Chapter five

This novel is about a college student whose fate is something she never expected which could change her life forever - that is, to investigate a crime scene that happened within her school

Alicia's POV

Walking out from a serene book shop I just visited, a blast of cool breeze from one of the busy streets of Los Angeles hit me. It was nighttime and people from different corners began merging from time to time visiting famous spots of the district. I started walking as silently as I could so as not to draw any attention. Introvert as I am, I find discomfort being noticed even once in a crowd so I try my hardest always to stay as a wallflower. Just then I saw a girl waiting outside a distant bar. I squinted and observed carefully. That girl indeed was familiar - the mysterious girl I saw in the street when I was with Phin last time. I wondered why she was there. She may be wearing simple jeans and sleeveless shirt but nonetheless enough to reveal her curves. I decided to get to know her so I walked my way towards her when suddenly a masked guy snatched her away! My mind went blank for a while at the shocking moment. What on earth happened? My reflexes had began controlling me this time. I swiftly ran my way to rescue her. That masked guy ran towards a dark alley bringing along his girl victim. The girl struggled to fight back yet failed since the guy quickly managed to put a handkerchief on her face covering her nose and mouth - chloroform coated handkerchief most probably - and knocking her unconscious. Poor girl. What sin did she commit to be suffering this much? Was that cold-looking pair of eyes enough to tell that she had undergone so much pain in life? If that's the case, then I really need to help her. I nearly stumbled as I went through that dark alley. The darkness was creepy that it almost got me but I pushed through. I decided to rescue her by all means so I have to stick with it no matter what. Unintentionally, my balance lost so I completely stumbled down, hitting my body and my forehead straight the cement floor creating a huge audible thud. I went unconscious for God knows how long, when I heard a voice familiar to me.

"Alice, are you okay?"

Blinking, I hazily saw a pair of worried sapphire blue eyes. Could this be Audrey? How did she know that I was lying here in the cold floor of this dark alley? Was she following me all this time? I blinked once more feeling dizzy.

Once again, Audrey asked. "Are you okay?"

I stared at her, speechless. My eyes shifted around the dimly lit room. I couldn't see any stream of light shining through the white linen drapes yet, must be dawn still. I was relieved knowing that I was just dreaming - a nightmare. Audrey sighed in relief.

"You had a bad dream." Audrey said as she sat at the corner edge of my bed.

"Yeah." I sat up slowly in my bed facing her as well while rubbing my eyes.

"How bad was your dream?" She inquired looking very concerned at me.

"You wouldn't want to know, Audrey." I replied. She focused her attention to me listening attentively. I sighed. "A girl was kidnapped right in front of my eyes."

"That's horrible. Do you recognize the girl?"

"No. I don't know her but I've seen her once."

"When? How?-"

"Yesterday when I was with Phin. I saw her in one of the LA streets." I responded in a serious tone.

"Oh,that's scary. I hope it's not a bad omen though." Audrey grimaced.

"Yeah, scary indeed. I'm really hoping nothing bad will happen to that girl." I sighed once more. After a few seconds, Audrey spoke again.

"So, speaking of your trip yesterday with Phin - " Audrey smirked. "I'll never allow you to get out of this room unless you tell me every detail about it." I knew she's going to tell me this once I wake up. I laughed.

"Fine. Don't worry. I have no plans of escaping from you my dear best friend. But before I begin telling you, do we have enough time?"

"Sure! It's still five in the morning." Audrey grinned clearly excited on what she's about to hear. I laughed again. Minutes flew by as Audrey and I conversed with each other about what happened yesterday as far as I could recall. We enjoyed sharing joys with each other and I'm so grateful to have her as my best friend.

"C'mon Alice. You're ridiculous for doing that in front of Phin!" She exclaimed and she couldn't stop her laughter.

"What's wrong with that? Appreciating beauty is a natural tendency, isn't it?" I pouted. She shook her head in disbelief.

"You really don't understand, do you Alice?" I looked at her obviously confused as she continued. "It's just natural for a guy to react that way. I mean, hello? Do you still recall the natural law of 'opposite attraction'? A girl is supposed to get attracted to a guy, and vice versa."

"I didn't say that I got attracted to the girl. I only appreciate her beauty. That's all. Besides, the problem lies with Phin. He does not get attracted to any beautiful girl he sees, not even the girl flirting in front of him." I replied pointedly.

"Alright. I understand your point but I'd rather advice you not to do that again in front of any other guy. Some guys find it weird. Phin, on the other hand, is another case." Audrey smirked.

"Why? What makes Phin extra special this time?" I asked curiously.

"I'm not sure with this though. I don't want to make conclusions yet unless he confirms it."

"What? C'mon Audrey. Just tell me what you think. -" I pleaded, so eager to know what's in her mind right now.

"He's not interested with other women because -"

"Because?-" I asked waiting for Audrey to complete her sentence. She sighed.

"His eyes are most probably only fixed on you Alice. It means he may like you not only as a friend but even more than that." Audrey looked at me intensely. This time, I could see she was dead serious. I couldn't utter a single word. My mind wasn't prepared yet to digest what I just heard. What kind of hypothesis was that? Phin and I are just childhood friends - no more, no less.

"No way." I spoke, dumbfounded.

"That's why I told you I do not want to conclude about it yet Alice. You'll confirm it once he tells you that it's the real reason behind his strange behavior." She giggled softly drinking her glass of water. I shook my head laughing. There's just no way Phin would confess to me that he likes me. If he does that, I'd probably think twice of letting him see a psychologist. Haha! He loves to tease me and he treats me as his younger sister. That's all I have to say about our relationship.

"Okay. I guess that'll be enough for now. We still have classes to attend today." I said and Audrey nodded. I got up and rushed to the bathroom. "By the way, thanks for telling me your opinion."

"Anytime my dear best friend." She winked and beamed. I also smiled sincerely before I went in and locked the bathroom door.

Hours passed. The endless school activities started torturing students once more - homeworks here and there, projects, research proposals, journal article presentations, difficult exams, laboratory unknowns that must be known before the semester ends (or else they fail the course), so on and so on. Things like these torment students each day especially during exam days but my willpower remains strong. I have to get good grades because of my inspiration and my idol - that's no other than my childhood friend, Phin. Speaking of Phin, I hadn't seen him the whole morning, not even after lunch, so I went straight to the video store where I worked part time after my classes dismissed. My part time job always begins at three in the afternoon and ends at seven in the evening from Monday to Friday. The video store is not far from UCLA so I can just walk my way there.

When I went inside the video store, I was greeted warmly by Janice, the shop head. "Welcome back dear."

"Thanks Janice." I grinned wholeheartedly. She's always sweet to me and I like her for that.

"You're early today."

"Yeah. Classes ended early today." I replied setting aside my things under the counter desk and began doing my duty.

"I haven't seen your boyfriend lately." I paused, startled by what I just heard. Well, I know who is she talking about. That's Phin for sure. He used to accompany me here when he didn't have anything to do in school (i.e. varsity practices and other appointments). In other words, he visits here when he's bored and simply wants to tease me at his heart's content. He's that mean to me. I sighed at the thought.

"Boyfriend? I do not have a boyfriend Janice." I responded facing her.

"So you mean Phin is not your boyfriend?" I was greatly astonished. All this time, Janice thought that Phin and I are in a relationship?! That's crazy! I accidentally tapped a video disk but managed to catch it before it reached the floor. I composed myself before I spoke to her.

"Janice, Phin and I are mere childhood friends, not anything more than that." I said with conviction. She looked at me doubtlful at first but was later convinced.

"Okay. I see." She sighed and continued. "I was kinda hoping you two are for real. I'm a fan of your loveteam. I find you a very cute couple." She pouted, slightly disappointed.

"Love team?" I winced and continued. "And may I know who on earth made a love team for us?" One by one, the staff of the video shop showed up - Shelby, Doris and Lilly. My eyes widened, not knowing what to say, when I saw the small banner that they secretly made. That banner was decorated so artistically with a visible PhAva sign. Just then I knew it was Doris who embellished the banner since she's a Fine Arts major student. My goodness! What in the world were these guys thinking?! How in the world did they ever think of that?!(even though I admit that I'm somehow impressed at their wit for creating such a unique name). That banner would surely be the death of me if Phin saw that! He would never stop teasing me until I die. My heart wept deep inside. How long will I have to deal with these weirdos?

"Alice, we are really a fan of you two so we made this little banner." Shelby expressed. The others nodded. I collapsed (still wide awake yet weak) at the seat beside me. Seriously, my long battle of survival begins here. How long can I carry on? Will my willpower be strong enough for me to survive?

"Are you alright dear?" Janice rushed towards me.

"Don't worry. I'm fine. I just need to relax a bit." I sighed.

"They must have surprised you so much." Janice stated pointedly

"Yeah." I croaked.

"We're really sorry Alice. We didn't intend to make you feel bad." Lilly uttered. I was moved by her sincere words. She was always the type of girl who spoke kindly.

"It's okay. I'm not mad. Just do me a favor."

"Sure! What is it?" Lilly asked eagerly and the others listened attentively as well.

"No matter what happens, do not let Phin and anyone else know about this. Understood?" I could see the protest in their faces but agreed eventually. I could feel they wanted an explanation but they didn't have much courage to do so. I felt the guilt inside of me for disappointing them. True enough, I'm a sensitive-type of person when it comes to emotions and I could easily detect whether a person is hurt or not. So I decided to do something. I took the banner that was placed in the front desk and examined it. It was very well done for a small banner indeed. I also have an eye when it comes to painted artworks since painting is one of my favorite pastime.

"This banner -" All of the staff including Janice gulped nervously while looking at me. "I'm going to keep it. It's cool and I like it." They all smiled in relief.

"Thank you Alice!" Shelby, Doris and Lilly exclaimed together. I laughed. They looked so comical.

"No problem." I replied warmly.

"Okay then. Back to work girls." Janice commanded and we all nodded. We all went to our assigned posts and duties. I didn't forget to place the banner inside my bag, of course.

An hour passed and the video shop became so peaceful. I was assigned in the front desk to entertain the coming customers. However, not even one customer came so I took that opportunity to do my school tasks. I grabbed my Biochemistry book to read the chapter about Enzymes. I need to read it ahead of time so that I could finish answering my OWL (Online Web Learning) homework tonight, if not tomorrow, even if this homework is still due three days from now. Yeah, that's me. I am very particular with my schedule and I am not fond of working during deadlines. I always make sure to come to class as prepared as I can be. After reading about ten pages straight, I stretched my arms for a while. Man, reading a Biochem book is a tedious task to begin with. When I was stretching my arms, I saw people walking outside our video shop. The shop had glass windows so I could see them outside clearly. Unexpectedly, I saw that mysterious girl passing by in front of the shop. I blinked and tried pinching my cheeks to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I really did see her! I froze at my seat for a moment. When I came to my senses, she was gone. I hurriedly went outside to check her. She was nowhere to be found anymore.

Author's Note

x x x Hope you enjoyed it guys! I'm really hyped about this novel. I thank all those who support this novel with all my heart. This novel is for you. I also would like to thank one person who gave me the idea of PhAva love team. I can't help but put it here in this chapter. hahaha! x x x