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CHAPTER 23 ¬ THE FORBIDDEN DOOR

NOW PLAYING: PROMISCUOUS - NELLY FURTADO FT. TIMBALAND

"What are we doing here?" Tay asked in confusion while hiding their faces behind the leather menu folder.

"Ssssh, Tay. I'm observing him." Anna said, busy looking at someone.

Tay roamed her eyes around the restaurant. She sighed when she saw Orange Cassidy with Best friends and Kris Statlander having an afternoon snack together. They looked so genuinely happy. Something that Miro, Kip, and Penelope couldn't do.

"Bruh, I thought you are over with that Denim guy? Why are you still stalking him?!" Tay groaned.

"Who says he's the one I'm stalking?"

Tay gasped and a teasing smirk appeared across her face seeing Sammy Guevara, Santana, and Ortiz on the other table, doing a serious conversation.

"How do you know he's here?"

"He informed me," Anna replied without looking, which made Tay chuckle softly.

"Stalking will not do anything. Here's what should we do." Tay waved her hands and shouted, "HEY, GUYS! You're here, too?! Wow! What a coincidence!"

"Goddamnit!" Anna buried her face on her palm when Tay caught Santana, Ortiz, and Sammy's attention. Sammy quickly approached her at their table.

"Anna, did you follow me here?" Sammy furrowed his brows.

"What? Goodness, no." She denied and combed her long brown hair.

"I don't wanna be the third wheeler so I'll just order a juice." Tay smiled and walks away. Sammy waved his hand and sat next to Anna.

"Hey, I have no plans tonight, sooo...."

"So?" Anna said, blowing her new polished purple nails, playing innocent.

"I don't wanna feel lonely....so....." A smirk grew on his face, "...Can I invite your friend?"

Anna raised her brows, trying to remain cool, "Why don't you ask her yourself. I'm not a goddamn messenger, Guevara."

Sammy chuckled, mesmerizing her beauty of a Geek Goddess. "As much as I want to stay beside for a little longer, Santana, Ortiz, and I need to talk about something really important. I'll see you tonight. Daily's Place. Seven PM sharp. I'll wait for you."

Anna rolled her eyes but eventually smiles.

Kenny took off his contact lens and put it back on its case. He looked at the mirror and admire his fresh face. His rest is his preparation for tomorrow's final battle. With his power, he's confident enough to capture the number one spot.

Kenny was all alone in the dorm since the Young Bucks visited their parents in the mansion. Cody offered all the members of the class of elite a new big, fancy, and elevated room, a hundred times better than their current room. Some accepted it but Kenny preferred sharing a room with his friends.

"I can't wait for Justin Roberts to announce, 'Kenny Omega is your winner'." Kenny confidently smirked.

*THE ELITE...THE--THE ELITE....*

He turned on head around when he heard the doorbell ring.

"Too goddamn early! I thought you guys are coming back at 11 PM?" Kenny yelled, pertaining to the Jackson brothers, and unlocked the door.

Kenny furrowed his brows when the door ejected someone he didn't expect to see, "Riho?"

"HUHUHUHU" She's crying. "Kenny, I don't know what to do...."

"Tell me what happened?" Were the words came out from his mouth.

"Nyla and Shida got into a fight. I'm afraid to go home. I don't know who's I'm going to side with. I have nowhere to go." She sobbed, wiping her tears from the corner of her eyes. "Can I stay here for a while?"

Kenny scratched his head and opened the door widely, "...Okay..."

He went to the kitchen to prepare some coffee for the Japanese lady while Riho sat on the couch, trying to remain calm.

"I envy everyone. I keep asking why my power can't do anything. My power is useless. It couldn't even bring Nyla and Shida back to peace." She frowned, sounded so disappointed.

"Your power's not useless," Kenny said while waiting for the coffee blender.

"I'm a weak person, Kenny. I can't do the things you guys can do. In terms of education, combat fighting...it's pointless. My power made me so weak." Riho ranted over again and again.

"Your power is actually good and unique. What are you talking about?" Kenny chuckled. "You can change the weather. That is something no one can do, except you."

"Unlike Hangman's, you don't need to write someone's name on the paper. Unlike Cassidy's, you don't need to drink juice to possess your power. Unlike Britt, you don't need to touch the object to activate your ability and that makes your power unique and amazing." He added and handed her a cup of Cappuccino, trying to cheer her up.

"What about you? You don't need a thing to access your power, right?"

"I....I actually have." Kenny said and sat on the other couch.

"You have? Do you write your target's name on a piece of paper, too?" Riho curiously asked.

"Um no. I only need to stare at them, with the help of my...."

"Your what?"

"Nevermind. It doesn't have any relevancy in our topic, anyway." Kenny gave her a small smile.

"Come on, Ken. I know you use pen and paper like hangman's power. Don't deny it." She sips on her coffee.

"No. I actually need my contact lens. I have poor eyesight, I can't see around me clearly."

"Oh! That's why I saw you wearing it before you guys go head to head against the Red peacocks. TJP must be really pissed about it. Wait, Are you wearing them right now?" Riho asked as she crawled closer to Kenny.

Kenny stood up immediately as he felt uncomfortable, "N-no."

Riho blinked and rummaged from her bag, "Hey, I brought something."

She handed Kenny a tumbler of juice. "It's homemade. I would like to send it to Nyla and Shida to cool their heads off. Maybe my juice could bring our cracked friendship back to where it used to be. But I don't know if they would like it. Can you drink it? And tell me how does it taste?"

Kenny nodded and drinks the juice, "It's pretty good only if you add more sugar on it."

"Oh, okay. I will. Thanks." Riho smiled and stared at him for a minute longer.

"Why? Is something wrong?" Kenny asked with furrowed brows.

"Oh, I just envy you." Riho sighed. "Your ability is too powerful. I wish I had an ability like that. Anyway, Goodluck tomorrow. I hope you beat number one ranked student to achieve your goal." She smiled without taking her eyes off him.

"Of course I could. I am Kenny Omega, tho. The greatest player in the....shit....why am I feeling...dizzy....." Kenny stumbled on the floor. Before his eyes were fully closed, he saw Riho still staring at him.

After Sammy and Anna took dinner in a fancy restaurant, they went to the park. While walking on the grass, greener than your mind, Sammy was enjoying telling her some corny shooting star jokes until she asked something.

"Guevara, out of billion people in this world, why do you chose me?"

Sammy slowly turned his head around to her and chuckled, "Do I need to answer that, my lady?"

"After I ghosted you because of boredom, why is it still me?" Anna curiously asked as she examined his face.

Sammy flashed a small smile and pointed to the skies, "Every time I looked up there, I see countless stars in the sky. All of them are beautiful in their own different ways. But only one shines through my heart..."

Sammy looked at her and held her chin, "...and that is you."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes as their lips collide. His impact and love for her increasing the levels of her serotonin. It just feels so good.

The fact that Sammy still accepted her after what she did to him melted her heart. She never felt this feeling before in her whole life. Aside from Tay, he's the only person who made her feel she can be accepted and loved despite her flaws. A comeback is always indeed stronger than a setback.

She is the star in his life.

Back on Kenny Omega's, the main character in the story, journey, he enlarges his eyes and realizes he fell asleep on the couch. He immediatelysearched every part of the dorm to check on Riho but she's nowhere to be found.

"Riho?" He called out but no one answered. Then something hits him as he quickly opened the most important drawer.

Clenching his fists, his face became crooked after he found out his contact lens is missing. No, after he found out his eye contact lens was stolen.

On the same night, holding Kenny's contact lens case, Riho was skipping around on her way and knocked on someone's dorm.

The door was opened and it ejected a guy wearing a big jerkass smirk.

"I honestly didn't expect you would do this to him."

"I told you. I hate Kenny so much. He's naive and too dumb." Riho threw the case on him. "He's too dumb for dumping me."

"Hate is a strong word, dear." He chuckled.

Riho threw herself on the couch and licked her lollipop. "Now, embarrass him tomorrow and make sure he will lose. He needs to suffer. He needs to experience the emotional pain I suffered."

"That's my plan. You don't need to remind me that. The fact that he lost his passport to access his power, I could already guarantee that I will retain my number one spot tomorrow."

Riho clapped her hands and proudly looked at him.

He flashed a confident smile at the contact lens, "I told you, Kenny 'By God' Omega, I'm better than you and you know it."

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