Stonebrook High School

Chapter 33

You can't blame me. Miraculous Ladybug season two came out, so I reserve the right to have posted this chapter late. (This includes future chapters xD)

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Lukas stepped back in shock. "Me?! What do you mean? I haven't done anything to them on purpose!"

"Let me explain, Lukas." Olivia cleared her throat and picked up the bow that he had left on the table. "It seems that they don't really remember the names of the kids that beat them up the most in elementary school."

"What are you–"

"I'm not even close to being finished yet, just let me talk. Anyway, when we were younger, there were these group of people that would follow us around campus sometimes, always watching, always ready to jump. We made one wrong move and they would punch us, snitch to the teacher, and a bunch of other things. We had no escape until Petra came by."

She pulled the string back. "One day, the Jesses were getting taunted by a few of those jerks and we couldn't do anything since they were holding us down. Then a guy came by and he saw all of us. We called out to him to help us. He didn't do anything. He just watched as we started crying and started screaming frantically. His group of friends came and they started to physically hurt us, socking us in the gut and kicking our sides. The others joined in."

Lukas's mouth was hung open and wide for all to see and Olivia side-glanced at him. "That guy was actually a really close friend of the Jesses, but he didn't do anything. He just stood there, like he was scared of being a loser, too. It was the worst day of our lives. The Jesses had never felt so betrayed before. They couldn't believe that this guy, who they had known for a long time as kids, just left. When they saw him later that week, they confronted him and asked why he didn't help. He said, 'I don't forgive you for anything. You guys left me alone for a long time. You haven't talked to me since first grade. You're not my friends.'"

The blonde finally came to a realization and closed his mouth, covering it with his hand. His eyes were wide and his face was pale as if he saw a dead body.

The curly-haired girl stared at him. "You know exactly who I'm talking about." She pointed the bow at him, pulling the string back farther. She let go of it, just as if she shot an invisible arrow right through him, and the horrifying confirmation dropped from her mouth.

"It was you, Lukas." She frowned. "And I know you remember."

He had to lean against a stray branch sticking out from the floor in order to keep his balance.  "I- I do. And I remember the Jesses. I remember." His voice was shaky and he struggled to hide the emotion. "It had been so long, I didn't think it was them–"

"The Jesses don't know it was you, either. Actually, I don't think they even remember the event or you. And, you know, I don't blame you for what you did or said. You were such a theater nerd back then and people made fun of you, too. We weren't the only ones. You had to deal with it on your own unless the other Ocelots were there to help. Perhaps that was why I didn't recognize you until a few days ago– you were so different."

He looked at the ground, his eyes widening even more. Then, in the fading sunlight, he looked up at Olivia.

"You say they don't remember."

"Yeah."

"They don't recognize me from back then."

"Mhm."

"Then... was Jess the one I had been looking for all along?"

Olivia furrowed her brow. "What are you talking about?"

"There was a girl I knew in kindergarten. Her name was Jesse. She looked almost identical to the Jess we know. Jess said it wasn't her but now that you say this, she might actually be the one!"

"Woah, hold on, Lukas. You're speaking way too fast for any sane person to understand. Explain to me more clearly."

Lukas pulled out a keychain loop from his pocket attached to a picture covered with a plastic frame. He pointed at the girl next to his younger self.

"See her? Her name was Jesse Blair Moriyadi."

"Wait–"

"Do you know something?"

Olivia tilted her head to look up at him and he looked at her back. "Lukas, Jess's last name before seventh grade had Moriyadi."

He inhaled unknowingly and held it when he realized, not wanting to exhale until he knew his theories were true.

"Jay's last name was just Blair and Jess's had Moriyadi to differentiate the two. Her full last name was Jesse Blair Moriyadi."

He let out his breath and tilted his head. "Wait, if their name was that before, why are they named Ryder now?"

"I'm not really sure myself," Olivia pondered, "but when I asked them why, they said that Ryder had been their last name. They never actually had Blair as their last name. But the way they answered sounded like they had never heard 'Blair Moriyadi' in the same sentence with their first names."

"What are their parents' names?"

"Christian Blair Moriyadi, Isabelle Blair Ryder. They both had the Blair in the names before getting married."

"So the Ryder part is from their mom?"

"Yeah. You know, now that we're talking about this subject, I've noticed that the Jesses have changed some details or forgotten certain events from back then. They insist that this or that happened but Axel, Petra, and I say differently. Sometimes their stories even contradict each others'. And they might have been together in those stories!"

Lukas crossed his arm. "I wonder if something happened to them."

Olivia awkwardly rubbed her arm and shook her head. "I really don't know. And I don't think they would know either, to be honest."

He rubbed his temples and shook his head rapidly to release tension. "I guess we should figure this out later. It's getting late and we need to finish that fence at the front."

"Yeah," she reluctantly agreed. Then she giggled. "At least your hand isn't bleeding so much anymore."

Lukas looked down at his hand. He'd forgotten that it was all bandaged up from the intense conversation they had. Squeezing his hand into a fist, he made sure it didn't hurt.

"I think I should wear gloves."

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(Okay, yes, I did have this chapter done a month ago but I just never posted it because I forgot and then MLB and Halloween came up and just ahhh–

Also, nO SPOILERS PLS I BEG OF YOU)