Unordinary: New Student

25: Isen's Research

Blyke's POV

I sat in the library, this time on one of the computers. The English report was looming over me, but I couldn't resist and started playing a game of Tetris. My heart almost jumped out of my chest when Isen, who had been sitting next to me, jumped up, shouting, "I finally found you!"

"What the-?" I gasped. "Isen, will you shut up?" I whispered to him loudly. "You're going to get us kicked out of the library again!"

"Yeah, whatever." Isen didn't lower his voice, grabbing me around the shoulders and pulling me toward his computer. "Look what I just found!" he said, looking insanely proud of himself for some reason.

I glanced at his screen. "Uhhh..." What was I even looking at? A class photo? Of a class from New Bostin? "You stalking girls from other schools again? Dude, we have an essay due tomorrow!"

"No! Are you blind?" Isen sounded frustrated as he jabbed his finger toward a solitary face. A guy with messy black hair and golden eyes. Huh. "I'm pointing at the guy!"

Creeped out now, I looked at Isen. 'So he's finally lost his marbles...' I thought. "So you're going for guys now?" I said out loud.

"That's John from two years ago!" 

'Who's John?' I thought. 'Remind me why I care again?' I glanced at Isen.

Isen beamed. "And that's not all!" He clicked on another tab, revealing another class picture. Suppressing a groan, I stared at the faces until my eyes were fixed on a girl with dark blue hair and bright green eyes. 

"It's Stephanie!" Isen said excitedly. "From her school in Gordova!"

"Dude, why are you looking them up?" I asked him, sort of peeved by his behavior.

Isen's face turned pale. "Um-" he cleared his throat. "Actually, that's none of your business." My jaw dropped open. 

"What the hell's your problem? You called me over here first."

He waved me away. "Don't you have an essay to right or something? Get back to work."

I scooted back to my computer. "F*cking weirdo." 

"You two again?!" Isen and I turned to see the librarian glaring at us with crossed arms. 'Uh oh.'

***

Arlo's POV

"It's been quite some time. You'd better have something good for me." I glanced coolly at Isen. 

"Of course, Arlo!" Isen grinned. "I got your info right here." He placed a stack of papers on the desk. "I tailed John for the last few days then interviewed him to get some information. At first I thought he was some airhead who acted to insolently because he didn't know any better. But then I questioned him about his past, and he got super defensive and even attacked me!"

That caught my attention. I narrowed my eyes as Isen passed to me a picture of John. But it was almost unrecognizable. His messy hair. The confidence. But his golden eyes were unmistakable.

"This is a picture of John from two years ago. He looks authoritative doesn't he?" Isen gave me the thumbs-up. "Now let's reassess his behavior. He doesn't care where he walks or who he bumps into. If it weren't for the fact that he claims he's a cripple, I'd think he actually has some sort of an ability. Don't you?"

I smiled. 'John, is this what you're hiding?'

Isen continued, pushing a page from a newspaper out to me. "But wait, there's more. Now it's time for Stephanie. She told me she came from Gordova, so I did some research on that, and guess what I found!" As I squinted down at the newspaper, he went on. "It says there that Ember attacked a family in that town. Everyone was killed, except for a little girl, who ran away and was never seen in that town again."

"And that was... Stephanie?" I asked him with growing interest. 

"Bingo." Isen grinned. "And her family was a prestigious family of high tiers, which means that she's probably not a low tier at all." My smile grew larger as Isen spoke. "Arlo if you give me some time, I can find out everything about-" He froze, his eyes filled with fear as I slowly ripped his research in half.

"You've done enough, Isen." I said, dropping the ripped papers on the table. "I'm taking it from here."

***

Elaine's POV

I sat at my table in my dorm, working on my assignments, and I looked up as my phone chimed. When I picked it up, I saw I had a new message from Arlo, which made me feel happy and tingly inside. 

But my feelings of happiness disappeared when I saw the text.

Arlo: < Elaine, I'd like you to inform the headmaster of what you found the other day. >

I dropped my phone on the table, my hands trembling. He wanted me to tell on Seraphina about the book? 'But she's my friend!' But another thought came into my head. 'No, it'll be for her safety. A lot of high tiers who've read that book became vigilantes, whom Ember has been killing off. What if Seraphina became a vigilante and was killed by Ember? I'll need to tell the headmaster right away...'