Chapter Fifteen

"Date me"

His words ring in the air. Everything seems silent despite the busy bustling sound of being in a mall. Then the next thing I knew, I was laughing uncontrollably. Soon enough, Sancho was also laughing at me.

"You think you can pull a prank like that on me.", I said when I got my laughter under control. "You do realize I know you so well."

"Darn it! I thought I could get you this time." Sancho said happily with a trace of disappointment.

"It's impossible for your womanizing ass to go gay on me."

"The prank was so good when I got Roby but you... haist. I have no words." Sancho is still sulking that he still had not successfully pulled a prank on me.

"Anyways, since you are no fun at all, I need your help with something."

"What kind of assistance do you want from me?" I asked. Sancho leaned on the table and said.

"So here's the thing. My mom's birthday is coming up."

"Oh? Tell her "Happy birthday" for me." Sancho looked at me not happy with my remark.

"Wait, listen. I need you to go with me to buy her a gift at the department store."

"You mean right now?"

"Yeah!"

"But I thought the others would be here in a-"

"We still have plenty of time. We'll be done before they even get here."

"Okay." I was going to agree in the first place anyway.

We finished our snacks so we could head to the department store. It turns out that Sancho was going to buy his mom a make-up product. According to him, it will be less embarrassing on his part if he has a companion.

The make-up section is actually near the entrance of the department store. Sancho looked into the rows of make-up products while looking at his phone to see if it was the same product. I told him why not just buy it online. He said he doesn't trust products sold by just looking at the picture.

Soon enough, one of the salesladies noticed Sancho and offered her assistance. The saleslady was kinda cute. So Sancho, being the womanizer that he is, started flirting with her. I used that moment to make my escape to get out of the makeup section.

Looking around and patiently waiting for Sancho to get his business done, I thought about my mom for a bit. Her birthday is still a few months away. Maybe I should plan on what gift should I give her.

"Oh? Look who I have here!" a familiar voice said.

Though I only heard that voice quite a handful of times, the fact that my brain can recognize it among the noises in the department store says so much. I looked at the direction of her voice. She was standing right there just a few feet away from me

"I see you had some clean clothes prepared after all. Lucky you." She said loud enough to let me hear but not loud enough to draw the attention of the other shoppers or mall staff. Since I wasn't replying to her, she continued talking.

"I never thought I'd see you in the makeup section," she said mocking me.

"It's none of your business." I sneered at her. She laughed the way anyone would laugh if they wanted to ridicule someone.

"I know, right?"

"So, you know, then leave me alone!" I snapped.

"Tired of me already?"

What is this evil snake trying to do? Provoke me so I would cause a scene? No way. I'm not giving her another chance to humiliate me.

"Yes. So just go!" I continue to sneer at her as I try to calm myself. Her smile grew wider and said.

"Okay! Bye!" she waved at me. Then she turned around and walked out of the department store.

Wait? What just happened? I didn't expect she'd just leave like that. I was expecting a longer word battle. But anyway, at least she left. I sighed releasing the stress in me.

"Hey, Justin! What are you doing there?" Sancho came bringing a shopping bag with him. "I am already done. Let's go to the front of the mall to meet up with Patrick."

Glad that we can now leave, I walked with Sancho as we went out of the department store. 

However, when we set foot on the exit, an alarm goes off. Sancho and I were both surprised by the sudden sound. Everyone near the entrance also stopped to look. Within seconds, we were surrounded by mall security guards.

"You two! This is a theft alarm detector. Give us your bags for inspection." one of the guards said.

Theft alarm detector!?! But I did not steal anything!

Both Sancho and I looked at each other confused. Both of us did not steal anything. We both took off our bags and gave them to the guards. The guards opened Sancho's satchel bag first. All they saw were notebooks, a book, and other stuff that students usually have. Nothing unusual.

Then, they took my backpack and opened it. I was confident that there was nothing in there that could make the alarm detector go off. But my confidence turned to nervousness when the guard checking my bag exclaimed.

"Aha! Look what we have here." The guard said and pulled out something.

There are two kinds of makeup products found in my bag. They are still sealed with their anti-theft stickers still attached. In my memory, these are even famous and expensive-looking brands. How did those get into my bag!?!?!

"I did not steal that! I don't know how those got in there." I said even if I knew that they would not believe me.

"Don't play dumb, kid! The evidence is right here." the guard said.

"Sir, my friend will never steal makeup," Sancho said attempting to defend me.

"Sir, excuse me." one of the salesladies came forward. She looks like one of the salesladies from the make-up section. But she wasn't the one who assisted Sancho.

I thought the woman would defend us and prove our innocence. But, I was dead wrong.

"I saw these two boys earlier. Both of them came to the makeup section. The one whose bag was cleared talked way too long with one of the salesladies. He distracted her. The other one must have taken the make-up while the saleslady was distracted. He even hurriedly left the makeup section. He must have panicked that someone would see him stealing."

Unbelievable!!! This saleslady was making things up! She made it so much worse.

"Okay. Now that we have evidence and a witness, we will have to take you two to the admin office." the guard said. The other guards dragged us out of the department store. They lead us towards the admin office they are talking about.

Everyone at the mall was looking at us. They were whispering to each other. Some even dared to ask the guards why they were taking us away. The guards did not hesitate to reply to them. Soon, I can start to hear the comments of the shoppers.

"Oh look at those thieves! They are still so young yet they already do such crimes."

"What!?!?! They were caught stealing makeup! Those boys? Are you sure?"

"Ha! Some gays would succumb to any means just to sustain their gay lifestyle. Tsk tsk tsk."

Some are even taking pictures and videos of us. The guards are not stopping them. They are even smiling at the cameras. Sancho and I felt like we were paraded like some prey they caught and the guards were the hunters. To say it was extremely humiliating would be an understatement. I felt like wishing I would just disappear right now.

I was innocent and so was Sancho. How could this happen? What happened back there? Then, it hit me.

That evil snake!

She was there with me moments ago. She's the only one that I had come across at the make-up section that had the intention of harming me. How was she able to pull this off?

She was able to successfully orchestrate the incident earlier. I'm not surprised she was also able to pull this one off as well. But unlike earlier, I have a way to find out and prove my innocence. This newfound information gave me hope in proving my innocence.

Soon enough, we were led to an alley where only authorized personnel could enter. After a few walks, I finally saw the Admin Office. When the guards opened the door, I did not give them any moment to speak to the man behind the desk.

"Sir, my friend and I were set up by someone to make us look like we stole make-up from the department store. I need to see the CCTV footage to prove our innocence."

The guards were not happy about me suddenly speaking. One of the guards was about to speak but the man behind the desk stopped him.

"That's enough. By the statement of this boy, I can already tell he isn't lying." He said.

Thank God that the mall higher-up officer is more understanding and actually listens!

"But, Sir! We found-" the guard tried to reason but was cut off by his boss.

"I will not make any judgment until I see the CCTV footage myself." He stood up from his desk and walked towards us.

"Come with me." He said as he guided us out of the office.

The man led us to another room. It was the CCTV control room. Two other men in the room looked like they were monitoring the screens are present. They both greeted the man.

"Good day, Sir Ron!"

"I need all the footage of the make-up section in the department store in the past one hour," he ordered. One of the men went to open another computer and started searching for their files.

Sancho stood beside me and whispered.

"Damn! Good thinking, Justin. For a second there, I thought we were done for."

I smiled at him. I didn't want to say more to him. All I have in mind is anticipation of finding out how that evil snake did it.

Soon enough, the guy found the footage. It started with me and Sancho entering the section. We were both looking at the products. There was not a moment that looked like we stole something. Then the saleslady came and assisted Sancho. I left after the saleslady came and stood outside the makeup section.

After a few seconds, I saw myself sharply whipping my head to my right. That was the time that evil snake appeared. But she wasn't seen in the footage.

"Is there another angle of the footage?" I asked.

"No, unfortunately. This is the only security camera that covers the make-up section." The guy explained.

Damn it! Did she know about this? The footage is not of the best quality and could not see my face clearly. It even looked like I was only staring at something and not talking!

Then a saleslady came. By her hairstyle and physique, she has, I was able to recognize her as the one who was our so-called "witness". Both Sancho and I gasped when the saleslady carefully opened my backpack from behind while I was distracted. Then, she placed the make-up products near me in my bag. She closed it and walked away. Seconds later, Sancho came to me and we began walking away.

"Oh my God! It was that saleslady who said that she saw us stealing make-up. She was the one who framed us!" Sancho was the first to react.

The guards look like they are both shocked and embarrassed about what happened. Sancho began telling Mr. Ron what the guards did to us. He mentioned how they didn't even stop the crowd from taking pictures and videos of us. He went on complaining about our ruined reputation because the guards were too quick to judge us.

But my mind was elsewhere. All I can think about is that evil snake. She saw the saleslady putting the make-up in my backpack. She planned this. She must have bought off the saleslady and distracted me while the other one executed the plan. She was not even seen in the footage making no actual evidence that she was there.

I was furious... actually, I am beyond furious. I looked at the other CCTV footage that is currently playing. I looked until I saw what I wanted to see. She was at the mall's entrance walking straight to the parking lot. That's all I needed to know before I made my way out of the room.

"Hey, Justin! Where are you going?" Sancho asked. Coming up with an excuse, I said this.

"I left my phone in my car. I'll go get it to make a call."

I didn't wait for Sancho's response. I was already out the door. I walked as fast as I could towards the entrance of the mall. All I could think about was my rage, my rage towards this evil snake who kept making my life a living hell. I want to confront her and end this. I am sick and tired of all of these. I won't let her get away from this.