Fourty Two

CHAPTER 42

Aisle 001.

"WHY IS SHE DOING THIS TO ME?!"

Ace then threw all his belongings that were on the bed such as pillows, bolsters, blankets and even his personal towel onto the floor roughly. He also grabbed his hair in frustration after pacing incoherently in his own room a while ago.

"Ace, can you stop?" asked Luke. "You've said that to me more than ten times. Plus, you're giving me a headache by walking around like that."

Ace groaned in annoyance and threw his body on the mattress. He buried his face in the white sheets and let Luke, who was sitting on the furry carpet, roll his eyes lazily. "You look stupid doing all that stuff, you know," Luke added anxiously. To be honest, Luke had never seen Ace that upset in all his life. Plus, his best friend had just gotten upset over a girl.

"Why won't Alicia admit it, Luke?!" Ace sighed harshly and wiped his face as he turned around. Those dark brown eyes stared at the ceiling of his room dazedly. "She just hurt my pride, something that's never happened to me before," he continued.

Luke looked up and chuckled softly. "Why are you being so sensitive because of that 'crazy' girl, Ace?"

Ace then got up and squinted his eyes. Pointing at Luke, he said, "Don't call her 'crazy' again or I'll throw you into a pile of worms!"

Luke shuddered in horror and shook his head in disbelief. "I don't think she's the only one who's crazy, but you are too," he said. "Anyway, you should relax a bit with her. You're overreacting this time."

"But the thing is, she said that in front of Brittany," Ace said in a high tone. He spluttered again and turned his face the other way.

"So, what's the problem?"

Ace turned his head. Giving the curly-haired man an unhappy look. "Brittany will talk about it to the whole dorm and it will embarrass me forever!" Ace chuckled. "She'll lower my prestige as the most liked guy in this dorm."

Luke snorted in annoyance. "That's it?"

Luke's words made the dark-haired man immediately round his eyes and get up from the bed. Ace moved quickly towards Luke and pulled Luke's shirt collar so that their faces were now only inches apart.

Even in those dusky brown eyes, Luke could see that Ace's gaze was filled with anger. "Alicia, is the first girl who's ignored me! She just humiliated me in front of Brittany, that means she can humiliate me in front of everyone else!" Ace exclaimed, no matter how scared Luke was. "She's the first girl to reject me and that's really annoying! So--" Ace paused his sentence and pushed Luke roughly. "--don't ever make fun of that in front of me again."

Luke breathed a sigh of relief and smoothed his slightly wrinkled collar. "Alright. I'll stop talking about it. You were so creepy just now, I dare not oppose you," he said honestly. "By the way, you don't look like you're bothered by what other people think of you, Ace."

Ace scrunched his waist and raised one eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Luke thought for a moment before finally spilling his guts in front of Ace. "You just seem bothered by the ignoring she's doing to you," he said carefully. "Are you... in love with her?"

Ace chuckled amusedly. "You're kidding, huh?" He shook his head quickly. "Alicia will end up like the others. She'll be begging under my body and I'll blow her away like she was never there in the first place," he explained emphatically. "Luke, listen, Alicia means nothing to me. So, don't even think about me and that girl."

Knock... Knock...

Knock... Knock... Knock...

Ace and Luke gasped and turned to the door simultaneously. Curious, Luke got up and rushed to open the door to whoever their guest was that afternoon. And what was the surprise of both men, when they found Alicia standing with Nicholas behind the door.

Ace gasped in shock and hurriedly approached the door when he saw Alicia through the gap in Luke's body. "Alicia, you--what are you doing here?!" asked Ace in a half panic. He realized one thing immediately afterwards. It wasn't just Alicia and Nicholas standing there. Brittany and Noel were standing behind them with a look that Ace himself couldn't understand. "Wha--what's going on?!"

Nicholas cleared his throat. "We're conducting an investigation and search, as you already know," he said coldly. "So, stop pretending you don't know."

Ace sniggered. "Then, feel free to come in and check my room," he retorted sarcastically. "Wouldn't that be helpful for you to find the criminal?"

Just as Nicholas' foot was about to step inside, Alicia's hand, wrapped in many suede bracelets, suddenly restrained him. Nicholas of course immediately turned to the girl with the ash bead in confusion and Alicia who seemed to understand Nicholas' reaction hurriedly said, "Looks like I got the wrong person."

Ace raised both eyebrows in surprise. "Alicia."

Alicia snorted in amusement. "This person who expects me to beg on his bed couldn't have given me such an expensive gift, could he?" Alicia's face looked ice-cold as her gray softlens-covered eyes met Ace's. "Doesn't she just think of me as easy and worthless? I think that silver hairpin is too precious for someone like me. Isn't that right, Ace?"

Ace's mouth opened, but he couldn't even get a single word out. Her heart felt like it had been hit by something. She couldn't believe that Alicia heard it all; heard all the harsh words directed at her.

"Alicia, I--"

"Nic, you should do your investigation as soon as possible," Brittany interrupted. She grabbed Alicia's wrist and pulled her close. "One thing we've learned here is that everyone is trying to harm and frame Alicia. They wanted to kill her, no matter what." Ace, who felt Brittany was insinuating herself, reacted immediately.

"What do you mean, Britt?!" said Ace. "I couldn't possibly intend to harm Alicia or anyone else."

Brittany then let out a short snort. Crossing her arms over her chest and looking straight into those dark brown eyes, Brittany continued,

.

.

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"Then, why did you give the silver hairpin to Alicia? Didn't you know that it was the missing evidence of James' death?" []