BC SAYS:Sorry kung di ako nakapagupdate for 2 days. Sumakit ulo ko eh:(
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Chapter Eight
The Abduction of Friday Cortez
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"HAVE YOU seen the new princ.i.p.al?" Tanong ni Effie. Nasa storage room kami na tinatawag na "meet up room" ni Chaos at tinatawag naman ito ni Effie na "tambayan" which I prefer her term dahil ang totoo, wala kaming pinagmimeetingan.
Tumango ako. "He is very intimidating and scary."
Binalingan ko ng tingin si Chaos na tahimik lang. "Are you okay?"
Tumingin sa akin si Chaos na nakakunot ang noo. "Why wouldn"t I be?"
"Because the princ.i.p.al forbids solving crimes."
"That won"t stop me. If forbidding solving crimes means to stop solving for my family"s death, then I won"t stop." Chaos replied.
I just shrugged at pinagpatuloy nalang ang pagsagot ng a.s.signment ko while Effie is busy with her phone at si Chaos naman ay malalim ang iniisip.
We were like that until someone entered the room and went inside.
Chaos immediately rolled his eyes in frustration. "Daeril.." sambit ko.
"I came here as soon as our meeting with the new princ.i.p.al ended." Sambit ni Daeril.
"Ano pinagusapan niyo?" Tanong ni Effie habang si Chaos ay pasimpleng tumitingin kay Daeril.
"He banned the solving of murders and asked me if I knew students who solves crimes."
"Did you say anything to him?" I asked.
Umiling si Daeril. "No. I told him that I don"t know anything."
I sighed in relief. Mabuti naman at sa ngayon ay hindi pa alam ng princ.i.p.al na kami ang mga estudyanteng iyon.
"Anyways, you should all get to cla.s.s." Sabi ni Daeril na ikinatango naman namin.
~~
"SO magkakaroon tayo ng musical play as our project, according to Mrs. Muñoz. The t.i.tle of our play will be The Greatest Showman." Saad ng president naming si Ruby.
She continued, "nakapili na kami ng mga characters. P.T barnum will be Jonas, Lettie Lutz will be Lexi, Anne Wheeler will be Friday and Phillip Carlyle will be Chaos."
Nanlaki ang mga mata ko. What? First of all, I"m not good in acting. Lalo naman sa pagkanta!
Nilingon ko si Chaos na deadma lang sa nangyayari. I rolled my eyes.
"Lahat ng characters, gather tayo rito to practice the dialogue and flow of the play." Sigaw ni Ruby.
Naglakad papunta sa akin si Chaos. "Do you know any of this?" Tanong ko.
"Yup. I was the one who suggested it." Sagot ni Chaos na ikinalaki ng mga mata ko
"I hate you." Sagot ko nalang.
Chaos just shrugged and sat forming a circle with the other characters.
"So guys, ganito, First scene natin ay A million dreams. Scene ito ni P.T barnum then fade scene na." Diniscuss ni Ruby ang mga scenes na hindi ko pinakikinggan dahil wala naman ako roon.
Hanggang sa narinig ko ang name namin ni Chaos. "Next scene ay Rewrite the Stars. Scene ito ni Chaos at Friday. So instead of the original scene na may trampeeze, interpretative dance nalang. Dapat sweet kayo and inlove." Ruby explained.
I breathed heavily and covered my face with my palm. Tinignan ko si Chaos na matamang nakikinig kay Ruby na ineexplain ang scene namin.
"Friday, Chaos, eto ang script niyo, magpractise kayo, ah." Saad ni Ruby at binigyan kami ng tig-isang kopya ng script.
Tinignan ko nang masama si Chaos. "Anong pumasok diyan sa isip mo at nagvolunteer ka na sumama sa play? Dinamay mo pa ako!"
"We need to convince the new princ.i.p.al that we are not into solving crimes." He said.
"Why do we need to convince him? Hindi naman niya alam na tayo ang nagsosolve ng crimes."
Chaos sighed. "Have you seen the way Mr. Albert looks at us? It"s like he knows something."
I rolled my eyes. "I"m sure wala siyang alam. Kung mayroon man, edi sana ay kinausap niya tayo."
Chaos was about to talk more when our cla.s.s president spoke up, "okay guys, practice na tayo!"
~~
"YOU DO know that within these weeks had pa.s.sed, you have time to go on a diet." Saad ni Chaos.
Naiinis na nilingon ko siya. "Are you saying na tumaba ako sa mga nagdaang linggo?"
Two weeks had pa.s.sed at presentation na namin for our musical play. Nakabihis na ako, wearing a purple silk costume na hanggang pelvis lang ata ang haba. Naka skin tone leggings ako na pinatungan naman ng black see through leggings. Ang init, diba?
Si Chaos naman ay naka red suit na may gold designs and I admit, he looks good on that suit.
"Your thighs are jammed." Natataw.a.n.g sabi ni Chaos habang tinuturo ang hita ko na naiipit sa sikip ng leggings. I only borrowed this from Monday at sobrang payat ng kapatid ko. Hindi katulad ko na medyo malaman.
"Shut up, Chaos baka ipitin kita gamit ang hita ko." Inis na sambit ko. Kanina pa niya ako tinutukso sa suot ko. Eh hindi ko naman siya matukso dahil ang guwapo niya sa suot niya. Nothing to tease about him.
"You look pretty, nonetheless." Biglang sambit ni Chaos.
"Still, shut up. Ayokong marinig boses mo." Mataray na sabi ko at lumabas ng cla.s.sroom since twenty minutes pa naman bago magstart ang play.
"Where are you going?" Pahabol na tanong ni Chaos.
Tinaasan ko lang siya ng kilay saka dumeretso sa restroom. Aayusin ko ang leggings ko sa hita. Tama nga kasi si Chaos. Ipit na ipit na ang mga hita ko at nararamdaman kong pinagpapawisan na legs ko.
Pagkapasok ko ng restroom, walang tao. Okay na rin yun para hindi awkward mag-ayos ng damit.
"Ugh." Inis na sambit ko habang pilit na inaadjust ang leggings ko when suddenly, may kung anong tumama sa ulo ko dahilan para matumba ako.
Then everything went blank.
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"CHAOS, have you seen Friday?" Ruby asked.
k.u.munot ang noo ko. "No. Why?" I asked. That sly girl went out for almost fifteen minutes. Tinanong ko siya kung saan siya pupunta pero ang maldita, tinarayan lang ako. I hate that kind of att.i.tude.
Ruby looked at her watch, panicking. "Five minutes nalang ay magsastart na ang play."
I sighed then rolled my eyes. Walang mangyayari kung lahat kami ay magpapanic. "I"ll look for her."
"Chaos!" Rinig kong boses ng babae. Lumingon ako at nakita ko si Effie na nagpapanic.
"What now?" I asked.
She showed me her phone. There is a text message.
Let me borrow Friday for a while. Goodluck on your show! -The Beast
"What does he mean?" Effie asked. She was clueless while me, I know exactly what he meant.
"Friday is missing and I a.s.sume that the beast got her." I said, pretending that I am calm but deep inside, I am fuming mad!
"Then let"s look for her!" Effie suggested but I immediately shook my head.
"We don"t have any clue to where Friday might be."
k.u.munot ang noo ni Effie at malalim na nagisip. After a few minutes or so, her face lit up. "Is her phone with her?"
"I guess so, yeah." I answered.
"Then that will be easy!"
~~
"This won"t be easy. It depends if Friday"s phone is open or her phone is shut off." Matix said.
I really hate asking for his help. The last time I asked for help, he told me to pay him six hundred pesos!
But if asking for his help means finding where Friday is, then I"m willing to pay any amount to find her.
"Do your thing, Matix. Find Friday." I ordered.
Matix grinned, "additional one hundred for you, my friend."
I rolled my eyes. He"s so annoying but Daeril is more annoying than him. I shivered when I thought of Daeril. That traumatic event pa.s.sed through my mind again.
"Do you see that red dot?" Matix asked and pointed on the screen. May map doon sa screen at may red dot sa particular na lugar.
"That"s where Friday is but it is unlikely for her to stop there."
"Why?" Effie asked.
"She is in the middle of the forest." Matix answered.
I wrote down the address on a piece of paper then walked out pero bago pa kami makalabas ni Effie, Matix spoke.
"You"ll be needing this." Aniya. He handed us a small device.
"What"s this for?" I asked.
"It"s a tracker slash micro-recorder that could help record not only the voice but also the face of the person as well. You might be needing this as evidence, just incase." He said then placed the device on our collars.
"Thanks."
~~
WE ARE not licensed drivers but we drove Effie"s dad"s old car to the forest. It was a long ride for us but it actually took us less than thirty minutes to get there.
"Friday!" Effie shouted.
"She"s on your left side." Anang boses.
"Who"s that?" I asked, confused. The voice was a male.
"It"s me, you dumba.s.s." It was Matix"s voice.
I furrowed my eyebrows. "Don"t call me—"
"Friday is on your left. Another blinking dot is with her so I a.s.sume that she"s with whoever kidnapped her."
I faced Effie. "You heard that?"
Effie nodded and lead the way while Matix is guiding us through the device he gave us.
"To your right." Matix said and we immediately followed him.
"Then to your left." Again, we followed his direction.
"Then go back." He said.
"Pinaglalaruan mo ba kami?" Galit na sabi ko.
Tumawa si Matix. "Sorry, Chaos. You"re funny when you"re mad so I like teasing you."
"How do I turn this thing off?" I said habang kinakapa ang device na sabi ko.
"Sorry, bro. It"s programmed to only turn off when I say the magic word."
"Just shut up, Matix." Sabi ko nalang.
"Anyways, you"re near Friday. Wala na siyang kasama but there is a cabin near her. I a.s.sume that"s where the kidnapper is." Biglang sumeryoso ang boses ni Matix.
"Friday!" Effie half-shouted.
"E-Effie?" Anang boses babae. We followed the voice and then saw Friday, sitting weakly on the soil while her hands are tied to the tree behind her.
"Friday." Effie and I called in unison.
We immediately untied her hands and helped her up. "N-No..don"t touch me.." pilit na pumipiglas si Friday sa pagkakahawak namin.
"Hey, it"s me. You"re okay." I calmed her down.
I looked around then asked Matix, "you seen anything?" I asked while moving my body around so the camera could record the whole place.
"Nope. But I recorded the video. We could watch it when you get back."
Ngumiwi siya. "We? You"re not part of the group, Matix."
"Whatever. I helped you locate Friday. I think I have the right to watch the video as well." Matix said and I just tuned him out. Matix keeps getting annoying everytime I talk to him.
"We need to bring her to her house." Effie suggested and I just nodded. I called her sister, Monday to pick us up. I can"t drive neither Effie with Friday with us. She"s a casualty so it"s better to call her sister.
What happened, Friday?
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BC SAYS:
What happened to Friday? You" ll find out on the next chapter?