Strange

I was tired from the riddles; I didn't want anybody else's life to be in my hands. I got up and got ready for school. 
"I have to go to work early today. Should I leave dinner up to you?" mom asked Lena.
"Yes, mom!" Lena was so happy as if she was a kid who got her hands on some candy. "I'll make something delicious when I get back from college," she said excitedly.
Mom then smiled at Lena, "Goodbye!" she said as she waved her hand before she left.
"Why are you looking so down?"  Lena asked me. 
"What? I'm not down!" I answered instantly. 
"Did you get rejected by Kai?" Lena smirked as she joked. 
"I-it's not like that!! Stop, we're n-not... Stop assuming things!" 
Lena giggled then said, "This is why it's so fun to tease you! I'll see you after school!" 
My face felt like it was burning up from embarrassment. I then pouted my face in anger. Stop it, Lena! 

When I opened the front door, I saw Kai just standing there, waiting. 
"Kai, what are you doing?" 
"I was waiting for you." 
I then tilted my head to the side. A way of asking him, "why?"
"Aren't we gonna walk to school together?" He asked. 

I was quiet for quite a while as we were walking. I can tell that Kai was struggling to open up a conversation. I can see his mouth shuddering and shivering. 
Then he finally spoke, "Katie, is everything okay?" 
"Huh?" 
"You seem kind of off today." 
"No, I'm fine. It's just that I got another phone call," I answered as I sighed. 
"What?!" 
"The riddles aren't over yet. I have to save another person's life." I felt my mouth quivering; I wanted to cry so bad, but I held it in. 
"Show me the riddle!" 
"I haven't checked it after I got the phone call, but here you go." 
I then passed my phone to Kai, "It seems like this one will be more difficult than the others." he said. 
"How so?" Kai gave me my phone, "look." 

Riddle 4
Difficulty: Hard

The other comes after me and loves the number six.
I am older, and I love the number five. 
We go to school, and the man will drive. 
And from that, make sure we survive. 

"We? Does that mean two people are at risk here?" I asked in shock. 
"Most likely," Kai answered. 
"I can't! That puts too much pressure on me!" I started panicking, gripping my head firmly. "I can't! I can't! It's too much!" 
"Katie, calm down!" He then grabbed my arm, "You will be fine! I promise you we will solve it before anyone gets hurt." 
Kai had such a serious look in his eyes that I had to look away, "Okay." I answered.
"Let's go to school now." He said as he smiled.   

We then got to school, and I was on my phone the entire walk. Me and Kai were discussing the riddle. We weren't able to solve a thing. 
When I got to my desk, I could see May staring at me from a long distance. My desk is far in the back, and May's desk is in the front row. It was quite unusual for her to look at me. I thought she might want to talk to me about something, so I headed towards her. 
"You need something, May?" I said as I put my hands behind my back, leaning close to her. 
"It's n-nothing!" She said as she shook her hands right and left. 
I then had a sudden realization, "It was you!" I said in surprise. 
May looked confused. 
"You are the one who I saw at the grocery store!" I smiled.
"Y-yeah!" She answered awkwardly. 
"So you saw me? Why didn't you come and say hello?"  I asked. 
"I-I uh." May started studdering in her words.
I paused in confusion, "Wait, May, do you wear glasses?"
"N-no!" she said strangely. 
"That's odd; I saw you with glasses there at the grocery store." 
"You must have been imagining things!"  May said that sentence as if she was hiding something. "Excuse me! I gotta go!" May rushed out of the classroom as if she didn't want me to figure out something.
That was odd.  

"Katie, let's go to the rooftop to solve the riddle," Kai said. "Let's hurry before break time is over!" 
"Okay!" 
It was strangely hard for me to climb up the stairs; I usually run up the stairs with no problems. However, this time it was different. 
"Katie, is everything alright?" 
"Yes, I'm fine." 
" You know how unathletic I am. So it's very unusual for me to be ahead of you." 
"I'm just a little tired, that's all." 

When we got to the rooftop, I started gasping. 
"Katie, are you seriously alright?"
I glanced at Kai, "This is the third time you asked me this question today. Kai, I'm good, I promise." 
Kai still looked a little worried but rubbed it off, "If you say so." 
We sat on the floor and crossed our legs. Then I opened my phone to inspect the riddle. 
I started reading it out loud, "We go to school, and a man will drive. And from that, make sure we survive." I then glanced at Kai, "So we can guarantee that the cause of death is a car accident of some sort, correct?" 
Kai nodded his head, "So will both of them die at the same time? Or one by one?" 
"I don't know. It can be a possibility that it's one by one since it says: "The other comes after me." so it might mean the other comes after me in death, but I'm not so sure."   
"Hmm." Kai was thinking deeply. "Katie, can I ask something? Who would be doing this to you?"
I stared at the floor, "I don't know." 
"Do you have any clues? Does anyone have a grudge on you?" 
"I don't know!" I replied. "I just want it to end." I covered my ears in frustration. "I'm just so sick of this. I want it to end."
We got silent for a moment. "But the detective thinks it might be you." I continued. 
"What?!" He yelled in shock.
"Don't worry, I know it's not you." 
"Who is this detective??"
"His name is Eugene. He asked me a few questions a few times." 
"Why does he suspect me?" 
Kai was weirdly getting freaked out.
"He's crazy."
"Does he know Julie's death wasn't an accident? Does he know about the riddles?" 
"He thinks Julie's death was murder. And no, he doesn't know about the riddles. But I'm thinking about telling him." 
"No!" Kai yelled. "You shouldn't tell him!" 
"Why?" 
"It's not safe! What if the culprit comes after you? We can't risk that!" 
"There is no guarantee that the culprit will."
"It's still too risky!" he yelled. 
"I don't care if it's risky. I don't want anyone else to die! Julie is enough." 
"WHAT IF YOU DIE?!" he yelled. 
"It doesn't really matter, as long as nobody else gets hurt." 
"I'LL GET HURT! IF YOUR GONE, I'LL GET HURT! I CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN." Kai left the rooftop in rage. He slammed the door behind him. 
I was still in my place in shock, unable to process what just happened. 

Whenever I tried to put my attention on the riddle, I would think about the odd reactions of May instead. What was that about? I thought.

"May, I think I know why you were acting strange." 
May jumped from her seat, shivering. "W-what? I'm not acting st-strange."
"Don't worry! I won't tell anyone!" I then leaned closer to her ear and whispered, "You don't want people to know that you wear glasses. Am I correct?" 
May was surprised, "What?" She then changed her reaction, "OH, YES! That's the reason!" She said.

I wasn't expecting May's reaction to be like that. Was I wrong somehow?
Whenever I glimpsed at Kai, I would see him look away. He was probably mad at me for the conversation on the rooftop. He didn't talk to me for the rest of the day. But was it normal for his reaction to be that way?

"I'm home!" 
There was no answer, Looks like I made it back before everyone else. I'll take a nap. 
I couldn't fall asleep. All I was thinking about was the riddle, my fight with Kai, and May's odd acting. 

"Katie! Dinner is ready!" Lena told me to wake me up. 
"Just a few more minutes." 
"No, I made dinner! come on, get up!" 
"Okay, I'll get up in a moment," I said while I was still in bed.
Lena pulled my blanket and slid me off of my bed. "come on, get up now!"
"You're annoying! Stop!" I said.
I was still lying on the floor, sleeping. 
"That's it!" Lena grabbed me and dragged me downstairs. 
It was painful; whenever we went down a step, my body would jump.  
"Okay! Okay! I'll go down on my own!!" I yelled in pain. 

We had dinner, and Lena's cooking wasn't bad. She was so proud of herself and happy that she made dinner. After I finished up my plate, I went to bed because I was still exhausted. I was still stressed about the riddle, but I was too out of energy to solve it. 

-End of Chapter-