Alice Awakened

Friends to Strangers

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"Ummm... Kota? Are we not going to the main building?" I wondered why we'd stopped in front of a small clothing store, a few blocks away from Sean's apartment. It was still closed.

Looking over the shop's window display, I noticed that it wasn't just an ordinary clothing store. A row of colorful masks had been put on display and behind them was a collection of black pointy hats. It was a costume shop.

It was quiet, except for the hum of the car engine, as Kota turned to me and flashed a big smile. Honestly, I was taken aback by it, to say the least, but I tried to tone down my surprise. He had been cold to me when I'd met him yesterday, so I hadn't expected that he would be this friendly. I might've judged him wrongly.

"We're just waiting for a friend," he said, smirking at me. His eyes crinkled at the edges. He looked quite excited. "I know someone who can help you with the... registration."

I tried to looked as excited as he was by returning a smile, not really knowing what to say.

It took a few more minutes of silence between us, waiting in the car, before his attention was drawn by a person wearing a dark gray hoodie, coming out of the shop. As that person approached, I noticed a white item covering his or her face. It was a simple white mask, with holes for the eyes and mouth. It looked familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had seen it before.

Finally, when the masked person reached our car, he opened the door at the rear and slid inside without a word. I turned to Kota, giving him a look, silently asking what the deal was.

"Oh, don't mind him. I think you could consider a few people in this school to have their own quirks and peculiarities. Who knows, he could also be using that mask as an alice suppressor, just like your necklace, right?"

"Oh, right. Sorry." I apologized to the new guy in the back for staring. I faced forward and mindlessly reached for my neck, then remembered that I didn't have my necklace with me. Then I froze, as I felt a chain resting between my clavicles. Slowly, I angled my head down, pulling away at the collar of my blouse, and peeked inside.

There was a key hanging beneath the material, just barely touching the middle of my chest. My jaw dropped open. I pushed the collar of the shirt back down slowly, then pressed hard on my sternum.

I hadn't worn a necklace this morning. It wasn't mine, that was for sure. While the chain looked quite similar to mine, the key was different.

I should just tell Kota about this, right? I don't understand. This is way beyond normal. Or maybe I really am just going crazy. How on earth-?

I looked up at him and he had a huge, menacing grin on his face. It was like he was turning into an entirely different person than the one I had met yesterday. I can't trust him just yet.

My heartbeat sped up and I racked my brain, trying to think through what had happened this morning. Who could possibly have put this on me without me knowing?

Was it Kota? I couldn't remember clearly. He never touched me, I didn't think. It would have been impossible.

Luke. I must text Luke. I must...ask...Luke.

Luke?

Luke had given me another bear hug before I'd left Sean's room. This necklace. Could he possibly...?

"Ah." Kota released a breathy sigh, then craned his neck from side to side, resulting in a few cracking sounds.

Disregarding the weird face he had been making earlier, I asked him, stuttering while I did so, whether he was okay.