03x29: The Worst Night of His Life

After the events of the previous chapter, Austin faces the next challenge, possibly the greatest challenge yet: four hours of pure, emotional torture.

THE WORST NIGHT OF HIS LIFE

 

     Austin parked the Anonymous in the Seton parking lot and went to the CWS.

     DRIX was already setting up their stuff on the stage. Austin went to the table marked “CV” and set his stuff down.

     “Hey, guys. Need any help?” he asked the band.

     “Origad!” Bam said, (it was short of Original Admin, referencing DRIX’s Facebook Fanpage) “You okay now?”

     “A little fuzzy but I’m fine.”

     “Go over to the very back for an acoustic check.”

     “Sure thing.”

     Austin ran to the back of the CWS and gave them the thumbs up.

     Bruce and Eriko strummed a chord, Ivan rocked out on the drums, Jolo tapped on the mic, and Bam strummed a few strings on his bass.

     Austin gave them two thumbs up and ran back.

     “Is it crystal clear?”

     “Yep. What’s the keyboard for?” Austin asked, pointing at the keyboard.

     “We have a surprise guest for later.”

     “Job?”

     “Even better.”

     “Hey, I’m gonna give the teachers their presents, okay? You guys rock out for a while but not too much. We don’t want to spoil the early birds.”

     “I got ya.”

     Austin went his stuff and got the presents. He went to Faculty Center B and found Sr. Jojo there.

     “Merry Christmas, Sr. Jojo!”

     “Hello Austin, Merry Christmas.”

     Austin gave him his present.

     “Thank you, Austin.”

     “See you later, sir!”

     Austin went out and dropped off Sr. Alan’s gift in the SAC’s office.

     Continuing on, he ran into Nica and Janella exiting from Faculty Center A. It was, in a word, awkward.

     “Hey…” Austin said.

     “Hi…” Janella replied.

     Austin handed out her gift.

     “Merry Christmas, Janella.”

     “Thanks.”

     Nica’s usual reaction to these kinds of events did not show.

     “You too, Nica.”

     “Yeah… Janella, let’s go.”

     On his way to the center, he ran into Ms. Mac.

     “Ms. Mac! Merry Christmas!”

     He handed out her gift.

     “Thank you, Austin. Merry Christmas!”

     Austin finally went in the Faculty Center A and saw that Ms. Sharon and Sr. Geck weren’t there. He placed the gifts on their tables and went back out.

     He went back to the CV Table, waiting for the night to start and the inevitable to begin.

   

Ernst arrived a few minutes later and Austin went to him.

     “Hey, dude.”

     “Yo, come with me. I’m gonna give out some presents.”

     “Sure.”

     Austin and Ernst went into Faculty Center A. Ernst went to Ms. Laurice.

     “Merry Christmas, Ms. Laurice.”

     “Merry Christmas!” Austin added.

     “Aww… Merry Christmas, sweethearts.”

     “Psst! She’s here!” Nica said. Janella soon entered the room as well.

     “Merry Christmas, Mommy!” Janella and Nica said.

     “Aww. Sweethearts! Merry Christmas to you too!”

    Ms. Laurice kissed them all on the cheek and went on her way.

      “I have to get outside. See you later!” she said.

     “Let’s go,” Ernst said to a hesitating Austin. He went with him.

     They met with Johan who received a cool LED projector digital clock. Ivan also gave Austin a cap.

    

Finally, the night started. Austin saw the inevitable as Joel went to the DDN table and began flirting with Janella once again. Then he remembered his saving grace, Family Hub. Parents were going to be there.

     Austin went over to the DDN table and can’t help but sadly glance upon the two.

     “DUDE!”

     “Hey, Bianca…”

     “You okay now? No chance of you bursting out and killing everyone?”

     “Nope. No chance of me bursting out and killing everyone. Can’t say the same for one person.”

     “Ernst?”

     This made him chuckle a bit.

     “You sure know how to get me off my trance. Let’s find the b*****d.”

     “I’m right here,” Ernst said, playing with his PSP, wearing gigantic headphones.

     “I see you sorta, kinda, leveled up… to a certain extent,” Austin said.

     “They’re just headphones. Anyway, you sure you wanna hang around here?”

     “Here? Where there’s no food? Hell no. I’m going to get some grub. Wanna come with?”

      “Nah, I’ll stay here.”

     At the back of the CWS, there were some stands with parents at the helm. It was all part of Seton promoting entrepreneurship.

     In the middle, the Student Council began a game ripped from a Filipino Game Show. T was none other than “Hep Hep Hooray!”

     While buying food, Austin saw his own mother in the parents section.

     “Mom?”

     “Austin!”

     “I’m just buying some barbecue.”

     “Are you okay? I heard what happened.”

     “What exactly did you hear?”

      “You fell and hurt yourself.”

     “Who told you that exactly?”

     “Why? Is it true?”

     “What you heard would be a very unclever metaphor.”

     “What happened?”

     “It was nothing. We just went somewhere and almost, sorta, kinda, to a certain extent, got blown into smithereens. It was all good. All good.”

     “Do you mind telling me these things beforehand?”

     “Sure. I gotta get my barbecue. Enjoy the so-called party.”

     Austin went to the barbecue stand and got his barbecue. He proceeded to the CV table and a few of them arrived there.

     “Hey, Jib!”

     “Austin. Yo.”

    He was with his with younger brother.

     “Austin! You okay now?” Marise asked.

     “Never better. You?”

     “I’m pretty sure she’s okay. Sliding up elevator shafts only happens once in a blue moon,” Mo-on said.

     “Mo-on! Hi!”

     “Elevator shafts?” Jib asked.

     “I agree. What elevator shaft?” Austin asked.

     “We didn’t have time to tell you, did we?” Marise said. “Anyway, in the fortress, we slid up an elevator shaft.”

     “That’s it?”

     “Yeah… pretty much.”

     “Mo-on?”

     “You can ask, Ernst, Bianca, Ivan, they’ll all tell you the same TOTALLY AWESOME STORY!”

     “What the heck are you guys talking about?” Jib asked.

     “Weren’t you paying attention? We’re talking about elevator shafts!” Mo-on answered.

     “I’m gonna go to the DDN Table and be depressed. See ya!” Austin said as he walked away.

    

When he got there, he once again saw the sight of Janella and Joel doing their usual stuff nowadays. The good news was, Patrick just entered the building.

     “Patrick! What are you doing here?”

     “The Grade School building got boring so I went here. What’s up?”

     “The night sky, I guess. Anyway, to get in this totally lame party, you have to be part of the family. Tell people you’re my long lost cousin from Yugoslavia.”

     “I don’t look Yugoslavi"“

     “That’s beside the point. Tell people that you’re my brother. Patrick Fernandez. Just for five hours.”

     “I won’t be staying long. They’re gonna be looking for me in a few minutes.”

     “Then you better have some drinks, annoy Ernst and Bianca De Vera, and say hello to some guys right now. Let’s do the second one first.”

     They went over to the DDN table.

     “Hey guys, this is Patrick Fernandez.”

     “Patrick? What are you doing here?” Bianca asked.

     “He came to annoy you. He’s an Annoyinator from the future,” Austin said.

     “Am I a target?” Ernst asked.

     “Luckily, yes, you are.”

     “Motherpusbuckets…”

      “I’m gonna buy some food,” Patrick said.

     “You go do that…” Austin said, slightly unhinged, as he watched Janella and Joel laughing together.

     “Screw it! I can’t take it anymore!” he said to himself.

     “Clock in. Seven forty-three PM. Period of happiness total, two hundred forty-six hours and thirty-one minutes.”

     “What?” Ernst asked.

    “My streak is over. I admit it, alright? I’m depressed.”

     “Austin!” his mom called.

     “Yes, Mom?”

      Austin went to her and she gave him some barbecue.

     “Let’s go home.”

     “It’s okay.”

      “Nothing’s happening.”

     “I’m having fun. You can go if you want to.”

     “Take this barbecue. I’ll be right here.”

      “Okay. Thanks.”

     Austin went back to the table, nonchalantly munching on barbecue. On the stage, Ms. Laurice was singing.

     “Barbecue?”

    “No thanks, bro,” Bianca said.

     Ernst was too engrossed in his game. He was playing with Ibarra.

     

After a while, the announcer finally introduced DRIX to the crowd.

    Austin, not wanting to ruin the night, put up his losing end optimism. He jumped ship to the winning end, DRIX’s end.

     “GUYS! IT’S DRIX! WOO!!”

     He rushed over to Patrick.

     “PAT! DRIX TIME! SHOUT OUT LOUD!”

     He ran to the CV Table.

     “HEY GUYS! DRIX! WOO!!”

     They played the opening notes of Nightmare but not the whole song. It was just an intro. Obviously, the A7X fans cheered.

     Then his hopes were almost instantly crushed when Luis attempted to create rapport between the band and the audience.

     He slowly went to Mo-on.

     “I really think they should have let Jolo or Ivan do this.”

     Then they played their first song: Unang Tikim by Kamikazee. The instruments were all awesome. The vocals on the other hand, sucked.

      Austin whipped out his camera anyway and took a video of them. A few diehard fans still supported them.

     Austin went to the technical supervisors after the song and asked for the mic to be turned louder. Unfortunately, Sr. Leo was there.

     “Sir, can you turn the microphone channels up please?”

     “It’s already at its loudest. Your vocalists are the problem.”

     “…okay. Thanks.”

     The next song was Face Down by the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. It was a bit better but the vocals were still a problem, much like their performance of Nightmare back in Green Day.

     Jolo also had mildly strained vocal chords. The screaming vocals in the song did not help.

    After the song, Austin told Jolo to sing louder.

     The song after that was Club Can’t Handle Me by Flo Rida ft. David Guetta. It was a bit better.

     Then, Austin finally learned just what the hell the “special guest” thing was about. Sr. Chris took the seat behind the keyboards and played Faithfully by Journey.

     Unfortunately, the vocals were nonexistent on stage. The audience was technically the one doing the singing.

     The final song of the night was Lucky by Jason Mraz ft. Colbie Caillat. It was technically the best song since they brought out their other vocalist, Kolleen Jorvina. She was the only audible vocalist since Luis was barely singing and Jolo took a break.

     Their period in the limelight was over.

     “Austin, tell me honestly, did we suck?” Ivan asked.

     “Umm… hmm… sorta… kinda… to a certain extent…”

     “Oh…”

     “Hey Austin, gotta go,” Patrick said.

     “Oh, okay. See you sometime.”

 

A few minutes later, he was wandering around the CWS, just like the FS Night in his Freshman year. He then found himself looking at Joel and Janella again.

     “Austin, come with me,” Mo-on said.

     “Why?”

     “Just come.”

     Austin went with Mo-on and he led him to his bag. He took out an album. It was none other than Nightmare by Avenged Sevenfold.

     “Sr. Leo’s been playing nothing but 2012 by Jay Sean all night and it’s getting tiring. Let’s spice up the place. Wanna join me?”

     “I don’t think he’d approve of that. He’ll probably think it’s cooler than Batman and be offended.”

     “I don’t care. Let’s try it out!”

     “I think I’ll pass on this one. Sorry.”

     Austin stumbled back to the DDN table. For some reason, he was feeling particularly masochistic tonight.

    

He sat there, no one to talk to, his mind slowly slipping. Bianca, Ernst, and Ibarra were playing with their PSP’s. Janella and Joel were unintentionally causing Austin to develop an emotional soul tumor. He had nowhere to go.

     Sr. Leo did reject Nightmare because he still heard Jay Sean blasting through the speakers.

     He was beginning to have hallucinations of Janella and Joel on the second floor gym, being mischievous. All the stuff he wished he could have done for her. All the fun he wanted them to have.

     He was now exhibiting symptoms of the Kubrick Stare. He was staring at the second floor, his mind slowly going into a dark place.

     He realized what was going on soon enough and found a way to alleviate this.

     “THAT”S IT!” he said, standing up suddenly. Ernst was not startled thanks to his headphones. “I’m gonna get a drink.”

     Cue audible gasp.

     “Come on, guys. They don’t even sell beer here.”

     Austin went to the back and bought a Coca Cola since Orange Soda was unavailable.

     He sat back down in his seat and drank his drink. He was now in a circle with Bianca, Janella, and Joel.

     “Hahaha, very funny,” Janella said sarcastically.

     “I sent you mine,” Joel replied.

     Janella almost did a spit take when she looked at her phone.

     “HAHA! Bianca, look at this!”

     Bianca had a somewhat bored look on his face. Not wanting to come off as a jerk, she put on a fake amused expression.

     “Austin!”

     ”Are you f*****g kidding me? You’re showing me something that that a*****e sent you?!” He said to himself. He then added, “I’m sorry for mentally swearing at you. I’m not myself.” That was the moment when he really realized how insane he was becoming.

     She showed him her phone, Joel trying to grab it from her hands. It was just a picture of Joel who probably just woke up.

     Austin’s face was that of no reaction.

     “Austin,” Sr. Alan said. “Thank you for the gift!”

     “You're welcome, sir,” he said. Sr. Alan was sitting beside Ms. Rose and Ms. Delia.

 

A few minutes later, he was back in the gaming circle without a handheld gaming console.

     He was back to staring at the second floor gym, his hallucinations unconsciously becoming more explicit. In his world, this was worse than the Mastermind’s mind rape.    

     To add insult to injury, Joel sat down beside him. He snapped out of his trance and noticed that he crushed the Coca Cola can in his bare hands. The band was only on Darkness Control and that shouldn’t have made it easier to crush the can.

     “Hey, how are you?”

     “I guess I’m okay.”

     He tried to hide the can from Joel or Janella.

     “Is there something wrong?”

     “No, nothing’s wrong. Why would something be wrong?”

     “You’re acting strange.”

     Austin suddenly stood up.

     “I’m sorry. I-I have to go.”

     He quickly marched towards the restroom, fearing that he might be going insane. He used the darkness control to throw the can into the garbage.

     He got in and splashed some water on his face. He looked at himself in the mirror.

     “Come on, Austin. Pull yourself together. You don’t need them. They’re happy now, that’s it. It’s over, this is not"“

     “Austin, are you okay?” Joel asked, entering the re4stroom. “Ms. Rose asked me to follow you, she saw you and"“

     “I’m okay. I’m… look, stay a while.”

     “Okay. Sure buddy.”

     “What is going on between you and Janella?”

     “We’re"“

     “And don’t give me the 'just friends' bullshit. It’s never just friends. It’s usually friends with PG-rated benefits around her for Pete’s sakes.”

     “Umm… okay. We’re"”

     “Are you MU or what? Spit it out d****t!”

     Joel hesitated for a while.

     “Yes…”

     “Phew. Now that that’s over with, I just got rid of about nine thousand pounds of uncertainty. Thanks.”

     “Are you okay?”

     “I’m alright. I’m alright now.”

     Joel went out.

     “Joel…”

    “Yeah?”

     “Don’t mention this… to her, alright?”

     “Sure thing.”

     Austin went out and went back to the gaming circle. On the way there, he ran into Ms. Rose.

     “Austin, are you okay now?”

     “Yes, miss.”

     “Okay, then. Be careful alright.”

    When he got there, he saw his mom calling him.

     “What is it?”

     “Let’s go home, Austin.”

     “You don’t have to stay. The other kids don’t even have parents. I’m not forcing you.”

     “You’re just getting hurt, Austin.”

     This kept him quiet for a while.

     “Let’s go…”

     “Mom, I’m staying. I’ll be alright.”

     After a while, she responded.

     “Fine. See you.”

    

Austin sat back down in the gaming circle and inevitably went back to his trance. He thought it would get better but it just got worse.

     His visions were at their worst and he just wanted to bash his brains in to end the misery.

     “Dude…” Bianca said to him.

     “What?”

     “What’s wrong?”

     “I just can’t handle this anymore. I can’t get over her and I fear I will never.”

     “Why don’t you talk to her?”

     “I can’t. I just can’t. I might be big enough to take on an omnicidal psychopath but for some reason, I just can’t approach her. I’m too weak, Bianca… I’m too weak…”

     “Dude, what’s wrong?” Ernst asked, taking off his headphones.

     “I can’t take this anymore. Everything that happens from this point on is futile in the greater scheme of things…”

     “Dude, this is serious. You were looking like Gomer Pyle pre-suicide back there.”

     “I doubt that would be the worst case scenario.”

    

A while later, after some more watching, Austin finally decided to turn to God.

     He stood up and went the chapel. He made the sign of the cross and looked at Jesus on the cross.

     “Lord, I adore you. Please forgive me for the sins I committed tonight and thank you for the blessings like being with my friends and Patrick suddenly coming out of nowhere. And even DRIX being able to perform despite not doing as well as we expected. Please Lord; help me get through this period. I am slowly losing my way. Please guide me through this period of darkness. I humbly ask for your guidance. Amen.”

     He made the sign of the cross again, tears in his eyes as he went back to the CWS.

 

It was already 9:50 PM. After a few more minutes in the circle of death, things still weren’t getting any better. Austin slowly staggered to the trellis where Clutch, Glenn, and Jenice were talking with their CCF teacher last year and very good friend, Sr. Peter.

     “Hey… Clutch…”

     “Austin. You don’t look so good.”

     “Looking good is overrated. It doesn’t really matter. I just realized that I cannot be truly happy any longer.”

     Ernst followed him there.

     “Clutch, please… fix him.”

     Austin just stared into space with his mouth open. He had a blank expression on his face.

     “Austin. It’s going to be okay,” Clutch said.

     “I’ve heard that countless times before, Clutch. By the present state of things, ‘okay’ is the biggest lie of a prophecy I’ve ever heard.”

     “You’ll get over her, Austin. Sooner or later.”

     “Sooner or later, none of this will matter and that just sucks…”

     “What’s going on over there?” Jenice asked, referring to the students packing up the chairs in the CWS.

     “I don’t want to see any trash in the CWS. Nobody leaves unless this place is completely devoid of trash!” Sr. Leo said.

     It was about 10:00 PM. Sr. Leo had stopped the party two hours too early.

     “Great, now we have another problem. Oh misery, why art thou so friggin abundant?!” Austin said.

     Austin returned to his trance and Sr. Leo continued threatening an all night clean-up.

     “Come on, buddy. If you stay in that trance, I’ll have to spray a crapload of laughing gas in your face.”

     “So be it…”

     “Here it comes!”

     Ernst tried to spray laughing gas into Austin’s face but nothing came out.

     “That’s odd. I can’t.”

     “I also feel weak,” Clutch said. He tried to duplicate himself but failed.

     “I have already told the guards to not let anyone out without my authorization,” Sr. Leo said.

     “D****T!” Austin exclaimed. “All this bitchifying bullshit that presumably screwed up everyone’s night, regardless of the fact that they did not pay for it, just snapped me out of my far more comfortable trance caused by an upwelling of depression. What kind of a frickin sick twisted world do we live in?!”

     “Austin, shh, he can hear you,” Ernst said.

     “No he can’t. He has power sap and a tendency to be super obnoxious, not telepathy or super hearing. Big difference. And I’m just speaking the truth. It’s a free country d****t!”

     “We’re on an island.”

     “That I fixed up for us! **** this, **** him, **** Joel, **** all of the crap in the world, **** war, **** disagreements, **** it all! I don’t care anymore! None of this matters, why should it? In the grand scheme of things, this is all insignificant. No one cares anymore!”

     “Calm down, Austin.”

     Austin stood up and marched to the CV table. Janella was seated under a tree near that spot.

     “Austin, you okay?” she asked.

     “Oh, yes. I’m perfectly fine. This is the best night of my life!” Austin said in a terribly sarcastic tone.

     “What’s wrong?”

     “Where’s my best friend? You know who I’m talking about so don’t ask who.”

     “Joel? He went home already.”

     “And the prince has left his princess to rot in the midst of the evil witch,” Austin whispered to himself as he glanced at Sr. Leo.

     “Dude, calm down,” Ernst said.

     “Austin, what’s the matter?” Mo-on asked.

     “Ms. Lea just snapped me out of my convenient trance. D****t!”

     They took away the table.

     “Fine, screw it. I’m sitting on the floor. If everyone goes Adam and Eve pre-apple, let there be light!”

     “You mean naked right?”

     “No! I mean fully clothed with a bowtie!” Austin said angrily and sarcastically.

     Austin saw a bunch of people talking to Sr. Geck who was seated at the only table remaining since the chairs were all gone.

     “I’m going over there where I can get some true insight and not some dick who raises his eyebrows every other two seconds for emphasis.”

     “Dude, easy!”

     “I have the right to remain unsilent, d****t!”

     Sr. Geck and the crowd were talking about a topic Austin did not know about. Mo-on came in and jumpstarted a topic about Sr. Leo.

     “So Jib’s groupmates didn’t help him so he made the diorama all by himself. He put a lot of effort into his model of Ancient Egypt and when he submits it to Sr. Leo, he calls it, ‘trash and effortless’. How unfair is that?!”

     “Not to mention his teaching style. Reporting all the time, pssh. Ineffective teaching method is ineffective,” Austin said.

     “But what did I teach you back in the first quarter?” Sr. Geck asked.

     “Umm…” Austin thought. “Oh yes, if you have a problem with a teacher, speak out in a civilized conversation.”

     “Yes, exactly.”

     “Well, I can’t really imagine him in a civilized conversation outside of civilized ship teasing if such thing exists.”

     “Well, if you truly want to solve the problem, you’ll have to do it. You’re already sophomores.”

     “Well…”

     “But what if when you finally talk to him and he tells you his reasons but you cannot accept them?”

     This put Austin in thought.

     “I can’t wait for Christmas. Have some drinks,” John said in the side.

     Cue audible gasp.

     “What? It’s only on special occasions. The question is, how often is an occasion considered special?”

    “John, you drink?” Sr. Geck asked.

     “Only on special occasions, sir.”

     “Haven’t you guys seen Superbad?” Austin asked.

    “WHY?!” Ernst screamed to the heavens for no reason at all.

     Sr. Geck and the gang stared at him oddly for a few seconds.

     “Sorry, Worst Case Scenario Squad’s fault.”

     “Anyway, I don’t want you drinking,” Sr. Geck said.

     “I was only kidding about how often an occasion is considered special.”

     “You enjoy your break but come January 5, you’re grounded from Alcohol. Deal?”

     “Yes, sir.”

     “We don’t even have alcohol in the Base,” Austin said.

     “I’m afraid"“ John started.

     “You put alcohol in the Base?”

     “I guess.”

     “Enough of this. We were talking about Sr. Leo.”

     “Oh yes. Back to my question. What if you talk and you can’t accept his reasons?” Sr. Geck asked.

     “I don’t really know. I guess I’ll have to do what I’ve always done and live with it.”

     “Oh man, we’re going to submit our diorama tomorrow,” Ernst said, worried.

     “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Say that again?” John said.

     “We’re going to submit our diorama tomorrow.”

     “Holy crap, your balls have dropped!”

     “I bet he gets that a lot recently,” Austin said.

     “Wait, so back during the Field Demo day, when we couldn’t use our powers. That was Sr. Leo?” Mo-on asked.

    “I think so. I can’t think of anyone else,’ Austin said. Then he remembered the same thing happened when Accel and Barrage were attacking the hotel.

     “Uy, Alecz. Sorry!” John said.

     Alecz began to tear up.

     “What is wrong with the world?!” Ernst asked.

     “Alecz, what’s wrong?” Sr. Geck asked. She went to him as Austin saw Janella. He thought of talking to her.

     “Hey.”

     “Hi. You okay now?”

     “Slightly better.”

     Sr. Geck and the gang stood up and walked towards the gates.

     “Want to come with us?” Austin asked.

     “Sure.”

     Austin and Janella came with Sr. Geck’s group. Mo-on and Ernst were talking.

     “I think he drove all the Sophomores in the Student Council to tears,” Mo-on said.

     “Who? John?” Austin asked.

     “Yeah. And Ernst, I think that includes Maan…”

     Ernst began to fume but Austin, Janella, Justin, and Mo-on only had one thing on their mind. Cue screech tease.

     Austin quickly reverted to his depressed state as he saw Sr. Jojo and Ms. Mac on their way home. He decided to say goodbye for the break.

     “Hi, Sr. Jo, Ms. Mac.”

     “Hi, Austin. Thank you again for the gift, by the way,” Sr. Jojo said.

      “No problem.”

      “Austin…” Ms. Mac said. By the way she looked at him; he knew that she knew he was depressed.

     “I’m sorry, miss. I just can’t help it.”

     “Give yourself more time. You have the whole break.”

     “Okay, miss. I will.”

     “Merry Christmas, Austin,” both of them said as they went on their way. Austin caught up with Ernst and the others.

     They already said bye to Sr. Geck so Austin did so as well. He went with them as they walked to the guardhouse.

     “Queennie, Nica, who did I forget?” Janella said to herself.

     “What are we talking about?”Austin asked.

     “I think I forgot to give someone a gift.”

     This was like a punch in the chest and face to Austin.

     “Me?” Austin said.

     “Oh, right! I’m so sorry, Austin! I’m so "“

     “Nah, don’t worry. It’s okay. Seeing you tonight is the best gift you can give me.”

     Usually there would be a screech tease at this point but due to the circumstances, there was none.

    

Austin, Janella, Mo-on, Ernst, Justin, and Abi sat around near the guardhouse for a while.

     Austin felt extremely depressed, sitting beside her right now.

     “Ernst, come on!” Mo-on said.

     “Fine! Fine! Here!” he replied, handing him his headphones.

     “Do you have Welcome to the Family?”

    “Of course.”

     “Hit it!”

     “Oh crap, he’s gonna do a crappella,” Austin said.

     “Don’t you mean a cappella?” Ernst asked.

     “Well, I would if he wasn’t wearing headphones. A crappella is when a person sings with their headphones on. They sing along with the song they’re listening to without any idea of how terrible their singing is. Hence, a crappella.”

     “Oh…” everyone else except Mo-on said.

     “WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!” Mo-on said whilst making cartoonish faces.

     After a while, Justin left and they continued talking.

     “Look at Sr. Chris, haha!” Mo-on said, having finished his a crappella session.

     Sr. Chris was in the small canteen in the Luzon grounds with Bam, Jolo, and Enriko. He was holding one of their guitars.

     It was out of the way and random but somewhat amusing. Abi left soon after and there were only three of them left.

     “Isn’t it weird that we’re all part of the team? Anyway, wasn’t that awesome earlier, sliding up the shaft?” Ernst said.

     “Friggin awesome, sliding up the shaft!” Mo-on said.

     “Great for you guys, I wasn’t there. Let alone the fact that when you slid up the shaft, you were sliding to your pending doom.”

     “Who cares, we slid up a shaft!” Ernst said.

     “Enough, with the shaft! I can’t talk about shafts with a straight face given my knowledge on that area,” Austin said.

     “Spend nights wide awake?” Mo-on asked.

     “No. I just read a lot.”

     “Exactly.”

     “Next topic please.”

     “We should do that again some time,” Ernst said.

     “What?” Austin asked.

     “Slide up the shaft,” Ernst said. Austin glared at him and he stopped.

     “So, Austin. Who are you closer with: Mom or Dad?” Janella asked.

     “My mom. I love my mom. We might argue a lot but, that doesn’t matter"”

     “Please don’t finish that song like Jay Sean,” Ernst said.

     “As long as we got each other,” Mo-on sang.

     “SHH!”

     “Anyway, it doesn’t matter really. On the flipside, my dad is nowhere to be seen…”

    “Oh, I remember. Sorry…”

     There was awkward silence.

     “It-It’s okay. It was an honest question and an honest mistake. No harm, no foul.”

     “Turn it up, turn it up, mash it up. It ain’t the end of the world,” Mo-on sang to break the awkwardness.

     “Hold up. I think my mom’s calling,” Austin said as he took out his phone. He winked at Janella as he “answered” it.

     “Yes? Yes, oh, Owen! Hi! You… you what? Oh, that’s awesome. Anyway how are y… Ernst? He’s here. No, he’s not… Yes. Yes, he missed you very much.”

     “There’s no one on the other end, is there?” he asked.

     “Nope.”

     “Hey, I gotta go,” Mo-on said, seeing the time of Ernst’s watch.

     “Oh, crap. Me too. See you guys next time,” Ernst said.

     “Bye,” Austin and Janella said as the two of them left.

     “Well, alone in school. Late at night, nothing interesting happening. I can see this ending relatively well.”

     “Yeah…”

     “Can I ask a question?”

     “Sure.”

     “Are you and Joel… MU or something?”

     She didn’t respond for a while.

     “Come on, just tell me and have this over with.”

     “Just ask him.”

    “I did, I want to hear it from you.”

    “Fine. Yes, we are.”

     “Thanks for telling me.”

     There was an awkward silence after that.

     “You know, you could go home already,” Janella said.

     “I’m your acting bodyguard. How are you going home?”

     “My parents are picking me up. We’re going to the province this break.”

     “What about Woodridge?”

     “Berna said she can handle it.”

     “I better send someone over just in case.”

     “I’ll be okay here. You can go home.”

     Austin looked at his watch. It was 11:45 PM.

     “And besides, if my dad sees me alone with a boy, I’ll be in trouble.”

     “Like you said, we’re just friends but if it would mean so much to you, okay.”

     “Thanks.”

     Austin stood up and walked towards the gates. He did a double take and went back to Janella.

     “Hey, you’re still the best.”

     He went to the Anonymous and drove back to the hotel. He set it on auto-drive and looked back. She was gone and a portal just closed. She had the Telegun all along.

     Austin didn’t know what this meant and went to the basement to park the car. He saw Janella again, putting her things at the back of a van. Austin switched to Space Manipulation and just teleported himself to his room.

     He lay down on his bed, finally putting a close to what has been the worst night of his life…