𝕲𝖔𝖊𝖙𝖎𝖈[𝕬 𝕿𝖔𝖒 𝖗𝖎𝖉𝖉𝖑𝖊 𝕾𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞]

Black and Blue

"Noi Noi, have you seen my chemistry book?" Leo asked while fumbling through her shelf. She wanted to at least see the pages once before the test but couldn't find it anywhere.

"I don't know. I'll check my shelf."

Leo nodded absent-mindedly and searched through her bags. She even looked under the bed just in case someone was playing some sick prank on her. The impending first-term examination was looming closer, and she couldn't afford to be without her study materials.

"I don't see it anywhere. Maybe you left it in class," Noi Noi suggested.

Leo let out a defeated sigh and slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Well, I hope I left it in class. I cannot afford to lose the book just before our exam."

Noi Noi gave her an apologetic smile while slapping her shoulders.

"You can share the book with me today. Don't worry."

She mumbled a soft whatever under her breath and headed for her classes.

The first three classes passed by in a hazy blur for Leo, her mind consumed by the quest for the missing book. She glanced at her classmates with narrowed eyes, as if they held the secret to its mysterious disappearance. Noi Noi, sitting beside her, was frantically going over her notes, clearly panicking about the upcoming test in the next class.

To her right sat the dynamic duo of annoyance, Addie and Tina. Addie, with her lovey-dovey stares at her boyfriend, had recently gained a googly-eyed obsession. And Tina? Well, she seemed to be more interested in showcasing her hair acrobatics than in anything remotely educational.

Leo rolled her eyes at their circus-like display and shifted her attention to the teacher, who was perched on his desk like a lazy bird, engrossed in his phone. How this guy managed to land a teaching job is beyond comprehension.

Leo silently thanked the heavens that he was limited to teaching grammar and not anything related to science. She vividly recalled the time he confidently proclaimed that Shakespeare was the first man to set foot on the moon and that he wrote "To be or not to be on the Moon."

Yeah, let's just file that nugget of wisdom away in the "Alternative History" folder, shall we?

The last bell rang, signalling a short 15-minute break. The teacher practically sprinted out of the classroom in search of the holy grail of free coffee, while the students began to leave the class one by one.

The girls, like a mighty army, marched toward the washroom, ready to claim a mirror and fix any stray hair. Meanwhile, the boys engaged in their usual discussions about... well, let's just say they had an intense interest in human anatomy, particularly the female kind.

Leo seized the opportunity to scour the classroom for her missing book. Noi Noi joined the search party. They rummaged through every nook and cranny, turning the classroom upside down, but the elusive book remained stubbornly hidden.

This was bad. This was really really bad.

Leo felt the lump in her throat and forced it down. How would she study for the exams now?

"Hey, we will think of something, don't worry. I-"

"Noi Noi, just leave me alone for a while," Leo whispered making her friend sigh and shake her head in disappointment.

Leo was lost in her thoughts again. It was not the first time something like that happened. Her books often disappeared just before important examinations. She had a few ideas for who it might be. But she had no proof to hold it against them.