It felt like my legs would give at any second. I barely had time to process the fact that we had made it to the back gate. Angel immediately looked for a way to jump over. "Hurry! Push me over!" He cried.
"What?! And what about me?!" I yelled, out of breath.
"I'll help pull you over once I'm on the other side! Just hurry!" He grabbed the bars of the gate and waited. I didn't know whether if I should trust him or not. But there was no time to think! Without hesitating, I grabbed him by the waist and lifted him over. I could hear the panting of the dog getting closer and closer. Tears began to stream down my face as I tried climbing the gate myself. I held out my hand for Angel to grab but felt nothing. This was it. My lifeless body would be found in the morning having been mauled by a rabid dog.
Suddenly, I felt something pull my arm with extreme force. The adrenaline in my body did the rest of the work pulling me to the other side, falling straight onto my back. The wind was knocked out of me once I had made impact on the ground. The dog crashed into the gate and barked so loud that it almost shattered my eardrum. I could hear Angel breathe a sigh of relief as he held out a hand to help me up.
I took it and tried my best to keep myself steady. "Why... is there... a rabid... dog on the loose," I managed to barely get out.
"It's the guard dog. If we wanna get back in, we're gonna have to go through the front garden." Angel seemed unphased. Almost as if he wasn't afraid of dying. It was rather unnerving. I couldn't stop my body from shaking. I guess I was still in a state of shock. Knowing this, Angel waited until I felt better. He was so strange. I always thought he didn't have an empathetic bone in his body. Guess I was wrong.
It turned out that behind the school was a small park. On the other side of that park was the Solidad Boys Academy. Inhaling and exhaling deeply, I followed Angel through the park. It was very quiet. I didn't know what to say to him. All I could do was sneak glances at him every now and then. Even in the moonlight, his skin glowed. Figures.
"Are you gonna keep staring at me or do you have something to say?"
I jumped. I hadn't realized I was being so obvious. "I- Uh- haha..." I nervously stumbled to say something. Why was I so awkward? After all, I never was good at talking to boys. It was quiet again. Instead, this time, I decided to look at the scenery. There were bushes with different colored roses that aligned the path we were walking on. Looking at the thorns reminded me of someone.
"Magnolia said something in a different language to me today, er, yesterday." Since it was midnight, I figured today had now become yesterday.
Angel looked up at me. "She's half Russian."
"Hmm, I wonder what she said."
He laughed. "I don't think you want to know what she said."
I lowered my head and gave a weary smile. "Yeah, you're probably right."
We both stopped in front of a black iron fence. I could barely see the school on the other side. "They don't have a guard dog here, right?" I let out a nervous laugh.
"I guess we'll find out," Angel replied which made me even more anxious. Again, I helped him get over to the other side while he attempted to help me as best he could. Because I was out of adrenaline, it was much more difficult for me to hop over. Right when I was going to jump down, I heard a tear. The back of my sweater ripped open.
"Oh, why me?" I whined. Angel found all of this very amusing. I rolled my eyes and remembered to stay alert in case we were faced with another angry dog. The school seemed almost identical to ours—European architecture, resembling that of an old castle.
As I trailed behind Angel I realized something. Why were we here to begin with? The thought hadn't occurred to me up until this moment. I was going to ask but Angel suddenly came to a halt. I inched forward and found a crystal blue pool. The lights reflected off from the water and onto our faces.
I couldn't help but marvel at it. "Ah! This school has a pool, how lucky."
"Our school has a pool too."
I smiled. The last time I went to a pool was when my sister was just a baby and I was but five. "That means I get to go to the pool during the summer with everyone!" My eyes glided towards Angel, "Just as long as you're not there."
"Don't worry, I won't be going anywhere near the pool," he immediately responded. I had said that, yet I wondered why.
"Hm, how come?"
His eyes softened. "I can't swim."
"What? Why not?"
There was a silence that lingered for a few seconds. I had never seen Angel's expression turn so grim. It was as if there was something hidden deep within him that he wanted no one to see. The way he appeared so crestfallen made my chest tighten. And I almost fell for it. Almost.
"It's none of your business." He angrily stormed off.
"You don't have to be so mean," I said but he was already too far to have actually heard. I realized then that I knew absolutely nothing about Angel. Not like I ever would anyway.
Finally catching up to him, I asked, "So what are we even doing here?"
"My birth certificate," Angel answered.
"Huh?"
"The headmaster got his hands on my personal documents."
I opened my mouth to ask something else but Angel immediately retaliated, "And don't even bother asking how."
That made me shut my mouth completely. We walked for what seemed like forever. Since it was dark, I could barely see anything that this school had to offer. Lunacrest was known for its beautiful garden, but I wasn't entirely sure what Solidad was known for. Angel had led me to a grand building. Next to the entrance was a placard that read Benjamin Hall.
"What are we doing here? And who's Benjamin?" I whispered.
"This building is named after my grandfather--the founder of both academies. The headmaster's office is in there."
Angel's grandfather, I pondered. I wondered whether if his grandfather was still alive. And if not, who received ownership of such large pieces of land? Angel must be filthy rich.
"Uh, how do you plan on getting in? There's no way I'm smashing through the window, that's where I draw the line."
He rolled his eyes. "There's no need for that nonsense. I have the master key."
My eyes widened in disbelief. "Where did you get that?!"
Angel scoffed. "Stole it." He then proceeded to jam the key into the door handle. I began to anxiously bite my fingernails in anticipation. If the alarm rings, we're dead meat.
Finally, I heard the click that signaled we had successfully unlocked it. I exhaled a sigh of relief and continued to follow directly behind Angel's footsteps. This place was enormous. Unlike Lunacrest, it was much more desolate and dreary. It reminded me of Hogwarts, except instead of it being full of whimsy and magic, it was full of spider webs and cobblestone.
"What I'd give to come here instead."
Angel's comment had broken my train of thought. "You would willingly be here than at Lunacrest?"
"Obviously, I hate being surrounded by girls all the time."
That made me stop in my tracks. What did he mean? Wasn't he there to invoke chaos? Any boy would do anything to switch places with him, yet he hated it. Did he not have a choice?
"Here it is," Angel whispered as he motioned me to go stand beside him. I cast all my questions aside and ran to him. He unlocked the door, making it creak open. We both poked our heads inside to make sure the coast was clear. Wait a minute, I told myself in my head, won't it benefit Angel if they find his documents? Not only for him but for me as well...
"Someone's coming!" Angel gave me a strong push, which sent me flying into the headmaster's office. He slammed the door shut. For the second time today, I had fallen directly on my face. Why was my face always the one to suffer?! Realizing the situation I was in, I immediately got up. I placed my ear on the door to listen in on what was going on outside. I heard muffled voices—it seemed as though Angel was caught. But knowing him, he would somehow manage to get out of it.
I turned around and got to work, looking in every drawer and cabinet. Where in the world was it? I was beginning to get frustrated. I sat down in the headmaster's chair.
Gosh, what was I doing? This was so out of character for me. I was never one to go against authority but look at me now. I sighed. What had I become?
My eyes trailed down onto the desk and I almost fell out of my seat when I saw what was on it. The files had been on top of the desk all along! I quickly scanned through to make sure it was what we were looking for. Once I assured that everything was there, I ran for the door. I slowly creaked it open and whispered, "Angel I found the documents." But the hallway was empty.
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