New Ways

THIRTY-THREE

Amery

A couple of weeks passed after the Cellphone Stalker, or should I say, Stalkers were arrested. The case was still being held in court and was reaching its sentencing day, as the victims and the remaining accomplices gave their testimonies.

The heads of Parmont staged a ceremony to give out awards to the four of us who managed to capture the culprits that night, the most prominent medal given to Quentin for his outstanding spying skills. Sigrid and I had promised to treat him to dinner, as a reward too for his success in helping us solve this whole Cellphone Stalker mystery.

After the dean completed her commendation speech, we all went to shake hands with the victims. Mikayla and I had a dramatic encounter again, but this time round it was a good kind.

"I deserved it," she admitted, wiping the tears away from her eyes after we were done hugging it out. "I'm sorry, Am. But I really didn't sleep with Derek, okay?"

"Well it doesn't matter even if you did. I don't care about him anymore," I said matter-of-factly. My sight focused on the one person that I truly cared about at that moment. Sigrid had finally met my parents, and they were laughing away as I eyed them from a distance. I had told both of them that I was in love with Sigrid and lucky for me, they didn't mind. They really seemed to like her too.

Jean-Pierre appeared beside me and cleared his throat. "Okay, okay. We all get it, you're head over heels in love with that girl. But you can't ignore my existence, Am. I'm your only best friend now."

"Have I ever told you that I actually love you more than Gwen or Derek?" I wrapped my left arm around Jean-Pierre's waist and smiled up at him.

"You don't have to. I see it in your eyes all the time," he wiggled his eyebrows. "I mean, come on. It's Monsieur Dupont we're talking about. But... are you still mad at them?"

"Not really. Just still a bit dissatisfied with Derek, mostly," I shrugged. "I actually did like him a lot."

"Do you want a little revenge, maybe?" Jean-Pierre smirked.

"What do you have in mind, monsieur?" I felt a smile quirk at the corner of my lips.

Jean-Pierre glanced up at an approaching Sigrid then back at me. "Well, the man stole your phone. I figured that we could maybe... steal something of his right back."

At first I shot a puzzled look at Jean-Pierre. When it finally started coming to me, I widened my eyes and let out an evil laugh, holding up my palm to high-five my best friend.

"Am I missing out on something here?" Sigrid crunched her eyebrows upon seeing Jean-Pierre and I behaving excitedly out of nowhere.

"Babe, do you remember about the school's 20th anniversary event that we will be organising?" I asked the girl, hooking my arm into hers.

Sigrid gave me a confused glance and then one at Jean-Pierre. "Uh, yeah? It's in two weeks."

"Do you also happen to remember somebody's revolutionary idea that we talked about at Starbucks the other time?" Jean-Pierre tried to maintain his poker face.

Sigrid paused to think for a moment before she finally understood what was going to happen. "No way. You evil beings!"

Jean-Pierre and I laughed at her reaction. Sigrid agreed to get involved in our little scheme anyway.