• When Aurelia went out of the classroom, Justin already felt a chilling pain in his gut; it felt like it was eating him inside out. The pain that told him to make a mental note to help deliver her stuff back to her home, since he knew that she would not return back to the class.
    Running a hand through his thick hair, Justin sighed in frustration as he mentally counted down the minutes to the dismissal bell. When the shrill rings pierced their expectant ears, the teenagers bounded up from their individual seats with the energy of seven years old children as they raced for the door, waving their farewells to the calmly packing teacher, who was used to such scenes by now.
    Following the examples all around him, Justin shoved back his seat and stuffed his scattered stationary back into the open mouth of his pencil box before he dumped it into his bag.
    With an idle look, he strode towards Aurelia’s table and casually began to pack her things up. Purposefully ignoring the fact that Janiquil was staring at him in astonishment, her cheeks reddening slightly.
    “What do you know about her?” She asked him and he turned to her, his eyes searching hers for signs of knowledge and recognition. But hers showed only worry for her friend. Giving her his usual cocky grin, he answered her.
    “Only that she beat me in the exams when I was her tester.”
    Now Janiquil’s face held the brief traces of laughter, even though her eyes were still sombre.
    “No kidding? That’s so typical of her.” She laughed a little, but it sounded fake, plastic, like a tiny slice of herself had been lost, along with Aurelia’s disappearance. Apparently, Janiquil could sense it too. Shaking herself, the girl seemed to break away from the shock and she pushed Justin away as she started packing Aurelia’s items neatly into the latter’s bag.
    “Hurry up. You want to go find her, right?” At that, Janiquil started to randomly shove things inside, only that she managed to retain the systematic neatness that Justin had been unable to preserve. Only the heavens knew how the brunette had memorised Aurelia’s packing style after a day. Slinging both his and Aurelia’s bags over his shoulder easily, Justin started to move towards the door, Janiquil following closely behind. Careful to keep away from the numerous patches of frost, the duo wandered off and away from the school, both alert in their search for their missing friend.
    They weren’t making much progress, and by the time night fell, they would have been lost, if not for the warming guidance of the streetlamps that appeared at regular intervals. Reaching a crossroad, they split up. Each running down the paths of their own destiny, even though Aurelia’s path was deeply entwined with theirs.
    Janiquil felt that she had been down that pathway before. The streets were familiar to a certain degree and the bland patches of colour on the buildings were rather faint and washed away. Staring around each neatly trimmed garden patch that was shared by all the residents in the building hosting the garden, Janiquil felt a tiny memory edge its way in and flow before her eyes.
    Smiling, now that she wasn’t lost, she made her way to the house that was decorated in a pale green colour and knocked on the creamy white door. It opened inwards to reveal to her, a familiar person who invited her into the sweet little house after a glimpse of her worried face.
    Justin paused before he rounded another street, this one taking him down a really well lit portion of the street. Glimpsing the nearest sign, he realized he had turned down Business Street, where business men traditionally had their headquarters. High rise buildings surrounded him at every angle and made him feel slightly clastaphobic as he strode cautiously down the street, wary of burglars and alert for any hints of Aurelia’s existence.