Red Flag

Chapter 1 -Mike Mirrorside

As the alarm clock burst, Mike fell from his bed, surprised. This was his first time buying an alarm clock, but he didn't know that the sound of it would scare him to death. He groaned in pain after hitting his head on the tiled floor. Gently rubbing his head, he slowly stood up, grabbing his sheets to temporarily assist him.

"Shit! I'm late!" he gasped when he saw that the clock already showed 7.

He quickly dashed into the bathroom and took a shower.

"Mike! Is your butt awake?" his mom called out from the kitchen area. "You know school starts at 8! Three lates and you're out!"

"Yes, mom! I'm in the shower right now!" the young man responded, even though he had not yet entered the shower, showing how slow he was.

After bathing, he came out of the shower and started drying himself, changing into his school uniform: black socks, white inner long-sleeves, and a red tuxedo.

He dashed towards the dining table where his father sat on the other side, reading a newspaper. His dad, an outstanding police officer, was on his day off. As he pulled out a chair, his sister tapped him on the shoulder.

"I can only wait for 15 minutes. If you're still dilly-dallying, I'm leaving you behind," she said as she went to pick up her things.

"Yeah!"

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He then opened the door of his sister's car and hopped inside.

"Are all your things in your bag? You know I hate driving back," his sister asked in a monotone.

"I didn't forget anything, so we're good to go," he replied as his sister started the engine.

His sister, Michelle, is a quiet one. She emits a gloomy aura around her. Her eyes are dead-empty, and you won't see her smile ever. At 22 years old, she is an office worker. Despite her gloomy personality, her boss never complains about her, as she is a very hardworking person. In short, she is her boss's favorite. Although she may not show emotions, she loves her brother and the rest of the family more than anyone.

The car stopped at the school parking lot as she waited for her brother to exit. As soon as he got out, Michelle called him back, "Hey! Be good and make some friends," she said.

"Sis! I'm not a kid anymore... but I will. Thanks!" he smiled and waved as he watched his sister's car drive away.

She never changed. But how come a gloomy person like her has so many boys flocking over her? Every week, someone knocks on the door and offers her flowers but ends up being rejected. She says she only wants someone who can understand and love her as she is, not someone who is only attracted to her face and body.
"I admit, my sister is actually super pretty... but also gloomy," he thought to himself.

He dashed towards the school gate and asked the school guard if he still had time. The guard replied that he only had 30 minutes before class started, so he needed to run as fast as possible.

"Michael!" he quickly turned as soon as he heard his name being called by someone.

"Amber?" he replied to the girl who called him. She came closer while waving. "Good morning, Mike!" she grinned and greeted him sweetly, as if she were trying hard to seduce him.

"We gotta hurry, so adiós!" he winked at her and began to flee, not wanting her to catch up to him. He rushed towards the building and quickly climbed the stairs. His sweat began to build up into gigantic drops as his heart raced. He kept wiping his sweat while breathing heavily.

As he arrived at his classroom, he felt relieved that the teacher wasn't there yet. Bryle, his best friend, did a fist bump with him.

"Man! What took you so long?" Bryle groaned, grabbing Mike by the shoulders.

"I overslept, thank goodness the teacher isn't here yet," he walked past Bryle and went to his table, placing all his things under it. When he finally relaxed, he noticed from the corner of his eye that his classmate Nythan, a loner, was looking for something on the floor under his table. Mike, being friendly and outgoing, subconsciously marched towards his worried classmate, bending over to him.

"Yo! Are you looking for something?" he asked.

"I accidentally dropped my pencil, now I can't find it anymore," Nythan replied, his face turning pale at the thought of being left behind when class starts. He went back to his table and immediately grabbed a spare pencil from his bag, then gave it to Nythan.

Nythan's eyes widened at Mike's thoughtfulness as he bent over to thank him politely. "Thank you very much!" he yelled while bowing his head.

"You don't have to thank me like that, man! Really!" he smiled as he scratched the back of his head, feeling a bit weird and embarrassed.

*Ding *Dong *Ding *Dong

The bell finally rang, and every student had to return to their seat, including the two of them. A teacher entered the class and started the first subject of the day.

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+Lunch Time+

One by one, the students started leaving the classroom to go to the cafeteria. Mike noticed Nythan grabbing his lunchbox from his bag and eating alone. He decided to approach him but failed when Bryle grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back.

"Are you thinking of eating with him? Man! He's a loner, and you're one of the most popular guys in school. A loner and a popular person don't go together," Bryle whispered.

"Look at how girls flock over you outside the classroom," he said, pointing at the group of girls gazing at Mike with hearts just outside the room.

"It's better to avoid him than to sacrifice your own fame," Bryle continued, tapping Mike on the shoulder before leaving.

Mike took a final look at Nythan and left with Bryle and Amber anyway.

This was his first encounter with Nythan since the boy's existence seemed to disappear, always ignored no matter what he did. During group projects given by the teacher, he was always left behind with no team to join. He was like a tiny pebble among a bunch of rocks.

But no matter what others thought of him, there was Mike who never forgot to lend him a hand to help him out of the darkness that surrounded him.

However, right now, Mike was nowhere to be found. He was dragged away by his popular friends, greatly hurting Nythan's feelings.

The school day ended, and Nythan quickly packed his things and left, leaving Mike confused as to why he looked nervous, with a face as pale as a blank paper. He was sweating, almost crying. Mike dashed outside the room. He planned to follow Nythan, so he excused himself.

"Amber, Bryle, Ryan, Chisaki, go on without me," he bid goodbye to his popular friends and decided to go his own way.

"What's gotten into him?" Chisaki asked.

"Dunno, maybe the toilet?" Ryan replied.

"No, it isn't that. I have a bad feeling about this," Bryle mumbled, making all of them turn to him.