LOKI

THANKS TO my mom's phone call, I was unusually early today. While most students go straight to their classrooms when they arrive at school, I don't. I always drop by the clubroom first before going anywhere else. That's been my routine since I started the club.

When I was only a few steps away from the high school building, my eyes looked up at the windows of the third floor. My focus was on the ones to the farthest right. They were open. I remember closing them yesterday. Someone might already be there this early.

There was something else. A small piece of paper landed on my head. Curious, I checked what's written on it, but surprisingly it's blank. More pieces rained down on the pavement. Some students started picking them up. I crumpled the piece in my hand and threw it away. There's an anti-littering rule on the campus, but no one's looking anyway.

Enough with the distraction. I walked into the building, leaving behind the students wondering where the pieces of paper came from. On my way to the stairs, I saw two of my classmates skipping down. They greeted me "hi!" and I only nodded in response.

Was I expecting them to greet me with "happy birthday"? No, of course. I ensured that no one in this school knows my birthday. Except for the school registrar who keeps my official records. I remember one of my classmates forced me to fill out a slam book entry. I begrudgingly did and wrote "February 30" as my date of birth. The fool never noticed it.

I hid my birth date on my social media accounts so my virtual friends wouldn't be notified. Isn't it such a shame that people are reminded about someone's birthday thanks to Facebook? The greetings would always sound forced and insincere. "I forgot about your birthday, so I'm only greeting you because Facebook reminded me."

Thanks to that strategy, I also escaped the awkward moments in class. Imagine yourself going into your classroom, then everyone starts singing "happy birthday." That's gonna be unpleasant. Should I sing with them, clap with them or stare at them uncomfortably? As much as possible, I'd like to avoid those embarrassing scenarios.

My clubroom was located on the third floor of the high school building. The room number is 315, the farthest one on this floor. I initially hoped that they would give us a room on the second floor and near the stairs. For accessibility reasons, obviously. Climbing to the third floor and walking for another minute or two to reach the clubroom takes too much effort, especially for me.

I stopped before the door and held the knob. The clubroom is my sanctum sanctorum. This is the only place on the campus where I feel comfortable. I heard a gentle voice coming from the inside. Looked like my other member was already here. She must be the one who opened the windows.

"Gaano ho ba katagal? Hindi naman ho siguro male-late, 'no?" A young woman was speaking over the phone. When the door creaked open and my footsteps followed, her shoulders jerked upward as she turned in my direction.

"Nagulat ba kita?" I asked. Wait, that was a dumb question. She was startled. Since I'm the club president, I didn't have to knock on the door. I could go straight in without any warning. Maybe she wasn't expecting me to come this early. I normally arrive ten minutes before the school bell rings.

"N-Not really!" She smiled at me as she put her phone down on the table, screen facing up. "Ang aga mo yata ngayon, ah? Is there anything special today?"

"Nothing." I went straight to my swivel chair and tossed my bag on the floor. The clock display on her phone showed me that it's only six-thirty in the morning.

Meet my only member: Rhiannon delos Reyes. Or as she requested to be called, "Rhea." I've seen appealing faces around the campus. Most were forgettable, but hers was memorable. Was it because of the braided hair that was always hanging over her left shoulder? Or was it because of her potential to be a detective that gave her a pass to be part of my club?

Last academic year, I submitted a request to form a club. I chose to name it the "QED Club," after the Latin phrase "quod erat demonstrandum." What does it mean, you ask? "That which was to be demonstrated." It's a notation placed at the end of a mathematical proof. You write all your arguments and you put "QED" at the end.

In layman's terms, QED means you've proven something. When I was thinking of a club name, I saw the parallel between solving mathematical problems and solving cases. That's exactly why I chose those three letters as the name of my club. Whenever I solve and close a case, that means I've proven something. Fits perfectly, right?

In the beginning, I had two other students on the official member list. But they were only dummies. For my club to be legitimate, it must have at least three members. The Office of Student Affairs director told me that we can't call a club a club if there's only one member in it.

Unfortunately, no one else wanted to be part of the thrill of being a detective, so I chose two schoolmates vulnerable to blackmailing threats. I didn't want to force students to do something against their will, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I kindly asked them to join the club, and they did. Once I got the OSA approval, I immediately kicked them out. Unofficially, of course.

I seriously thought I would be forever alone in this club. No one shared the same enthusiasm that I had for mysteries. But a plot twist happened. Thanks to a certain case, which I might tell one day, Rhea was led to the doorsteps of the QED Club.

"May ini-investigate ka bang case kaya maaga ka ngayong Tuesday?" Rhea asked.

I shook my head. "Today is just an ordinary day. Maaga lang akong nagising kaya maaga rin akong pumasok. There's nothing with that, is there?"

She furrowed her eyebrows and stared at me for a few seconds. Why was she looking at me suspiciously? "Sa tingin ko, meron. You always come to the clubroom ten to fifteen minutes before the homeroom period. Today you came in around forty minutes before the school bell rings. Hindi ikaw ang tipo ng tao na magbe-break sa nakasanayan mong routine. There's an inconsistency in the pattern, therefore something's up."

I reclined in my swivel chair as I watched her shoot me with her deductions. I was kinda amazed that she was taking note of the times that I went into this clubroom. "Let's assume for the sake of discussion that you're correct. What do you think is that something?"

"A case?" she replied in a not so confident tone. "'Yon lang kasi ang makapagmo-motivate sa 'yo na pumasok nang maaga. Since you denied it, wala na akong ibang reason na maisip. Why else will you be at school this early?"

"Maybe there's no reason for me being here at six-twenty," I said. "Baka nagising ako ng maaga tapos naisipan kong pumasok nang maaga. Not every break in the pattern means something."

"You taught me to always look for inconsistencies—"

"Which may or may not mean anything," I cut her off. "Kagaya sa sitwasyong ito. I don't have any particular reason to be here by this time, but here I am."

"Akala ko'y may something special ngayong araw kaya ka maaga."

Even my partner here in the club seemed to not know about my birthday. Was I disappointed? Not at all. There's no way for her to know about it anyway. I never share anything personal with her or with anyone in this school. It's probably best to keep it that way.

Since it's still early for me to go to the classroom and see the punchable faces of my classmates, I chose to kill time by reading that Agatha Christie book that I brought from the apartment. Rhea and I had nothing to discuss anyway. I don't expect any clients to be knocking on our door this early.

"Napansin mo rin ba 'yong mga blangkong papel na pakalat-kalat sa campus?" she asked out of the blue.

One thing I do not like was being interrupted while I was reading. But her out of nowhere question might lead to something interesting so I lowered the book to catch a glimpse of her. She showed me a piece of paper resting on her palm. That looked similar to the one that landed on my head when I was on my way here.

"Yes. May nakita nga akong papel na ganyan sa labas ng school building kaninang pumasok ako."

"Aren't you wondering kung bakit may mga ganitong kalat?" she asked next. Her hazel-brown eyes closely surveyed the paper. "Maybe this is just my gut feeling, but I believe that there's something in this thing."

"Someone might have accidentally lost hold of those pieces of paper, and they got blown by a strong gust of wind." That's the simplest explanation I could think of. Sometimes, the simplest explanation is the answer. Also, it was kinda windy and chilly today, thanks to the northeast monsoon.

"Hmm..." Rhea reclined in her seat. Why was she taking that paper incident so seriously? "Maybe you're right. Baka may naggupit ng mga papel tapos nabitawan niya. Nilipad tuloy ng hangin kaya biglang nagkalat sa campus."

"Precisely." I nodded. She should not think too much about it. While she may be curious about that incident, she must not give meaning to something that doesn't have any meaning at all.

My eyes landed on the book again as I turned it to the next page. Since the issue's settled already, I could read in peace.

"By the way, nag-breakfast ka na ba?" she asked. She's always asking me that question every day. It became as frequent as her good morning greeting.

"Nope," I said with emphasis on the "p" sound at the end. And that's the response I was always giving her. "I wasn't in the mood to eat anything this early."

"Here."

My eyes flicked up and noticed her right hand holding a sandwich extended to me. I stared at the food for five seconds before turning my gaze on her. "What's that?"

"A sandwich," she answered. I know that it's a sandwich. I could see it with my own eyes. "For you."

"For me? Why?" My eyes narrowed into slits as my eyebrows furrowed. "Is it my birthday?"

"No, but I want you to have it." She pushed the sandwich in my direction. "And eat it."

"I told you, I'm not in the mood to eat anything." I went back to reading.

But Rhea wouldn't easily give up. She slapped her hand down on my book and shoved the sandwich closer to my face. "You have to eat something! Ewan ko kung napansin mo, pero tuwing dumarating ka rito sa clubroom, lagi kong tinatanong kung kumain ka na ba ng breakfast."

That didn't escape my notice. "And? Does that suppose to have any significance?"

"Twenty out of twenty, ang sagot mo'y laging hindi ka pa kumain ng breakfast bago pumasok sa school," she recalled. "Alam kong alam mo na breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It jumpstarts your metabolism and gives you energy! So why skip it?"

I wasn't honestly expecting that she'd be counting the times that I answered "no" to that question.

"I appreciate your effort, but no thanks." I forced an awkward smile and slowly raised the book. I had to use the novel as my shield from her. Why were we having this conversation? I prefer the one about the scattered pieces of paper instead of the breakfast talks.

But Rhea lowered the book again, smiling at me as her face came into my peripheral view. This time, she leaned forward to me, her hand almost pushing the sandwich to my lips. "Eat it."

"Nope."

"I said, eat it."

"What part of 'nope' don't you understand?"

"EAT IT!"

I sighed. She sometimes scares the hell out of me. I grabbed the sandwich from her hand and took a huge bite just to satisfy her. Well, the sandwich tasted good. The ham and cheese blended well with the egg. The mayo wasn't too much.

Still smiling, she took another sandwich from her bag and ate it too. We enjoyed our morning snacks in silence. This felt like being on a picnic, but not in an open field.

This wasn't the first time she forced to feed me. I don't have a sister. I only have a brother who must be thinking of how he'd dominate the world this early.

Rhea's acting like a big sister that I never had. She always tells me to eat on time, to attend my classes punctually and actually listen to my instructors, and to be—how should I say it?—gentler when dealing with other people.

We were halfway through our morning sandwiches when we heard knocks on the door. I wiped my mouth clean just in case that's a client asking for our help. I couldn't let anyone see me with mayo on my lips.

The door swung open and a short-haired, bespectacled young woman entered the room. The lenses of her eyeglasses shone as the light from outside struck on them. My shoulders relaxed as I recognized the familiar face.

"Maggie!" Rhea called her.

"Mukhang may sandwich party kayo ngayong umaga, ah? Do you mind if I join you?" Maggie greeted. She touched the fringes that covered her forehead as if she became conscious about me looking at her bangs.

When I gave her a thumbs-up, she pulled one of the monobloc chairs and sat on it.

"So what do we owe the execom the pleasure?" I asked. With one last big bite, the sandwich was no more. I chewed it thoroughly and took a big gulp. "Hindi ka pupunta rito para mag-hello lang, tama?"

Margarette Fernandez, or Maggie, isn't the type of person who would drop by in our clubroom for a chit-chat. As the vice-chairperson of the student executive committee, the right-hand people of the all-powerful student council, she must have something for us. A case, perhaps? That would be a good birthday gift.

She is a good friend of Rhea. Very good one. She's like a sister to her, my partner told me. Given the potential danger that follows our calling as high school detectives like a shadow, Maggie warned me that should something bad happen to her best friend, she's not gonna forgive me. Ever.

What an exaggeration. I didn't promise anything to her, because I believed that day wouldn't come.

"Very perceptive as always." Maggie rested her elbows on the table. "I'm not sure if you've noticed it, but—"

"There are blank pieces of paper all over the campus this morning," I cut her words short, wiping the grease off my fingers. I said it like I was blurting a random trivia out of the blue.

Maggie's brows furrowed. She looked a little confused. "How did you kno—Nevermind." She stopped halfway as if she realized that was a stupid question. I couldn't blame her for thinking that way. She knew very well that my deductive prowess was beyond a boring student's way of thinking. She's no longer amazed by it.

I was not bragging. I was merely stating a fact.

"That's the only thing that might be of interest to you this early. Someone cut papers into pieces and they got scattered everywhere. So what's the big deal? Ayaw n'yo bang may nagkakalat sa campus?"

She pushed her eyeglasses up the bridge of her nose with an index finger. "Cleanliness is an issue, yes. But our chairman believes there's more to that littering issue than meets the eye."

"Oh, the execom chairman?" I scoffed. Someone's face came to mind. What a noble title for someone who wasn't noble enough. "You mean, my brother?"

Maggie nodded. "Naisip kasi ni Luthor na napaka-unusual ang dami ng mga nagkalat na papel sa campus. If there are only a few pieces, we can easily dismiss it as a simple incident of littering. But when we reported to him na hindi lang iilan ang mga piraso ng papel—as in sobrang daming nakakalat!—he wanted us to get to the bottom of this issue."

"Sabi ko na nga ba!" Rhea exclaimed. "Feeling ko talaga may meaning ang mga papel na 'yon."

As much as I wanted to dismiss this issue as not worth our time, Maggie made a valid point worth looking at. Rhea also sounded too interested in investigating the scattered paper incident.

"My brother does not strike me as someone who cares so much for the environment," I said. "But we might as well check it out."

"Even if he doesn't care about the environment, responsibilidad niya bilang student leader na panatilihin ang kalinisan at kaayusan sa campus. And he's taking that responsibility seriously," Maggie replied. I wasn't surprised that she came to my brother's defense. They were quite close. He's also her boss in the execom so expecting her to speak ill of him was unlikely. "Bakit ba parang wala kang bilib sa kuya mo?"

"Oo nga," Rhea jumped in. "Shouldn't you be proud of him? As the execom chairman, malaki ang contribution niya sa student body."

"Proud?" I sneered at that word. If Luthor had someones else as his younger brother instead of me, that might have been the case. Our relationship was, to put it mildly, slightly complicated. "I've known him longer than any of you or anyone in this school. I know what he's like and what he likes. If he's a staunch advocate of cleanliness, shouldn't he be cleaning the mess by himself?"

"Hindi na niya kailangang humawak ng dustpan at walis para ipakitang sinerseryoso niya ang kanyang trabaho," Maggie answered.

"What a shame." I clicked my tongue once. "That's gonna be a good campaign ad for the upcoming student elections, in case he's interested in running. Execom chair cleans up the mysterious mess! No other candidate would have thought of that stunt."

"Do you think he's gonna run for a higher office?" Rhea asked.

"He's already tasted the power of being the execom chairman. He might have become thirsty for more power. There's no way to go but up," I answered. Even if he runs for a higher position, I wouldn't vote for him anyway. So much for being a supportive brother, huh? "Why don't we ask Maggie here? She might have an idea of what my brother's future political ambitions are."

But she only looked at her wristwatch, completely ignoring my question. "We still have fifteen minutes before the school bell rings. Luthor is already in the execom office. Don't you wanna hear the request straight from the horse's mouth?"

I darted a glance at Rhea who looked back at me. She nodded.

"We have nothing better to do this morning anyway," I said, flicking my eyes toward Maggie. "And by the way, Luthor is not a horse. That's an insult to the mammals with hooves. Respeto naman sa mga kabayo."

"That's just a figure of speech," she replied.

"I know, but you could have used a more appropriate term than horse."

Rhea locked the clubroom and hung the "Detectives are out" sign on the door. We skipped down the stairs to reach the ground floor quickly and turned to the west wing of the building. I looked to my right, on the open field, and observed some students picking up pieces of paper on the ground.

The scattered paper incident was getting more curious. This was no longer an accident, but a deliberate act. But students had nothing to worry about anymore—if they're worrying at all. The QED Club is on the case.

q.e.d.

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