Chapter 98 - It Is Easy

"I can find who did it easily," she said proudly and looked at me with a big smug face. 

Huh? What? 

I have been agonizing about how to find that person and she is telling me that she can find it 'E. A. S. I. L. Y'...? 

Really?

"Allen…? What are you thinking so hard for…?" Lily asked me. 

"How? How can you find that person…?" I asked her. 

"Well, I don't mean to brag but I am pretty good with computers…" she said proudly. 

Isn't she contradicting herself? She just said she doesn't mean to brag but then seemed to be proud of it. What is she doing? 

"Okay… so you are going to track the person then?" I asked her. 

"Hmm… I can do it but it's going to take at least 3-4 hours," she said, "Since, I don't have my things right now also the computers at school are not much compatible with the way I do things so this much time is at least needed to find out the culprit."

"Huh? Only 3-4 hours…?" I asked her to confirm it once again. 

"Yes," she said, "Apparently I am not that good at tracking someone but in this case, it's only a handful of people suspected so finding that person might be easy." 

So, it's possible then.

"Wait," I said, "Why are you helping me…?

Yes, why is she suddenly trying to help me? 

We aren't even close to worrying about each other's problems. Even if I and her brother talked once, that doesn't make us buddy-buddy. 

Lily and I can be considered more as acquaintances rather than a friend.

"Why are you asking me this? Don't you trust me…?" She asked me.

"To be honest," I said, "I don't trust you. I have already been outcast so trusting or believing someone is kind of difficult for me as of now…" 

I can't trust just anyone, even if they are willing to help me. Who knows when they will backstab me. 

At these times I have to consider who to trust and who not to trust. 

"... Well, I can't blame you for that mindset but I really think you shouldn't suspect everyone is going to betray you," she said, "Not everyone is your enemy, you know…?"

"..." I stayed silent. 

No matter what she says, it's not going to change my way of thinking. Not yet.

"Ha… It seems like you really don't want to trust rather than you can't trust me, she said.

What does she mean by that? 

I don't want to trust…? I don't think I am forcing myself not to believe someone else.

"Alright then," she said, "How about this? I find you that person and then you can at least trust me a little bit…?" 

It doesn't seem like a bad start but I still have my doubts about it so-

"I… will consider it then," I said. 

"Hmm… that also works but I hope you start believing in someone in the future," she said.

What's that supposed to mean? 

Am I isolating myself?

No, she is wrong. I am just being precautious. 

It's always better to be prepared rather than being ambushed for being careless.

"..."

"Anyway, you still haven't answered me," she said, "Why are you here alone…?" 

"No reason," I said.

"Really…?" She asked with a tone that gives off the vibe that she knows that I am not telling the truth.

*Peak* 

Oh, boy. 

I just saw Anna, Selene, and Iris walking towards here. What to do now? I need to make Lily leave, right now.

"Lily, why don't we talk later…? I have some work to do. You have some work to do, right…?" 

She did mention that she was going somewhere but she also mentioned she can talk for a minute or two. But it should have been more than a minute or two.

"Oh, right, she said, "I did say that."

"So…?" She wasn't leaving.

"But it's not that important so…" she said with a smile, "No worries about it."

No, no, no. I wasn't worried about you, I was worried about you seeing me with Anna, Selene, and Iris. 

The moment she sees us together she is going to ask me something, and I wouldn't be able to answer that.

"Lily," I said.

"Hmm… What is it?" She looked at me and I looked at her.

"Why don't we talk after school…? Then we can talk all you want, isn't that much better than talking here…?" I proposed an idea. 

"Really!? After school…!" she was oddly excited about it for reasons unknown to me.

"Yes," I said, "So, why don't you finish your work before that so we can talk freely." 

"Alright! I will do that. And o-oh, oh!" She was just about to leave but then called out to me again.

Those three are only a few steps back. Lily, you need to talk fast or it's going to be bad for me.

"I will come to your class- No. You come to my… No I-" is that what she is worried about?

"Why don't we just meet at the entrance gate…?" I suggested.

"Ye-yes! That will also…! So see you later," she said enthusiastically.

"Bye…" 

With that, she ran off to somewhere. 

Gosh, girls really are hard to handle when they seem to get the slightest gist/hint of something wrong is going on.

(I don't mean to offend anyone here. It's just my opinion so any girls/women reading this… don't get offended by it and just see it as a joke✌️.) 

*Step*

*Step*

*Step*

As soon as Lily was out of sight all three of them reached the stairs. 

Nice timing.

But as I saw them something felt odd. Well, it's not something but someone. Is it just me or Iris seemed a bit unhappy? Is that the right word to explain her expression? 

"Hey Allen," Anna was the first one to talk to me.

"Yes…?" 

"I told Iris's subject teacher that the Principal is calling for us so you better take all the responsibility if someone finds out that I told a lie to take Iris out of the class," she said as she pointed her index finger at me.

"Alright, alright. Don't worry I will take care of all that but you also better make sure that you don't spill the beans to someone. If that were to happen then you are all on your own," I said.

"Huh? Even if the teacher asked me…?" She asked.

"I meant not to tell you friends or any other student," I said, "If a teacher asks then tell them that the Principal wanted to talk about the rumors and the video that is uploaded on the forum."

"What…? So, you want me to tell another lie to cover a l-lie…!x she exclaimed.

"Yes," I said. 

"Are you kidding me…!?" 

"Fine," I said, "First try to tell her the reason I told you and if you think she is going to catch or isn't convinced you tell them to speak to me. I will handle it."

"You will handle it…?" At least she calmed down a little. 

"Yeah, I will handle it. Is there any more problem…?"

"No…" she said in a low voice.

"Alright then," I said, "Go to the class and if the teacher asks where am I tell them that I am still with the Principal." 

"How many lies are you going to tell…?" She asked me but she already knew I wasn't going to answer it. 

She walked past me.

"Selene, you don't have any problem doing it… right…?" I asked her as she was just about to leave with Anna.

"Y-Yeah I don't h-have but y-you have to t-tell me the truth l-later…" she said in a hushed voice.

"I will make sure to tell you everything after all this is finished. I am sorry for the inconvenience," I said. 

To be honest I feel a little bad to drag Selene into this. Telling lies and asking her to cover for me. 

I would have called out someone else's same but only Selene felt like she was the right choice.

She is too innocent to get involved with me. After this, I am definitely going to tell her the truth. 

But why am I being so considerate of her? 

Anyway, this can be thought of at later times, right now I need to talk to Iris.

"Y-You-" Selene was about to say something but Anna called out to her.

"Selene, are you coming or not?" 

"C-coming," she said. 

Seeing her expression I knew that she wanted to say something but I gestured to her that we can talk later.

…

I saw both of them going to the classroom while an awkward silence was present between me and Iris.

I am bad at starting a conversation and even worse if the other person isn't in their best mood.

"What did you want to talk about…?" She broke the silence.

"About that," I said, "You know some information about the Student Council, right…" 

Her expression changed to anger. Why am I thinking I shouldn't have said that?

TO BE CONTINUED…