“Hi.”
She stared
deeply at the folded piece of paper that she found under her desk after lunch
break. She didn’t recognized the handwriting but she half-suspected that it
came from one of the guys in her class by the name of Damian. Though, that was
stupid thought, of course as the guy certainly had his eyes on other people.
Maybe she
was the one crushing on him? Nah, nonsense, she thought.
She was
alone in class and didn’t wish to leave. She was always the earliest to finish lunch
and wait in class. She was waiting for her friend, Syazee.
A figure
suddenly appeared at the class’ door. Speak of the devil; Syazee was there with
her sling bag beside her waist. She was late for school as always.
“Nuiz, there
you are.” Syazee said, walking into class. Nuiz looked up from the piece of
paper she was staring at and looked at Syazee with a smile. No matter what
bothered her, she always had a way of hiding it from people.
“I tried
looking for you in the cafeteria. Though, I did suspect you were waiting in
here.” Syazee said as she sat down next to Nuiz, not taking off her sling bag.
“Why were
you late?” Nuiz asked, folding the piece of paper and keeping it under her
desk. As she was folding it, she got a glimpse of what was written behind the
paper.
‘Answer and
leave this under your desk.’
‘Maybe
later.’ Nuiz thought.
“The usual
reason.” Syazee answered Nuiz’s previous question. The two of them started
talking as usual, waiting for the bell to ring.
“Hey, what’s
up? You seemed disturbed.” Syazee suddenly asked as they were talking about the
latest school gossips.
“Nothing.”
Nuiz answered.
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Your name
means ‘live’ you know so you should be ‘living’ your life to the fullest.”
Syazee told Nuiz with a grin. Nuiz smirked and asked, “Oh really? Then what
does your name mean?”
“I don’t
know. It’s a mystery.” Syazee then gasped. “Maybe it’s because I’m meant to be
mysterious.”
Syazee
laughed as Nuiz rolled her eyes. “What nonsense.”
Soon, the
bell rang and Syazee went back to her seat, which was in front of Nuiz. Nuiz
took out the folded piece of paper, unfolded it and wrote, ‘who are you?’ She
then folded it back and left it under her always empty desk.
She looked
around to see if anyone was looking or observing her every move. No one was
though.
‘Whoever
this anonymous writer is, he or she is sure good at acting.’ Nuiz thought.
-------
School ended
at 4 in the afternoon. Nuiz and Syazee got their bags and walked back home from
school that day, talking as usual.
“Any plans
for tonight?” Syazee asked Nuiz.
“Syazee we’re
only 14. We can’t go to clubs or get ourselves drunk.” Nuiz replied, not really
answering Syazee’s question.
“I know we
can’t do that. I’m just asking.” Syazee told Nuiz.
“Probably
just going to surf the internet and write stories.” Nuiz answered with a shrug.
“Why? Are you planning on going out tonight?”
“The movies,
probably.” Syazee replied.
“What movie
are you planning to watch?”
“We. What
movie are we planning to watch.” Syazee corrected Nuiz.
“Oh, so I’m
in on this now?” Nuiz asked with a grin.
“C’mon. What’re
we watching tonight?” Syazee asked.
“I heard
there’s a new thriller movie that came out 3 days ago. Wanna watch that?”
“I don’t see
why not.”
“Great.”
“So, I’ll come
to your house at 7PM tonight?”
“Yeah, okay.”
And with that, the conversation was over and the both of them walked home as
usual.
-------
“HELLO???!!”
“Oh my, who’s
that?” Nuiz’s mother asked. Nuiz grinned. “Relax mom, it’s only Syazee. Gee she
could’ve just rung the bell.”
Nuiz got up
and unlocked the door. Outside stood Syazee in her casual clothes, jeans, a
long sleeved t-shirt with her sneakers.
“You could’ve
just rung the bell you know?” Nuiz told Syazee as she lifted her eyebrow.
“Why, thank
you for welcoming me into your house, bruh.” Was Syazee’s reply as she walked
into the house. Nuiz shook her head with a smirk and closed the door.
“Good
evening, Syazee.” Greeted Nuiz’s mom. Syazee shook her hand as a sign of ‘thank
you.’
“So, I heard
you both will be going out tonight?” Nuiz’s mom asked.
“Yeah.”
“Bring her
back by 11.”
“You got it!”
And with
that, the two friends set out for the cinema at the nearest mall they could
find.
-------
The both of
them got their seats in the theatre. Not many people had shown up yet.
“Don’t eat
the popcorn yet.” Nuiz told Syazee who was already digging into the popcorn
they bought to share with each other.
“Sorry.”
Syazee replied.
The movie
started soon and a man came up to Nuiz and sat down next to her. It was too
dark for Nuiz to see his face.
Suddenly,
Nuiz felt something in her jacket pocket. She looked at it and saw that the man
was putting something in it. Nuiz didn’t know what to do so she whispered, “What
the heck, man?”
The man didn’t
answer, instead, he got up and sat somewhere else.
“Creep.”
Nuiz said. She put her hand in her pocket and found a folded piece of paper.
She couldn’t see what it wrote. She kept the paper anyway.
-------
The movie
ended at 10 PM and Syazee and Nuiz walked back home from the mall.
“I’ll see
you tomorrow at school, aye?” Syazee asked. Nuiz nodded and went into her
house. She went up to her room and remembered the folded piece of paper she had
gotten from the creepy guy she bumped into in the theatre.
She was
surprised to see that it was the same folded piece of paper she had received at
school. There, someone had answered, “I can’t tell you who I am, yet. That’ll
just spoil the game, Nuiz.”
There was
something else too.
‘Answer and
leave it under your desk tomorrow.’
Nuiz didn’t
know what to write. After pondering for a few minutes, she finally came up with
something.
‘Let the
games, begin.’
To be continued in: Guess Who.
