Vol 5 Chapter 6 (1/2)
The Trap
“Stella isn’t in love with me,” Larry said
Seron and Jenny listened on, calm and displeased respectively
“I realized it the first time I met her under the tree I could tell she wasn’t in love with , ‘why?’ And I realized that this was a trap”
“And how did you know she wasn’t in love with you?” Asked Jenny
“I can’t answer that yet,” Larry replied
“Seriously? Fine Keep going”
“Right So I willingly walked into the trap Stella’s usingout withour relationshi+p everywhere yesterday and today This is a diversionary tactic The louder the diversion, the more effective it is I just learned that recently”
Seron re in uniform before the start of the term
“So?” Jenny demanded
“So I wanted to knohy Stella was doing all this”
“Hm”
“I…I gave up on going out with her from the moment I met her under the tree But I want to knohy she set this trap And once I find out, I’ure it out, I’ll have to ask her myself Not that she’s likely to tell me, anyway”
“Yeah,” Jenny agreed Seron nodded
“If I asked, she ht break up with me first,” Larry speculated, “then that’s just another life experience under my belt”
Jenny realized that Larry was quoting what she had said two days ago “Heh! You’re getting better, Hepburn,” she said with a self-deprecating smile Larry smiled back
“Then Stella would probably find another target A boy fro to him and share homemade lunches with him for the whole school to see I know she has her reasons and it’s nosy of h with this anymore”
“All right I understand,” Jenny said, nodding
“Yeah,” said Seron, “thanks for telling us, Larry”
“Nah, nothing to be thankful about In fact, I should be apologizing for lying to you Sorry, guys I mean it,” Larry replied with a shake of the head Then he stood and resuht! Who wants some tea?”
He strode over to the kitchenette and began to prepare the tea
As Jenny watched, she asked him, “what’s your take on Linus Francis?”
“He looks like a gorilla,” Larry replied, still busy at work
“Anything else?”
Larry’s eyes narrowed slightly
“I don’t have any concrete evidence, but I get the feeling Stella and SC Linus still like each other But they’re hiding it for some reason”
“Yeah I think so too,” said Jenny
“Same But that doesn’t ainst the wall by the kitchen, and Jenny sat near Seron on the sofa Both gave him their full attention “SC Linus’s family runs the Capital Departious as the Hepburns, but—and I really don’t want to put it this way—in terood match for the Whitfields”
“His grades could use work, though,” Jenny pointed out
“So could mine,” Larry rebutted her
“Then get to it,” Jenny scolded him
“And,” Seron continued, looking down at his watch, “consider the rule that Stella has toso to technical school on top of secondary school”
Larry nodded, pointing at the photos “SC Linus was putting together clockwork Which s and parts into a tiny systeh a loupe It’s really intricate work, and not everyone can do it”
“I checked with Balfour Technical School this afternoon,” said Jenny, “apparently their watchinal wristwatches out of scratch So you basically need foundational knowledge before you enroll”
“In other words, there’s no reason SC Linus can’t make his relationshi+p with Stella public,” Seron concluded, “I don’t understand why she would go so far to hide the relationshi+p And so suddenly, too”
“Yeah” “Same”
Jenny and Larry nodded in unison
“If only we knee could figure out why Stella’s doing all this,” Jenny sighed
Many seconds passed in silence It was broken by the whistling of the kettle
Larry put a teabag in the teapot and brought it to the table with their cups
“Thanks” “Thanks”
Handing Seron and Jenny their cups of tea, Larry poured some into his own flower-print cup and took a seat
For some time they sipped tea in silence Then—
“Looks like we’ll need to do soate so to do”
Jenny, Larry, and Seron spoke nearly at once
Jenny continued first “We’ve done about all we can on ca the technical school, but if we make too much of a fuss—”
“Stella and SC Linus will notice,” Seron finished
“Yeah,” Larry agreed, and took a sip of tea He continued, “what about this? We could talk to SC Linus and not Stella They don’t meet after class, so we can catch SC Linus while he’s on his way to Balfour”
“And?” Jenny asked
“I’ll tell hiet the whole story”
“A direct assault, huh But what if he doesn’t tell you? He’d tell Stella about it, and our plan’ll be kaput”
“True Sorry, that was a stupid idea Forget I said anything,” Larry said with a shrug
“Don’t worry about it,” Jenny replied, “if anything, I’ed”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You were sounding soto worry—”
“Okay I get it Never mind”
“Jenny,” Seron said, “could I have another look at the photo of SC Linus on campus?”
Jenny took out the photo fro and handed it to Seron Then she picked up the photo from the technical school and filed it away
The photo depicted Linus Francis, the large boy with the gentle expression And his watch
Seron scrutinized the photo for some time
“I…can’t think of anything,” he finally said, turning the photo over and placing it on the table “I need to clear hts”
“Should I sing you a song?” Larry joked There was no response
The air was heavy
“We’re here~!” The door opened and Natalia’s exaggerated voice broke the silence She was singing, projecting like an opera singer or a musical actress
“Pfft!” Larry spat out his tea
“Ah~ so good to return~ to our good old office~”
She was by nowas an unconventional one She was followed by—
“My heart is~ also happy~”
Meg, singing in a lovely soprano
Seron’s heart skipped a beat at the beautiful voice filling the rooot to put the photo away
And finally—
“And~ la la la la~”
Nick arrived in school-issue sweats, closing the door behind hi one conjunction and several lyric-less notes
The finale belonged to Natalia
“So what I h pitch, “Larry~ put the kettle on~!”
It was an order
The others stared, lost for words
“What’s wrong, guys?” Natalia demanded, “It’s et one for a few days?”
“I e had,” Larry replied
“Cruel, Larry Chief Seron It’s been a while!”
“The practice finished earlier today so we ca
“We are still part of the newspaper club, after all,” Nick added
Larry wiped down the table and sofa and turned “So as that song supposed to be?”
“Weto sing one part in unison but there wasn’t enough time to practice Didn’t live up to your ridiculous expectations, eh?”
“We didn’t have expectations in the first place What was the point of all that?”
“Isn’t it obvious? We were bringing some peace of mind to you poor lambs, lost and lonely without us!”
“More like you broke ourto his feet, “I’ll put the kettle on”
He picked up the teapot and headed to the kitchenette again Natalia, Meg, and Nick sat down in a row
“Why the long face?” Natalia asked, looking at Jenny and Seron
“Is the thing you are researching well?” Asked Meg
“Not really,” Seron admitted
“Is there anything we can do? We would be happy to help,” offered Nick
“Nah…we’re all right for today,” Jenny said That hen Meg noticed so
“Hm?”