Project Lowkey

2 - Unusual

LORELEI

I WOKE up to the sound of my alarm, I realized that there's a special event at school today!

Agad akong tumayo at nagtungo sa banyo para maligo. Hindi ko namalayang gising na pala si Loki.

"Morning." Loki greeted while yawning.

Pagkatapos kong maligo ay kaagad akong nagbihis ng aking uniporme. Today's our Cultural Festival. It's a special school event that occurs every year wherein every club has a booth and each one will think of any strategies they'd come up with in order to earn funds. The money gathered would serve as budget for their clubs.

After everything was settled, Loki and I headed towards the school. Kaagad naman kaming sinalubong nina Al and Jamie.

"Lorelei! Loki Dear! I'm glad na nandito na kayo!" Jamie exclaimed directly hugging me and Loki. Al on the other hand just smiled.

So the thing we came up with for our club was to have a short play about solving a specific case. We're also open to help anyone who needs us but with payment since it's for our club fund.

Other clubs tried various booths, some were selling food, books, paintings. Marriage booths were even present as well as Horror booth. May game booth and photo booth din.

Halos lahat ng estudyante ay masaya sa mga nangyayari ngayon. May iba pang dumayo sa school namin para magsaya.

Pagkatapos naming makaipon ng sapat ay napag-usapan naming mag-ikot muna sa campus para na rin mag-enjoy. Sa totoo lang, si Jamie talaga may pakana ng lahat ng 'to, una niya kaming dinala sa may food booth since kanina pa kami nagugutom. After that we headed to the photo booth to take photographs for this memorable day. We all tried wacky pose except for Loki, he looked away from the camera, such a bummer!

Anyway, our next stop is the Horror booth! Loki and Al didn't seem to bother but Jamie was really excited to enter the booth, she even giggled while clinging unto Loki's arm.

"OMG! What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Jamie said while rushing to get inside the booth.

As we entered the room, dark atmosphere filled us. I mean literally, cause I almost couldn't see anything, it's way too dark. I tried to act cool but I couldn't, the only source of light in here were just red small lamps, so useless lang, di pa rin nakakakita ng matino. I tried calling Al pero it seems like nauna na siya, I can't even hear Jamie's screams anymore. Maybe they've went on without me.

Di bale na I don't need them, I'm a strong and independent woman. The scares are just a bunch of fakes, I can handle this!

Optimism is the only solution I could think of right now to get pass through this one hell of a ride. I just closed my eyes while taking a step forward, thinking happy thoughts to forget those fake ghosts surrounding me.

While on it, di ko na namalayang may multo na pa lang nanggulat sa gilid ko, which caused me to step back and unfortunately bumped into someone, and one thing led to another, nawalan kami pareho ng balanse at nahulog.

We were in a really awkward position. The unknown guy was on top of me and his hands were in mine unintentionally, his head was placed on my left cheek, we were super close to each other, his breath tickling my neck making me flustered.

"I am so sorry." I automatically said after I pushed him slightly away from me.

"Lorelei?" A familiar voice spoke.

"Loki? Ikaw pala yan. I thought I was totally left behind." I said immediately hugging him.

"Saan sina Al at Jamie? Akala ko magkasama kayo?" I asked.

"Jamie got scared to one of those ghosts and ran away. As per Al, I don't have any clue to where he is right now." Loki said.

"If we stayed at our booth, this wouldn't have happened, but what's done is done. Let's just find our way back first." He added.

I just nodded. He lend me his hand to help me stand up, I gladly accepted it. He started walking, still holding my hand.

"Loki?" I told him.

He turned his gaze at me.

"My hand." Looking down.

"What's wrong? I think it'd be better this way to refrain yourself from getting lost." Saying as if what he did was a casual thing to do.

"If you say so." Looking away from him.

Truthfully it is not a big deal but it's just unusual for the both of us to hold hands. We've hugged a lot of times but never held hands. This is a first.

We finally managed to escape from the booth. I immediately took off my hand away from him. There we found Al and Jamie waiting for us.

"I'm really sorry you guys! Sorry if di ko kayo hinintay kasi I was super scared. Next time, di na tayo pupunta sa mga horror booths! Sorry talaga." Jamie said almost crying.

"Okay lang, apology accepted huwag ka nang umiyak, nakalabas na man na kami, don't worry. Just promise that there will be no next time." I replied slightly rubbing her arm.

"No more next time, I promise!" Then she hugged me.

Today's really an unusual day for me, but all in all, I never regret any single thing that has happened right now, because it's what made this day a memorable one.