~Chapter 23~
"Tell me, how did Skye know where I live?" I questioned without any preamble the moment I reached my group.
It was Sunday and Chelsea wanted us all to go hiking with her since everybody needed a chance to hangout with me. Every nerve of my body inclined me to reject the offer because I was at the point in my life where I felt really low. But I also didn't want them to feel that I was ignoring them.
Chelsea, who looked absolutely exalted, didn't pay any heed to my question and summoned everyone to move ahead. "First walk, then talk," she quipped.
All of us obliged and walked up the small hill. I waited patiently before repeating my question and just as we were a fair distance away from where we'd started, I asked again slowly, "How did Skye know my address?"
I gauged each and everyone's expressions with a calculative look when I noticed Shivaay avoiding my stare.
"Ha! It was you. Right, Shivaay?" I glared at him and walked carefully to not fall face first on the ground.
He opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it shut like a fish. He did this a few times before finally saying something. "I mean… he paid for all my anime shows. I don't have to watch them illegally anymore. Aren't you happy for me, VVJ?" He asked me innocently with a donkey toothy grin.
"Oh, I am," I said sarcastically and he flinched. "He bribed you and you ratted my address out."
"Oh, puh-lease. It's not like you didn't want him to." He showed me his palms, rolling his eyes.
"Didn't want him to what?" Keith piped in.
"I know that VVJ's always secretly wanted Skye to know her address." Shivaay snickered. Emika kicked him in the feet, glaring at him.
"Shut up!" I shrieked, feeling my cheeks burning hot. Keith and Chelsea joined him in the laughing fest while I scowled at them, annoyed. "That's not true, guys!" I stomped my feet but it was no use. They all seemed amused by my actions, including Emika. Traitors.
Sighing and crossing my arms across my chest, I went to walk ahead of them. I knew they'd come to me because it wasn't their intention to upset me. I wasn't even upset though. I was just getting frustrated at the smallest of things.
"Hey, you mad, VVJ?" Shivaay asked me after jogging along to stand beside me.
"Nope. Just… exhausted these days." I sighed again.
"Aww, don't worry, girl. Walk some more and you'll even forget your name, let alone your problems because sitting down would be important by the end of this," Chelsea remarked, grinning at me widely.
She must have noticed the horror on our faces because she started giggling and trudged in front of us, leaving us all behind. And just like that, we continued hiking on the uneven grounds for about an hour.
Soon all that early morning exercise was draining the energy out of me. "I am tired," I mumbled, placing my head on Chelsea's shoulder.
"Let's take a break then, come on," she said, taking the lead before patting my head. She stopped after a few minutes of walking around mindlessly. "Here." She grinned.
I looked around me to see that the spot where we had stopped was pretty normal except for the cliff in front of me. I walked a bit closer to it and peered down to see a beautiful greenish blue lake. The dive from the cliff inside the lake wasn't much but I still took a precautionary step back.
"Whoa sexy!" Shivaay exclaimed, gazing down at the beauty below us.
I chuckled at his mesmerized expression and went back to Chelsea, Keith and Emika. I blew out a contentful sigh as soon as I sat down. After a major walking session, sitting cross legged was soothing to my limbs.
It was then that I noticed the four pairs of eyes looking at me with their serious expectant faces. Even Shivaay had joined us when I might have been busy relishing in the relaxation mode.
"What?" I asked them, dumbfounded.
"Ah-ah, you tell us," Keith said with a light frown marring his face.
"Tell you what exactly?" I shrugged a shoulder to elaborate my perplexion. "You know, you guys should be more "concise" because there's a lot going on and I am not sure, I am catching up with that," I told them dryly, circling my finger around their faces.
"Why does Shivaay know everything about you first? I was your first friend amongst them all." Chelsea whined with a pout. I could tell that she was just kidding around.
"Like what?" I raised an eyebrow with an amused smile.
The place where we were sitting was completely deserted and it was a given that Chelsea might have discovered it on her own because of her love for hiking. That made me feel a bit better because I wasn't intending on anyone to hear our topic of conversation.
"Like he knew of your crush on Skye," she replied.
"Okay, he just caught me on that! Plus I was planning to tell you guys when I was sure about it myself," I explained to them with wide eyes.
"Nah, that's not true. VVJ just loves me more than she loves y'all. I speak only facts." Shivaay winked, leaning back on his hands.
"And sarcasm," Chelsea mumbled from beside him but he pretended to not hear her.
Emika started signing something, making Shivaay go on high alert as I shot daggers at him. "Okay so Emika says that… um, I am a… cockhead? You did not just say that!" He gasped.
It was my turn to look smug and I laughed at him, others joining me as well. "You deserved that."
"Why do you have to always verbally abuse me, Emmy?" He groaned.
"No, you abuse yourself because she didn't say no word," Keith retorted with a smirk.
"Good one, Keith." I extended my hand for a high five and he gladly clapped it.
"Okay, kids," Chelsea interjected with a lingering smile. "Anyway, moving on. Back to our Val." I rolled my eyes and drank some water from my bottle. "You also told him about Ms. Maxwell's secret meeting with Rick Stile."
Furrowing my brows, I glanced at Shivaay who was sporting a sheepish look and shrugged his shoulders. "I might or might not have told them?"
I ignored him with an eye roll. "I only said it to him after he informed me about Ms. Maxwell's conversation with someone on the phone. It was just a means to join the dots. I wanted to tell you guys but I just didn't get the chance to," I told them. It was true and I didn't mean to hide it from them. "He just happens to be in the right place at the right time." I snorted.
This might have boosted his self esteem because he swiped his hand through his hair with a weird smouldering look. When he couldn't take it anymore, he bursted out into a fit of laughter with his face going red. "How do the actors do it?" He wheezed.
"Concentrate, Shivaay," I chided him with a soft laugh.
"But why would Ms. Maxwell be involved? As far as I know, she hasn't gotten anything against you. At least, not that I know of," Keith said with furrowed brows.
I pursed my lips and looked down at the ground with concentration. "There's nothing I've done."
"Exactly. In fact, she'd grown a liking for you because of your ideas," Chelsea inserted.
Emika signed furiously. "There's more… to this than meets… the eye," Shivaay translated it for us.
I couldn't agree more and nodded my head. "She's right. There has to be." I bit my lip and played with the sand.
It was silent for some time and we were all lost in our own thoughts. Truth be said, every time I was convinced of something, another piece of dice would roll in. Especially a certain pseudonym, Kyle M. If it really is Ms. Maxwell, then she's smart enough to choose a male name but not smarter enough to take the same initials as her.
"There's one more thing…" I trailed off, trying to come up with a way to frame my words.
"What's it?" Shivaay asked, leaning forward with intrigue.
"This Rick guy was following me the other day and so I approached him. He revealed something. He said that he doesn't know who's been contacting him but this incognito person is hosting an event tonight," I paused to carefully gauge their reactions.
"Holy shit!" Keith gritted, seeming almost excited. "And?" He prodded further.
"And that this person, whoever they are, will meet Rick, the hyena guy at this event," I finished.
They gave me funny looks when I uttered 'hyena' but I didn't care to explain it to them.
"Have you planned anything? Like how are you gonna catch this lead hotshot man?" It was Chelsea.
"I don't think it's a man. My suspicions are still on Ms. Maxwell," I told them without any traces of doubt.
"How are you so sure?"
"First off, the phone call that Shivaay overheard, her meeting with Rick and then there's these invites for the people to come to the event. It's signed with "Kyle M." at the end," I said with a smirk.
"Are you invited?"
I shook my head, reluctant to tell them that Skye would be taking me as his date.
"It still doesn't explain that this Kyle M. is Ms. Maxwell." Chelsea looked wary now.
I beamed at this. "Katherine Maxwell. Kyle M. The initials, guys!" I exclaimed as if it wasn't quite obvious.
Emika butted in and signed with a deep frown. "She thinks it's a far fetched idea."
"Not really. I mean, everything's in front of our eyes. I don't believe it's a far fetched idea," I debated.
However I couldn't help but think that it could be too obvious. While on the other hand, there was this thing about the androgynous device and emailing through ARA but I didn't tell them. They wouldn't agree with me anyway. I knew that I had to solve this mystery on my own but I also knew that I'd need their help as well.
"Let's rewind. How'd you know about the initials on the invite again?" Shivaay narrowed his eyes investigatively. And he had to take that moment to be smart.
Before I could answer him with something sassy, a voice hollered from behind me. "Valerie? Is that you?"
I tilted my upper body and looked up to see Ivan grinning in our direction. I didn't have the time to register his presence before my heart started thumping against my chest rigorously. For some reason, I had a feeling that he wasn't alone even when I couldn't spot Skye anywhere near him.
"It really is you!" He yelled excitedly and I passed him a forced smile. He sprinted toward us. "Room for one more?" He asked no one in particular and didn't even wait for anyone's reply either as he sat down between Chelsea and I.
I looked at her to see her gawking at Ivan. She must have sensed my stare because she glanced at me and mouthed discreetly. "You know him?" From what I could tell, Chelsea must have met or seen him before.
I simply nodded my head and turned back to Ivan. "Ivan, hey."
"Don't hey me, baby. Just kiss me already." He winked mischievously.
"More like, kill him already," Shivaay muttered under his breath with distaste. I don't know why he was so annoyed when he didn't even know Ivan.
I shook my head at both Shivaay's and Ivan's antics.
That's when Ivan's eyes landed on Chelsea and they widened. "Hey, I know you."
"Yes-"
"You were monkey dancing in the club, weren't you?" He began laughing uproariously, unknowing of Chelsea's unamused expression. I couldn't tell when he'd seen her but my best bet was when Skye had gotten drunk.
Keith and Emika had scowls plastered on their faces. Shivaay, on the other hand, scrunched his nose agitatedly.
When I understood their signals of animosity directed toward Ivan, I took that moment to introduce him to everyone. "Ivan, they're my friends, Emika, Shivaay, Keith and Chelsea." I pointed at them all. "And, guys, this is Ivan."
Ivan's smile slipped a little when he saw Emika's stranger danger face on. She was staring at him with an impassive expression. "Wow, okay… hi, guys!" He chuckled nervously.
I decided to butt in again to diffuse the tension. "So what are you doing here?" I asked him because he didn't seem like the hiking type of person but then again looks could be deceptive.
"I love hiking but what a coincidence!" He clapped his hands once. "It's funny, isn't it, we're always-"
"What the hell, man! I am gonna kill you, you piece of sh-" He stopped short when he was in our hearing range. That voice.
I stilled instantly and realized that my hunch was true. Skye really did come. I didn't dare to turn around and stared straight ahead with wide, panicked eyes.
"I dare you to complete that sentence," Ivan taunted him and looked at me with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"Piece of shrapnel," Skye grumbled and I wanted to smile so bad.
"Yeah, right. Trying to kill me, a piece of shrapnel." He guffawed and I still didn't look over my shoulder at Skye. I just couldn't because I was kind of scared for some reason.
My friends understood my dilemma and gave me their best assuring smiles. No matter what, I could still see their starstruck eyes for seeing him so casual and outside his company.
"Come 're. Join us," Ivan told him and I started fidgeting with my hands.
There was a long pause from his side and I could feel his stare on my back. "No. I am good." He cleared his throat. "I have a phone call to make anyway."
I heard his feet scuffling away and that's when it hit me that he was leaving.
My head hung low and I realized that it was my fault he didn't feel so welcomed to join us. A pang in my heart and I knew that I had to see him, even a second would suffice but I was too stubborn to even admit that to myself.
"Val?" I blinked my eyes to come out of my daze to see Chelsea looking at me knowingly.
"Hmm?"
"I know you wanna talk to Skye." Ivan grinned and I frowned immediately. "Oh, c'mon, it's evident."
"No," I said a little too quickly but he caught onto it and started wiggling his eyebrows.
How do they even know it? My heart started thumping quickly without my prior consent like usual.
"You know the look on your face doesn't agree with you so just go, Valerie." Ivan pushed me lightly.
I turned to my friends, expecting them to back me up here but they seemed to be agreeing with Ivan. "Hate to say this but I agree with He-Van," Shivaay told me and smirked at the scowling Ivan.
I resisted the urge to laugh at their stupidity. "It's "Ivan", buddy," Ivan corrected him with gritted teeth.
"Yeah but I am not Ivan. You are, so I'll change the pronouns, You-Van. On a second note, we're not buddies." Shivaay started cackling up like an evil sea monster.
As they were bickering back and forth, I was trying to think of a reason to not have to confront Skye so I pulled the last card. "Yeah but he has a phone call to make… right?" I asked suddenly before they began pulling at each other's hair.
At this point I don't even know why I am making excuses when I clearly wanna see him.
"He was lying. Now stop stalling and go before he drives off because he does that when he has to accompany me. Intentionally leaving me stranded. So I suggest that you make a move," Ivan warned.
I didn't need to be told again and stood up. With trembling steps, I walked off to search for him. Once I was convinced that I was out of my group's eyesight, I literally ran to catch up to him before he could leave.
Just when I saw him a few yards ahead of me, walking with his hands in his pockets, a smile pulled up on my lips. My legs automatically slowed down and I tried to regain my breath.
Cleaning off the sweat from my face with the sleeves of my t-shirt, I patted my hair to not look like I just accidentally fell in a pool and swam with my crocodile pals. And, especially not like I ran so much for him.
He must have heard my footsteps because he looked over his shoulder. When he saw that it was me, he stopped altogether and turned around to face me. "Valerie?" He mumbled in his beautiful voice. Oh, how much I missed that voice.
"Yeah." I nodded my head, still giving him the cold shoulder. It was just for me to know that I still like and care about him. He didn't need to know that. I couldn't forget that day in front of the paparazzi until he told me the reason for doing so. I was still embarrassed over that incident, no matter how much I tried to forget about it.
"What are you doing here?" He asked me confusedly and I saw his eyes quickly sweeping over my body.
Feeling self conscious, I crossed my arms across my chest. He didn't look any less appealing in his running clothes but I stopped myself from gawking at him. "Uh, actually… I wanted to talk to you," I said.
I saw his eyes sparkle with interest at that but it was gone as soon as it came. "Sure. What's it?"
What's it? My subconscious repeated those words because up until now, my motto was to just stop him. I had no idea what I would be talking to him about.
"Um…" I cleared my throat and tried to come up with something quickly. "So what time is the event?" I groaned internally after I said that but it wasn't my fault either. I was under pressure.
"At 8. I'll pick you up at 7.30?" He asked for my confirmation, squinting his right eye.
"You'll pick me up?" I was flabbergasted because I didn't know how I was supposed to reply to that.
"You're my date so of course, I'll pick you up," he told me, seeming very nonchalant as if we were talking about cars and he did not just call me his "date". I could see a smirk forming on his lips when he saw my face getting all hot and bothered.
He really is enjoying this!
"What is the color of your dress?" He tossed me another question like I wasn't flustered just seconds ago.
"Why?" I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Because," he started out slowly and walked two steps toward me. "It's a masquerade party and I need to buy you a mask. Plus, about my bowtie, I'd like to match that with your dress," he explained. I was surprised to see him so calm and collected, considering our otherwise tense behavior and especially mine.
"It doesn't matter since I'm just tagging along to know our guy… or gal." I shrugged but I was tingling with anticipation. First he announced it as a date and now he was trying to match his bowtie with my dress. Nice going, not that I was complaining.
"I beg to differ," he whispered, now standing directly in front of me with not much space left between us.
I stared at his chest because it was in my line of vision. I don't know how but my body's reaction was so instantaneous. I could tell that it only happened around him. My quick heartbeats were making it almost impossible for me to breathe.
"So… which color, Valerie?" His voice fell down a notch and got deeper. He hummed when I didn't give him a reply.
"Surprise me, Mr. Williams," I answered after I took a step back to regain my composure.
As soon as I did that, he took another step toward me. This time, I stayed put and met his stare head on.
I tried glaring at him but his intense gaze just put me into a melting puddle.
"Oh, I will." He gave me a full blown smile.
Before I could reply to him, he lifted up his arm and my face marred into a puzzled frown.
I felt his fingers tickling my scalp and I was about to swat away his arm but he retreated it back before I could do anything.
"What was that?" I asked him defiantly.
He was insouciant and showed me the autumn leaf in his hand and I understood what he meant. He was just picking out that lone leaf from my nest on the top.
"Oh."
He gave me a laughing smile, making his eyes crinkle from the corners. "See you later, Valerie." With that, he waved the leaf in his hand and spun on his heels. I expected him to throw it away but to my surprise, he pocketed it. An involuntary smile danced on my lips at that gesture of his.
"When the trees shed their leaves, you put one in a pocket and think about what it brings? True happiness," I whispered giddily. "Did he really do that or was that just a coincidence?"