Chapter 6

~~ Risky Decision ~~

Huntsville High...

Chase slammed his grey locker shut and rested his back on it, before sliding down and sitting on the floor. His blue tank top was drenched in sweat, likewise his whole body.

Sighing, he said, “This was by far the worst P.E training. Ever!”

“No kidding,” Ian agreed, his voice brimming with exasperation. He also sat on the floor beside Chase; his tank top was red.

Chase swept his sweat-wet, auburn hair back with his hand, “We were just used as tools while Ace and his guys displayed their stupid stamina and strength.”

“I know, right? Even the girls did better than us,” Ian said with a tint of jealousy. Then he frowned, “Are we really that weak?”

Chase looked at him, “What? No! Ace might have called us weak, but he's only strong because he's got the number advantage.”

Chase paused and fisted his hands, his brows furrowed, “These babies are enough to take him down if we were to go one on--”

“Shush!” Ian quickly covered Chase's mouth as Ace and two other guys passed by.

They were shirtless and walked buoyantly, their taut chest pacs gleaming, likewise their abdominal muscles. They had just come out of the shower and were heading out of the changing room for males.

Seeing them leave the room, Ian removed his hand from Chase's mouth and rested his back, heaving a short sigh of relief.

“Damn...” Chase muttered as his self esteem plummeted instantly.

“Yeah, I'm... We're definitely not a match for him,” Chase admitted while he stared at the swinging door.

“Uh-uhn,” Ian nodded and stood up, his bones tweaking. He grunted from the pain.

“Come on...” he extended his for Chase to grab. “We still have one more class for today.”

Chase sighed and grabbed Ian's hand, who pulled him up with a strain.

Chase just scoffed, and his usual smile appeared once more, “Let's hit the shower.”

They had a long hot shower, washing away their sweat, shame and defeat. After they were contended, their mood rejuvenated, they changed to their casual clothing and left the changing room for their book lockers.

Click!

Ian inputted his locker's combination and opened it. His hand reached for a textbook inside, he held it and brought it out, shutting the locker afterwards.

“Huh?” he raised a brow as he tilted his head towards Chase, who was busy typing away on his phone.

“Uh... Chase, won't you grab your English textbook? It's almost time,” he said, almost sounding like a parent.

“Tch. Says the usually tardy student,” Chase scoffed.

Ian just rolled his eyes.

“Look, dude...” Chase started, holding the back of his neck and tilting it in all directions. Faint cracking sounds could be heard. “I think we should just skip it. I'm beyond exhausted.”

“Seriously?” Ian rolled his eyes again and frowned. “It's English and it's only a forty minutes class. You wouldn't wanna ruin your streak of unmissed classes for such a lame excuse.”

“Come on, aren't you tired? I feel like my bones would snap anytime soon,” Chase whined, trying to persuade his best friend.

Ian palmed his face and sighed, “Dodging class will give Ace more reasons to mock us. I'm sure he'd say something like, ‘I told you those dorks were weak’, and that's it, we'd be seen as complete losers.”

Chase smiled, “That'd be horrible. No wonder you're the smart one.”

He looked at Ian, since he expected at least a chuckle from his compliment, but the latter was silent. He saw him staring at a distance.

“Huh?” he raised a brow and half-turned towards where Ian was staring at.

“Of course,” he muttered with pouted lips. “The new girl”

Ian was staring at the girl that joined them yesterday, Kira Hashimoto. She was standing by her locker, casually chatting with the same girl as yesterday. Well, the other girl did most of the talking, while Kira nodded like a puppet. The other girl was tall and slender, with short brown hair and deep blue eyes.

‘Since when did Mia get so... Girly?’ Chase pondered in thought, recognizing the girl Kira was talking to. He and Mia had a weird relationship.

He looked back at Ian, who was completely immersed in what he was seeing.

Kira had this feeling that someone was staring at her, and she stylishly tilted her head, scooping her dark hair from her eyes to confirm her feeling. Once she saw that it was Ian, the boy that helped return her book yesterday, she swiftly retracted her gaze back to Mia.

Ian also did the same, turning sharply to look at Chase, who had his lips pouted.

“What?” Ian asked with a nervous smile.

“Really? You want us to do this again?” Chase answered with a question.

Ian felt his left brow curl up, “Uh... I don't know--”

Chase cut in, “Would it kill you to talk to her? I mean, you did that yesterday.”

“Yeah, I did, 'cause I had to return her book. There was a reason,” Ian defended. “You don't expect me to just waltz over there and start saying irrelevant things.”

Chase scoffed, “Since when did telling someone you like her become irrelevant?”

Ian gasped dramatically, “Whaaat...? I don't like her.”

Chase smiled sarcastically, “Wow. Tell me something I don't know.”

Ian scoffed, “I just... You know, admire her... as my classmate. You know she's new, so I gotta study how she behaves and all. She could be a spy for all we know,” he shrugged after forcing himself to say all those words.

Chase laughed and shook his head, “Dude, you need help. Heh... And of all the alibis to use, ‘she could be a spy’ was the best you got?” he gave an air quote and laughed again. “You really need help.”

“Whatever...” Ian held firmly to his textbook. “Let's go.”

Chase stretched out his hand, holding up his phone, “Hold up. Check this out. Another set of people murdered in the woods last night. A perimeter was set to block people out, but this guy was able to take some legit shots.”

Ian looked over his shoulder to check the pictures. He saw what disgusted him, causing him to contort his face. Then something caught his attention, he saw D.O.D.T boldly engraved on the dented Humvee and on Scar's headless body.

“D.O.D.T? Peter works there,” he muttered.

“Your stepfather? Hope he ain't one of them?” Chase asked, looking at Ian in the eyes.

“Nah... Though I kinda wish he was,” Ian scoffed. Chase chortled a laugh before dipping his phone in his pocket.

“I guess the woods are off limits for now, till that wild animal is caught,” Chase said as they began strolling to class. “Do you think it's a chayote? Or a bear--”

“Well not off limits for us,” Ian interrupted, replying to Chase's first statement as he remembered something. “Our Solar-gale is still out there.”

“Damn it! I knew it was bad idea to put it out there,” Chase hissed.

“Doesn't matter now, we need to get it before it overcharges,” Ian shrugged.

Chase looked at him with a puzzled expression on his face, “Are you out of your mind? The woods ain't some fancy park anymore, going there is like setting a death trap for us.”

Ian gave it a thought before replying, “But we need it. It's our science project, remember? Mr. Humphrey would kill us and we'd fail. This is our only chance to boost your grades and put me off the principal's hook.”

After hearing this, Chase suddenly stopped and turned to Ian. They were very close to the classroom now.

Ian smiled, “You know, killing two birds with one stone.”

Chase rubbed his chin, “You're right, my mum would get me that bike I've been asking for if I got an A+.”

“Yeah,” Ian shrugged, smiling.

Chase sighed with a depressed demeanor, “But the risk is still too high. Those murdered last night belonged to Peter's agency. The freaking Department of Defense and Technology!”

“Okay... Your point?” Ian narrowed his eyes. He knew what Chase was about to say, but decided to play dumb.

“They were torn to pieces like paper! Even with their guns and everything!” Chase exclaimed with wide eyes. “We're gonna freaking die out there, bro.”

Ian only laughed to his friend's dramatic emphasis, “Okay, just hear me out. All these... Killings only happened at night, when the sun had gone. So, I say we go this afternoon while the sun is still up and everything will be fine.”

“Uh...” Chase couldn't think of a counter attack as the words sank into him, and he reasoned. What Ian said made sense to him.

Chase gave a prolonged sigh, “Argh! Fine, you win. I'll go.”

“Yes!” Ian drew his elbow down as he made a fist. He then threw his arm over Chase's shoulder as they started walking towards the classroom's door.

“Trust me, you won't regret this.”

Chase sighed exasperatedly.

“I certainly hope not”