The Technique

Chapter 8: Director

"I apologize I hadn't had the chance to welcome you on your first day, especially you, Nathan, and Stella," the director said in his deep voice. He examined us one by one. 

Greg didn't seem like he was enjoying this. Unlike us, he was not looking at the director. He kept on staring at either his shoes or the window outside. It wasn't like he was bored. I thought he just didn't want this kind of serious ambiance with the director. 

We were sitting across from the director's table, talking about the competition. The air conditioning was making me shiver, plus the director's low and cold voice. He was in his late fifties. The black mustache was growing on his face. He was smiling at us all the time, and he didn't seem to care about Greg's uncomfortable look. 

"That's completely fine, Mr. Ashmore. I know how much busy you are right now. It's just so nice to meet you. I heard a lot about you from my dad. He said you went to university together, and no one had ever wanted to..." Stella replied. She kept on talking about how her dad admired the director. 

I never paid much attention since I caught Greg forming a ball with his hands. He looked pretty much irritated. I almost forgot I was sitting in the middle of them. I should have been the one who felt the most uncomfortable, but I thought to inhale deeply before I went red or purple. 

"By the way, how's your preparation going?" the director asked us, but he was looking right at me. So I guessed it was my turn to speak. 

I looked at Stella and Greg, and they were waiting for me to respond. I sighed and answered, "We're not yet reviewing---" 

"We are researching as of the moment individually. Then we'll bring it all together for the group study," Greg answered. Now, he was looking directly at the director's dark eyes. It was certain he interrupted me on purpose. But I couldn't fathom out why he had to be like that. 

"Okay. Good." The director nodded. "Mr. Ashmore, you have a call," the secretary came in. The director looked surprised and quickly stood up. "Okay, wait," he said to his secretary before turning to us again. We stood up. "I want to congratulate you all and wish you good luck. I hope to see you after the competition." He smiled before turning his back on us and began walking into one of the rooms of his huge office. 

Greg, who was deeply annoyed for some reason, walked ahead of us. He was almost running until he reached the door. When he got outside, he walked at his normal pace. Something was wrong with him this entire morning, and I had no plan to ask him why. 

"Hey," Stella said from my back. I turned to see her smiling at me ear to ear. I could guess her personality was nearly impossible to recognize. "Nathan, right?" 

I nodded. "Yea." 

"Something's weird about Greg. Did you see it while we're inside?" I was expecting she was going to talk about the preparation, but she didn't. She turned to talk about his crush or everyone's ultimate crush. 

"Ahh..." I trailed off. "Maybe he was not feeling well today?" 

She nodded in agreement. Perhaps she was thinking the same thing. "I actually wanted to talk to him about the group study. He didn't say we were going to do the research individually. Well, it's given that we should be doing that in the first place, but I thought he had the resources already and he was just gonna give them to us." 

I never really thought about that thing, but I just nodded. "I also thought about it. But I think there's never going to be a problem with that since we're working together." 

"Yea." She continued to smile. "I gotta go to my class. See you later." She walked away and flipped her short hair. 

I let out a huge sigh and looked sideways to see if Kylie and Mike were around. Luckily, they were not. They were probably in their classes right now. 

I went on walking down the hall when I noticed someone following me. I immediately turned around to see Mr. David with papers in his hands. His steps were big, so I thought he was in haste. "Nathan," he called. 

"Yes, sir?" I waited for him until he was closer. "Do you need something?" I asked. 

"Yes, please." He gave the papers to me. "Can you please give these papers to Greg? He knows what to do with them." 

I hadn't had the chance to respond since he already walked past me. I looked at the papers, and they all looked complex, but I knew it was a reviewer. 

***

The classes ended later today. The sun was already setting when I went back to my dorm. Fortunately, I hadn't encountered Kylie and Mike, except that they messaged me to ask where I was. Of course, I said I was going to study with Greg and Stella. 

Actually, we had no study session today since Greg postponed it. I guessed something ruined his day. But then, Stella and I talked for a little bit about the review and parted ways after giving me some of her research. 

After throwing my bag on the bed, I immediately stepped out of my room to hand the papers to Greg. "Greg?" I whispered. I knocked on his door many times, but he didn't respond. "Hey? Are you there?" 

It came to my mind that he was just out there or something. Due to my over patience, I still waited and knocked for at least two minutes. But I thought he wasn't really in there. I tried to open the knob. It opened in my luck. Why didn't I think of it in the first place? 

I slowly had a little peek inside and saw him sitting down on his bed. Earphones were plugged in his ears. He was watching something on his phone, and he seemed attached to it. The lights were turned off, so I could see his phone's screen's light flashing on his face. And the color it flashed was mostly red. 

"Greg?" I called, but he was totally engaged in what he was watching. 

I'd waited for a little while until he noticed me standing at the door. "W-what the heck are you doing in here?" He hastily turned his phone off and put it in his pocket. His eyes were wider. That was the first time I saw him in shock. His expression was a mixture of surprise and anxiousness. 

I'd never imagined him to look so afraid. I thought anxiousness wasn't in his vocabulary since he killed lots of people. 

I showed him the papers before he even stood and punched me. "I was about to give you these papers. Mr. David told me that you know what to do." 

"There's a door!" he shouted, pointing at the door behind me. He stood up and stole the papers from me. They almost got ripped off. 

All of a sudden, I felt chills. "I-I'm sorry. I was knocking on your door, but you were not answering, so I supposed you were out there and the door was open so..." I waited for him to respond, but he just stared at me furiously as if he was planning to punch and crush my skull. "I'm going back to my room now." 

"Yea, just go," he said before I turned my back on him. He pulled the phone out of his pocket, but it suddenly slipped off of his hand. The phone safely fell on the floor facing up and turned itself on. The paused video of what he was watching popped up on the screen. It was Night at Jackville.