A cry echoed in the distance.
"Ben~!"
"Ben~!"
Several girls were calling out to Benjamin. He, seemingly accustomed to this kind of attention, flashed a satisfied smile. With his piercing blue eyes and perfect curls, he was a heartthrob among the girls. And he often boasted about it.
"See you later, losers. The baby girls are calling me."
He adjusted his scarf and strode confidently, hands in his pockets to enhance his aura. Even though they knew he'd probably flop again. The guy was really shy when alone with the opposite sex.
Hugo, stung by the remark, turned to him with a confident smile.
"You're gonna flop again. Watch and learn, golmon."
He ran a hand through his hair in a theatrical gesture and approached a girl who was walking quickly down the hallway, clearly in a hurry.
"Excuse me, Milady," he said with a charming smile.
The girl stopped, surprised.
"Yes?"
Kaiser, watching the scene, grimaced.
"Is he talking like an aristocrat to flirt?"
Hassan suppressed a laugh.
"Just wait a few seconds."
Hugo continued chatting with the girl for about thirty seconds. She was smiling, clearly receptive to his charm. She seemed to have almost forgotten she was in a hurry.
He was good. Once upon a time, he was part of the basketball club and drew a lot of attention. But his obsession with girls eventually cost him his spot. Every time he scored a basket, he spent more time winking at the spectators than focusing on the game. Eventually, he got kicked out of the club.
With a wink to his friends, Hugo declared:
"It's time."
He pulled out his wallet with exaggerated ease and, with disconcerting seriousness, asked:
"How much?"
The girl raised an eyebrow, perplexed.
"How much?"
"I can give you a good price. To touch your breasts—"
*Slap.*
A sharp sound echoed through the hallway.
A silence fell for a fraction of a second before the group burst into laughter.
"Ha ha ha! This nutcase!" Yuki laughed, holding his sides.
Hugo, his cheek marked by the slap, glared at them irritably.
"What? What's so funny?"
Their laughter redoubled, and Hassan shook his head with an amused smile.
"Seriously, you asked for it, man."
Hugo grumbled, massaging his sore cheek, but a smirk betrayed his amusement.
"At least I tried."
They continued their way to the cafeteria, still laughing, while the school buzzed around them in constant excitement. The hallways were alive with students chatting, the sound of lockers slamming. Despite the electric atmosphere, a certain unease hung in the air among the group.
When they sat down at their usual table with their food trays, an awkward silence settled in, contrasting with their previous good mood.
Carter finally broke the silence, crossing his arms:
"So, we're just going to act like nothing happened?"
Yuki frowned:
"Carter…We eat there !"
Hassan shook his head:
"I don't think this is the time."
Kaiser: "And when will this damn time be?"
Yuki leaned back in his chair and sighed before responding:
"Calm down, Kaiser. I think we were all a bit drunk and unfortunately crossed paths with some rabid dogs."
Carter let out a nervous laugh:
"In that case, I'd say they were more like fucking werewolves! Seriously, have you ever seen wolves walk on two legs?"
Hassan hesitated before muttering:
"Yeah… It's a bit weird, but those things don't exist… Do they?"
Everyone turned to Hugo, who had been strangely silent until then. He shrugged, visibly uncomfortable under their gazes.
"Why are you all looking at me like that, guys? I freaked out too! But if we start talking about werewolves, we'll sound crazy."
Yuki: "Yeah, I think it was some kind of mass hallucination. We were drunk, panicked…"
Hassan: "Yeah, mass hysteria, maybe."
Carter, however, wasn't convinced.
"Weird kind of hallucination… I'd have been more convinced if I'd seen a naked MILF in the woods."
Kaiser sighed, gripping his cup tightly:
"I see them every day, and now that I'm not alone, you're telling me it's an hallucination?!"
Carter sat up, perplexed:
"Wait, your post-traumatic psychosis is seeing imaginary creatures? What the hell is this, you guys are freaking me out!"
Kaiser opened his mouth to respond, but Yuki placed a hand on his shoulder to interrupt him.
"Okay, I see you're all on edge… Let's just calm down a bit."
The awkwardness was interrupted by Benjamin, who flopped loudly onto the table, arms crossed under his head.
"Waaa… All the girls want me, what should I do, guys?"
He lifted his head and observed their tense expressions.
"Huh? Why do you all look constipated?"
Hassan: "We're talking about what happened last night."
Kaiser ran a hand through his hair, looking grim:
"Those things we saw…"
Benjamin flinched and sat up straighter in his chair:
"Shit, I thought it was a dream…"
Yuki: "Hey, keep it down."
Hugo, starting to regain his usual mood, snickered:
"Kaiser thinks they're unidentified creatures. What do you think, Ben?"
Benjamin grumbled and shrugged as if to shake off a chill:
"Whatever it was, man, it gave me a backache all night."
Hassan: "So let's go back to the scene."
Carter: "What? And if those wolves, or whatever, are still after us?"
Hugo: "No, even if it's a full moon, it's unlikely."
Kaiser stared at him, intrigued:
"What does the full moon have to do with it?"
Yuki narrowed his eyes:
"And let's not forget there was already a corpse nearby. The police might be on the scene."
Hassan: "Anyway, we're not abandoning our HQ."
Benjamin sat up with a smirk:
"True, I'm in. But we should stop meeting at night."
Carter: "Dude… It was so intense. I thought I was going crazy."
Kaiser: "Then let's go back right after school."
"Well, if you're all agreed…" Yuki raised his hand in surrender.
The topic was starting to weigh heavily, and Hugo found an immediate distraction:
"By the way, the new girls are pretty hot!"
Hassan rolled his eyes. "Go ahead, him... His balls instead of brains."