-Riele's POV-
Oct. 27. Tuesday.
Wow. Another new day. I wonder what this one will bring, besides school and endless lectures.
I opened my locker and placed my books inside.
"Riele!" Karen called.
I turned to her, locking my locker with a snap.
"I've been thinking… what's it like living alone these past few days? I thought your mom would be back yesterday," she said, curiosity lacing her words.
I scoffed. "She didn't come, but it's no big deal. She promised she'd be back today."
Karen tilted her head. "I'm sure someone like you can manage just fine."
Someone like me?
I gave her a pointed look.
She faltered, a small shiver in her stance, and immediately changed the subject.
"So… what's the plan after school?"
"I'm going shopping," I said, lifting my chin with a little flare. "I need to find the perfect Halloween outfit. Only the best will do."
Her eyes widened. "I guess that's something we'll each do solo then, huh? Keeping our outfits secret, like little treasures between the four of us."
I nodded. Secrets are the spice of every plan, after all.
Karen glanced at her wristwatch. "I've got swim practice. Gotta go."
"OK," I replied, watching her walk down the hall and disappear around a corner.
I let out a sigh. It honestly isn't easy being all alone at home. I always passed these past few days trying to defeat, or gratify powerful impulses in a world I truly fear living alone.
I can't wait for my mum to return. Honestly… I don't know how many more days of being alone I can survive.
Apparently, everyone has fear. No one is left out. No one is different towards a feeling like fear. Fear happens to be inevitable in the life of a person no matter how strong a person can actually be.
And as I was about to leave with my thoughts, my eyes caught someone.
I scoffed. Liar.
"Hey, liar!" I called, wanting to stir up trouble.
Yeah, stirring trouble is also a habit for me. Being this way was a need of mine as deep as wanting to eat when hungry.
I can't help it. It's the way I am. I would speak, and my head would agree with me without scolding.
He turned shakily. I'm sure he recognizes my voice.
"Do not call me liar," he said, the words sharp but trembling underneath.
I let out a soft laugh. "But that is exactly what you are."
"Just because you have something against me does not give you the right to label me," he snapped.
I nodded, walking closer to him. "Oh, I do have something against you. Something that could tilt your whole world off its axis. So, maybe watch your tongue. And it shouldn't bother you if I call you what you are. I mean, if the title does not fit, it should not sting."
He snorted. "I can't believe, of all people, it had to be you who found out."
I lifted one shoulder. "Call it fate. Or call it my lucky day."
"You have humiliated me enough in this school," he said. "Haven't you had your fill?"
I shook my head slowly, savoring it. "No. There's more fun coming… and I need it. It's mine."
A tight sigh escaped him. "Please… don't make it viral. It'll ruin me," he muttered, his voice dragging uneasily across the words.
I tilted my head, studying him. "I know. You look like a saint, honestly. No one would guess how sharp the knife behind your back really is."
"I had to do it," he muttered.
"In your favor alone," I said, voice cool as ice. "Someone else got burned in the fire, someone who never deserved to be where he landed."
He chuckled in disgust. "And what about you? You are holding the evidence that could save him from that fire. Yet you do nothing. Tell me, are you not the selfish one?"
I looked away from him, a flicker of guilt brushing against me. "That time will come."
"So you are going to rat me out then."
I turned back to him. "You are the one pushing me."
He sighed. "Don't do it."
"It's not up to you, liar."
He let out a dry laugh. "You're a pretty good blackmailer, you know? Very professional. I doubt I am the only one you have cornered."
I smiled faintly. "Your mess is yours to manage. Do not stick your nose in other people's business."
"You will get what is coming to you, Riele."
I nodded. "Everyone does. You included. So stop acting like the wounded hero. You ran from the fire and let the person you called friend burn in your place."
"I will regret that for the rest of my life," he muttered. "But there is nothing I can do now."
I shook my head. This world.
Trust is a currency nobody can afford and I've seen more than enough of it.
In this school especially, faces are costumes. People polish their halos until they shine, then hide the rust underneath. They speak like saints and move like thieves.
Why can't they just show who they really are and let the world decide whether to accept them? Secrets rot. Fear grows teeth. The pretending is what kills everything.
Everyone is like a strange flower that opens wide in daylight and folds into itself at night.
The sun that makes that strange flower bloom, and the cold darkness that made them shrink were never seen. It was there own private, and personal sun and darkness hidden from curious eyes.
Their own secrets buried deep within, dressed up in the image of good people.
But they do not fool me.
I happen to see the sun that feeds them. I see the darkness that starves them.
I looked at him, my gaze sharp enough to cut. "Then stay a coward forever."
I turned and walked away.
The truth is, people are not always the sum of what they do, and the way they act.
I only wanted him to man up, and defend his friend. To prove to himself that he is more than the shadow he hides in. A man like him should not be living under a rock he dug himself.
Maybe I should have called him exactly what he is. A coward who shoved his best friend under a moving bus, then crawled back into hiding.
Soon, I will do what needs to be done. Even if it costs me the only leverage I have over that liar.