“But first” Diya began “I’d like to apologize to you, Freddy.”
Freddy looked up at her curiously.
“I’d like to apologize to you for humiliating you in front of the whole school yesterday” she continued. “I behaved out of anger and I didn’t think through my actions. I was angry and I lashed out. I know a lot of people were listening in to our conversation, so I admit that I wasn’t discrete. I was mad that you were bringing attention to my actions and instead of composing myself and denying it calmly like I should have, I flipped out on you and ended up almost getting myself suspended from school or worse.”
“Almost?” Michael asked curiously.
“Yeah, we’ll get to that” Diya responded with a slight blush to her features. “So anyways, Freddy, I wanted to let you know that I’m truly sorry for lashing out at you and I hope that you can forgive me for freaking out on you the way that I did. I know, after further reflection, that you meant no harm by saying what you did, even if you didn’t really think through your words before they came out of your mouth.”
“Do you apologize for calling me stupid?” Freddy asked.
“Freddy” Diya responded hesitantly.
Diya got up to pace around the room as Freddy eyed her with a slight bit of anger. Michael looked on with a nervous expression.
“Freddy” Diya continued. “I called you stupid yesterday because you spoke out very loudly about something that could have, emphasis on the word could have, gotten me in a lot of trouble. You don’t always think through your actions and you seem to have, at times, no impulse control. If you had wanted to ask me if I hacked into the fire alarm system in order to help Michael help you on Wednesday with whatever he needed to do to help you, then you should have waited until after school to ask one of us privately.”
“I was just trying to make casual conversation, Diya. You told me not to comfort my own boyfriend, so I thought that talking about the school flooding was a light enough topic to change the subject. I don’t see how that makes me stupid.”
“It’s not what you said that makes what you did stupid, Freddy, it’s how loud you said it.”
“You said that I was stupid so loud that the whole school could hear it though, Diya.”
“After you accused me of hacking into the schools fire alarm system for the entire school to hear.”
“Guys stop!” Michael yelled.
Freddy and Diya looked at Michael as he began to shake in his seat.
“This isn’t the time to argue about this now” Michael continued. “We have business to attend to.”
“It can wait” Freddy said as he got up from the chair. “I want to talk to you first, Diya.”
“Freddy” Diya responded as she got up from her chair and nervously stepped back away from him. “What is wrong with you?”
“Michael said to me that you and your other friends say that I’m stupid behind my back.”
“Freddy” Michael responded as he got up from his seat. “I never said that.”
“You didn’t deny it either, Michael. I know you well enough to know when you’re hiding something from me. When I asked you yesterday if Diya and your other friends said I was stupid, you didn’t deny it.”
“That doesn’t mean they said it, Freddy.”
“If they didn’t say it, Michael, you would have said they never said it. I know what it means when you won’t answer a question directly. It means yes and you don’t want to say it.”
“Freddy it’s not like that!” Diya yelled.
Freddy turned to Diya as Michael sunk back into his seat on the floor.
“Freddy” Diya continued “we’re not going around talking behind your back. We just observe, from time to time, that in comparison to us, you’re not really all that bright.”
“So you say I’m stupid” Freddy said as he pointed at Diya in an accusatory manner.
“In comparison to us, yes” Diya responded honestly as she pushed away his finger from her face. “But most of our classmates are dumb in comparison to my friends and I. We’re on a clear path to some of the best universities in the country in order to advance our studies. We have perfect grades and padded resumes. In comparison to us, Freddy, you and most of the student body are slackers. That doesn’t make you stupid, it just means you’re not as smart as we are.”
“Do you make fun of me behind my back?”
“We don’t make fun of you behind your back, Freddy. Unlike what your friends do to Michael, we don’t say mean things about you when you aren’t around. Sure, we may comment on the times when Michael talks about you and point out how impulsive or ignorantly you act and how you don’t think before you do things sometimes, but that doesn’t make you a bad person and it doesn’t mean we’re bullying you either. It’s just light hearted ribbing.”
“I don’t find it funny”
“Well if it makes you any better, it’s nothing that we don’t do to Michael.”
“You make fun of Michael?
Freddy gave her a serious look as she put her hands up indicate wanting some distance from him.
“We tease him in a playful way” Diya said with a resignation in her voice. “We call him the dummy of our group because he’s the least intelligent among us. He’d admit it.
Freddy looked to Michael as he quietly nodded.
“But that’s only in comparison to a lot of us who have 140 and 150 IQ’s” Diya continued as Freddy turned back to look at her. “And besides, Michael has other qualities that make us want to be his friend. He’s funny, he’s inventive, he’s creative and, unlike the rest of his, he’s the only one who has a significant other.”
Freddy wasn’t sure how to process all of this.
“Freddy” Diya continued “Michael thinks the world of you. Whenever we hang out together or the crew of our friends eat lunch, all Michael talks about is how much he loves you. He gushes about how kind you are and how sensitive you can be and how you never turn him down when he needs a hug or kiss. Maybe he doesn’t always show it to you, but we know how much you mean to him, Freddy. That’s why I put myself at risk to get him out of school to go help you.”
“Wow.”
Freddy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had no idea that Michael had been nothing but positive in what he had to say about him to his friends. While Freddy never said anything negative about Michael, he didn’t always show them how much he meant to him either.
As much as he was happy to know this, however, it made him wonder a few things. Why didn’t he say these things to him directly before? Didn’t Michael know that he’d want to hear how much he loved and appreciated him to his face? However, as happy as this knowledge made him feel, Freddy felt there was something else that he had to know.
“Does Michael say anything bad about me?”
“No, Freddy” Diya responded. “If he has problems with you, which I know he does, because I can tell by his body language when something is wrong, then he keeps it to himself or he talks to his mother about it or to you directly. He’s never said one unkind about you to me or any of our other friends.”
Freddy felt genuinely touched by what Diya was saying. Michael, noticing Freddy tearing up a little, got up to give him a hug. Diya looked on in awe at how wonderful their relationship was. She wished that she could have such a good relationship with a man someday. Freddy was good for Michael, in her estimation. That’s why she was willing to get herself in trouble to protect their relationship. This reminded her to shift the conversation.
“I love this display of affection” Diya said to interrupt the hugging. “However, it’s getting late and we need to get back to talking about the situation at hand.”
“Right” Michael agreed as he sat back down.
Freddy lingered for a moment before he joined Michael on the floor. Diya sat back down in her chair soon after.
“So” Diya said “I’ve been piecing some things together and I wanted to share my theories with you first before you tell me what I’m missing. You may think that I’m not onto anything about what is going on between you two this week, but with my reasoning skills along with…”
Diya paused for a moment as Freddy and Michael looked at her.
“….some unexplainable circumstances, I think I have the gist of what you two have been up to. Hear me out.”
Freddy and Michael nodded. Freddy was nothing but confused about what was going on, while Michael wondered how much Diya was able to piece together on her own. Michael also wondered if something magic related happened to Diya this week and if had anything to do with the principal’s office.
“Let me start from the beginning” Diya continued. “I’m going to lay out a timeline of events and you can correct me if I have any information wrong.”
Freddy and Michael nodded.
“So, the first thing that perked my interest was Freddy’s absences from school this week.”
Freddy felt a sense of nerves grow.
“It struck me as odd that Freddy was off for three days this week. One day, sure, anyone can call in sick and need a day off to rest. Two, not unexpected, but still plausible. Three…”
Diya paused as she looked at Michael directly.
“Three is where my senses start to perk up. I had asked you multiple times on Tuesday where Freddy was and you didn’t give me a specific answer. By the end of day, you went from being stoic to looking a bit worried. I knew something had to be up when you walked away from me quickly before I could reach you after school.”
Michael didn’t know yet how much Diya had actually pieced together, but he was curious to see how she formulated her theory.
“On Wednesday” Diya continued “you completely rebuffed me heading into school. That’s very unlike like you to do that, even if you’re mad at me. You didn’t answer any of my text messages from the night before either. Finally, during the fire drill, I managed to spot you in the crowd. That’s when I finally got a chance to read you over and analyze your body language.”
Michael began to nervously shift in his seat.
“I could tell immediately that something was wrong with you. You have tells. Your head was down and your eyes drifted off into space. When I heard that you were worried about Freddy, I knew it couldn’t have been illness related unless it was very serious. But even if it had been a terminal illness, which I knew it wasn’t because other people would be talking about it, I suspected that if your instincts were going wild like that, then Freddy had to be in some sort of danger. The universe has a way of communicating things to us through our impulses. Some may call it a divine intervention, but I’m a bit too agnostic to buy into that line of thinking. Instead, I think that humans have, hidden beneath their cerebral cortexes, the ability to communicate with each other telepathically.”
Michael was fascinated by this line of thinking. Freddy was having a hard time following along with her story.
“I believe that, whatever danger Freddy faced on Wednesday, it was communicated to you by impulses sent off from his brain. He must have been in serious trouble and the first person he could think of was you. Those two thoughts together sent a brainwave to you directly, Michael, and that’s what caused you to get jittery when I spoke to you. I knew that if he was sending out such a signal, that it was urgent and I needed to get you out of there to help him as soon as possible.”
“Why would you help me, Diya?” Freddy asked.
“I helped you” she responded “to help Michael. Let’s be honest, Freddy.”
Diya spun around in her chair briefly to compose herself and then looked at him directly.
“If I weren’t Michael’s friend, would you ever give me the time of day?”
“Sure Diya” Freddy responded. “I’m a nice guy. I like to be friendly with everyone who is nice to me.”
“But would you really be friends with a girl like me? Think about your social circle. Is there anyone who you can think of who looks or acts like I do?”
Freddy thought for a moment before realizing her point.
“Yeah” he responded quietly. “You’re right.”
“And to be honest” she continued. “If I weren’t friends with Michael, I wouldn’t pay you much mind to you either.”
“Diya” Michael called out to her. “Is this really necessary right now?”
“I’m just trying to make a point, Michael. Freddy…”
Freddy looked up to Diya with a sense of guilt coursing through him.
“I think you’re a really nice guy. If we didn’t share a mutual connection, I doubt we’d ever know each other and our paths would diverge wildly. However, by knowing you through Michael, I have seen that, yes, even though you’re an athlete and even though you aren’t on the intellectual level that I am, you have good attributes.”
“Good attributes?” Freddy asked defensively.
“Yes, Freddy. You’re a genuinely nice guy. You’re kind to Michael. You treat him well. We know you treat him well because we’ve seen Michael from before he ever knew you to after and the difference is like night and day. You’re good for him, Freddy, and for that, I give you my thanks.”
Freddy smiled at the unexpected compliment.
“Diya” Freddy said quietly.
“Yes, Freddy” she responded.
“I probably should have said this earlier, but I want to thank you for helping Michael break out of school and rescue me.”
“Freddy wait!” Michael snapped. “Let her finish laying out her theory first before you go saying anything unnecessary.”
“It’s fine, Michael” Diya responded as she waved her hand to him. “He didn’t say anything that I didn’t already know. So, where was I?”
“You were talking about how you helped Michael rescue me” Freddy replied.
“Ah yes. So, I knew that by helping Michael, it would help get you out of danger. I actually wasn’t sure if it was effective at first, because when I saw him the next day, he was being very evasive and wouldn’t tell me what had happened. He was tight lipped, but, he slipped.”
“Huh?” Michael asked curiously.
“You told me that Freddy was home from school yet again. When I saw Freddy walking down the hall to greet you, I knew that it was unexpected and unplanned because it went against the story you were telling me and you had a genuine look of surprise on your face when you saw him. Either he totally blew your cover by accident or he was forced to go to school when he wasn’t supposed to be there. My suspicion is theory #2 and that the plan was for him to stay home but someone, probably his parents, made him come in anyway.”
“Wow, Diya” Freddy responded. “That’s really good detective work.”
“Thanks Freddy” she replied as she blushed.
Freddy smiled as he blushed back at her. Michael wasn’t as amused.
“So then, classes start and I share my third period with you, Michael. You looked extremely anxious and that confirmed 100% that things weren’t going to plan. I tried calling to you after the bell rang, but you walked away quite quickly before I could reach you. That’s a tell tale sign that you are hiding something from me. I then found you just before lunch where you told me you were planning to eat lunch with Freddy that afternoon. I was perfectly fine with that and went to eat with our other friends instead. So it surprised me that, just a few minutes later, I heard snickering around our table as I see you running towards us in tears.”
“Oh Michael” Freddy said with concern as he brushed his hair.
“You plop yourself down, sit and then put your head on the table while getting really quiet. I try to get you to tell me what’s wrong, but you’re having none it. I asked you if it was about Freddy and you shook your head no. I knew that was a lie….”
“It wasn’t a lie, Diya” Michael responded. “It wasn’t really Freddy’s fault. It was Daniel’s.”
“Can we get back to the matter at hand please, Michael?” Diya replied.
Michael nodded as Freddy rubbed his back.
“Then you know what happened when Freddy came by and that’s when the principal called me into his office.”
“What happened with that?” Freddy asked. “Michael said he was worried sick about you when he didn’t hear from you all afternoon yesterday.”
“Yesterday, he didn’t hear from me, but I’ve been texting him all day today. I’ll get into some of that in a second. But my theory about what’s happening with the two of you comes from what happened to me that afternoon.”
Diya coughed before she continued.
“There’s no logical explanation for what happened next that doesn’t involve a plot device from a sci fi or fantasy movie.”
Michael knew that something magical had to have happened to her. This confirmed it. Freddy wondered what kind of magic she was dealing with and if she had been in danger as well. He grew worried that Diya was drawn into this even without their telling her anything.
“I get to the principal’s office a few minutes after the final bell rang. I go in nervously and tell them that I have an appointment to see him. The secretary looks in her calendar and says that I don’t have an appointment. I asked to look and she showed me the 3 PM log. Empty.”
“Wow” Freddy said in genuine surprise.
Michael didn’t think anything was strange about this, at first.
“I then asked to go in anyway and she waves me on to the room. I knock once and he called me in. I asked him what he wanted to see me about and he said that he had no reason to see me. He asked why I had asked that and if I was getting into any trouble. Not knowing how to respond, I said no and then he sent me off on my way.”
“Could be explained by a million and a half things” Michael thought to himself as Freddy listened to her tell this tale, his jaw agape. “I’m not convinced she’s on the mark, yet.”
“So then I left to go into the halls and I pulled out my phone to check out my email. When you get sent to the principal’s office, they make a note of it on your online portfolio, along with detailed notes explaining the reason you were there. I popped it up and saw that there wasn’t anything recorded there.”
“Maybe they didn’t remember to make a note about it” Michael replied. “That has happened before.”
“That’s not the only thing” Diya continued. “So then I go back into the office and make up an excuse that I might have dropped something in there accidentally. I faked looking around for something so I could look at things in the secretary’s office without arousing her suspicion. I looked at the secretary’s desk and saw a bill from a plumber for the damage from the sprinkler system.”
“That’s to be expected, Diya.”
“But that’s not the weird part, Michael. I asked the secretary where that bill was from and she looked confused when she saw it on the table. She had no idea how it got there or what the charges were for. It was like the first time she’d ever seen it.”
“Woah” Freddy replied.
“Are you sure she just wasn’t trying to get you to mind your own business?” Michael asked.
“Why would she do that?” Diya asked back. “The entire school knew about the flooding. If someone had asked, most people would have been incredulous if you said you didn’t know what such a bill was for. And you’d certainly think that the secretary would know about that. She looked genuinely confused, Michael. It was truly shocking to me.”
“She has a point, Michael” Freddy replied. “That is very weird.”
“Keep going” Michael said to Diya, not buying her explanation.
“So then” Diya continued “I walked around the halls and just randomly asked someone if they remembered that the school was flooded the day before. They didn’t.”
“Oh my god” Freddy said in surprise.
“Get out of here” Michael said. “That’s not possible.”
“It’s true, Michael” Diya insisted. “I went to several other students and no one could remember that the fire alarm acted up or that the halls were flooded and that it had just happened the day before.”
“I don’t believe that” Michael responded in disbelief.
“If you don’t believe me, then call any random student and ask them yourself.”
“Fine, I will.”
Michael pulled out his phone to call one of his friends. At Diya’s insistence, Michael put his call on speakerphone. After a few short rings, a boy picked up on the other line and Michael cut to the chase.
“Do you remember the flooding that happened at school on Wednesday? The one that got classes canceled for the rest of the day?”
“What are you talking about?” the boy answered the other line. “There was no flooding at school.”
Michael began to grow concerned as Diya looked on with a smirk and Freddy gasped as he put his hand to his mouth.
“During the fire drill? Michael persisted in asking. “When the sprinklers acted up and caused the floors in the halls to flood?”
“I think you’re just making things up” the boy replied. “That never happened. Are you sure you aren’t high right now?”
Michael sat stoically as Diya smirked and Freddy continued to be shocked.
“I gotta go” Michael said after composing himself. “Let’s talk tomorrow.”
“Ok dude” the boy replied. “Bring me some of whatever your smoking the next time I see you. It must be some really good shit.”
The boy hung up as Michael put his phone back in his pocket.
“Want to try another caller?” Diya asked with a bit of sass in her voice.
“No” Michael answered nervously.
“What the hell?” he thought to himself. “That’s literally impossible, but she’s right. He’s the most reliable person at school and if he’s saying this, then something has to be up.”
“See?” Diya asked with an ‘I told you so’ tone to her voice. “And I asked multiple people just to confirm that I wasn’t crazy.”
“My God” Freddy said aloud. “It’s like the whole school forgot that it ever happened.”
“I know!” Diya replied a bit too excitedly. “It’s like that one episode of Sabrina where she turns Libby into a pineapple and…”
“That’s not relevant right now, Diya” Michael said sharply, trying to get her to turn back to the matter at hand.
“Sorry” Diya replied meekly. “I get a bit carried away with my pop culture references. So anyways, then this other weird thing happened. I thought I was absolutely going nuts or my mother had put some new age crazy stuff in my food that was making me hallucinate until…”
Diya took a moment to compose herself before she continued.
“Until I heard that new girl asking people about it in the hall, as well.”
“Sofya?” Freddy asked.
“Yeah, her. The new girl. She’s a real bitch, you know. She gives me the creeps. And that’s another thing. Michael, do you remember how everyone hated her when she first came to school yesterday?”
“Yup” Michael agreed as he nodded.
“Well, it literally shocked me that over the course of just two days, the whole student body went from thinking she was just some strange freaky foreign girl to thinking she was the hottest chick on the planet. And not just the boys, the girls too. Girls hate when another girl is prettier than them, but even the most jealous of girls I know went from saying how horrible she was to wanting to be her best friend in the span of 24 hours. It was so bizarre.”
“Maybe she just has a way with people” Freddy added, thinking it would throw Diya off their scent.
“I would have thought so, except when I placed both the sort of hypnotic magnetism she has over the whole school together with the fact that she was the only other person to remember that the school halls had been flooded. I suspected something was up with her.”
“Wow” Michael thought to himself. “If her moves tonight didn’t confirm it already, this 100% proves that Sofya is a witch.”
“So that’s when I started to get to thinking.”
Freddy didn’t like where this conversation was going. Michael, on the other hand, was intrigued with where her theory was about to go.
When Diya laid out her hypothesis, it was….