Chapter 18 (K)

I lean against the pillar outside afterschool, peering into the halls through the scratched glass walls. I search for Marc within the bustling and jostling crowds of students. There! Found him. He’s weaving in an erratic pattern down the halls, which is strange. He seems to be taking an awfully inefficient way to get out. Then I see Natalie hot on his trail, only a few paces away from him. I can’t help but chuckle at this. You have to admit, it’s pretty funny.

But I feel sorry for him, and I can’t have Natalie around while I talk to him, so I go to save him.

“Hey Marc!” I yell down as he practically runs out the door. “Over here!”

He seems relieved to see me. “Thanks for the save,” he says when he reaches me. “She’s been pestering me all day!”

“I know what she’s like sometimes. She’s my friend.” Marc chuckles at this.  “Don’t count yourself saved yet,” I warn him. “Here she comes.”

Marc immediately stiffens and turns around.

“Marc, where have you been?” purrs Natalie. “I haven’t seen you for so long!”

“It’s only been 2 hours,” he mutters under his breath. I have to stifle a chuckle.

“Marc and I have to work on a French project together. We got paired up because we sit besides each other. Right Marc?”

“Of course. I would like to spend some more time with you, but as you can see we have to work,” he quickly adlibs.

“Aw, Marc can’t you spare just a minute?” she pleads. She looks at him with sickening, puppy eyes. I look away, afraid that I’ll be sick if I look at her expression any longer than I have.

“I’m sorry, perhaps tomorrow? I’ll have plenty of time then,” he asks, putting on a radiant smile. He must have been quite the lady killer at his old school. He really seems to know what to do in these situations.

“Of course! I’ll see you then, Marc!” she squealed, and started skipping back home. I’ve never seen Natalie this excited since she got front row tickets to her favourite band TRB. Suddenly, she turns around and blows a kiss at Marc. Marc pretends not to notice it, which just makes it all the funnier.

When Natalie is out of earshot, all that bottled up laughter came spilling out.

Marc scowls at me. “It’s not funny. I’m probably going to have to call in sick tomorrow.”

That just makes me laugh even harder. I force myself to calm down and look up at Marc.

“I didn’t just call you over to save you. We should talk about the situation,” I say, serious now. “Any places you think we won’t be disturbed?” We can’t afford to have any informers or government men overhear us.

“I was thinking about the same thing.” He pauses. “How about the library?”

“Too many people, and I go there often so I’m pretty sure that’s one place they’ll place under surveillance.” I ponder a bit.

“How about that café over there,” points out Marc. It’s a new café, sandwiched between a bookshop and a chain of gift stores. The only opened a week ago. A few people were inside, but it looks safe enough. I look in my lunch bag to see if I brought my wallet. Thankfully I did.

“Sure,” I shrug. “It’s probably the best place right now.”

It’s just down the street, so we it’ll only take a few minutes. I roll up the sleeves of my sweater, and I see Marc raise a questioning eyebrow at my bandaged arm.

“It’s from earlier today. When you pulled me back. I hit the pavement a lot harder than I thought.”

He just nods, and we walk in silence.

 We enter the café, the little bells above our heads signaling our arrival. It’s more spacious than it looks, extending far into the back. The few occupied tables are nearer to the windows, so we take a seat slightly away from them. Just enough so that we won’t be overheard but not so far away as to look suspicious.

The waitress comes up to us and cheerfully asks, “Would you like something to drink?” She has short blonde, pixie like hair with long bangs covering one eye. She also looks quite tall, at least from my point of view.

“A peppermint tea, please,” I ask.

“Black coffee for me,” says Marc. We sit in silence as we wait for the waitress to come back with our drinks.

“And anything to eat?” she asks.

“No, thanks,” waved Marc, brushing her aside. The waitress looks a bit mad, but she regains her composure and briskly leaves to serve the other tables.

“Ok, so what do you want to talk about? I don’t know much more than you do,” says Marc, taking a sip of his coffee.

So many questions were running through my head, all clamoring to be the one chosen to go first. Before I do that, I’m going to have to tell him about how Lukas is probably linked to the epidemic. I heave a sigh and am about to explain when I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket.

“Sorry, I have a phone call. Probably my parents,” I excuse myself and go outside.

 I look at the caller ID and I see that it’s Tam, Drew’s younger sister. I frown slightly. Sometimes she prank calls me, but something in my head tells me to pick it up.

“Hey, Tam, this better not be a joke,” I say immediately. I hear weeping on the other end. “Tam? Are you ok?”

“Kaya? I need you to be calm when I tell you this,” she manages to say between her sobs.

A chill settles over me. “Ok, what is it?” This is getting scary. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s…it’s Drew. He’s in a coma.” She swallows hard. My mouth is dry, and I wrap my arm around myself to somehow rid myself of the chill.

“What happened?” I ask. I already know what the answer is. I can hear the urge, the need to be denied raw in my voice. But I can feel that I’m not going to have that satisfaction.

“He’s the latest victim.” Tam breaks out into wracking sobs. “He’s going to die.”

I don’t even feel the phone slip out of my hand onto the sidewalk below. My head is light, and the rest of my body feels so heavy…

I don’t feel it when the grey pavement rushes up to meet me.

Bam! Plot twist! 

And this is where the action starts becoming a lot more face-paced.