Chapter 36 - First Step
Kyle grinned when he saw what was on the tray that Kay had gotten for him. They were all his favourites : sausages, eggs and mashed potatoes, with pancakes.
"Oh man, Kay," gushed Kyle, digging in, "You're the best!!"
Kay watched him eat with gusto, then asked worriedly, [Is everything alright Kyle?]
Kyle was about to take a bite from his sausage when Kay asked that, and she noticed the slight pause before he continued. Chewing while taking a gulp of milk, he replied nonchalantly, [Sure]
Kay was silent for a while, then softly, the hurt evident in her voice [Don't lie to me Kyle]
Kyle chewed slowly, not looking up and instead, turned to look behind him at Xing Han and Sam. They had just reached the cafeteria lady and was busy piling up their tray with food. He then turned to face her, seeing the sadness and hurt in her eyes. His gaze went back down to the plate in front of him and he continued eating.
[I'm fine. I'm dealing with it]
Kay knew that he had gone on his first kill mission, and she was worried that taking another person's life would cause him trauma. What Kay didn't know was that the act itself wasn't what affected him, but rather the guilt that he felt burdened with by the choices he had made. The fate of the child he left behind haunted him, and he was well aware that the child was most likely not alive anymore. At least, the vile monster was already dead and would not be hurting any more innocents after this. That, at least, assuaged the guilt in his heart a little bit.
Still, this was something he had to bear on his own. There was nothing Kay could do. Kyle placed the memory into a little box and tucked it far away in the corner of his mind. A single, lone box representing a burden he had to bear forever. Kyle felt that this was just the beginning. His first 'sin', so to speak. Little did he know at that time, how prophetic those thoughts actually were.
Kay felt her phone vibrate and took out her phone from her pocket. Placing her thumbprint on it, she frowned slightly before showing Kyle the screen. He nodded, and finished up the last piece of pancake when Xing Han arrived.
"YOU'VE FINISHED ALREADY?!" Xing Han exclaimed as he sat down.
"Slowpoke," Kyle answered, as he got up. "Sorry, have something to do in class first. Let's go to Kayu for dinner later."
Kayu was a well known restaurant franchise which had traditional Southern Indian-Muslim food, which had various forms of food comprising of rice and its accompanying dishes. Kyle loved eating there, as it was also a well known franchise in Country M, where he had lived before. Kay didn't quite like the heavy food of rice, so Kyle wouldn't go as often as he'd like.
Xing Han brightened up, "Sure! I'll let Ali know. Sarah, you coming?"
This would be their first time eating out of campus, and Sarah was nervous but she nodded. She had heard about Kayu, and wanted to go and try it out but not many people actually liked rice. She nodded eagerly.
Just as Kyle headed out the cafeteria doors, the place became noisier than usual. There were multiple sounds of notifications going all over the place, and people were busy looking at their handphones. Soon, heads were turning and looking about, some even pointing towards the door while saying something.
"What's going on?" Sam wondered out loud.
Sarah's eyes were also glued to her phone, her hand on her mouth. Everyone looked at her, and her hands started trembling as she said in a shaking voice, "The school forum exploded."
"Exploded? What do you mean?" Kay asked, even though she already knew the answer. She took the phone from Sarah, then her fingers were seen going up and down the screen. She pursed her lips. "Kyle isn't going to like this."
[It's started] Kay sent to Kyle [And what horrible photoshop skills. Still, it is convincing enough, I suppose]
Kyle's laughter echoed in her mind as he answered, [Bring it on. This is going to be fun]
Sam took the phone, and Xing Han leaned over to look as Sam scrolled down the post. There was a post, with some pictures of a guy and girl together, in rather ... compromising positions. It wasn't too explicit as they were still fully clothed, but it was obvious that the couple were engaged in some rather passionate moments.
There were captions such as #secretloveaffair #notsoinnocent #unmasked
"Uh-oh," Xing Han grumbled, tucking into his food, "Principal Dobbins isn't going to like this."
Although the pictures (5 in total) didn't have the faces of the couple shown clearly, there was no doubt in their minds who the guy was. If there had only been one picture, it may have been difficult but with five ... One had the guy in Retsu Primary School uniform on, one showed his side profile that indicated a sharp jawline and distinctive hairstyle, one had him in Retsu's basketball uniform, one had his face partially covered by the girl's back but his blue eyes was seen clearly and the last one had him walking with his head turned but his Samsung Galaxy Gear Smartwatch was clearly seen on the wrist.
It was Kyle.
The girl was unrecognisable, but she had quite a distinctive bag with her in each picture. Thus, it meant it was the same girl. The bag was very familiar, too. It took some time for people to figure it out, but some were already suspected something.
Janice, in the meantime, had been in the cafeteria when all the hoo-ha started. She waited for nearly 15 minutes before trying to 'sneak' away. At first, people didn't bother paying her any attention but when they saw her hunching forward and trying to hide a bag under her arm ... they stopped and looked closer. It was THE BAG!
Janice 'hurriedly' ran away in 'fear'.
**--**--**--
Back in the classroom, Kyle was busy scrolling through the forum on his phone. He appeared unfazed as the comments became more and more outrages. Some called him a pervert at such a young age, a lolicon (he laughed at that. He's supposed to be 12 in the picture - so did that make the girl 8 or something?), a wolf in disguise. You name it, he got it.
Yet, there were some who vehemently defended him, saying that it was normal. Some were also lamenting at him being taken.
One thing was for sure, though. Not a single post was kind towards the girl. Apparently, she had 'stolen' the prince that was public property. He was supposed to be enjoyed by all at a distance and not be monopolized by only one. Kyle stopped at the latest post that came up. This was the one that he had been waiting for.
The post that 'identified' the mysterious girl.
Janice Williams.
No need to guess who was the genius poster that identified her.
[It's Belinda] Kay confirmed, reporting to him what MIB had dug out.
The poster, GossipQueen had posted a picture of Janice with that bag, leaving the cafeteria and how she was trying to hide it from everyone. As a result, when Janice entered her classroom, she found people's eyes staring at her. On the outside, it looked like she was scared and nervous but on the inside, she was smirking and reveling in the attention. Even if the attention wasn't exactly positive. She walked in slowly, giving furtive glances towards Kay.
To her consternation, she found that Kay wasn't even looking up. She was busy flipping through a text book, a pencil in her hand and making some small notes on the side as she was reading. When Janice passed by her desk, she deliberately tripped, and grabbed onto Kay's desk to steady herself. Kay tilted her head to the side, looking at Janice and smiling sweetly, asking, "Are you ok?"
Janice gave her a pitiful look, but before she could say anything, Kay simply patted her hand that was on the desk and said consolingly, "Luckily the desk broke your fall. Try to be more careful next time, okay?"
Kay then turned back to reading her book and Janice got up, unable to say anything. Why wasn't Kay acting according to the script? Shouldn't she be upset, or worried about her brother? About her, the supposed victim? Didn't Belinda already identify her as the one in the picture? What was going on?
Just as she walked away, however, she heard Ayra ask Kay, "Since when did Kyle hook up with Janice?"
"What are you talking about?" Kay asked, her face full of puzzlement.
"Kyle and Janice!" hissed Ayra.
"What about Kyle and Janice?"
Exasperated, Ayra said, "You know, Kyle and Janice! About them being a couple!"
Kay shrugged, seemingly uninterested as she returned to reading her book, "Kyle's never been with any girl, let alone Janice."
Although Kay's voice was low, it was still clear and a lot of people heard what she said. Ayra was looking at Kay in complete shock, hardly believing that the school gossip was true. Kyle is a player! Even after all that evidence, they're denying that there was anything going on between the two! The whisperings started, and people were giving furtive glances at Janice.
Janice played it up even more. Thank goodness Ayra was there to push the matter out in the open! Janice gave the typical 'I-have-been-wronged' look, as she wiped her eyes dainty with a handkerchief, and looked forlornly at Kay's back. When the school bell rang marking the start of the first class, everyone's attention went to the front. The class teacher was walking in, so silence descended.
Just as the teacher opened her mouth to say something, a bell chime sounded over the intercom, signaling that an announcement was going to be made.
"Will Kyle Smith and Janice Williams come to the Principal's Office right now"