Snakes (part 1)

2.7 - Snakes

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How annoying.

She was my greatest nemesis, an enemy much worse than Peach.

If Peach was a queen of a country, then she is the emperor of an entire continent. She has an army four times larger than Peach's. She has power much more fearsome than Peach's. Her looks, her family's riches, her grades. She has it all.

And yet…

She is the first of my enemies… to fall.

After apologizing suddenly, Alica turned her body fully to me. Now, the two of us are more than ready to talk things out. But before we started talking, Nico opened his mouth.

"Why don't we… talk this out somewhere else?"

He suggested, and I don't really see why not.

We then started walking towards the canteen right by the school's backyard. We walked past quite a lot of student groups that still haven't gone home yet, and none of them looked familiar to me.

Not to me, but Nico knows every single one of them. The popular dude just said hello to every single group we walked past, be it from the senior years or from our generation. He just knows everybody, it's insane.

"How the hell are you so popular…?"

I commented right after he was done saying hello to the seventh group we walked past. He turned to me out of surprise and formed a grin.

"I mean… They are quite friendly to me, so I don't see why not."

"Surely it wasn't because of your baby face, was it?"

"Whaa~t? How can that ever be?"

Nico said while placing his hand on his chin, showing off the most childish grin he can make with that face of his. I giggled a little seeing his actions, but then I was reminded of the four individuals who were walking behind us.

Nico's friends were busy with one another, so I didn't really mind them being there. But, there is one other person who is simply following us in silence.

Alica… just what happened to you, today?

We arrived at the canteen, and I ordered a drink before we sat down. Nico got himself another bowl of noodles since he is just crazy for them, and so did his friends. While the boys are being insane with their noodles, Alica didn't buy anything and just sat down on her own at a nearby empty seat.

How odd. Everything about her actions right now is so weird.

I sat down at the seat in front of her and flaunted my drink in front of her.

"Want some?"

I asked carefully, but she stared at me a little annoyed.

"And drink from the same straw as you?"

"Well… My bad for offering."

I began drinking from the straw after saying that. Truthfully, I haven't drank it yet, so the straw was still clean. If she drank it though, I would've got up and gotten another straw. But, it looks like she is not drinking it.

"So? What the hell happened today?"

I finally asked her, and she let out a long tired sigh. She placed both her arms on the table, and she landed her forehead on top of those arms. I was waiting for her to say something, but she was still silent even after she rested her head on her hands.

"… Well? I don't have all day."

"Give me a moment… My head hurts."

Motherf*cker is so damn dramatic, huh?

I leaned my back to the chair and just enjoyed my drink. Nico and the boys are still busy buying their noodles, so it's just me and Alica on the table. But even then, I felt more lonely than if I was just by myself on the table. Her existence is simply hurting me.

After a while, Alica lifted her head up again. She took a deep breath while looking upwards, and she let out a long sigh as she turned her eyes to me.

"Everyone… left me."

Huh?

She started out her story by saying something like that. How am I supposed to understand anything? Who is this 'Everyone' that she mentioned?

"My friends. All the girls from class A shunned me."

"Oh… I see."

I must've taken that news quite lightly, because Alica looked so annoyed.

"Are you happy?"

".…Uh, not really. But, what do you mean 'Shunned' you?"

"Exactly what I said. They pushed me away, and they left me out. They didn't talk to me, and they even openly declared me as their enemy before the first lesson started. Everyone just… stepped away from me.

They blamed me for the things you've brought upon them. It was because I asked them for help that they ended up getting into that situation, and they found me responsible for everything they experienced."

I mean… I do agree with that. I do realize the possibility of her friends leaving her. Hell, I even hinted about that to her earlier this morning, which was the reason why she looked so devastated earlier.

But, seeing it happening now, I feel a little bit mixed.

Now, she is experiencing the same thing that I've been enduring for many years.

The strongest emotion that I'm feeling towards her right now… is sympathy.

"The one who was the most vocal, to my surprise, was my own best friend. Calvin was supposed to be my closest friend, and she's been one since we were at junior high. But, seeing her being so hostile to me earlier… I can't believe she was the same person."

"Was she the one with tied hair and brown skin?"

"Yes.…she was the one who kept you in that bathroom last Friday."

Ah… so it was her. The psychopath who threw the scissors to my face.

"She was a psychopath to begin with. I think it's better for everyone if someone like her were sent to jail."

I commented about the psycho called Calvin, but Alica took that comment quite harshly.

"Don't talk about her like that. She is actually a supportive person."

"Really? Then, why did she just throw you out when you're such best friends?"

Alica turned her gaze away from me out of confusion, and I can't help but notice the problem. Right now, she still can't accept the fact that her friends have shunned her out. Unable to accept that, she still had the same idea where her friends were always so supportive.

But, after seeing what kind of person that psycho truly is, I doubted very hard that she is anything but a psychopath.

"You do know that she was the one who threw scissors to my face, right?"

"You deserved it. You took Nico from me."

"Hey, I'm trying to help you out here. I'm only doing it because Nico asked me to, so fucking understand the situation right now. Okay?

Your best friend is a psychopath. Accept it."

I said all of those things with a 'tiny' 'little' 'very small' bit of anger hinted within them. I was barking because Alica still doesn't understand what I am trying to say to her, and I was sure that she still doesn't get it.

But after hearing me talk so angrily, she turned her gaze away out of embarrassment like before.

"I can't… accept that."

She said with a low voice, and I know what exactly is going on inside her mind.

Like I thought, she is having trouble accepting. Her friends have abandoned her, and she has no way of coping with the situation. She trusted her friends so much that she just doesn't understand how this whole situation is happening.

It's an equivalent to if Nico's friends, Jeremy, Link, and Randy, suddenly turned to him and made him their enemy. Being the nice person Nico is, he probably wouldn't accept that and will still try to be a friend towards the three, even though the three will never accept him anymore.

And as a result, he will probably just end up becoming their slave. He will do everything they want, and he will do it. Out of his own will.

Alica is on her way to becoming someone like that. If she doesn't delete the memories that she had with her friends, she might do things that she wouldn't normally do to make up for the problems she caused. And knowing what kind of person Calvin is, I think there is a high possibility where she might ask for some nasty things to Alica.

I can't really allow that, can I? Alica is my enemy. It's unfair if she was beaten by someone else aside from me, and the only way for me to be satisfied is only if I am the one who beat her.

Which means, we will have to get rid of the root of the issue.

Calvin the psychopath and the girls of class A.

"How are things going?"

Nico suddenly said as he arrived at our table. I turned to him, wondering why he was alone when he ordered the noodles alongside his friends. I searched around and found the three idiots sitting on a different table, not wanting to disrupt our conversation at all.

I'm surprised they are very respectful towards Alica… I thought they disliked her. Then again, they were only doing the prank out of Nico's request, so they probably only felt sorry for pranking her.

Alica turned to Nico who sat next to me, and she realized why Nico sat next to me instead of next to her.

Nico's girlfriend is me. Not her.

"I apologize for taking your time like this. But, I will need your help."

Alica suddenly said to me, and I noticed that she only started talking about this when Nico was around. She probably did it because Nico is here, so I should be ready for what her request is.

"… What is it?"

"Can you haunt somebody for me?"

Hearing her request, both Nico and I opened our eyes wide.

"W-Who are you trying to haunt??"

Nico asked out of worry, but Alica still kept her eyes at me. She is completely ignoring Nico, which I assume is probably difficult to do for her since she likes him so much. So, seeing her being this serious made me realize that she truly wants this person to be haunted.

"Who?"

I asked, and she didn't even give the answer a second thought.

"The mastermind behind all of class A's chaos. Miranda."