High School Is For Kids

Chapter 3

Are you listening? Good.

After that incident, Olivia basically let loose her anger on Trixie. I've never seen her so mad. However, once Trixie started crying, Olivia immediately forgave her. Just then, the two guys approached me.

Miguel started it off. "First off, I would like to apologize on behalf of our group for the trouble Trixie caused. I don't think anyone should ever be put through such a predicament."

Paul backed him up. "Yeah, Trixie can be a handful, but she's a sweet girl. I assume you experienced her charm first-hand?"

"Well, she does make this face when she really wants something."

"Ha!" Paul laughed. "That's Trixie for you. Tell you what, how about you come with us after class? Miguel and I thought we needed to. . . reward you for what happened."

"Assuming we don't spend too much." Miguel interjected. "There's a sports meet coming up, remember?"

"Oh yeah! Totes forgot about that. Man, I really wanted to try that Chinese place we saw. You remember right? The one with the hot waitress?"

Miguel cups his face into his palm. "Paul. . ."

"Fine, fine! Not today. After class?"

"Of course." It made me uncomfortable that Miguel answered that question so directly. "For now, this matter. I suggest the Japanese café. Are you fine with this choice?"

I don't know why, but I was always intimidated by Miguel. I simply nodded in agreement, causing Paul to sling his arm around me. "Nice! There's a pair of twins who work there: one in the kitchen and another at the counter. I'll let you pick who's better when we get there."

"Paul!"

"Hey, just prepping his expectations. Nothing wrong with that, right?"

Miguel grunted and headed back to his seat, searching for something in his bag.

"Curious why he has such a bag?" Paul asked. "I'll be honest: I don't know either. The four of us have been together for so long but none of us know about the bag. Perhaps in the future; perhaps never."

He didn't give me a chance to respond after that. Next thing I knew, I was walking to this café Miguel mentioned. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary but it was obvious that a normal student's budget will barely get him anything. Paul ordered a full meal in the form of a slab of pork paired with a cup of rice and a siding of vegetables. I ordered a sandwich while Miguel simply had a cup of brewed coffee. The whole time, however, Paul was sweet-talking the girl at the counter. Miguel pulled me away before I got involved.

"You wouldn't want to be part of what he's doing. Only he can pull it off."

We situated ourselves by the window with a view of the street outside. Miguel reached into his bag and pulled out an inhaler. After taking a puff, he faced me.

"If Paul comes to table and talks to you, let me handle it. But if he talks to me, say something to get his attention."

"What do you–"

"I got our orders guys." Paul approached Miguel. "By the way, did you want anything else with your coffee?"

Miguel's instruction immediately kicked in. "Uhh, hey! Didn't you say twins work here?"

Paul's eyes widened at my statement. "Oh yeah! I totes forgot about that. Sadly, only one of them is in today. The other is sick. But hey, I could give her to you if you want."

Almost as soon as he finishes his sentence, a blood-curdling scream comes from kitchen. This was followed by another scream upon discovering the source. When we went to check – since there's barely anyone around – we found a body. Not just any body, a body that seems to have exploded.