LIFE WITHIN THE HALL
Victoria
Wednesday, February 11, 11:40 a.m.
The thought of spending a week alone in a room with Jayden, Sandra, and Gideon was a hard pill to swallow.
Principal Wilson's reward felt more like a command, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being manipulated. Mom would expect me to make the most of it, but I struggled to see how.
I didn't even know why she always wanted me to be in his good books. She was part of the committee that employed him, not the other way around.
My eyes wandered away from my thoughts and fell upon the biology book on my lap. The hum of the air conditioning in the prefects' room was like white noise, creating a chill vibe that filled the room.
"We've been here for a while. Is anyone going to talk?" Jayden said, dropping his phone on the center table. "The silence is killing me."
"What do you want us to talk about?" I fired back. "Your next viral livestream?"
"Hey, at least I'm not boring," he snorted. "What's with the biology book? Want to give us a practical lesson on human reproduction? I'm quite fond of that topic.
Jayden and I bantered every time we went face-to-face with each other. And now, I could see he was just ready for another one.
"Sure thing, I can teach you about reproduction. But don't say I didn't warn you... it's gonna get real!" I replied cheekily, covering my mouth in mock shock.
"Oh, I'm shaking in my boots. I didn't know you were such a loud talker. What else are you hiding, Miss Perfect? There's no teacher or students who look up to you here."
"Why do I get the feeling that you're still holding a grudge from our sophomore year? You need to heal."
"Stop arguing, you two!" Sandra's voice cut through. "Can't you see Gideon's losing it? He was messed up when he came to the principal's office, and now...look at him." She gestured to Gideon, who sat on the couch, eyes on the floor, chewing his thumb and tapping his foot like crazy.
Jayden's eyes flicked up to the ceiling, like 'really?'. "You're into Gideon, huh, Sandra? Newsflash: he doesn't even consider you a friend. He sees you as a threat to his precious valedictorian title."
Sandra's face reddened. "My interest in Gideon is none of your business, Jayden. And maybe he doesn't see me as a friend...just like I don't see you as one. But we can't just sit back and watch him self-destruct. Remember Principal Wilson's words?"
"'Unity is power,'" I repeated.
Sandra nodded. "Exactly. So, let's try to help him."
She turned to Gideon and touched his shoulder. "What's going on? You can trust us."
Gideon snapped back, saying, "It's Daniel."
Jayden let out a mocking chuckle. "Aw, bro's been away from his best friend for just a few hours, and he's already missing him."
"A few hours? Daniel is nowhere to be found. He's still missing!"
"What do you mean by 'still missing'?" I asked, totally confused. Daniel was found yesterday, which made his claim confusing.
"The guy they found isn't the real Daniel," Gideon said, his jaw clenched. "He's a fake, an imposter. My best friend is still out there, and I know it."
"A fake? An imposter? What are you talking about? They found Daniel yesterday. I've seen him this morning. He's safe and sound."
Gideon shook his head. "You don't get it. Daniel has a scar on his right palm, but the guy they found doesn't have it."
"Whoa, you're telling us Daniel has a look-alike? Next joke, please," Jayden said, still chuckling. He never took anything seriously; everything sounded funny to him.
"Sorry, I couldn't control myself," he said after noticing our serious faces. "Carry on, please go on."
"You can choose to call him Daniel's look-alike or whatever, but yes, he's not the real one," Gideon continued. "It can't be that the scar vanished within 24 hours of him going missing."
"Can I say something?" Sandra spoke up. "I felt something was off about Daniel yesterday. When I waved at him in the sickbay, he acted like I didn't exist."
"I noticed something too," I added. "When I saw Daniel earlier today, he didn't have a pocket square in his blazer." That wasn't the real Daniel Blay I knew, without his signature pocket square.
"So you three are drawing conclusions that the guy found isn't the real Daniel based on him not having the scar, ignoring you, and not putting a pocket square in his blazer today?" Jayden asked, pointing to us respectively, and we all nodded.
It couldn't be just a coincidence that there were these little things about Daniel that the guy found didn't have.
"Gimme a sec." He swiped his phone open, checked something on it, and his face went straight. "I think Gideon's right, that's not the real Daniel Blay."
"What's making you say that?" I poked his chest with my index finger.
"I texted Daniel last night—about an Instagram ad he agreed to help me with during the semester break," he shared. "But my message is still unread. Daniel doesn't take that long to reply to me."
I let out a snort, and he shot me a side-eye, his eyebrow arching up in a perfect curve.
"Mimicking me, isn't?"
I played innocent, raising my shoulders in a 'who, me?' sign.
"So, you guys believe me, right? I'm not just some wild conspiracy theorist?" Gideon asked.
"Yeah, it seems that way," Jayden replied, crossing his legs on the table. "What do we do now?"
"You can't be serious about taking matters into your own hands?" I asked, trying to sound rational. "We need to go to the police."
"Forget it," Sandra said, rolling her eyes. "They'll never believe us. We have to find the real Daniel ourselves. That is, if he's still missing."
"Easy for you to say," I shot back. "But how exactly do we do that?" She was talking as if it were a piece of cake.
"Here's how we're going to do it," Gideon took a deep breath and outlined his plan. "We'll split up and gather information on the imposter—where he goes, who he talks to."
"I have a question." My hand went up. "Are we forming some kind of secret spy club? Last I checked, there's no '007' listed in the school's extracurricular activities."
"We're not going by the rules here, okay?" Sandra downplayed me again. "Not today, please."
I put my hand down, and Gideon continued, "I'll create a chat group, so whoever gets any info can report back to the group."
"But how do we gather information on the imposter when he's in class right now, pretending to be the real Daniel?" Jayden asked.
"We'll start at lunch," he replied, checking his watch. "Which is, conveniently, in two minutes."
We were really going to ditch our free period to play detective? So uncalled for. Mom would freak out if she found out.
Gideon extended his hand. "If you're not up for it, feel free to sit this one out," he said, as if he knew I opposed his idea. "I know we have our differences, but let's put the past aside and work together."
I felt like an outcast as Sandra and Jayden stacked their hands on top of his.
The whole 'fake, imposter Daniel' thing was confusing, but I joined in anyway, placing my hand on top so I wouldn't seem left out.
Daniel was my sister's ex, and I knew she still had feelings for him. He'd moved on, but Olivia's heart remained stuck on him. Helping them find the truth about Daniel would at least give me peace of mind about my sister's heart, even if she would never get him back.