Chapter 437 - Obtaining Funds (8)

Luke noticed all the places I checked on my screen that I forgot to shut. I quickly deactivated my marble and hid my notes where my bucket list was created. I was glad that I had the screen open since I could use it as an excuse. I knew he would ask about what was going around school someday. Years of living with Luke had taught me to know how to properly hide things.

"I know you're using the excuse of going out of the school as a cover," Luke was one step ahead of me.

"You already know you won't be allowed to leave the school unless the holidays come," he pointed out where things got suspicious.

Of course, Luke went along with my act, trying to see how far I would go with it. I wondered if I should actually try leaving the school to show him it wasn't just a cover. When I gazed into his eyes, I could tell things were serious. While he was hiding his emotions, Alex exposed how mad he was from how poorly he was treated these days.

I had two choices. Confess under the increasing pressure given out by both of them or to run and lead them as far away from the stall. I decided to open the window and jump out with the rope already hanging down the building. Henry was really going to die from making me go through all this. Maybe today would be the day I would go out of the school gates.

I sprinted towards the school gates, pushing mana towards my feet to increase my speed. I only had to do this for several more hours. I started to regret how I didn't ask for another study session which would be a better cover. Although Luke would remain suspicious, he wouldn't bring it up since he liked it when I was more motivated to study.

However, it was too late now since both of them were chasing me. I hated my low stamina as I was being dragged back by Luke into the dorm room a few minutes in. I was almost crying from how I was doing great as the lookout as he locked the door behind him once Alex was inside. If Henry was the one as the lookout again, the stall would have already been discovered.

"What's going on Rika?" Luke wanted me to take a seat on the couch.

"Maybe not a lot of people like you anymore?" I pretended not to know anything.

"What did you spread about us?" Alex thought it was coming from rumors.

I smiled, not thinking of this simple solution before. I could pretend that I spread rumors about them which led everyone to avoid them. I knew many things about them not others knew like all secrets I shared with Charles and Ben, leading to me joining their fractions in the end.

"The truth. What if everyone figured out the horrible way you treat your partners? Burning my comic books and cheap clothes and forcing me to drink all those disgusting medicines. Plus, the terrible way you treat Shelly with your fights," I frowned.

"That's all?" Luke didn't seem fazed.

"What else would it be?" I wondered if this wasn't bad enough.

"So what's really going on?" he didn't fall for my fake story.

"People just don't like you two after hearing about how you treat others," I shrugged.

"I know you won't spread rumors like these," Luke knew too much about me.

Unfortunately, he was right. I would never openly expose how he treated me behind the scenes since it could lead him to do it in the open from everyone already knowing. I couldn't reveal how often Shelly fought with Alex since Shelly wouldn't like everyone knowing as well. I didn't have anything against them without bringing myself down with them.

"Don't you have a lot of work to finish?" I pointed out all the piles of untouched work.

"I'll help you," I pulled up my sleeves.

"You didn't spread any rumors, but you're still hiding something from us," Luke waited for me to confess.

"I'm not hiding anything," I began to touch the work sent by the Impalia fraction.

"You can choose to believe me or remain suspicious, but I'm telling the truth," I read some interesting information coming from a minor fraction.

"Then you can help me on the remainder of this pile for the rest of this month," he gave me an option.

"I hid the smoothies from you and asked everyone to hide them," I blurted to partially give him the truth.

"I knew you wouldn't let me drink them since they were a result from a new experiment from the mana research club," I slowly looked up to see his reaction.

"I wouldn't let you drink them," he agreed.

"And I knew you would report them to the school to prevent me from getting more access to them, taking the smoothies away from everyone," I knew the consequences of having the whole operation exposed.

"So this was why everyone was avoiding us," Alex was disappointed in his peers.