even if he does, that's not enough." 

"Yea, I thought about it, too," Kylie said, nodding. "That's why I think that we should collect everything we can look up. Small ones will compound into a big one. And that will definitely ruin his reputation." 

I shook my head in disagreement. "What I mean is that we never know if he's committing bad things." 

"Why do you sound so sure?" 

Before I even uttered a single word, Mike answered in my place, "Maybe because they're friends now, and he's just trying to protect his friend?" 

I looked at Mike with a 'wth' stare. "No way." I turned to Kylie and tried to convince her with my serious look. "Kylie, you told me he has no friends. How can I possibly befriend him in just a short time?" 

Kylie just stared at me. I knew for sure she wasn't convinced yet. 

"But I just saw you together in the restroom talking," Mike said.

I kept a straight face since Kylie was slowly furrowing her brows. "We're talking about the upcoming competition. Greg, I, and the other girl are invited." I turned to Mike. "We're talking about it, and it doesn't mean we're friends in any way." 

Mike might have noticed my furious reaction, so he nodded and focused back on his tray. 

Kylie's eyes were popped open, and I didn't know what to say anymore. "Oh no," she said. "And you're not telling me this? You're joining a competition without telling me?" 

All of a sudden the topic changed, and I felt relieved. I never wanted to talk about Greg and the investigation thing anymore. It was giving me anxiety the whole time, and I never wanted to spend my entire day pushing myself into that idea. 

I sighed. "I mean, I was about to tell you, but Mike was still talking, so..." I knew Mike heard the tone of my voice, and he had learned not to talk when he was eating. 

"Okay." Kylie furrowed one of her eyebrows. "Then what are you still doing here? You should be preparing now." 

"What?" 

"You might not want to lose the school's reputation." She carried on eating her plate. 

I nodded. "Yea, I think you're right." Even though I wasn't going to study now, I thought that it was a good excuse to stay away from them for a while. I didn't want them to recognize my perturbed gestures and talk about Mike's plan. They never knew that the investigation they wanted to do wasn't about being concerned about me, instead, they were pushing me right at the edge of the cliff.