"Don't you remeber? You were there too." Wijono asked, sitting at the edge of the bed. Jean sat on the table, emnating rays of gloom and despair. All eyes were on her as each of her friends glanced worried looks at each other.

"Hah? I don't remember such a thing happening." Eve said puzzled but her jawline tightened in anger. Beverly just stared back and forth, obviously as confused as Eve was.

"She wouldn't know because it was on the phone." Jean interjected on Eve's behalf just as Wijono was about to say something. Jean continued to fade back into silent reverie, the dark aura seemingly more obvious now than before.

"What's all this about?"

"Oh." Both Eve and Beverly said at the same time. Wijono glanced at Jean, then sighed. Jean looked at us, then at Wijono, hoping maybe she would be the one to tell us.

"I think Jean should tell you." Wijono said darkly and all eyes were on Jean again, waiting patiently for her response. We got one.

Jean shuffled slightly on the table as Wijono and Beverly seemed to leean forward in silent anticipation. Even Eve turned in her swivel chair to face Jean, giving her full attention.A mix of emotions flashed across Jean's face, darkening it. Then she looked up at us and began her tale in dark, heavy tones.

"Guys, I can't find my wallet!" Jean said, her voice edgy. The others stared at her for a moment, unsure of what to do. In a second, they were talking all at once.

"Oh my! Where did you last see it?!"

"That's bad. You sure you've looked everywhere?"

"Hey. Maybe it is still in school."

Eve and Sakura stopped searching Jean's pockets and bags to stare at Wijono. After all, she had been the one with Jean almost the whole day, so if she had left it in school, Wijono might have known.

Jean gave a panicked look as her eyes flew open and she almost shouted at her.

"I don't know, should we go back and check?!" Jean's voice was laced with fear and the edginess was unnerving. There was an almost wild look about her now and her knuckles went white as her grip on her harversack tightened.

"All my savings is in there!" She cried out. She still had a smile on her face but somehow it just made her look hysterical. "Maybe its so we won't be worried." Eve thought to herself. "Well too late."She thought as she opened her mouth to suggest something, but she was spoken for.

"Why don't you just call someone. I'm sure there are still people there right?" Sakura said nonchalantly. Jean scrambled for her phone and frantically punched in a bunch of numbers.

"Hello? Zoe?"

Eve and Sakura froze but dared not say anything.

"Ya. It's Jean. I left something in school. A packet. Could you help me check if its there?"

a pause.

"It's just a short while only."

Jean began to become desperate. The wild look that was threatening to emerge before was now spreading out like wildfire.

"Please! You are a classmate. Just help me this once."

another pause.

"I'm not that close to her!"

pause. Jean was about the say something but she cut off and left her mouth hanging open. She looked like she was about to cry. She was all flustered and turned to Wijono and spoke to her while Eve and Sakura talked to each other, completely oblivious to what was going on.

It ended up as Jean going back to school with Sakura to look for her money while Wijono and Eve stayed at the mall to shop. Jean found her packet, with everything inside and the four continued the day without much of a hitch, as if nothing had happened.

"What she had said... She asked me to ask Julianca 'cause she had a man fixing her fish tank in her house." Jean said. Wijono and Beverly had an incredulous look about them and Eve muttered " I can imagine what tank he was fixing..." so softly no one else could hear.

"Then I said I wasn't close to her. I mean, Zenith is a classmate. It is okay for her to go into our classroom. Even if Julianca went, she would look suspicious going into a class not hers and taking out a packet of cash belonging to a person she isn't close to, right?"

When she finnished, a flash of anger flashed in and out of her eyes and she sighed for the upteenth time since this started. Everyone's brows were knitted together, in deep concentration on the story.

"And then she said "Well, I'm not close to you." to me..."

By now, every one was staring incredulously is Jean. She shot back a "I know" look and grinned sheepishly. Wijono stared sullenly at her feet and Beverly took this opportunity to suddenly be so interested in the patterns on the bed. Eve's expression merely darkened before turning back to the computer.

Silent anger fell upon the room and dragged on for a half moment before they unsealed the lid. Emotions flowed like a river. The atmosphere ebbed and flowed before finally descending into peace. And with that, smiles returned to our girl's faces and the story has thus ended.

THE END

::Written byEve at 4:24 AM::
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