“Join us.” Michael said this while motioning for me to sit next to him.

I did and asked Mason, “Why did you not come to the classes this morning?”

Mason replied, “You see, my alarm decided to go on sleep mode this morning.”

Clara and Stephanie directed their attention to what Mason was saying.

He continued, “Luckily, Alex, being a kind soul for once, woke me up after my first class had already covered more than half its duration.”

“So you missed your first two classes, Mason?” asked Michael.

“No, I did not miss my second class.” Mason said while eating his lunch.

“We did not see you enter.” Stephanie told Mason.

Mason smiled with pride and said, “I entered from the backdoor of the classroom during second class.”

“AND NO ONE NOTICED?” shouted Stephanie.

The students sitting at other tables looked at our table. We felt like group of deers all caught in headlights.

“Hey, calm down.” Michael told her.

“If there was any professor or staff around here, you would expose my crime.” Mason whispered to all of us.

“Stephanie, you were too busy watching me and Clara.” I told her.

Michael looked at me and asked, “Why would she be watching you both?”

Clara filled in the gap, which Michael asked me.

"Well, I guess I am not the only one breaking the class's rules.” Mason said this while eating his salad.

"No, no, I don’t plan on napping in class again.” Clara announced it to us.

Stephanie scoffed, “We will see about.”

Clara threw a piece of her salad at Stephanie. Clara told,  “You don’t get to say a word on that.”

“Anyways, you guys showing up for basketball today?” asked Mason.

Mason gives him a thumbs up, and Stephanie nods at him.

We all ate our lunch in silence, mostly. Mason and Michael were discussing something related to basketball. There were times when Clara teased Stephanie about something, which resulted in them throwing food at each other, and Mason also decided to join them.

Later, a couple of other students joined the lunch table-5. I think they were Mason’s friends, because he had introduced them to me once, but I did not remember their names clearly, except their facial expression, because they kind of found me weird, I think.

The lunch came to an end, thankfully. Michael told me he would see me later, and I just nodded and began heading to my next class.

“Hey, so I believe you are almost done with your group project?” Stephanie asked me.

“No, but it’s almost complete. I won’t take much time with your girlfriend.”

Stephanie skipped some of her steps. “Oh no, no, relax. I am not wary of you. Though I would say I am actually envious because your duo team is actually getting things done, Mine is a lost cause.”

“I am sure you will get it done, Stephanie. Cause’ when the deadline is in a week, that’s when the insight of getting things done comes alive.”

“Oh, really?”

"Yes, it happened a lot to me in high school.” I told her, hoping I didn’t come as someone who was bragging about himself. No wonder people distance themselves from me. I thought of diverting this topic to somewhere else, but then again, I forgot that I could not even properly start a conversation in the first place.

The bell rang. Well, now lunch time is officially over.

“We should get going now, Stephanie." Wait, we are already heading to class. What on earth am I saying?

“Yes. Oh anyways,” She looked at me and said, “Call me Steph.”

“Okay.” That was all I said, and while we silently made our way to class, I looked behind me. Mason was catching us up.

~~

I was looking at billboards and vehicles passing by. The air zooms in through the gap between the two glass windows. It felt cold, but on the other side, it felt warm due to the number of people concentrated on the bus. There was someone talking to someone loudly on the phone, while loud music was blasting from someone’s headphones. While others engaged in conversation with each other. And some, like me and Michael, are sitting in silence. 

“Are you free this Saturday?” were the words by Michael that altered the quietness between us.

I was thinking of telling him that I had some stuff to do, but my mouth just said, "Yes.”

“So would you like to see Brownie? We could play some games if you want too, or maybe study.”

Right the dog, Brownie. It had been on my mind for a while, or was it really Brownie? “Meeting up the Brownie sounds exciting. But are you sure it would be okay for it?”

He seemed to be gleaming with excitement, contrary to the growing darkness of the city area bus passing was through. “Yes, he does not mind. I bet he would like you too.”

“Umm, okay.”

I asked him, “Would it be alright if I showed up in the late morning?”

“No problem, Chris. As long as you don’t leave early.” He said this while looking outside.

“I won’t then.?” I said. But now I wanted to mentally slap myself, it came more as a question. The area outside the bus began to brighten up due to the multiple stores’ lights and those attractive billboards in motion.

We both sat in background noise, which was loud, but noises mixed into each other, which easily spaced out into the quietness between us for the rest of the time.

~~

After eating dinner and leaving the dishes for washing to Jones. I sat on my bedroom’s floor. Later, coming to the decision of disrupting Alex’s peace by calling her.

“Hello Chris?”

“Hello, how are you doing?”

“I am fine, but what made you call me?”

“I just called...” I literally did not think of a reason to call her.

“Is Mason not responding to your calls?” She asked.

“No, I did not call him in the first place. What are you both up to anyway?”

"Mason is drowning in his homework, and I am just binge-watched the series ‘Cheer up’ ”

"Oh, I see. I hope he swims out of it.”

Alex chuckles. “Yup, hopefully. Uncle and Aunt are coming back from work after you guys get your exams done.”

I sit at my desk chair, taking note of their arrival. “Will you be there too?”

“Yes, I will visit here again on weekends. I am departing from Haltin tomorrow.”

“Ok, have a safe journey, Alex.”

“Yes, I will, Chris. Now I need to hang up. You literally called me during the episode’s cliffhanger.”

And the phone was hanged up.

I made a note to buy something for Mason’s parents. They had looked after me when I first came to Haltin for college and are still looking out for me in general whenever they had a chance.   It was more of a genuine kind of thing between all of us. They saw me as their son’s close friend and not more than that, which is something I am thankful for.

Unlike a case where I actually had to act like someone’s child as they adopted me. The word ‘act’ still does not sit correctly, they expected me to behave, or more of to be their son. I tried, but given the present, well, I failed. There are still numerous questions in my mind about what exactly I did wrong with all those foster parents? The adoption authority was frustrated with me.

My phone rings. It was an unknown number. Not giving it another thought, I pick it up.

"Hello.” I said from my end.

“……..”

“Ah? Hello?..”

“…….”

"Hello, who is this? I can’t hear you.”

“……..”

Can they not hear me?

“Hello, Hello?” I said.

A heavy voice starts to finally say something, “We are waiting for you.”

Well, what on Earth is this?

“I am sorry, but who are you?” I asked.

“You know very well.”

“I don’t. You called the wrong number.” I said this while scheming through my today’s class notes.

“Christopher.” His voice seemed to be a little different from what it was before. “This is not the wrong number.”

I get up from my seat. I was trying not to be as annoyed as I was feeling right now. This is just a prank call, let’s get over it.

“Don’t you dare hang up!” The voice from other began to feel mix of two voices.

Well, I guess their order is really taking over.

“We are waiting for you. If you wish to join us, visit Halcyon Lake at the dead of night.”

What on earth? What is this cult? And why does this man’s voice begin to sound less inhuman as we further get into this talk?

“If you don’t, then we won’t hesitate to drag you to the lake.”

I frowned, “Who is this? Where did you get my number?”

“WE WILL FIND YOU, no matter what. YOU ESCAPED, but you are really not as lucky as YOU THINK YOU ARE.”

I winced, his voice was now definitely not that of a human.

“GET HE-”

Declining the call, something I should have done before. I sit back in my chair.

Eeeeeeeeeeeee…..

Rubbing my ear again and again, where the second before my phone was held, I was aching with pain. I'm not sure if this was pain or not. But the impact of that inhuman voice was getting into my ear very badly. There was still a sound ringing in my ear continuously.

I tried to divert my mind to something else. Ok, the class notes. No, God no, that does not make any sense. It’s hard to focus in the first place because of that ringi-

No, Christopher, do not think of it.

Alright, so… I don’t know what clicked in my mind, but when I looked at my bedroom window. I recalled that this very same inhuman voice was very same to that of the voice which came from the intruder who was once standing at my bedroom window almost a week ago, looking down on me when I had jumped down from the window.