FIXated

The pen scratched in every stroke over the crisp sheets of paper from her notebook, jotting down the notes displayed on the board while at the same time listening to Ms. Alvarez’s explanations.

Sylvia glanced up once the presentation proceeded to the slide, quietly reading it. A sharp glint shone from the corner of her eye, tilting her head slightly to the side to check on it.

A huge camera lens peered at the edge of the doorway outside the classroom, and a set of fingers held the equipment tightly, adjusting the distance and tilting the camera into several angles.

Sylvia stared at it intently, her eyes squinting. Camera?

It was the type of camera used for professional shots, rather than the usual smartphone cameras students use for amateur photography. Sylvia got interested, raising her brow with a sly grin on her face. Aren’t those used only by the Journalism club?

Then, she turned, facing it head-on.

Once the picture had been captured with a soft click, Sylvia noticed the photographer’s hand flinched in surprise. The camera clumsily slipped out of its grip, almost dropping to the floor as fingers swooped in quickly to catch it.

Its hand trembled.

Afterwards, it retreated in a hurry.

The expression on Sylvia’s face darkened, biting the tip of her fingernails as the grin on her face widened. For me, huh? Now, that’s interesting. . .

The lunch bells resonated in the Academy’s long, empty hallways, sending the students into a frenzy as they began to burst out of the classrooms, rushing towards the cafeteria to take their fill.

Along the corridors where clubrooms were situated, the lights in the Journalism club lit up as the door slid open before sets of footsteps entered.

“Heya, gege.” Emma greeted with a playful chuckle, waving her hands at the sole student in the room, sitting behind the desk with a surprised look on his face.

“W-what are you girls doing here?” His voice trembled.

After Emma entered, Sylvia stepped inside, flicking her orange locks into the air. Right behind her, Tanya followed suit, looming above with her arms crossed over her chest. The door slammed shut, locking it.

“We are just here to check on some things,” Sylvia replied, leaning her weight against the desk. “You don’t mind us staying here, right?”

The man shook his head, slowly backing away to create distance between them. Sylvia smiled at him before motioning her fingers to the two girls standing beside her.

“Go on.” She commanded.

Emma excitedly squealed, running towards the pile of boxes, while Tanya walked briskly, skimming through the shelves around the room. The two began rummaging through the place, tossing boxes aside and scattering documents all over the floor.

“Oh, found it!” Emma exclaimed, grabbing another box full of DSLR cameras. The box landed on the floor with a loud thud as she dropped it. Then, they began to huddle around it, bending over to fish a piece of equipment, checking the photo gallery one by one, only to find it empty.

“These are all empty.” Tanya huffed, opening the SD card slots, tapping it on her hand. Nothing came out.

Sylvia immediately turned her attention to the club member as she asked. “Where is it?”

“W-what are you looking for?”

“The SD cards,” Sylvia repeated, rolling her eyes. “What else?”

The man scratched the back of his head, nervously smiling. “Ah… umm… It’s being processed… You know… getting printed in the library hall.”

“Huh. Really now?” Sylvia sighed, shaking her head in disbelief.

Then, she straightened herself up before exiting towards the door. The two immediately followed right behind her, leaving the mess in the clubroom.

Their footsteps hurriedly paced through the halls, walking side by side in confident strides as they headed towards the library hall. Students along the hallways huddled to the sides, paving the way for them as they passed by.

“Pfft. A while ago… I did notice someone lurking around the corridors during class hours.” Emma remarked, walking briskly right beside them as she continued.

“And then, I heard a snap!”

“Ugh. Same.” Tanya huffed. “I would’ve kicked him in the ass if I caught him.”

“Who do you think it is, jiejie?”

Sylvia didn’t blink or stop to catch her breath. Her pace continued evenly. “We’ll have to find out.”

Just a few blocks away from the library, the group took a sharp turn towards the corner of the hall and collided with another student carrying a pile of boxes. He stumbled on his feet, throwing the box into the air.

The contents inside it flew up as storage cards flung out, spreading all over the corridor’s floor, and photos descended from above like fallen leaves, settling gently on the tiles.

“W-whoa!” Emma exclaimed in awe before picking some pictures and tossing them back in the air with a carefree laugh.

The guy fell butt-first to the floor, plopping hard against the cold tiles as he winced in pain. As he looked up, his breath hitched, and his hands trembled, seeing the three girls, standing in front of him, unbothered.

Tanya stepped forward with a glare on her face. “Watch where you’re going, idiot.”

“S-sorry. I-I wasn’t lookin—”

“That’s not enough.” She insisted.

While Tanya confronted the man, scolding and reprimanding him, he began to apologize profusely and grovel on his knees, hoping to appease her.

On the other hand, Sylvia bent over on her knees, crouching on the ground. She noticed a certain picture among the pile and carefully picked it up. It was a photo of the garden scene with her and Raphael in an intimate position.

Her eyes widened.

Oh? How do they have this?

“Tanya-jie! Sylvia-jie!” Emma called out.

Sylvia turned her head to the side, seeing Emma approaching her with another photo in hand, waving it excitedly before presenting it— a photo of Adrian, being poured a drink all over him.

“Lookie~ Isn’t this from a while ago?”

“Ah, it is….” Tanya came over, hovering above and confirming with a nod.

Sylvia squinted her eyes, staring at it while thinking deeply. Something isn’t right…. Could it be—?

Then, her lashes flicked, turning her gaze towards where the male student had been positioned, only to see him gain distance across the hall, crawling on all fours and sneaking away from them to escape.

She heaved a deep sigh. Her voice lowered in a command. “Tanya.”

Without hesitation, Tanya moved, her heels clicking against the tiled floors in succession with each step as she began sprinting across the hall.

She was fast and agile.

In a few seconds, she reached him, grabbing the back collar of his shirt. The man flinched and screamed upon feeling her grip tighten, pulling back on the ground and dragging him across the floor.

“Ah—! Let go of me!” He cried.

“Get back here.” Tanya glared, yanking him hard enough to suppress his screams as he writhed, clawing the buttons of his shirt.

“Ack—!”

Sylvia made a wide grin on her face upon seeing Tanya walking back, bringing him to her like a freshly caught kill.

“As requested, here.” Tanya bluntly stated, throwing him to the ground as he skidded on the floor, stopping right beneath Sylvia’s skirt.

He coughed while catching his breath before looking up to meet Sylvia’s green irises, staring down on him.

“My…my… gege, you think you could escape, huh?” Emma appeared, peering behind Sylvia’s shoulder, mocking him with a chuckle.

“Hmm…I got questions for you.” Sylvia cooed softly, her fingers caressing the cheeks on his face. The skin trembled from her touch as he whimpered, shutting his eyes tight. Her fingers traced down to his throat, feeling it swallow a lump.

“Are you the one who took these photos?”

A short pause.

“N-no. No. It wasn’t me.”

“Then, who?”

She maintained her gaze on him, but he kept his eyes shut, shaking his head in denial. That made Sylvia huff in disbelief, motioning to Tanya to come forward.

“Tanya. He’s stubborn...” She ordered. “Do it.”

His eyes shot open as soon as Tanya stomped hard in between his thighs, followed by his ear-retching screech. Laughter filled the place as Emma leaned in closer, watching his reaction with delight.

“Ahh~ gege. That must hurt a lot.” Emma remarked with a mischievous smile.

“Now, speak up,” Tanya demanded, deliberately grinding her shoes against him.

“Ahh! I-I really don’t know….” He winced once more, still denying, but the look on Sylvia’s face made his shoulders tense up. He gritted his teeth before finally convincing himself to admit.

“F-fine. These photos came from anyone in the journalism club and from the photography class.”

“Oh, oh!” Emma interjected, excitedly raising her hand before Sylvia let her speak. “I heard about the voluntary contribution for the Academy’s collage display at the end of the week.”

“Y-yeah, that.” The man quickly agreed. “Just so ya know… these still need to be sorted.”

“Oh? I see…” Sylvia was surprised, her brow raised. “Then, we’ll confiscate these for the meantime until you figure out who submitted these.”

“W-what— you can’t do that! We need those!”

Sylvia ignored him as she turned towards Emma. “Get all the pictures.”

“O-kay~ jiejie~” Emma obliged, picking everything up on the ground and stashing it inside the box while humming happily. Meanwhile, Tanya held the man down, pinning him to the floor.

Once they had collected all the photos and SD cards littered all over the place, Sylvia stood up, smiling at the man before taking her leave. Emma walked right next to her, with her tongue sticking out, mocking him, while carrying the boxes in her arms.

“You'd better do what she says. Understood?” Tanya warned.

Her arms still pressed him down on the ground until she could see him agree with a nod. Once he did, she released her grip, standing upright to dust herself off before catching up with the group.

Their heels clicked hard on the surface, echoing in the halls before slowly disappearing into the distance.