Judge by the Cover: High School, Drama & Deadly Vices (Hafu Sans Halo Book 1)

by Melissa Abigail

  “Let me see,” Ryu didn't ask, but demanded.

  Cody raised an eyebrow, jerking the phone just out of reach. “This isn’t for you. You’re not a Haruna fan, amirite?”

  “Yeah, he’d probably be interested if it was a ‘Harry’ instead,” Kevin sneered.

  Ryu snatched the phone from out of Cody’s hands. He glared at it for a fraction of a second. Channelling every bit of strength he had, he drew back his arm and hurled the phone to the ground. He brought up his leg and hammered it down.

  “YO—WHAT THE—!”

  Ryu tuned out everything around him, his gaze trained on what had become of the Android. Its screen was fully smashed. Bits of glass scattered outwards like a halo all across the pavement, glittering against the waning sunlight.

  He had ruined Cody’s phone, and he felt… better.

  But the relief was short-lived, for the next thing he felt were jabs against his ribcage, shoving him.

  “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Cody roared.

  Ryu stumbled back but managed to maintain his footing. He caught the disbelief and upset in Cody’s face. Ryu grinned.

  “I’ll tell you what’s wrong with him!” shouted Jackson. “He’s a fag.”

  Seth stepped in, brows knit. "Why you gotta go there, Jackson? The name-calling isn't right—not at all!"

  Ryu’s smile vanished. He spun towards Jackson and the adrenaline took over. He didn’t care to hear or see anyone else. He balled his hand into a fist and delivered it straight to the centre of Jackson’s face like a mallet. Jackson dropped. Writhing, he clamped his nose, but the blood had already gushed from his nostrils, oozed along his chin and drizzled onto his front.

  Good. Maybe his nose is broken too.

  Ryu watched as Kevin hastened to Jackson's side and several hands came from all directions intent to hold Ryu back. But he couldn’t be tamed—not when he was only just getting started. He shook off Seth and Cody. He turned his head. Tim was attempting to restrain him by locking his arms behind his back. Sneering, Ryu slipped from Tim’s grasp, twirled and snatched him by the scruff of his jacket. Then Ryu flipped him. Tim flopped onto his back. Ryu revelled in all he'd done, thinking it refreshing to hear Tim's bawling for a change instead of his gloating. Tim's parents were Rocky fans, and though they might have named their son after a boxer, he had zero fight skills.

  “Ryu—STOP!”

  Ryu crooked his neck, watching Seth gawk at him with terror-filled eyes. It was only then that Ryu felt something constrict like a bungee cord reeling him back in.

  “You’re a nutcase!” Jackson screamed. His eyes were squinted as his hands clamped to his nose, trying and failing to stop the bleeding. Kevin retreated into the building, perhaps on a hunt for tissues.

  Tim carefully brought himself to sit, wincing in pain.

  “You’re an asshole, Debiru,” he snarled.

  “You guys earned this, bro,” Seth said, coming to Ryu’s defence.

  "Uh, hello? He broke my phone!" Cody held its fragments in his palm, stomping over to Seth then spinning to gesture violently at Ryu. Cody gestured, but he didn’t dare touch Ryu again.

  Jackson’s eyes sparked.

  “You know what, Seth? You’re a loser—both of you are. Why don’t you two just piss off somewhere? You’re both probably gay with each other.”

  Tim nodded emphatically. “Yeah! No one wants you here!”

  Seth’s face fell. “Guys… you can’t be serious?”

  Ryu didn’t wait to hear more. He turned and walked, hands in his pockets as he made way to the student lot where he had parked his car. He had done something terrible, but in spite of it, he didn’t feel bad. He regretted nothing. At least not yet.

  Steps away, he could sense he was being followed.

  He turned. Seth. Made sense. His own car was parked just nearby.

  “Way to go, man,” Seth sighed, throwing his arms. “Like, what if a teacher saw?”

  “If you’ve come to drag me, don’t even bother. Go find Gabrielle and your new friend, Mani, instead.”

  Seth crinkled his nose.

  “Who? I don’t even know who that is, dude.”

  Ryu paused. “The guy from Saturday…”

  “Oh no, his name was something else. He’s Angelique’s boyfriend, but he doesn’t go to the Academy.”

  So Haruna’s boyfriend wasn’t there?

  Ryu felt some of his tension dissipate but only to be traded in for a small bit of shame. He was stupid to jump to conclusions.

  Seth rubbed the back of his head, and his eyes dropped to the pavement.

  “Er, about the phone. Why couldn’t you have just deleted the pics? Why’d you go break it like that?”

  Ryu stared thoughtfully. Why? He gave a small roll of his shoulders then turned, keys out to unlock the doors for the Mazda. As Seth stood staring helplessly, Ryu looked back with a smirk and an honest answer.

  “Why not? Felt like doing it since day one.”

  Haruna gripped at the ends of her desk as though letting go would mean being swept away into the eye of a twister, on to the Land of Oz. So this was it. Friday. This was the day.

  “All right. Who would like to present first?” Mr. Lee asked, scanning the room for volunteers.

  Before Haruna could raise her hand, three others had. She pouted as the teacher immediately retracted his question, and opted to count the groups off at random. Apparently, the first group had chosen the straightforward lazy route and decided to read from a sheet of paper—in perfect monotone. That’s when Haruna realised that if the wait for her turn didn’t kill her first, the boredom until then would. Curious, she peeked over her shoulder to see Ryu with his chin rested in his palm. He looked to be staring into space until his eyes connected with hers and locked in place. Haruna smiled, but he didn’t smile back. Instead, his face slipped from his palm. Haruna gasped in as Ryu stopped himself just short of slamming his face off the desk. A few others looked over with bemused expressions or muffled laughter. Haruna circled back and faced the front, blushing and feeling embarrassed for him.

  She was grateful the teacher hadn’t seen.

  “Okay, so who’s next?” Mr. Lee mumbled to himself, peering at a list before then lifting his head. “Merchant of Venice, you’re up!”

  Haruna quickly got to her feet and headed to the front. From behind, she heard a sudden thud, a mild grunt, and the scraping of desk legs. She turned back to see Ryu rubbing at his knee amidst cries of “Oh my gosh!” and “Are you okay?" She squinted in confusion.

  Had he always been so clumsy?

  Once they were at the front of the class, Haruna took her spot on the right and Ryu on the left, both in place and ready to start. As they had planned, the pair began their banter as though they were on a talk show. They would indicate to the slides in their PowerPoint, introducing them as “Exhibit A," “The Court Summary,” or “Exclusive Footage." Haruna assumed the role of the host and Ryu the interviewee, the “expert” corresponding on the events. It was easy enough. It was like the discussions that they had freely had at her house and the library.

  “Maybe Shylock was a monster, but society created that monster. Antonio and society discriminated against him for years so Shylock retaliated, stood up for himself, and in the end he was punished for it. So Antonio is a good guy because we’re told he is a good guy, but everyone forgets he’s also a bad guy. And Shylock…” Ryu said, then as expected he stopped. “Well, I’m going too deep with this.”

  “No, I understand it better now. It's not about being good or bad, or even shades of grey. It's that both good and evil reside in everyone,” Haruna, the host, said in the best TV personality voice she could manage. “But what I would say is, there are also choices. You can make choices that are good or bad, right?”

  "So what's the right choice then?" Ryu asked, stroking his chin.

  Haruna gave a hearty, aristocratic kind of laugh and pointed her finger into the air
. "Who knows? Should have asked for money rather than a pound of flesh, I think."

  Several students laughed.

  Ryu shook his head, waving his hands decisively.

  “You misunderstand. He's a tragic character. Even his daughter runs away to marry one of his enemies. He’s forced to convert… it’s really unfair. And Bassanio seems like a good guy because he wants to save his friend, yet he almost gives away his wedding ring after promising to never let it go? It makes you wonder. Are there no just good or just evil people? Are there people who are both or people who only act good and evil?”

  Haruna nodded, her brows knitted in exaggerated contemplation.

  “I guess we'll never get to the bottom of those questions. But, now you mention it, so much of what happened here didn’t make sense.”

  “Right. For one, how could two men not realise that it's their own wives in drag?” Ryu said as he looked to the audience on cue, hyping them up for a reaction. A few snickered.

  Haruna bobbed her head, feeling encouraged by their responses.

  “That’s right! And what are the odds anyway that two sets of close friends fall for each other and get married? Not realistic in the slightest.”

  As she finished, she threw her hands dramatically into the air and awaited Ryu’s response. However, he continued to face away and didn't speak. Had he forgotten his lines? Feeling anxious Haruna rephrased, speaking louder for emphasis:

  “It never happens—right?”

  He turned his head slowly, finally looking at her. That look again. She was instantly transported back to the moment the two of them were in her living room and he had asked about the colour of her eyes. She felt a sudden warmth in her face, the unevenness of her heartbeat. Why? Why was he looking at her like that?

  “Yeah. Never,” he said finally, his voice quieter and slightly hoarse.

  Haruna stumbled through the rest of her lines, but fortunately they had only a short few left in their presentation. Haruna followed Ryu through the aisle and to their seats, all to the chorus of their classmates’ applause.

  It was over.

  Haruna felt the pats on her shoulders, and she looked to the smiling faces of her friends.

  “Oh my gosh! Your presentation was so good!” Angelique said cheerily.

  Gabrielle agreed.

  “Yeah! I’m so glad you were able to pull it off—your acting was awesome too!”

  Angelique tittered. “Tracy would be proud.”

  Haruna laughed as the threesome made the trek to their lockers.

  “Oh, you guys,” she sighed. “Your presentations were really good too. Most of the others were a snore fest, to be honest.”

  “Not yours,” Gabrielle said. “I saw Mr. Lee. He looked impressed the whole time. Even Ryu was super convincing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him put so much effort into anything.”

  Haruna felt the heat return to her face. Now that she thought back, he had done a good job. He had even bothered to memorize his lines. All this despite the fact that he had told her from the onset: he wasn’t going to do any acting, period.

  “I noticed something else,” Angelique said, her tone teasing. “What happened between you two? Something’s different.”

  Haruna snapped back, her focus to her friend, her eyes wide. Before she could ask, Gabrielle touched a hand to Angelique’s arm and gave her a knowing look as she whispered something. It was barely audible, but Haruna could swear she caught the words, “Not yet…”

  Haruna decided not to ask as Tracy came to join them. But their words were fresh in her mind as she gathered her things and prepared to head home. Ryu really had put forth an effort, hadn’t he?

  As the four friends went their separate ways, two of them staying back for clubs and rehearsals, Haruna walked the halls until she came to the side exit where no teachers or staff bothered to go. The smoker and stoner hang out. She swallowed hard, fighting back her nerves, and exited. She saw the group of boys standing in the corner. They greeted her confused stare with blank faces, and she felt her insides scream. Not only was it frighteningly awkward—Ryu wasn’t even among them.

  “‘Sup?” one of them said, his mouth forming a greasy smile. “Come to chill with us?”

  Haruna scowled, noticing another one of them had a nasty bruise around his nose. Before she could scrutinise further, a breeze tickled her back. She turned to see Ryu and Seth plough through the doors. They halted on sight of her, then glimpsed darkly at the others. She could sense the bad vibes between them.

  What was going on?

  “Haruna?” Seth said, looking surprised.

  “Hi. Um, actually I was looking for…” Haruna looked towards Ryu, her voice small. She willed herself not to look back at the others as Ryu glowered over her shoulder. Clapping a hand on his back, Seth issued his good-byes and left first. Together, Haruna and Ryu moved away towards the parking lot and came to a stop at the front of his car. He didn’t ask her what she wanted. He looked at her, waiting. Haruna gave a small sigh.

  “I think it went well,” she said softly, for some reason taking interest in the buckles of her shoes.

  “Seems so. Maybe you’ll get that 'A.' Keep it up and you’ll get into UBC like you planned.”

  Haruna jerked upwards to gawk at him.

  "H-How did you know I wanted to go to UBC?"

  He offered a mild shrug. "Hm, a little bird told me. Or maybe I should say—a huge bird, with a huge ego. And maybe he didn’t tell me, so much as I overheard?"

  Ryu must have been referring to hers and Mani’s conversation at the diner way back. He hadn’t been bluffing. He really had heard everything. She listened to Ryu exhale deeply and watched as he gazed into the sky.

  “So, uh, that jacket he was wearing? YSL? Pretty expensive taste he’s got.”

  Haruna tilted her head. How strange for Ryu to comment on something like that from out of nowhere.

  “Nothing’s wrong with buying expensive things if you can afford it. It’s what he’s into,” she said.

  Ryu eased in, levelling his eyes to hers.

  “Is that what you’re into?”

  There it was again—the thrashing in her chest. Heat that rushed to her face. Seeping into Haruna’s mind was the unexpected sound of her grandmother’s voice chiding her. She gripped at the straps of her messenger bag, ignoring the way her fingers trembled.

  “I nearly forgot. About my grandmother… I'm really sorry.”

  Ryu stepped back and gave a loud snort. “Why apologize? It’s not your fault she’s a racist old hag.”

  “Wait! She’s not—okay, she is old. But…well…” Haruna frowned. Well, what? What was she going to say next? That the rest wasn’t true?

  “So, when did your name become 'Catherine’?”

  Haruna tilted her head, eying him suspiciously.

  “Haruna Catherine. My parents gave me two names. I guess, for both sides.”

  “Haruna Catherine. I guess it suits you.”

  He gave her a contemplative look like he had done when he was playing the correspondent for their presentation. He rubbed at his forehead.

  “I guess what I don’t get is, your parents named you Haruna first. Why doesn’t she call you that? It’s not like it’s hard to pronounce or anything.”

  “I… never really thought about it.”

  “Yeah. I know.”

  Haruna fell into a stupor as the realisation crossed her, like she was seeing it for the first time. She had never allowed herself to question it, but then the many instances tallied up one by one: Marie’s snide comments about Tracy, the way she always hid the photos of that girl with her mother, the way she was so critical of Ryu and his "look"—mixed, tan-skinned Ryu. Could it be that that was why she only spoke harshly of Haruna’s foreign father, if she spoke of him at all? Or why she refused to put Haruna's parents’ wedding photo on their mantel along with the others? Like their marriage never happened? Like her father neve
r existed? Was that why blonde-haired Gabrielle was a "nice girl”? Was that the reason why Marie only called Haruna, “Catherine”?

  Haruna gazed back at Ryu with his dark, wild hair, its hues of crimson reminiscent of earth and autumn leaves. She noticed it was lightly gelled and spiked into a style. She took in the way his brows inclined making him look devilish but strangely, kind of hot? Just a little, anyway. Still, as they remained standing there in silence, staring wordlessly back at each other, Haruna secretly admired his eyes, their irises shining like ambers against the glow of the setting sun.

  Ryu Debiru.

  He scared her because he represented all the things she never wanted to face, but he'd forced her to face it in the end. He was opening her eyes. Whether or not half of what he said was crude or complete nonsense, or whether he looked to have his head in the clouds, he was sharp nonetheless, focused and always paying attention. He made her think in ways no one else ever had. This week was over… but did that mean that “this” was really over?

  “Well, gotta run,” Ryu said, backing away towards the car door.

  Haruna gave a gentle smile. “Hey… we should talk more. I mean, why be enemies, right?”

  She read the surprise in his face, his brows raised, his body an actor in suspended motion. He gave a short nod, and one last lingering look before climbing into the car. Then he backed out and sped away. It was then that she suddenly felt a second chill of wind on her back. She pulled her jacket close, turned, then jumped in her skin.

  “Mani! What are you doing here?”

  They didn't have to assist with Youth Choir anymore. They no longer had to meet on Fridays.

  Mani shrugged.

  “I… thought I’d pick you up so we could talk? I mean, we haven’t been spending much time together lately, right?”

  She had done it so many times before. Taken a seat in this restaurant, sat amid the steady shuffling of footsteps, voices and laughter of patrons, servers and the ding of cash registers. She had done it many times, but this time she felt as though she were there without really being there. Like she merely existed but wasn’t feeling.