Trust me.

Chapter One - Lucas

"For the female of the species is more deadly than the male."

*flip*

Beep.

‘Good morning rushers! This is Jamie! And it’s 6.30 on the clock! Wake up Manila!’

‘Damn. Its 6 already? I didn’t get enough sleep. 5 minutes.. more..’

I’m Lucas Gray Karp, I turned 19 last June. It’s hard to explain how I look when you’re getting late for school. I’ll tell you later.

Lucas walked in. Everyone was looking. His heart beats fast.

‘Luke! Swerte mo wala pa yung Prof.’ Mike said. Lucas didn’t speak tagalog that much, but he’s trying really hard to speak fluent tagalog. ‘Oh. Ganun ba? I thought I was late.’ ‘Late ka na nga. Duh. Past 8 na kaya!’ He sits down near the window and was looking for his notebook to do some scribbles. It’s something he does when he’s bored. The time is flying so fast, he’s making a doodle and there was still no sign of Mrs. De Guzman. Two more subjects and it’s his free time already. The bell rings and everyone’s getting out of the room. Lucas is alone inside the room and he’s tying up his shoe laces. ‘Excuse me.’ Lucas shot up and sees this beautiful young lady standing next to him. ‘You’re Mr. Karp right?’ she smiles and steps a few feet back. ‘I’m sorry if I startled you. I’m Lea’ she smiled. Lucas stares. ‘Wow. This is very awkward. You’re pretty.’ ‘Oh. Thank you very much Mr. Karp, I’m from the Book club. Kieffer sent me out to look for you. Come with me please.’ 

They’re walking past the dentistry building, went through the dark hallways of the main building, Lucas was inspecting every room they walk by, there’s this never ending hall that has small kitchens for the culinary students. At the 6th kitchen on the left, he sees this girl wearing a chef jacket and checkered pants holding a bowl and a whisk on the other. He’s pretty sure that he saw that girl before. He continued walking. ‘Are you sure na we're going to the Book club? I don't think na this is the way to the library.’ Lucas was getting a little impatient. ‘We're almost there Mr. Karp.’ Lea sounds like she's seducing Lucas. Maybe I’m just hungry. ‘Are we almost there?’ Lucas asked, Lea turned and grins. They kept on walking and walking, until they reach the end of the hall way. ‘We’re here.’ Lea pushes the big old French door and walked in. It was too bright inside the room. There’s too much sun inside; Lucas loves the way the sun shines, it reminds him of his province and of course, his childhood. Lucas is his lola’s favorite, he was a silly little kid back then with a charming smile. ‘Welcome Mr. Karp.’ The sun is too bright and it’s filling the whole room, he can’t see that much, his vision is still adjusting. He places his right hand on his forehead to see who greeted him. ‘Mr. Karp couldn’t see that much. Put the curtains down.’ The tall man said. ‘Of course master.’ An old lady and a middle aged woman slowly untie the neat ribbons of each curtain until the room is dim. ‘I can see much better now.’ Lucas grins and walked around the room, there were big shelves full of books, arranged in order by their Dewey decimal classification. ‘I’m Kieffer. We selected our finest students in this club. Come, I’ll show you something.’ Keiffer opens a curtain, Lucas thought it was a window, but it wasn’t, it’s a glass door that has a French style coffee table and chairs. Keiffer pulls one chair out and sits, Lucas does the same thing. ‘Look at the whole school, beautiful isn’t it? The carved walls, the beautiful garden that surrounds it, it’s paradise to me.’ Kieffer closes his eyes and inhales the fresh air. The school has its own road, but you really have to walk to get inside and transfer from one building to another. The air smells like dewy grass which Lucas really loved. ‘So Mr. Karp..’ Kieffer smiles, ‘Luke nalang.’ ‘Luke, we have an event later, we’ll meet the other new members. Is it okay if you stay?’ Kieffer asks him politely and looks away, ‘But I’m not wearing the proper outfit for tonight, is it okay if I go home muna?’ ‘Let’s have lunch first, and then my driver can drive you home and wait for you until you’re ready. Okay?’ Kieffer offers Lucas. ‘Uh, wait.’ said Lucas, ‘Bakit?’ Kieffer looked back. ‘Wala. Let’s go.’

They’re walking down the long hallway again. Before they go down, Lucas stops and looks inside the kitchen where he saw the culinary student; the kitchen is empty, the only source of light inside the room is the sun. He sees a little turquoise leather notebook lying on top of the kitchen counter. He steps back and continued walking. Kieffer was whistling, he stopped when he heard footsteps from the stairs. ‘Hang on.’ Kieffer whispers. ‘Someone’s coming.’ Lucas stopped walking and watched if someone is coming. The footsteps became louder. It’s coming closer to them.

It was the culinary student he saw earlier.