Chapter 1
Chapter One
“Quinn!”
I looked around when I heard a voice calling me. It’s my best friend, Pracy. I smiled and waved at her.
“Where did you go?” she asked as she went near me.
“Am I already late? I didn’t notice that I left my bag so I returned to the house and took it.” I answered and lifted up my bag.
“Our Professor’s looking for us. All of the students are already in the stadium.” she added that made my eyebrow arched.
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the Principal has an announcement?” she shrugged, “Let’s go.”
She held my arm and pulled me to the stadium of Mystica Elementa High. I almost squinted at the number of students I saw there. They are so many. Good thing that we immediately found the seats of our classmates.
“Oh, Quinn? We’ve been looking for you the whole time, where’d you go?” one of my classmates, Rika, asked when she noticed us.
“Well, I left my bag in my house...”
“You took it back? Why did you have to? You must not return back the things you already left.” Joco suddenly jested, the corny joker in our class.
I winced and ignored him. I just focused my full attention in front. The Principal came so everyone stood up.
“Good morning, students.” the Principal greeted.
All of the students greeted her back except Pracy and me. I gazed at Rika beside me when she elbowed us two and pointed to the direction of our Professor. She eyed the three of us sharply and warned us. We just stood up properly and focused on the stage.
“I have an important announcement to announce.” the Principal started, “Today is the 10th death anniversary of Ms. Varri Cuevas. A former student of Mystica Elementa High. And we will be having a celebration party tonight. Here at the school’s ground. The party will start at 9 pm to 12 am. I hope everyone will come. That’s all. You can now go back to your classes.”
Then she left immediately after her short speech. I heard the complaints of the students behind me.
“Is that really the announcement? Why is it so short?” one of them yelped.
“I thought we’re gonna stay here a bit longer. I don’t wanna enter our first class.”
“Why? What’s the subject of your first class?”
“Mathematics,”
I secretly chuckled on what I heard. I glanced at my classmates who’s complaining too because our History class is so boring. Our Professor in that subject is so ladylike and gentle everytime she discusses in class that makes each of us sleepy.
“Let’s just ditch our first class.” Kori said, the one in our class who loves cutting.
“Shut up, Kori. We have attendance.” the President restrained.
He just slammed his face because he knew that he can’t do anything but to enter the whole class. We laughed.
As we went back inside the room, all of our guy classmates gathered together and made a plan to ditch the class. Well, of course, Kori is the mastermind because our Professor at this time is absent.
“Will you come to the party later?” Pracy suddenly asked as I sat on my chair.
I shrugged. “I’m not yet sure. How about you?”
“Yeah, I’ll be at the party. Besides, I’ll just be bored at my house. I have nothing to do there but to sleep the whole day.” she replied.
I nodded and started to write in the back of my notebook. I just stopped and looked at her again when something crossed my mind.
“Pracy,” I mumbled.
She raised her eyebrow, waiting for what I will say next. I took a deep breath.
“Aren’t you feeling something strange?” I asked, her forehead wrinkled in confusion.
“What do you mean?”
“About the announcement of the Principal earlier.” I started and leaned a little so no one would hear our conversation. “She said that today is the death anniversary of the former student here ten years ago, right? So I can’t understand why we need to have a celebration party. For what? Isn’t that an insult to the dead student because it seems like they are still glad that someone died?”
“What are you saying, Quinn?” she chuckled, “Maybe they just insisted on a party to make everyone remember all the achievements and honorable things Ms. Cuevas did for our school.”
“For us to remember? We don’t even know who she is. We know nothing about Ms. Cuevas. Tell me, what did she do before for us to remember her? Do you know?” I added.
She shook her head. “I don’t.”
I crossed my arms. “Exactly,”
“You’re so funny, Quinn. Don’t think negatively. You’re doubting too much.”
“I just feel that there’s something wrong going on. It feels like they are hiding something from us.”
“Like what?”
“I can’t explain…”
“See? You couldn’t explain it either.” she laughed. “Seriously, stop overreacting.”
I sighed when she turned her back on me. I know she doesn’t believe me. I really feel there’s something wrong but I can’t figure out what it is yet.
“See you later at the party, Quinn!” Pracy shouted before she jumped in her car.
I waved at her. “See you!”
Our classes for today are already over. It’s kinda stressing, though. I just waited for my driver to pick me up before I left the school. As I arrived home, I saw my mother running rapidly and putting her bag inside the car. I immediately went near her.
“Mom!” I shouted, she noticed me. “Where are you going?”
“I have a lot of business work to finish today, sweetie. I have to go back to the office. See you later---”
“Uh, Mom, wait a minute!” I stopped her. “I’m asking for your permission to let me join the celebration party in our school tonight. Can I?”
“Oh sure, sweetheart. I really have to go now. I’m sorry. Just take care, okay? Don’t drink too much alcohol. Bye!”
I was about to say something but she quickly kissed me on my cheeks and waved her goodbye. I sighed heavily while waiting for her to be out of my sight. I directly entered the house and went upstairs. I started to look for a dress that I’ll wear for the party later. I chose a green sparkling cocktail dress and I think it suits me.
I lie down in my bed for a couple of minutes to get some rest. I didn’t notice that I fell asleep. I just woke up when I heard my phone’s alarm. I took a bath and got dressed. I put on some blushes on my cheeks and I also curled the tip of my hair.
When I made sure that I’m already prepared, I immediately sat in the car and drove back to Mystica Elementa High. I smiled as I saw Pracy and Rika waiting.
“Hi! You look extra pretty tonight!” Rika praised.
My smile widened, “You too.”
“Let’s go inside?” Pracy uttered, we nodded.
We went to the stadium. It’s a good thing that we came exactly on time. The party isn’t starting yet. I gently covered my ears because of the deafening noise of everyone here and also the loud music.
“Are you all ready to party?” the DJ screamed.
“Yes!” almost all of the students shouted.
The party just got started. We danced and drank. We didn’t stop until we got tired. I looked around with a big smile painted in my lips. I can feel the joy everyone has right now.
“Are you having fun, Quinn?” Pracy asked as we stopped dancing for a while to get more wines.
“Of course, I’m having fun!” I screamed. “How about you?”
“Of course I am, too!”
“It’s obvious.” I chuckled.
I couldn’t almost count how many alcohols we already drank. Some are going home, others fell asleep here because of too much drunkenness. But Pracy and I are tough. We both don’t want to go home yet.
“Hey, this is my last shot.” Pracy mumbled as she drank a glass of wine.
I laughed out loud when she fell on the table. I stood up and went near her to lift her up so she could sleep peacefully. I didn’t bother her anymore because I know she won’t wake up, instead she’ll just throw up. I turned my back and faced Rika. She’s already sleeping, too. I’m the only one here who’s still awake. Even the DJ and the other Professors are already sleeping. I looked at the time on my phone. It’s almost 12:00 am.
Even though I felt dizzy, I still managed to stand up. I looked all over the place. My forehead wrinkled in confusion when I noticed the dark part of the stadium. I went there slowly and found a door. I saw nothing inside as I opened it. As in nothing. It looks like an old room. I can’t barely see the whole place because of the darkness.
I stared at the big glass window behind me. I can see the view of the moon and the sky above from here. I was startled and took a little step back when a sudden lighting came up and it began to thunder loudly. I closed my eyes in pain and strongly tapped my heavy chest. I can’t understand why it feels like it was taking all of my energy. I felt weak and my eyesight is now starting to get dark.
I just knew that I suddenly fell on the ground and lost my consciousness...
