Kenand and Demon immediately packed up their school supplies after hearing the school bell, signaling the end of the school day. Their teacher hadn't even finished the lesson, let alone said goodbye. He was still busy writing an assignment on the board.
The two boys left the classroom without showing the slightest respect for the older man. Kenand also completely ignored Mia calling after him. They truly didn't care about anything. Whatever they were dealing with this time seemed extremely urgent. Instead of merely walking, Kenand and Demon jogged along, clearly in a hurry.
Their destination was the neighboring classroom, XI IIS 4. Kenand immediately peeked inside, checking the classroom through the window. Thankfully, the teacher had already left. The boy opened the door without a second thought. Demon followed behind him.
Crash!
The door flew open with a loud bang. Most of the students inside were startled, and some even jumped. Their packing was interrupted. Fortunately, none of the books went flying.
“R, get out! I’ll wait for you on the field,” Kenand called loudly.
The person in question merely looked at him without answering. His legs were still casually propped up on a chair. Unlike his friend, the boy showed no enthusiasm at the sound of the dismissal bell. Rather than pack up his school supplies, he was focused on his phone.
Loen ended up being R’s errand boy again. Without being asked, he started packing everything up. Compared to Dean, Loen was more meticulous when it came to taking care of his friend.
“What’s your problem with Kenand, R?” Dean asked.
R merely shook his head. As far as he knew, there was no problem. R was perfectly peaceful and had issues with no one. Even he was surprised by Kenand’s words. The boy had never asked him to go to the field unless something important was going on.
“Just go, R. I’m curious,” Loen said. He had already finished packing their things.
“Can’t be bothered. I want to see Stela.”
R snatched his bag from Loen and walked out of the classroom, which had already grown fairly empty. He ignored his two friends, who could only stare at him in shock. Loen’s hand was still suspended in the air after the thing he had been holding was abruptly taken away. He snorted irritably while staring at R’s back as it nearly disappeared from view.
“What a jerk. Whose friend is he, anyway?”
R grabbed Kenand by the collar without any preamble. His temper was already flaring after Demon had forced him to come along. As it happened, Kenand had been heading back to class when R went looking for Stela in his classroom. Kenand then roughly grabbed R and dragged him to the field.
“What the hell do you want?!” R snapped.
Kenand tried to calm R down by grabbing his hand. He pushed R’s hand away from his collar. R didn't resist, even though he really wanted to wipe out his longtime rival. For some reason, he didn't feel like fighting. His body had been tiring easily lately.
“Relax, R. I want to talk this out.”
“About what?!”
R still answered in a raised voice. He didn't want to waste his time. He wanted to find Stela and make his move.
“This is about Stela,” Kenand said, silencing R’s anger.
Demon realized the situation between the two teenagers was growing more heated. He immediately left, as Kenand had requested. His friend wanted to speak with R face-to-face. Demon wasn't clueless—he already knew what Kenand intended. He respected his friend's decision to have some privacy.
“Are you seriously interested in her?” Kenand asked, getting straight to the point.
“If I am, so what? Are you planning to cheat on Mia?” R shot back just as curtly.
Kenand shook his head. “Don’t start a fight. I mean well, because I don’t like my girl hanging around with that sketchy girl of yours.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” R asked, growing more curious.
“Stela’s with FRS. I don’t want anything happening to my girl, and don’t get me wrong, I don’t want you getting involved with a girl like her either.”
“FRS? What do you mean? Can you just get to the point? Don’t waste my time,” R complained. He even reached for Kenand’s collar again.
“Relax. You don’t know FRS? You’ve never used their services?”
“Services?”
R lowered his hand. Since he was so indifferent when it came to love, especially women, he was completely clueless about things like this. He fell silent, waiting for Kenand to explain.
“Honestly, before Mia, I used their services to have someone accompany me on outings,” Kenand explained, showing R his phone. “That’s the girl I rented. She was pretty cheap. Worth it, though.”
“So you’re saying Stela’s a prostitute?”
“No, but maybe something close. They sell themselves, just not their bodies.”
Stela was still busy dabbing her face with tissues, trying to wipe away her tears. Teo felt guilty after seeing that the girl couldn't stop crying. Just imagine—since lunch break began until the school bell rang, Stela had done nothing but tell her story, apologize, and shed tears.
Teo had recorded their entire conversation. He was ready to send the data to Sanas. He had also managed to convince Stela to cooperate in investigating this new case.
Where she had found the courage, Stela had no idea, but she had been able to speak so freely. She was also amazed at what devil had possessed her to reveal her treasure to Teo. This newcomer, whom she had only recently met, had made history in her life.
“Are you done? Have some water first,” Teo offered.
Stela took the bottle of mineral water Teo handed her. She quickly drank half of it. Teo merely shook his head and tried to smile faintly.
“Feel better now?”
“This isn’t as difficult as I imagined, sir.”
Teo smiled and took Stela’s right hand. He held it and rubbed her fingers with his thumb. The man was still trying to calm Stela down completely. It wouldn't be funny if the girl left the room in this state. Not only the counseling office, but other teachers might find out, too.
“Right? I’m glad to hear that. Now I feel relieved.”
“No, sir. That’s not what I meant.”
Teo’s eyes widened, though the expression was hard to see behind his glasses. He moved closer and looked at Stela seriously. The girl was still looking down, trying to hold back her runny nose.
“Then what did you mean?”
Stela didn't answer right away. Her tongue felt numb. Her hands were still trembling. She could even feel cold sweat breaking out. Her left hand was empty, without Teo’s grasp around it. She quickly clenched it into a fist to neutralize the sensation. A feeling Stela still couldn't translate.
Teo waited for Stela to speak. He no longer chattered or asked questions like he had earlier. As a teacher, he understood the mental state of a student who was bound to get annoyed with someone being overly nosy.
The man quickly pulled out his phone and prepared the recorder. He wanted to be ready in case Stela’s next words were another new confession. Sanas certainly wouldn't want to miss a single moment. Teo was thinking very carefully about that.
“This isn’t as difficult as I imagined. But it’s too difficult to imagine. Thank you, sir. I hope I can still see you tomorrow. I’ll be going now.”
“She still hasn’t shown up?”
Vero looked around, searching for any sign of Stela. Her classroom was already empty, but the girl still hadn't returned. Mia was getting restless. She was torn. She wanted to find Kenand and demand an explanation for his rude behavior. On the other hand, Mia was worried about Stela.
Their friend had disappeared after Teo took her away. She had missed two entire classes. Fortunately, they had seen for themselves that one of their teachers had been the one to take Stela. That allowed Mia and Vero to argue with the teacher currently teaching their class.
“Maybe she already went home.”
Vero kept talking to herself. Mia was still busy calling Stela. The phone rang and rang, but no one answered. Maybe Vero was right. Stela might have gone home first.
“Don’t you want to check the teachers’ office first?” Mia asked.
“It’s empty, Mia. Do you want to search under the desks? Come on, just go home. She’ll explain everything herself later.”
This time, the girl nodded. Mia decided to follow her friend’s advice. She quickly followed Vero, who had already started walking ahead.