Olydia thrives during weekdays, eagerly anticipating each day at the university. Her mornings are a cherished ritual: a walk through the bustling streets, where she absorbs the crisp morning air and the lively symphony of footsteps and chatter from students like herself. She's always thrilled about going to classes and learning about people, their minds, and why they act the way they do—that drew her to the field of psychology.
As she entered the gates of Hillsdale University, Olydia was greeted with an unfamiliar sight. Police mobiles and men in uniforms caught her attention. One of them was being escorted by one of the faculty members along with two other men who were wearing formal clothes: slacks, long sleeves, and tie. Except the gray-haired gentleman was wearing russet brown leather suspenders. Students watched and chattered about the scene, some of them were probably wondering the same thing as Olydia.
"That was horrible! Poor her."
"Does that mean there's a killer at large killing women?"
"That is scary! It's dangerous for us go out alone"
"Girl! It's always been like that."
Olydia heard students as she walked past them.
"What the hell is going on?" Olydia whispered to herself as she walked to her building, eyes still fixated on the unusual sight. As much as she wanted to snoop, Olydia didn't want to miss their first class. So she kept walking with nothing but the curious scene in her head.
"Dia! Come here! Hurry!" Olydia only snapped back out of her thoughts when Elissa called her. Lost in many questions in her head she didn't realize that she's near their room. Elissa, her friend, immediately pulled her by the arm when she reached the door.
"Did you see the police outside?" Elissa asked, eyes gleaming under her long lashes.
She definitely figured it out already.
It is her friend's nature to know everything about their university, even their janitor's affair with a female professor that even their university admin hasn't found out. Olydia set her things down on her desk, glancing at the other students milling about. which made her even more curious. Behind her, Nadia let out a resigned sigh. She must be done with Elissa having too much energy in the morning. Unlike Elissa, Nadia is more laid-back. She's more of a listener than a talker and often minds her own business. Nadia is also the type that would just go with whatever mischievousness Elissa and Olydia would do— that is after throwing them a questioning look first, like the time they sneaked into the broadcast studio to play one of Olydia's favorite classic songs.
Elissa settled in her seat, beside Olydia. The latter started pulling out her tablet and a book called That's Not My Name which she just recently started reading, still paying attention to her friend. Leaning closer to Olydia, Elissa's long brown wavy hair fell forward as she whispered.
"Lora is dead." Olydia almost broke her neck by how fast she shifted her gaze to Elissa, eyes widened in shock then furrowed in confusion.
"Lora?" She thought of all the Lora she knew but there's only one.
"Yes! Lora Lim." Elissa exclaimed, "The girl who professed her love to the love of your life. You even cried about it last week." Elissa was exaggerating. She did not cry, she was just moping. Olydia brushed off the remark. Someone confessing to Lorenzo wasn't important at that moment. Lora is dead.
"How?" Olydia curiously whispered.
If there are police it means it isn't just a simple death. Did she get into an accident? Was she murdered?
Thoughts raced through her head.
"Her body was found yesterday." Elissa's eyes were focused on Olydia's. They were wide, stoked, and hinting fear. Her friend then told her that she was found at the back of the convenient store where they usually hangout.
"And you know what's crazy?" Elissa said, making Olydia gripped her desk with anticipation.
"She was missing a foot."
"What do you mean?"
"She was missing a foot. Like her foot was decapitated."
"OMG! This is like those thriller series I've been watching. It is so Beyond Evil the only difference is she was missing a foot and not fingers." Elissa continued to blabber but Olydia could no longer register the words her friend was spouting.
Throughout the entire class, Olydia was distracted, ruminating about Lora's gruesome death. What kind of person would do that to a poor woman? She may not personally know her but working with her once for an event made her think that she was kind and it is insane for someone to kill someone like her.
Half way through their second class, Olydia excused herself for a restroom break. She was walking through the hallway when she passed by the room with several students waiting. A police officer was standing in the doorway watching them.
Maybe they will be questioned regarding Lora, Olydia pondered, then she noticed Lorenzo beside another student and was patting the back of the guy beside him, trying to calm him down. If it were Olydia, she'd be nervous too even though there's nothing to be anxious about since she isn't the murderer. Lorenzo on the other hand, looked so calm like always.
Lorenzo del Rosario is a senior in Business Administration like Lora. Olydia's been pining over him for a couple of years now. Sure, he has godly physical features. But for Olydia, there is more to him than his pretty face. Lorenzo is an achiever. You would always see him in every competition there is in the university. You couldn't blame him as the Business Administration department would always ask him to compete. He is their pride. She's been admiring him long enough to know that he spends most of his weekends volunteering at charity events. Olydia even attended one held for kids that his family organized. He is too good to be true as he is also good with kids, but he just is. He's a heavenly being as Olydia would always describe him.
He is definitely not a human.
・・・・・🪓・・・・・
Olydia was content admiring Lorenzo at a distance but fate must have had a different plan. Because why was she standing at the library, dumbfounded, eyes fixated on Lorenzo? Five minutes back, she was looking for previous research on human personality. But there she was, with the guy she had liked for years pointing towards her.
"She's going to help me, Miss," Lorenzo told Miss Manuel, the librarian. Olydia had no idea what kind of help the man was referring to, but whatever it was, she was down for it.
Olydia shifted her gaze to the librarian. The older woman looked back at her. The thick glasses she had on couldn't hide her apparent skepticism if Olydia could be of any help.
"Okay, we can discuss your plan next time. If you have concerns, just let me know. You can always find me here." Miss Manuela said flatly while going through a pile of papers she had been shuffling for who knows how long.
Lorenzo excused himself and Olydia, the latter was still completely clueless. The man looked at her and gestured for her to walk first.
Now what? I am not ready for this.
Olydia became uneasy with the fact that Lorenzo was just behind, possibly watching her. Immediately, the thought made her more conscious.
Is there dirt on my back?
Is my shirt wrinkly?
She subtly touched the ends of her hair, wishing it didn't look like a bird's nest. It didn't, despite being unmindful sometimes.
"Olydia, right?" Olydia whipped her head back to Lorenzo. She mentally smacked her head and hoped she didn't look dumb and excessively eager.
"Uh... Yes, Olydia." She was mentally screaming at how awkward she was.
"I'm Lorenzo." He offered a handshake when he'd finally walked side-by-side matching her pace.
"I'm sorry. I dragged you into something I'm not even sure if you'd agree. You must be confused."
Olydia just nodded, not trusting herself to hide the nervousness in her voice. How could she be calm?
"It's for a book fair."
"Book fair?"
"Yes, the university wants to hold a book fair. It was supposedly Lora's project, but since she... passed, I took the responsibility." Lorenzo had a hard time speaking about Lora's passing.
"It's okay. I love books, I'm sure I'll have fun."
"Really? Well… you are at the library so you must love books. I'm lucky you were there at the right moment." Olydia wasn't sure what to say after, so she thought of something to ask.
"Uh... don't take this the wrong way. I'm just curious. You have a lot of friends that could help you, why not ask them?" she asked even though she might have known the answer. Lorenzo's friends are quite the opposite. Yes, they are all in a high class that everyone wants to be part of but, unlike Lorenzo, his friends are less likely to hit the books. At least, that's what Olydia observed.
"Oh! I doubt they'd be interested." Lorenzo answered as if he read her mind.
"So I am glad you're here to help. Don't worry, I'll find other students that might help us as well. We just need project managers and that's you and me." he added, beaming, nearly blinding Olydia. Lorenzo saying "You and me" sent her shivers in a good way, even though it didn't mean anything. Olydia was trying to muster all her will not to grin to the point that she'd rip her mouth, not to mention the amount of fidgeting she was doing. Could you blame her? A lot of things happened in a short period. They were practically strangers half an hour ago, then boom! They were having a full-on conversation and will do a project together. Happy was not enough to describe what Olydia was feeling.
"Lora would be happy that I picked someone interested in books as much as her."
Oh yeah, Lora.
Olydia forgot that he's doing this for Lora.
"I heard there will be a mass for her," she said. Lorenzo asked if she would come, but Olydia didn't deeply know her.
"I'm not going to force you, then." He said, brushing the wavy strands of his hair away from his vision only for it to fall back smoothly.
For some reason, Olydia felt like she needed to go
So she did. Olydia and her friends were sitting at the back of the auditorium near one of the exits. The room was almost full showing how loved and friendly Lora was. It didn't take Olydia long to scan the hall and find Lorenzo. She thought pining for years gives you powers. Olydia would always be aware of his presence. She bet she could even find him in Shibuya Crossing during hectic hours; even when his back is facing her.
Most of the students in the auditorium were from her class. Some were sniffling while praying for Lora's soul.
They might be her closest friends.
It is already halfway through the mass and some of the people she left behind were allowed to speak and remember her. All of them are great words and praises. "She was the sunshine of the group."
That's cliche. Olydia thought.
But what if she is, Olydia? She argued back to herself.
Her internal battle was put to a halt when she noticed a movement beside Lorenzo. Her eyebrows twitched when she saw a girl constantly latching onto him. Olydia already noticed her earlier but brushed off the small distance between them. Not until she was clinging her arms to him with her head resting on his shoulder.
Excuse me? Someone just died and we are in the middle of a mass.
She wanted to shout but kept those words inside her head. Okay, she knew she didn't have the right to react that way but Lorenzo was just letting it happen. Nadia, on her left, seemed to notice her growing annoyance.
"Hey." She whispered which caught Olydia's attention.
"You okay?" Nadia glanced at the front with only her eyes, her face still facing Olydia; the latter guessed Nadia looked at the reason for her irritation. Nadia is always observant and knows her mood. She is very thankful to have thoughtful friends who would always look out for her.
"Yeah." A weak response from Olydia.
"Maybe he's just comforting her? Look, he's patting her shoulders." Olydia nodded, faking a small smile. She turned in the other direction where she saw Elissa gossiping with someone who seemed to be from Business Administration. If Nadia was with them because she's always getting dragged, Elissa surely came for the gossip. Their chatter piqued Olydia's curiosity. So she leaned back in the chair and moved closer to her right to hear them clearly.
After almost half an hour, the mass finished. Olydia and her friends were already walking their way to the exit. Her mind was occupied with what she heard Elissa and her seatmate talking about. Lora's death was more morbid than she had thought. There were marks found on Lora's wrists and her right ankle, an indication of restraint. And her left foot... She shivered after imagining the image of a leg being chopped, tender pieces of flesh, and dark blood spattering everywhere. It made her stomach retch.
"Olydia!" She immediately turned her head to the person who called. Olydia wouldn't lie, Lorenzo saying her name affected her. You're so lame, Olydia.
Lorenzo looked like he sprinted from the front of the auditorium but he didn't seem to be losing his breath. When he caught up to her, they continued walking with Nadia and Elissa in front of them. Olydia noticed their exchange of meaningful looks at each other. Her friends would definitely tease her.
"So... You're here." Lorenzo might seem to be expecting a reason from Olydia. And she saw Elissa's attempts to listen to their conversation to the point that she should've just detached her ears and handed them to Olydia so she could grasp every word.
"Yes, I just thought it was the right thing to do. I figured Lora would be happy if more people came. You said she liked being surrounded by people."
"Yeah... that's right." Lorenzo smiled and then paused to think of what to say next.
"About the book event, can we meet tomorrow? We have to—" Lorenzo's voice started to fade and Olydia was slowly losing focus. She tried, but she could only stare at his face while he was talking. His onyx eyes illuminate the light in the building. Dimples like a cat whiskers peeping on his cheeks even with just a slight smile.
"... do you think that is okay?"
"Huh?" she snapped out of her delusions "Uh... Yes!"
"Great! So tomorrow? Are you available at 3 pm?"
"Yes. I don't have a schedule."
"Enzo!" Camilla once again clinged onto Lorenzo's arm while staring at Olydia as if she wanted to peel her skin off and feed them to the dogs.
"I'm craving for tacos... How about lunch at Lagrima's? It's just about a 15-minute drive, right?" Camilla asked Lorenzo, pretending she wasn't trying to kill Olydia in her mind seconds ago.
"Sure, great choice."
Lorenzo asked Olydia if she wanted to join, but she politely refused telling him that she already had a plan with her friends, as always. Another thing, Olydia didn't want to spend her entire lunch avoiding Camilla's killer gaze. She has had enough of it.
Olydia jogged to catch up with her friends and squeezed between them, clinging her arm to each one. Elissa gave Olydia a teasing nudge.
"Stop."
"What? I haven't said anything yet."
"Your face says everything." Olydia decided not to let Elissa's teasing get through her, that was enough delusions for a day. Her friend giggled, pushing her through the exit of the main lobby. And if Lorenzo looked back to watch her giddily chatting with her friends, Olydia didn't have to know.