It took me hours and hours of explaining the things I did from being back and forth here and England, and hacking into the CCTV's –apparently, they found out about that because they really messed with my old laptop.
"Why did we find a hacking software in your old laptop?" Mr. Troy asked for the nth time. He was sitting right in front of me, across the gray desk while I had my chained hands together on it.
I groaned, "Sir, as I've said, I hack into the CCTV's because I don't want to get caught in my pranks." Jeez, pick up a book!
"Pranks or crimes?" He asked.
"Pranks," I answered for the millionth time, looking directly into his strict dark eyes. "Look, sir, as I've said, I can explain everything."
"And it said you were in an underground organisation."
"Called the Midnight League," I said, "If you've actually researched, it was a youth organisation. Earlier was a game and not some random transaction."
"Kid, we know what we're doing. You've been surveillanced," he said and I did not know that part.
"We also found every student in Hansson's database in your old laptop."
"It was sort of a research so I would know which students are harmful and which students are friendly," I said.
"Kid, there were sketches of the Pentagon in your old computer. Yes, we have seen through your files. . . we can do that."
I rolled my eyes, "Those were just screenshots and imitated from the Pentagon sketch in X-Men Days of The Future Past, the one wherein Quicksilver broke Eric Lensherr or Magneto from it. Oh goodness!" Even I can hear too much exasperation on my tone.
"You have maps of your school of your computer as well."
"I studied it so I wouldn't get lost. I tend to be lost in places. Okay?"
"You always go out at night. Ain't that suspicious?"
"I always go out at night these days because I can't sleep. At least not until the past week. I like walking around town," I explained, if only I could face palm every second, I would have done it by now. "I can label out the pranks I've done."
"Amuse me."
"The hallway rains, the biology frogs, the setting off of alarm systems, the blood rain and plagues at the swimming gym the latest awful one was the firecracker thing. I needed to hack into the security so I won't get caught," I explained again and again and again.
"How can a nineteen year-old do that all?" He asked. "Who taught you to hack?"
"A friend," I answered.
He sighed and took a photograph of me heading towards the dirt track. "Transactions?"
"More like dirt tracks," I answered with a smile, finally gathering up every confidence of mine as I know I'm innocent and everything is bollocksed. "We race there. Jeez, not to insult you, sir, but you could have done a better job."
"What about your trip to England and your calls every night?"
"Because I live in England," I said, "I'm a foreign exchange student, you of all people would know that. And the one I always call is my mum."
Agent Troy squinted his eyes at me, "Kid, what training did you receive?"
"What?!" I almost yelled.
"This league, you say, it ain't some known youth organisation. All of you weren't playing, that was a training and I've never seen an untrained nineteen year-old move the way you do."
I groaned again and face palmed. "I would be really embarrassed if I were you. You could have gotten your facts straight at the very least."
"Kid, I've gotten my facts straight," he said, taking out a whole folder with my name right in it. "At the age of fifteen, you shut down the electricity of a whole city."
"What?" I asked, "It was just an amusement park!"
He hands me his folder to the pages where there are newspapers about the shut down of electricity. . . in an entire city.
I thought I just shut down the amusement park. . . no wonder I got a record.
"Oh, I haven't been informed," I grumbled. Damn, I was good.
"At the age of sixteen, you were held in detention and inspection wards of your school and different establishments because of bringing sharp, lethal objects, namely knives in a great number."
Oh shit. I do have a record. All along, I thought he was being ridiculous, but he did have his facts straight. In fact, I'm even worthy for arrest.
"Er, it was a collection," I said to defend myself a bit.
He took back the folder and continued flipping the pages.
"It went on until your age of seventeen, wherein you were affiliated with a group of teens around the world."
"Well, that was the leagues," I said.
"At the age of eighteen, your peers had one comment about you. Other than being a brilliant student, you are always involved in entering classrooms way past class hours. Mostly now, you're accused of having bipolarity, depression, conduct disorder, and also, dementia praecox."
"That's a bit insulting that you of all people would think that. Bipolarity, I am used to that accusation but I've been checked, nada. Depression, no freaking way. Conduct disorder, I know I have a disregard for rules but honestly?! And why the hell would I have schizophrenia? What lead do you have on that?!" I asked, because according to how he sounded like, I am a troubled kid with a load of mental disorders.
"Well, a security guard once caught you running from something and you panicked, saying there was something behind him. A lot of witnesses had said things similar."
I face palmed, everything I did is backfiring on me.
I slammed my head against the table and sat up straight immediately, "Sir, I did that because I want to get past him. He won't let me go through, I forgot something in my dorm!"
"He said you were running from something," he reminded.
"I was anxious at that time. All I heard were those firecrackers." I reasoned out with the truth again. I thought they were supposed to be good at reading lies!
"That you have set up," he reminded again.
"Well damn, sir, I am every bit human to have my conscience ticking. I just ruined my best friends' performance," I justified. "And sir, what motive would I have for terrorism? Why would I want that? I have a phobia on loud sounds. I never used firecrackers, just that last one because it's fighting fire with fire after one of the old bullies made my bag explode."
I wonder if he's really listening.
"Ever since you were younger, you've already had a serious lack of regard for rules and authority," he trailed on and frankly, he wasn't wrong. "Is it because of what happened to your father?"
That was it.
My eyebrows met and I frowned, "Don't drag my dad into this." My voice is stern and in a tone of warning. Frankly, I couldn't care that he was an agent, I'm so done with this and I just want to get it over with.
"Kid, all I'm saying is you might want to have revenge for--"
"That was out of line," I said, "That was in no way affiliated with this. I've been a thrill-seeker since I was young and I liked the feeling of making mischief out of nowhere. At the age of fourteen, I shut down the electricity of an entire city, unknowingly, only because I wanted to stay on top of the ferris wheel for a bit longer."
I cleared my throat, "I've always had a fascination of knives so I kept a collection and I never left home without one."
"I joined this Midnight League because it's full of kids like me who just want to have fun. We come from around the world, organising games to let us off from stress. Anything else? Oh yeah, I hacked the CCTV's so that I wouldn't get caught on my bloody pranks!" I raised my voice at the last part.
"Kid, calm down."
"Don't tell me to calm down, I've been accused of a criminal and my father's name is being trashed into the gutter," I said, "What happened when I was a kid doesn't have any bloody thing to do with my behaviour. And it certainly won't urge me to get revenge of the bloody authorities who never knew how to investigate right."
I realised, my palms were already flat on the desk and I was already up from my seat.
"Kid, I'm going to have to ask you to get back on your seat," he said very calmly.
Someone knocked at the door and opened it, "Agent, his lawyer is here."
I sat back on my seat as the agent told him to bring the lawyer inside. . . who happened to be Ajax's father. Oh.
He explained everything, down to the last core detail of the leagues and how it worked. By then, I think the agent already understood what the heck was going on and he tracked me down for nothing.
"Yes, sir, we are sorry for the inconvenience. It had been a mistake," Mr. Troy said to Ajax's dad.
Ajax's father looked at me, "You stay out of trouble, son."
"Thank you, Mr. Galloway," I said.
"I hope this boy gets home safely," Ajax's dad said to the agent, took his briefcase and walked outside while I sat there quietly.
It was after a few moments when Agent Troy unlocked my handcuffs.
"Sir?" I asked, seeing as I've lost my temper earlier. He looked at me. "I'm sorry, sir, f-for losing my temper and erm, I didn't mean--"
He nodded, "I know what happened, kid." He took the handcuffs and then said, "It sounded devastating for a kid to witness such injustice. And I apologise for everything about this night. Come, I'll drive you back to your dorm."
I stood up and followed behind him. He gave me back my things that were collected, including my cellphone and wallet and then we headed out. I entered his fancy black car and he made me right shotgun while I stay quiet.
Proven innocent, again, Harold.
"Look, kid, I am very sorry for the thing that happened," Agent Troy said as he started driving around.
"I'd rather forget about it, sir," I replied.
He chuckled a bit, "Twelve years. Kid, I've been in the bureau for twelve years, only to be proven wrong for the first time by a nineteen year-old."
"I'm sorry if--"
"Don't you apologise to me," he said very calmly. "You've got a lot of guts and skills, kid. We could really use a man like you in the bureau."
"Am I being recruited?" I asked, and raised an eyebrow.
"If that's how you want to interpret it," he said. "The thing is, kid, no one just hacks the securities, I even remodeled that three months ago and somehow, you still have gotten into it. Kid, you've got talent, don't let it go to waste."
"I'm still planning out college options," I muttered. "Sir, to change the topic, I hope for your sake you haven't called my mum."
Because mum would definitely freak out.
"No, it was part of the plan yet I said it's after interrogation."
I sighed in relief, "For once, I am thankful of your decisions."
For a moment, it was just the rumble of the car engine until he spoke up again.
"Kid, I gotta warn you, though," he trailed so I snapped back into deeper attention. "I came here for my cousin, Helga Saturday, your principal and she told me to check the culprit behind the hallway rains."
Uh oh.
"I came here not because I wanted to catch a teenager making a mess of the school –which was what really happened," he said. "But because I thought it was some sort of terrorism act. But now, kid, I found out that you might not be worthy of arrest, but you are certainly worthy of the guidance office."
"Are you gonna turn me in?" I asked.
"I'm here for that favour, I'm sorry, kid."
I nodded, "Alright, sir." I understand anyways. "But please, I'm the only one responsible for those."
"Okay," he said. "But other than that, you can call me in for favours, or if you want to join the bureau, that would be splendid." He took something from his suit and handed me a card. I took it and put it in the jelly of my cellphone.
"Thank you, sir," I said.
"Anyways, call up your girlfriend and the rest of your friends, they seemed to be awfully worried."
I didn't call them, I texted them instead and then tried to relax. Canada really has its perks as there are a load of first times here. The adventures were the wildest, not every kid gets to experience what I have.
As soon as I got off from his car, Agent Troy left me with one last note, "And kid, stay away from trouble. Also, let's keep this quiet."
I imitated a salute while smiling, "Yes, sir. Thanks for everything." I shut the door and walked backwards.
And then the car rode off, away.
I walked inside the dorm, gladly, I wasn't caught by anyone as I entered my room.
"Damn," I muttered and then knocked on the door since I forgot my keys.
Neo opened the door and his jaw slightly dropped.
"They spray you with a hose yet?" He grinned as he opened the door wide open.
I laughed as I started walking in, now finally feeling a bit of sleepiness in me as I think it is way past my usual bedtime. . .
"Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked as I saw Taylor seated on my bed, looking straight at me.
"She said she doesn't want to go home until you get back," Niall explained, a bit bored. "Which is sort of an odd thing when she isn't your girlfriend in the first place."
I rolled my eyes and looked at Taylor instead. "Oh goodness, you shouldn't have stayed," I said.
"What happened?" She asked straightaway.
I removed my jacket and hung it on one of my racks. "Mistaken," I answered, laughing. "Anyways, I'd rather not talk about it, it's a bit uh, odd."
"Good," Taylor nodded. "They didn't spray you with a hose, did they?"
I laughed again, "Heck no. Just handcuffs and questioning and er, well things." My nose twitched a bit as I remembered the talk about my motives as I tried to ignore it.
"Good, I'm glad you are alright, mate," Niall said and lied down on his bed. He pulled his covers up to his head and put a pillow over his face.
I looked at my watch, "It's already three AM, Tay."
She shrugged, "Figured that out three minutes ago."
"You're not going to go home?" I asked, because now that I am here, I feel a bit sleepy.
"Supposedly," she answered and clearly, I am not sure what she meant. "Walk me home?" She asked very sweetly.
Damn it.
"If I rejected you, would you understand?" I asked first so there won't be any harsh because usually, we have reasons for declining.
"Yeah," she answered.
"Alright then, come on," I said and put my jacket back on. I opened the door wide.
It took her a moment to catch up. When she have caught up, she stood up and went out whereas I followed behind her.
As we walked in silence under the clear night skies, I hummed a few songs. Sometimes, I'd even hear her humming along and silence was nice. I got time to think.
I couldn't help but feel a bit bothered by the fact that I easily lost my temper when the subject went on about my dad. He's been gone ever since I was nine but that never seemed to bother me that much until earlier when I almost went mad while talking to the agent.
"You seemed deep in thought," Taylor said as we were walking down a quiet street.
"Just a bit bothered by something," I answered with a sigh. "I wouldn't want to bother you with, it's almost nothing."
She stared at me for a moment but then shrugged, "Okay, but if you change your mind, still here."
Taylor hopped and skipped with almost every step along the way as though she still had the energy of a kid that had just woken up when in reality, she needed to sleep.
She took a right turn off road instead of going straight.
"Tay, your home is that way?" I asked, pointing to the direction leading to the bridge.
Taylor looked back at me, seeing as she was ahead for a few metres and then she smiled, "Not that place."
I wonder why but she's heading right to a small forest, with a load of small hills and trees close to each other. I haven't explored this place before since even in broad daylight, it's quite dark and I heard it's private property. . . well, saw as there was a sign that said, "KEEP OUT" just a few metres from the road.
I followed her anyways. I'm just hoping I'm really following Taylor and not some dream that'll get me killed. . . all those movies.
I used my phone's flashlight as I walked behind her, making sure I don't trip at anything.
"Taylor, are you sure about this?" I asked. "If your parents find out you're missing, you'll surely be scolded."
Taylor stopped in her steps. Seeing as she was wearing a pure white jacket and white leggings with her blonde hair out of braids, she seemed very creepy as she stood in the middle of a small clearing.
I walked until I was beside her.
She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, "This is worth it." And then she started walking again.
"Haven't you read the sign? We're not allowed to be here," I reminded her.
"Yeah, and it was put up by the Swift Co. Harry, don't worry, I've been here like a thousand times."
"Okay, but where exactly are we going?" I asked.
Again, Taylor stopped in her tracks but this time, she turned around. She walked towards me and then extended her hand.
Smiling, she said, "Wonderland. Just take my hand, and I'll show you Wonderland."
That was the undeniable offer.
I opened my mouth to speak but,
"Hey," she cut me off. I raised an eyebrow and she smiled a bit wider. "Don't reject me this time."
"Won't," I answered and held her hand.
"Now. . . run," she whispered and started running while I was holding her hand so I tried my best to catch up with the situation. Holy hell, this is every bit odd!
And here I am, hoping I don't trip and find an actual rabbit hole. Or I hope she isn't talking about an actual Wonderland because the night had already taken too many turns for me, another plot twist would leave me demented.
It was actually unbelievable. The most amazing girl in the world is holding my hand tightly and running like we're trying to run from something through a dark forest where I could barely see a thing. Yet, the feeling was the best in the world. It's getting excitement yet you don't know where it comes from. It's feeling a thrill and the rush of adrenaline right through you for almost no apparent reason.
But I realised, I was excited, I was thrilled. . . because of her.
All I know is, this is surreal, almost like a dream.
And I wouldn't want to wake up from it.