Chapter 8

Like any other day, Claude is studying with her girlfriend except today is his birthday. His girlfriend made him breakfast and sang a birthday song to him.

He felt really lucky. He was smiling the whole time they were eating breakfast. I will remember how fun this day is; he thought not knowing something is going to happen later on. Claude drove them to their school and both of them, later on, proceeded to their respective classes.

Lunch came in and Nicole was already inside the cafeteria waiting for her boyfriend to arrive. A couple of minutes later, Claude arrived with James on his side.

All of them are really hungry so they ordered a lot of food. While eating, Frey arrived and sat next to James.

These four are the so-called queens and kings of their law school. Nicole and Claude being the top 1 at their rankings in midterms and finals the last term while Frey and James were both top 2 next to the couple.

Students who are new to law school were amazed at how good their relationship with each other is. They expected them to be on bad terms because of the rankings but they were all wrong and deceived by their own thought and imaginations.

Back to them eating lunch, Claude is seen eating much faster than the three, which made them wonder.

"Love, why are you eating so fast?" Nicole questioned her boyfriend.

"I still need to study for my next class, I think we will have a quiz or something like that" he replied. "Just to be sure" he also added.

"Okay, but make sure to eat your food properly" she replied with a worried tone.

"Sure, don't worry about me"

He then again started eating not minding the stares he got from his friends. Even though he is eating, his mind is in another world thinking about whether he will just stay and have fun with his friends or study for his next class.

Claude chooses the latter one. He really cared about his grades. A few minutes passed by and Claude was the first one to finish eating. The three of them are still halfway done. Claude noticed this and decided to excuse himself early as he was going to study.

They agreed to it and saw this as an opportunity to have a mini-meeting to confirm if everything is ready for the surprise party.

"Is everything ready for later?" Nicole asked.

"Yes, Ma'am" Frey and James both said with matching salute signs.

"That's great, I need your all-out acting for these mission comrades" she said.

"Yes Ma'am" Both of them saluted again and all of them laugh at themselves.

A few hours later, it is now time to commence the so-called kidnapping mission. Claude, of course, has no idea what is going to unfold on his birthday.

He thought to himself that this day is just like any other normal day.

Claude arrived late at their waiting place, the couple decided to have dinner outside to celebrate his birthday.

When he arrived, his girlfriend is nowhere to be seen, but her belongings are scattered, which made Claude worried.

Claude is still in his shocked state and couldn't figure out what to do as he was panicking. Overthinking if something bad happened to his girlfriend he would not forgive himself for how careless he is.

While he is panicking, he got a call from Frey. He quickly answered it ready to ask a question but was cut off by her statement.

"CLAUDE NICOLE GOT KIDNAPPED!! I DON'T KNOW WHO THEY WERE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO, NICOLE MIGHT BE IN DANGER" Frey shouted while crying.

Claude, who heard this, tries his best to calm himself and Frey.

"Frey, you need to calm down. Tell me what happened while I was away. In detail" he said in a cold voice.

This made Frey felt a cold breeze passed by which made her shivered. Thoughts of how she will explain what happened in detail were inside her mind, finding the best possible answer and solution to completely deceive him.

She explained to him what happened and Claude on the other side completely believed it. Frey was surprised at how favorable this situation is to James later on.

She was really amazed at how her best friend completely knew that he will believe her.

After explaining everything both of them decided to report to the police about it which Frey volunteered to do so. Claude is thinking of asking for help from more people to make the job much easier.

While doing so he suddenly received a phone call from an unknown number. He quickly answered it hoping it was his girlfriend but it was an unknown voice who met him.

"Why, hello there Claude, the ice prince of the best law school in this country. I have some news to give to you. For me, this is good news while for you? I think it is a bad one. Do you want to guess what it is?" the unknown caller questioned Claude.

"Stop beating around the bush and just say what you want to say" he bravely replied.

"Impatient" the caller muttered. "Sure, I won't beat around the bush I'll get straight to the point. This will shock you so get your heart ready for it. I have your beautiful princess here with me. Princess, why don't you say hello to your beloved prince?" the caller added.

Claude turned pale after hearing this.

"NICOLE, ARE YOU ALRIGHT? DID HE TRY TO HURT YOU OR ANYTHING?" Claude shouted.

"Claude, please help me. Love, I'm scared" Nicole pleads him to help her and begins crying.

"Stay calm, okay? Just wait for me. Everything will be alright" Claude comforts her after hearing her cry so hard.

"Well, that's enough sweet talking with each other. I think you know what situation you are in ice prince" the caller interrupted them and begins threatening him.

"Yes, what do you want me to do?"

This surprised James, he didn't know that his best friend was this easy to deceived, but he still continues this fake façade.

"I want you to come to the location I will send to you after this call. I'm warning you, come alone and bring nobody with you. Once I notice you brought someone with you say goodbye to your princess. Are we clear?"

"Yes" Claude nodded.

After ending the call, James quickly sends in the location they were talking about.

'XXX Beach, 20:00'

Claude receives the text although he was skeptical about the location, he still decided to go. While driving, he can't relax and stay still. He's worried for his girlfriend after all.

After James sent the text he took a deep breath and relaxed. He was nervous, he thought that his best friend might notice it was him who was calling and pulling a prank on him.

He gave thumbs up to the people around him. It was the couple's parents and their close friends. All of them are part of the plan.

The people present at the moment started preparing the place. Decorating and bringing the food for Claude's birthday celebration. Nicole briefed them on what to do once Claude arrived so all of them are ready and prepared.

One of their close friends noticed a car coming and alerted them. Both James and Nicole got ready to act. James is wearing a mask and Nicole is "tied up" in a chair with a blindfold. Freia is the one commanding the entire guest and telling them what to do.

The beach is now quiet and dark. Claude immediately ran down the beach and saw two figurines. One of them is standing holding a gun while the other one is "tied up" in a chair with a blindfold. This made him nervous at the same time scared.

"Your prince in shining armor has arrived, princess" James said. He made his voice sound different so Claude didn't know who he was.

"Claude, are you there?" Nicole asked.

"Yes, I'm here" he replied and was about to take a step closer when James shouted, "Don't come any closer than that!"

"I came alone so don't hurt her" he said.

James smiled at him and was about to shoot him. He pulls the trigger and instead of a bullet, confetti came out.

The entire guest present starts singing and Nicole stands up to surprise him. The quiet and dark beach became loud and full of lights. Claude is bewildered by this. He didn't expect all of this to happen.

Nicole came to hug him and started laughing. All of them are happy that the plan succeeded.

Claude is still shocked and begins to look around. He sees all of their close friends and even their parents are present. This made him looked at his girlfriend and wondered how did she plan all of this.

He doesn't have any ideas on when and how she planned it.

"Happy Birthday, Love" Nicole greeted her once again.

"Thanks, but don't make me worried again" he replied.

Nicole nodded and smiled at him.

The party continued and a lot of their friends came to them to greet him. Once again he was surprised to see the guest present at the moment.

James and Freia soon came to their table to greet and tease him at the same time.

"Are you sure you're my best friend? How can you not know it was me deceiving you?" James nagged him but he ignored him.

He was too shy and embarrassed to even face the two of them. Freia just laughs at him and teases him a little.

'I will remember this day for the rest of my life' he thought.

The night passed by quickly and the guests present are decreasing one by one.