Despite being a pocket tournament, it felt like a very long day for me. I had a hard time dueling my opponents, but fortunately, I won first place on Foil while I took third place in the Sabre category. At the end of the tournament, our team took the overall champions.h.i.+p. All of our members who partic.i.p.ated in this event received a medal or two which put a satisfied smile on Coach Manuel.

We all took the bus ride provided by the academy, and it was already past 4 p.m. that we'd arrived back in our school. My teammates shuffled back to the locker room to get some of the things they left earlier, but I remained behind in the parking area, waiting for Tay. We'd made a plan that we will both prepare and dress our Halloween costume at his house.

He didn't make me wait long when his familiar figure approached. We immediately climbed inside his silver car and drove us all the way to his house.

Tay lived in a posh subdivision at La Orden. He came from a wealthy family which I always teased him as old rich. He pulled over his car in front of a beautiful two-story house. From the outside, you could see that the house had long hallways inside as the width of the house extended across the whole block.

We entered inside and found that there was no one inside. Tay informed that both his parents were still in their office. He had an older sister, but currently staying in Manila for college. We went upstairs and headed for his room.

Entering inside, it was a complete mess inside his room. There were a blanket, pillows, books cluttered on the floor. He immediately grabbed those things and threw them to his bed.

His walls were covered by posters from his favorite soccer players from Manchester United to FC Barcelona. I only knew their names, since Tay never stopped talking about them.

I quickly grabbed my costume from my bag and started dressing while Tay grabbed his from the cabinet.

*****

Tay pulled up into the available s.p.a.ce on the school's parking slot. We could already hear from our car that the dance was starting already. We could hear the music blaring around the campus. We climbed out of his car and went straight to the gymnasium.

Once inside, Tay was greeted by his teammates wearing soccer players' jerseys from the 90s while both of us wore Matrix costume with our black outfits and shades.

I scanned around the crowd looking for Yuno. But I could barely distinguish each other's faces with masks and heavy makeup covering their faces.

We grabbed some drinks from the table, and that was when I noticed that a crowd was gathering near the booths area. I tapped on Tay's back to check on what was happening there which made him intrigued also.

As we went near that was when I found Yuno and Dylan lock on each other's embrace while their lips were pressed on each other also. I saw that some of my schoolmates were taking pictures and enjoying the show. I glanced on the side and found Deena fuming with anger. Oh boy, this will not go well, I thought.

Deena darted from his position and went inside the booth where Yuno and Dylan no longer kissing were still inside. They were both staring at each other like they were in a trance. But both of them were pulled back to reality when Deena grabbed Yuno's arm. She was shaking while looking at my stepsister's eyes.

"Hope you enjoy swapping saliva with Dylan, wench!" Deena told Yuno.

Yuno just gave her a smirk which just fueled Deena's anger. That was when like a whirlwind, Deena slapped Yuno's face erasing the smirk on her.

"Deena! What's gotten into you?" Dylan shouted.

The crowd gasped from Deena's action, and now more hands were raised in the air recording the face-off from their phones.

Yuno held the side of her face where Deena slapped her. She sent a deadly glare towards Deena's direction. She stomped her way to the opposite side and instantly grabbed Deena's blonde wig hair and pulled it down.

The blonde wig hair fell off from Deena's head leaving her real hair twisted in a bun bared to everyone. Her mouth was left hanging open surprised from what happened. Then she pulled Yuno's hair trying her best to rip it off from the head. Yuno answered back by stepping on Deena's feet where pain was etched on her face. Then Yuno pulled her hair removing it from the bun.

Tay and I looked at each other. We have to stop them.

We dashed out of the crowd where Tay went to Deena's side while I went to Yuno's. Dylan was between them using his hands to separate the two girls. I grabbed Yuno's body which she shouted in protest while Tay did the same.

The crowd parted, and that was when a teacher - Ms. Yasmin Cruz dressed in a long black dress stepped in and both hands on her hips.

"What's happening here?" she asked.

"Ms. Cruz, that crazy girl started it!" Deena pointed her finger at Yuno's direction while she was panting heavily.

"You started it! You b.i.t.c.h!" Yuno replied. This was the first time seeing my stepsister in this aggressive manner.

Ms. Cruz looked at the five of us and gave us an exasperated expression.

"Creating this ruckus even though the dance hasn't started yet. The five of you will have a detention with me the day after tomorrow after cla.s.s.

Tay and I raised our hands protesting since we were just stopping the fight. But Ms. Cruz gave us a glare that she didn't want to hear any further explanation.

"I'm really disappointed to all of you, especially you, Mr. Sytanco," she walked away from us while the crowd around whispered at each other and started to disperse.

"This is not over," Deena gave a final glare at Yuno and stormed away from Tay.

*****

After that pulling of hair fias...o...b..tween Yuno and Deena, Yuno went to the comfort room while Dylan tried to follow her, but she shoved past him and went to her destination.

Tay and I left Dylan at the booth area and went to the food table to grab some drinks.

The whole crowd of La Orden Academy was already dancing at the center floor while the DJ played upbeat music in the background.

We went to the sitting area where few students were already seated staring at the crowd. I was about to engage Tay for a talk when a girl in a Princess Jasmine costume went to us.

She was eyeing Tay with such interest that I already knew what she wanted.

"Umm, Tay. Would you like to dance with me?" she asked while her face turned red.

Tay looked at my direction which I just shrugged in return.

"S-sure!" He offered his hand at her which she gladly grabbed and pulled him away to the dance floor.

Now, I was left alone drinking my drink. I glanced at their direction and a pang of jealousy hit me while I watched Tay and the girl swayed their bodies from the music beat.

"You like him, don't you?"

I was startled when someone behind talked. Turning my head, I found a girl wearing a dark blue dress while her short hair was parted in twin braids.

It was Rina Cruz who was wearing a Tuesday costume from The Addams Family, I presumed.

"W-What made you think that I like him?" I stuttered. My heart was hammering since this was my first time being asked by that question. Plus, this must be our first time talking to each other.

She looked at Tay's direction then returned her look at me. "The way you look at him. It's different from others."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"If you say so," she plucked her cellphone from her bag and began typing.

"I thought you don't like talking to other people. This might be our first time talking with you."

She pulled away from her gaze from her cellphone and turned at me. "I thought you need someone to talk to." Then her eyes moved behind me.

I turned around and found Yuno. She was back to normal now. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail.

"Hey, Rayven! So sorry for dragging you into that mess," she apologized to me.

I simply waved her off and patted the s.p.a.ce beside me. She slid into the seat and looked at the crowd.

"What happened there? I don't know you're dating Dylan."

Yuno shook her head and recalled the story where she and Dylan first met.

"I was having a conversation with Monica when Deena just suddenly grabbed me and drag to Dylan. Then you knew the rest."

"Well to be fair, I enjoyed the stunt you pulled at Deena, and I mean it literally. That was the first time that someone stood up against her," I smiled at her. "I'm proud of you."

We both laughed at that then Yuno pulled out a cellphone.

"Have you seen, Monica? She has been acting strange. Before Deena dragged me, she looked very tense, then she suddenly dumped her phone to me. Now, I don't know how to find her."

"She'll just pop out later. Maybe she had to interview someone."

Yuno gave me a glum look not convinced at my answer. "I don't know. I have a bad feeling about it."

"h.e.l.lo, Ravens!"

We were pulled out from our conversation when we heard Deena's voice from the stage. She looked refreshed now without her fake blonde hair.

"I know some of you enjoyed the show earlier. But I definitely did not. Anyways, I'm not here to talk about my disastrous night. I will be singing to my fellow students."

The band on stage started playing their music and a slow beat was played. Deena opened her mouth and sang a slow song. The crowd began finding their partners and arms were locked on each other's body.

"d.a.m.n, I didn't know that b.i.t.c.h can really sing well," Yuno exclaimed.

We both watched at the crowd while Deena swayed her body on the mic stand, smiling also at the crowd.