Page 15: Taste your own medicine

Despite being two hours early for school, my excitement could not hold me back and I just had to rush to LIA and turn my payback plan to reality. With all that time on my hands, I even got to remind Dave over and over not to show up in school anymore since Niko knows what he looks like. It'll ruin everything. Although he looked displeased, he eventually dropped the idea anyway and heeded to my command.

By the time I arrived in school, it was a ghost town, with birds gloriously perching on the trees and singing their morning songs. I just had to stop at entrance and breathe it all in. With a view like this, no one would come to a conclusion that darker things in life exist, except of course if you're an enthusiast of the grim and death....okay go back, go back. Let's not go there.

Inhale. Exhale. Life would have been a lot better if I wasn't brewing some plan for the truth and the just.

"But life isn't that easy."

I can't believe my brain just sounded like a man just now.

"Oh yes, life isn't―" and I froze realizing that was not my voice.

I snapped my neck turning to who was behind me, extra on defense covering my body with my backpack just in case it was a pervert.

"You look agitated early in the morning." he smiled brightly.

My body eased up realizing it was just the principal.

"Would you not scare me like that?" I weakly replied, "I drink too much coffee for a regular fourteen year old so my body reacts to stimuli wildly."

He lets out a laugh, "You sound like a woman in her forties."

Excuse me?!

"So, what brings the smartest girl in school to come so early?" he adds realizing I was frowning at him from his comment.

"I woke up too early."

"And happen to be rushing to the PA room for payback."

I jolt in panic, "Is my brain speaking out loud?" I exclaim.

The principal chuckles, "You're an open book miss Ishioka. And basing on how the other one has been frantically searching for a person that is your alter-ego, I pretty much figured out you'd be doing something about his careless open call outs to you."

"If you knew he was being careless, why don't you stop him? I thought it was your principle to keep VVIP students' identities on check." I said walking to the shoe locker.

"My students' identities is first and foremost my best interest. However, I also have a duty to make your lives interesting. A book isn't a book if you decide to skip its chapters."

His statement made my hands stop from pulling out my indoor shoes from inside my cubicle. I turn to him and I see another bright smile as if telling me to figure things out. I shake him off and continued my task.

"I have to somehow stop him from searching for Hera all over the place, before the students catch up on who he is searching for." I said, slipping my feet into the white lightweight mary janes, "I have at least a week before we set off for our collaboration. I can't let things remain this way."

"Agreed, you should." I hear him reply, "It'll be stressful if you leave it out of hand. Who knows what more he can do."

I really don't know anymore if he's trying to comfort me or piss me off. If I knew what to do I would be here confiding in you.

"Why don't you throw him off guard?"

I turn to him, confused. "Throw him off guard..."

"Surprise him." he winks and went about his way, leaving me to my thoughts standing alone.

Of course, even my wits couldn't decipher what the principal was talking about. How am I supposed to throw him off guard when he's the one who's been making me choke up on my lunch. I know this is impossible, but he's omnipresent. I could just feel his every being all over the place, and it's throwing me off. I can't even be at peace in school. I couldn't even concentrate on my recent shoot for Queen. They kept talking about Cherry on set and it was painfully awkward for me since I was the once who's been leeched out of answers.

Absentmindedly, I failed to notice my feet had brought me to the classroom. Not that I was surprised. I bump my head to the door and frustratingly slid it open. The room was empty, obviously. I don't think anybody's as crazy as I am who'd come to school this early. I made my way to my desk, hanging my bag at the side hook of my table. I glance to the window, unhinging the lock, sliding it open. The cool wind blows to my face and petals from the cherry tree outside came flying in. As majestic as it sounds like, it actually became a problem looking at the petal covered floor.

"Snap." I clicked my tongue.

I turned to the utility closet behind me and pulled out a broom and pan to cleanup the outrage on the floor. Just when I was arching my back to pick up some mixed up leaves, I notice how a petal welcomed itself to Niko's under table cubicle. Instinctively, I reached for it but paused the moment my hand had slipped in.

OF COURSE! I thought to myself.

I quickly search inside my bag for that little stationary pad I carry with me all the time. I rarely use it so I'm confident enough that nobody will recognize it.

I clicked my pen open, excitedly landed my butt on my chair and scribbled for dear life.

Hera doesn't know that Niko's been frantically going on lengths to meet her in school, but she sure heck knows the random DMs Cherry has been sending her almost everyday.

What better way to flip his entire being when he finds out that the girl he's been looking for had slipped in a DM under his table?

Signed, Hera of Queen.

I snicker to myself, tossing the folded note into the cubicle, pushing my chair back.

"Let's cleaaaan 🎵" I hum to myself sweeping the floor, gliding like I was in skates.

I can't believe the world feels a lot brighter already.