The head boy

Part 11 - Behind the bushes

The memories of what happened in Tokyo are still fresh. After that exhausting first day we did what was planned and only what was planned. We visited companies, met important people, learnt some valuable marketing strategies and received advice from experienced CEOs but something has been bothering me.

Tom is cold, colder than usual, he doesn't look at me, talk to me, or even acknowledge me and it's quite frustrating since I sometimes have to talk to him since we work together. He was already mad before we took that plane to Japan but since his intervention in the metro it's like I don't exist anymore.

I think it's a childish reaction, the other students depend on our work and our good organisation, we can't afford to just start ignoring each other like that.

We took the train this afternoon to go from Tokyo to Kyoto where we're gonna spend the second week of our trip. The place looks much more traditional than the capital. The architecture, the small streets, beautiful little parks, this city is the definition of zen, but not zen zen, more like: you let go of all your problems and insecurities, you focus on the energy, on the wind that caresses the leaves, on the bird that tweets on its tree, on the sound of the water always streaming the same way, on your respiration, you take a deep breath in, and then zen.

That zen.

I feel at peace...or maybe it's because I ate so much that my stomach requires every bit of my strength to digest leaving me with nothing...

That zen?

"Go find your room and if you have any problem or question come find us," William instructs everyone. I'm not in the same room as Kala, I'm with Lin because the members of the administration have to be apart in our two little sad rooms away from the rest of the students. I'm sad, she hates my guts!

It's night now and we have no other choice but to go up in our rooms. We've had a long day between the visit this morning and the train this afternoon.

Once in the room I notice one of the beds is near the window whereas the other is near the bathroom. "Which one do you want? I don't usually go to the toilet at night so if it's your case you can take it although I watched something about a girl who got kidnapped while she was asleep by some dude who climbed up to her window and I must admit I'm a little bit scared the same thing might happen here I mean who knows and-" I cut myself off as she silently take off her clothes. "Okay I'll turn around!" I hear her zip stuff and the clinging noise of jewels, intrigued, I turn around and, what the-

"What?" Probably the second word I ever heard her say as she gives me a blank stare. Lin is wearing a full leather outfit, her black hair is a bit messy and her boots have heels higher than the mount Everest, no lie.

"Wha-...what are you doing?" I stutter, for once I'm not mad at myself for stuttering. I mean, what on Earth is going on??

"I'm going out," She says as she grabs her purse.

"But you can't! There's a curfew we cannot tell the others to stay in bed while going out it's-"

"If I let you come, will you shut up?" she cuts in and then leaves the room, I don't have any choice, I follow her.

We discreetly make our way through the hallway, Lin is putting on earrings while I lead the way, I check behind us and then hit something hard, but not as hard as a wall.

"Ida?" It's William, he's frowning, he doesn't look too surprised about Lin's outfit which makes me think he knew about this.

"William, Lin is going nuts!" I whisper-shout.

"I'm just going to a concert, no one will know I promise, can I go now?" Lin just sighs, utterly annoyed and uninterested by the situation.

"All that blabbering..." A cold voice echoes in the silent hallway, I think we all know who it belongs to... "Miss Abberline, why am I not surprised that this person so obnoxiously loud is actually you?" Tom deadpans, wow that's mean, even coming from him.