Someone I'm Not

14| The Identification Malfunction

When Phoenix, Philip, and Bret arrived, Nico and Soroya already finished taking their baths. The five of them face the table as they enjoy their ordered lunch. When they're done, they are all prepared for their school.

"Hey, aren't you going to prepare?" Phoenix asks Soroya as she sits by his bed. Phoenix is already putting his last notebook on his backpack.

"You still have classes on weekends?" Soroya asks as the realization strikes her that it's just Saturday. Phoenix shrugs his shoulder as he stands up from his study table and stands in front of her.

"Nope, we don't. Twice a week, we are required to attend class on Saturdays, but sometimes, our teachers would just let Saturday class slide since they thought that we needed rest too. But don't worry, we will just have to deal with classes in two hours." He says before raising a brow at her. "So, aren't you coming?"

"Coming to where? Your school?" She asks, not getting a hint as to why she should go. Phoenix then rolls his eyes.

"I thought you wanted to interrogate as much as students as you want since that's the reason why you're here, right?" He asks that made Soroya's memory comes hitting her hard. She chuckles as she quickly stands up.

"Yeah, right! I just. . . I forgot, sorry." She says as Phonix ignores her excuse and goes straight to the door. But before he could open the door, she turns to his shoulder.

"Maybe you're just too coped up with Nico." He says before swinging the door open and shutting it from behind. Soroya's eyes widen just by hearing it. And that made her realize that it was true. She was cooped up with what Nico told him. And it was an assurance for her that Nico didn't kill him.

Instead of overthinking what Phoenix said, she decided to run for her bag to look at an outfit she could wear. Since they're not going to wear uniforms, it will be easy for her to slip inside the university.

Wearing a neon orange hoodie paired with camouflage pants, Soroya steps out of the room as she ties her hair in a Top Knot style. She carries her bag on one shoulder as her free shoulder relaxes. And when she's already downstairs, the three men look at her, curious to where she is headed to.

"Don't stare at her like it's your first time seeing her. . . And oh, no more questions. She's coming with us to school." Phoenix explains before she could even tell them herself. A glimpse of happiness lingers in Nico's eyes as he approaches Soroya and wraps his hand around her shoulder.

"Great! At least I get to hang out with her than with you guys. Your face is so outdated already; I need a new one!" Nico exclaims before staring down over Soroya. "Come on, buttercup! Let's go and see our University." He says before turning away from them by pulling Soroya with her. But before they could even go, Soroya and Phoenix's gaze were locked. Phoenix decided to break it, averting his eyes away from her and into his shoelaces, pretending that they were unsecured. Philip notices that as he secretly turns to his shoulder to see his friend's expression.

"Do you think Nico likes Soroya already?" Philip asks as Bret sighs.

"I don't know. . . But whatever Nico is playing, I am most definitely sure that it has something to do with you, Phoenix." He replies that made Philip answer with no hesitation.

"Hey, what does that suppose to mean? He can't just like her because Phoenix—"

Before he could even continue, Bret decides to walk away from them, following Nico and Soroya from behind. "Hey, you bastard! I'm still talking!" He shouts, but Bret didn't turn to face him. He then shifts his gaze to Phoenix, who was just done tying his shoelaces. "Will you let Nico—"

"Don't worry about it, Philip. Besides, it was just a joke." He says as he taps his shoulder. With a small, forced smile, he managed to continue talking. "Let's go before they decide to leave us."

He then walks past him as Philip shakes his head. Hearing it from Phoenix that it was just a joke sounds so unreal for him. Because his voice and eyes have betrayed him, that thought then made him have an idea.

"Philip!" He flinches back to reality when he hears his friends calling for his name.

"C-coming!" He shouts back before grinning and rushing his way out.

•••

"Oh, so this is what we have forgotten." Bret exhales as they remember that they have to deal with the school entrance. They all forgot about the ID SWIPING after being too coped up with what they had for lunch.

"What should we do now? How can we slip her in without getting caught?" Bret asks, which made her feel a bit worried.

"Well, can't we just say she's just a new enrolled student?" Philip asks that made Nico rolls his eyes.

"Dude, you do remember that they gave us our IDs the first day we enrolled, right?" He asks that made his mouth agape open.

"Ohhhh, right. Now that I remember. . . So, what do we do now?" He asks as they all stare at each other. "We can't use the excuse of her forgetting her Identification Card because the guard will most likely NOT buy this excuse.

They start to hear distant chatters that made them all look to their left side to track down who the sound was coming from. Bunch of college students, both men, and women, starts to make their way into the entrance. All of them have their Identification Cards that are hanging loosely on their necks.

"Hey, I have an idea," Nico says as he pulls Soroya close. He leans to her as he whispers. "Stay close."  He says before walking behind the group like they're a part of the crew.

"Nico, what the heck—" Bret stops Philip's midsentence as he looks at him.

"Let him be—"

"No." This time, it was Phoenix who cut Bret shortly. The two look at Phoenix as he marches forward, trying to cope up with them. And when he's taken a step forward, he pulls Soroya by her jacket's hoodie, making her stop and be pulled backward. Nico was a bit taken aback by what he did.

"What the hell, bro? We could have slipped her in—"

"By taking someone's ID? No, I don't think so, Nico." Phoenix exhales.

"Was that your plan—" Soroya attempted to raise a question but was interrupted shortly when Nico replies as if he didn't hear her.

"Well, do you have any other plan?"

"Well, there are monitors there that would show who students have entered. Do you think the officers wouldn't notice?"

"Guys, perhaps you want to keep it low? You two are now arguing about something that's too—" Philip tries to calm things down even if the tension is just about to rise. Bret follows as he turns to Phoenix. He places his hand on his chest as he lightly puts pressure on it as a sign for him to step back.

"Bro, just back up. Your emotions are trying to betray you, and you don't want this to go any bigger because it will be unnecessary. Okay?" He asks as Phoenix realizes what he is doing. His eyes then travel to where it is gripping, only to discover that he's been forcefully dragging Soroya on her side. He consciously let go off of it as he looks around. Luckily, the group before them haven't minded their little argument. He sighs as he takes a step back.

"I'm sorry. I'm just. . ." he says before running his fingers on his hair as his other hand slides inside his jean pocket.

Soroya, on the other hand, knows the reason behind it. Being Phoenix for a long time and now possessing a woman's body is enough for him to understand his past self.

He loves Soroya, and he gets jealous when things like this come. In many possibilities, her calling to meet up with new guys was his weakness, and that he will do anything just for her to see his love.

But now, it's already too late.

"I'm sorry. . . I just wasn't thinking straight." Phoenix says as he looks down on the floor. All of them keep silent, not knowing what to say next. Philip is already getting impatient, realizing that he's going to be late in less than ten minutes if they still don't decide on what they're going to do next. With his patience running out, he decided to pull Soroya by the wrist and courageously March into the gate. He stretches out his ID on the scanner, and with just a blink second, the red light turns green, indicating an entrance. He didn't mind the guard in charge as he continuously marches forward, still holding on to Soroya's wrist. The rest of them follows shortly, including the officer that stopped them before they could even take another step.

"Excuse me, sir, but I think you're aware that I saw what you did there." He says.

"Well, she is my classmate, and we are running late. Tapping our IDs individually would pull us behind. That is why I tap my ID for the both of us." He reasons out. But then, the sentry didn't budge. He still has that suspicious eyes with matching raised eyebrows.

"And if you interrogate us even further, then you'd be the reason that we'll be late. We only have seven minutes—"

"Ma'am, I need you to show your ID to me." He says as if he didn't hear Philip talk. His eyes are now glued on Soroya.

"Sir, we're already late. Perhaps you could let this one thing slide—" Nico tries to give an account of his excuse but only got an even more suspicious glare.

"Sir, it will only take us a few seconds if you, miss, would show me your ID right now." He demanded, still fighting for his side. "Or you want to be late. I'm not the one to blame if that'll happen." He added.

"Uhm," Soroya purses her lips into a thin line when she hears what he has to say. "I think I just have placed it inside my bag. Let me look for it in a second." She says before reluctantly opening her bag. Bret then leans forward, his breath brushing closely into her ears.

"In a count of three, when I say run, you run, okay?" He alarms her before slowly leaning backward, now standing to where he is standing, mastering the proper posture. Soroya then turns to her shoulder as the guard notices that.

"Hey, what are you looking at? I need to see your ID right now—"

"Okay, okay! I'll look for it." Soroya says before looking down at her bag. She slowly scans it as she hears him talk from behind.

"One." He says calmly, yet enough for all of them to hear.

"What did you say?" The gatekeeper asks as Bret shakes his head.

"I didn't say anything. . . two." He says that makes them ready. The guard then raises his brow at him.

"Two? Are you belittling me?" They can already smell anger around his aura. But then, Bret is ready to tell his last word.

"Thr—"

"Good morning, Thomas!" The tension that has been built entirely evaporates as all of their attention was caught from the person who talks.

He is wearing a professional outfit that made Soroya think that he's a teacher there. And she wasn't proved wrong when Phoenix, Nico, Philip, and Bret greets him in unison.

"Good morning, Mister Lucas!"

"Good morning, kids. What are you still doing here? You're about to be late. . . Hah, same as mine." He chuckles.

"Well, you're our subject for today, sir, so I guess I won't have to worry about getting late." Philip chuckles in victory as if his nervousness has quickly disappeared.

"Well, they try to slip this woman here inside without an identification card, sir. So I have no choice but to halt them over here." He explains as he gestures to where Soroya is standing.

"Good morning, sir. We were just in a hurry that's why. . ." Soroya finds herself explaining, but then her words trail off when she realizes that something is going on with how the teacher stares at her.

'Is there something in my face?' She thought to herself as she unconsciously reaches out for her handkerchief from the back pocket of her pants. She was then about to wipe her face when Mister Lucas inhales sharply.

"Soroya?"