RUDY
"Can we get candy?" Rudy asked, holding up a bag of gummy bears and gummy worms.
Mini, who was putting a carton of eggs in the basket, shot him a half-exasperated look.
"The last thing anybody needs is all of us on a sugar rush, running around New York." she said, flicking a strand of her dark hair out her face.
"Alright, fine, we won't get any." He said, and put back both the bags, but then immediately regretted what he said, upon seeing Sour Straws.
Noticing his covetous expression, she pinched the bridge of her nose, and said, "No candy. I have, like, 15 dollars." she said, bringing out a few crumpled notes from her jacket pocket.
"But, this is the Dollar Store," he tried, "we can get 15 items!"
"And candy won't be one of them." she said firmly.
He scowled, but his scowl faded when he caught sight of chicken nuggets. Mini followed his gaze, and groaned. "I really don't need a repeat of the Massacre," she grumbled.
"You're making it out to be much worse than it was," he pointed out, a slight smile on his face, which faded when he heard a shrill, angry voice, above the easy-listening music of the store.
The voice was unfortunately, very familiar, and as he turned around, he saw Leslie Grant, was arguing with a store clerk.
Behind him, Mini swore--in Tagalog, the tell-tale sign that she was anxious--and grabbed his wrist, before hiding behind the aisle dedicated to chips.
"What are you doing?" he hissed, turning around, to stare at her.
"I don't want that gargoyle to see us," she whispered, as he snorted at the 'gargoyle' insult.
"Speaking of 'that gargoyle'," he began, now seeing that the clerk was alone, "where did she disappear off to?"
She shrugged, and seemed to deem it safe to get up, when a voice behind both of them made him jump, and grab onto Mini's hand in surprise.
"Hello, Yamini. Rudra." Both of them turned around, to see the face of Leslie Grant.
"What are you doing here?" she continued, her hawkish expression trained on them.
"Buying stuff? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's what people do when they enter shops, Leslie." Mini said, standing taller.
Leslie scowled, and said, "I meant, what are you doing, hiding behind the shelves, and glaring at the people?"
"Normal stuff--buying nachos." Rudy said, before grabbing the XL Doritos packet.
"And why are you holding hands? I never knew shelf-browsing was a couples' activity." she said, in a cool, hard voice, with a hint of a smirk behind her tone.
Belatedly, they realized that Rudy hadn't left Mini's hand, and they broke apart--like the other was radioactive--with red faces.
"What do you want, Leslie?" Mini asked, cagily. She folded her hands over her chest, her eyes darker than usual.
"An interview about Shakhuni." Leslie said, jumping at the opportunity. Rudy inwardly groaned. She could never stop, could she?
Mini raised her eyebrows, and said, "God, let it go, won't you? We've already told you, we aren't telling you anything."
Leslie smirked triumphantly. "Aha! So you do know something, don't you?"
Mini rolled her eyes, and said, in a heroically patient voice, "No. I don't. And I doubt the others know too."
Leslie's smirk melted into a slight frown. "Don't lie to me, Yamini Kapoor-Mercado-Lopez." she said, her pompous tone gone, the tenor of her voice dangerous now.
Mini gave her a chilling, pleasant smile. "Why would I lie?"
"For multitudes of reasons! Look, you can tell me, I'll name you as an anonymous source, and your social status will boost!"
Mini tilted her head. Rudy felt a chill go down his back. Was she considering it?
"Hard pass." she said, snatching the nachos from him and shoving it in the basket.
"C'mon, Rudy." she said, shooting Leslie a last glare, before the two of them stomped toward the cashier's desk.
Leslie called out back to them, "Don't cooperate! I'll make sure the entire school knows about you two! Those sharks love the tabloids!"
Mini huffed, bit out another curse word--a word, she'd told him before, would have gotten her smacked by her lola--and slammed the basket in front of the cashier, who began scanning the barcodes with a bored expression on his face.
"That will be 7 dollars," he said, in a monotonous voice. Mini handed him the money, grabbed the bag, and the two exited the shop.
"Ugh, I hate that--that--" Mini seemed to be at a loss for words, as if attempting to describe Leslie had arrested her ability to search for words.
"Ignore her," he said, flippantly, though he was feeling slightly uneasy. How much sway did Leslie have over the school? And what had she meant by "I'll make sure the whole school knows about you two"? It didn't settle well with his stomach.
The sky had darkened considerably, with the streetlights flickering to life. Under the yellow streetlights, the light bounced off her glasses, making them seem opaque for a moment, and then making them return back to normal in the next moment.
"Hey, um, are you okay? You've looked very stressed, since, you know.." he began, but then gave himself a mental kick. What kind of conversation starter was that?
"Well... the past few days have been... interesting, to say the least." she reached up to rub her temples, but frowned as a message popped up on her phone screen.
She frowned at it, and said, "God--it's already 7:27." She sighed, and looked up to the sky, which was now the colour of a bruise.
"Leslie Grant, unfortunately, took up too much of our time." Rudy sighed.
Mini nodded, and said, "Her threats won't work. I'm never telling her anything about Shakhuni, it's not right."
Rudy nodded in agreement. He opened his mouth, to affirm that he, too, would never tell Leslie anything, but a clicking sound made all conversation cease.
Both of them stiffened. They were taking a shortcut to the apartment building through a quite large construction site. But it was already evening. Nobody should have been there.
"What was that?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
In the silence that ensued, every breath, every whisper of the wind sounded ominous.
And then came along the footsteps. Soft, rhythmic thumps, undoubtedly the sound of a shoe sole colliding with the gravel ground, were in sync with his wild heartbeat.
Mini pressed a finger to her lips, the corners of her eyes crinkling in her trademark expression of "worry".
The footsteps sounded louder, and closer, as she mouthed to him, Split up.
He shook his head vigorously, of the opinion the splitting up was a bad idea. She gave him a panicked look, and grabbed his hands, before squeezing them. Her voice was nearly inaudible, but he knew what she was saying: Good luck. And then she was gone, hiding behind half-finished pillars.
He went too, hiding behind the unfinished walls, and steel beams. His breathing was light and shallow, as he caught sight of a person, their shadow gigantic in the slanting beams of light from the construction project.
He saw the silhouette's hand move, until he caught sight of the shadow of what was, undoubtedly, a gun.
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a/n: cliffhanger! MWAHAHAHAHAHA. ok, now, time for an important announcement. my school starts tomorrow, [cue sobbing from Dawn] and i won't have much time to draft, bc it's school.
BUT, never fear! when i started this fic, i traded my soul to satan for extra willpower and concentration, and it WORKED! i've already drafted up to chapter 19, and i'm beginning with chapter 20! so my drafting process may be slow, and, to even it all out, y'all will be getting an update once a week, instead of twice a week.
i am currently panicking over how i'm going to introduce myself bc i don't think i can say "murder is my fascination" to new class mates... or can i?
also, please note that the name of the book and the cover are subject to change, and, if i think of a good enough name, i'll change it. and.... yeah, that's it. goodbye!