Lockdown

I woke up from the alarm on my phone, it was 5am in the morning. Great, I feel tired. I forgot to turn my alarm off last night. I sat up and felt like I wanted to take a bath. Right, I forgot to change into my casual outfit. I slithered off of my dress and went inside my bathroom to take a morning shower. I then decided to go out and do a few laps of jogging around the oval track.

I wore my sweatpants, sports bra and my cap, and filled my handy water jug with drinking water. When I was about to leave, my phone rang. It's Solace, my best friend. Great, she must've known about what happened yesterday.

"Heeey… How's it hanging…?" I tried to act casually calm, because knowing her she's-

"Oh don't go 'HeEeEey' me this morning. WHERE WERE YOU LAST NIGHT?!" Solace yelled that made me pull my phone away from my ear.

I put the phone back to my ear as I stepped out of my dorm, locking it then walking casually down the hallway to the stairway.

"Golly. You don't have to shout! I went somewhere… Erm… Nice. To celebrate the success, that is…!" I explained, trying to avoid getting Manuel in the topic.

"Silly you, you think I wouldn't know?!" She yelled again.

"THEN WHY'D YOU ASK?!" I yelled back.

"SO THAT I WOULD KNOW IF IT'S TRUE OR NOT!" Then there was a pause.

"But yeah, where were you last night?" She changed her tone. What an abnormal elven being.

"I thought you knew!?" I groaned in disbelief.

"Yeah… No. Not really. I lied. Just wanted to add some pressure in 'ya." I heard her giggling.

I took a deep breath.

"I went out." I answered.

"Oh? With no one?" She sounded surprised.

"Y-...Yeah..? No. Not.. Really." I'd chuckled nervously. If she knew I was out with Manuel without me telling her, I might've just caused a major chaos between her and I. And she's very troublesome to deal with.

"Your breathing pattern tells me you're lying. Come on, spill it out. It's not like I'll get mad if it's going to be-"

"I had a date last night with Manuel." I said it. There's no use to it anyway, I can't let my best friend suffer from making her wait, she'll eventually figure it out, but just… Extra mad because she'll hear it from another person instead of me.

Then there was no response, but a deafening sound of a crash in the background…?

"S-Solace?! Is everything okay?" I asked as I put the microphone part on my phone towards my mouth. There was a muffled screeching from her end as I finally got the message.

"YOU LUCKY BITCH!" She yelped, defeated. Solace and I have been crushing Manuel ever since her and I met. Though she gets easily jealous because Manuel ever seemed to only approach me rather than having to strike a conversation with Solace. But, he does actually converse with her, just… To ask where I am, that is.

I arrived at the oval track whilst having a juicy conversation with Solace. But I had to end the call so I could focus on my morning exercise and put on my music. As the beat worked the way up in the music I was listening to, I stretched, preparing for the jog.

I jogged, reaching up to 4 laps, when suddenly I heard a gunshot at a distance. I panicked and picked my stuff up as I ran away, a swarm of people was just screaming and yelling for help as they ran out of the academy. I tried to interview one of the students who seemed to be catching her breath, she was pale and panicking.

"What happened there?" I asked, totally concerned.

"T-There's a… Prisoner who escaped and has found his way in the academy… Now he's hiding somewhere in the academy!"

I tried to comfort the girl, when the street lights transformed into big speakers with mouths.

"Dear beloved students." It was the headmistress.

"For those of you who were assigned to leave today, your bus will be here within seconds. Please wait at the bus stop at the gate and the driver will take you home safely. As for the dorm users, please head to your respective dorms and we'll put you in extreme care and guidance. DO NOT GO OUT." I sighed at this, then it hit me. I grabbed my phone and dialed Manuel.

There were a few rings before he finally answered.

"You heard it?" He asked.

"Yeah, are you okay? Are you somewhere safe?" I asked.

"I'm in my dorm. Where are you?"

"Outside, at the oval track. I heard the gunshot."

"W-What are you doing there?! It's dangerous to be outside now! Get back in your dorm!"

"I'm scared Manuel!" I shivered. The girl beside me wept as she was approached by a bunch of people who looked to be her friends.

"Okay okay, relax. Since you're at the oval track, I want you to go behind the academy. And from there I'll meet you and take you with me in my dorm. Cle-" There was another gunshot, and one of the students near me was shot by the arm. I gasped at this as he screamed in pain as help quickly arrived to assist him. The buses finally arrived as the students hurried to get inside and go home. I quickly managed to follow Manuel's orders and went behind the academy, and from there I saw him standing by the mailbox. He turned and saw me as he hurriedly approached me, hugging me.

"Are you alright? Has something bad happened to you?" He checked me if there were any wounds or injuries.

"S-Someone near me got shot. I guess… We're all on lockdown…"

"You look pale, come on in, get some rest." Manuel assisted me inside his dorm.

I managed to sit down and change into comfortable clothes, but these were his clothes.

"A prisoner has escaped. According to the Deans, the man was shouting for the President's name. He looks like he needs something really bad from my dad too." Manuel rubbed his chin as he scrolled through his phone.

Then a question entered my head.

"Your father should know about this scenario that's happening in this academy, he could've bailed you out of this situation, Manuel!" I confronted him from being paranoid. He answered by just laughing.

"I wouldn't leave you here unsupervised. Plus, you're defenseless. What are you going to use as self-defense? Your plants in your dorm?" He teased as he let out a chuckle.

I blushed at this, then sighing.

"There's no point in changing your mind at this point, huh?" I said as I rubbed my arm.

"Change my mind? From what?"

"You… Spending your vacation with a nobody like me." I looked down.

"You're a nobody? Says who? For all I've known, you're the smartest, elegant and caring elven being that I've met. That idea won't ever change my mind. Now, since we're on lockdown I want you to stay here as I take hold for the barricades by the gate of the dorm. I'll be right back."

Soon after, my friends created a group chat and started to video call.

Esteban was in his dorm together with Gerard and Nieva while Solace and Karina were in their dorms, alone.

"Hey, Hiraya. Your room looks.. Different." Esteban says.

I stuttered.

"W-Well that's 'cause.. It's… Not my room."

"Oh? Where are you? Are you okay?" Karina asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine.. I'm-"

"Hiraya, are you hungry? Food's ready." Manuel asked as he peeked through the doorway from his kitchen.

"Ayo, was that… Manuel?!" Gerard snatched the phone out of Esteban's hand as he looked closely through the camera.

"Yeah I'll come, give me a minute." I answered as I looked through my phone, staring at each and everyone's reaction.

"I'll tell you the details later on, but for now, I have to eat. I'm starving! Bye!" I immediately ended the call and went to the dining area in his kitchen.

"I guess, your vacation has been… Terrible." Manuel said as he placed a small cake in front of me with a happy face.

"Cheer up, I know I can always find a way to make you happy." He added.

But my mind was filled with the thought of the prisoner looking for the President. It's odd. Why must he look for him though? Was he and his people not being provided with any goods from the government? Or was he in the same hometown as me…? Either way, life was very very hard back in our hometown and I simply wanted to make a difference.

I grabbed a fork and ate the cake he prepared.

I smiled as I chewed on the soft and moist cake.

"This really hits the spot." I said, complimenting him.

He replied with a laugh, as he leaned closer to my face and planted a kiss on my cheek.

I stared at him, surprised and blushing. Did he just… Kiss me?

"I'll keep you safe." Was all he can say as he leaned again, kissing me on the lips this time; passionately.