There's a trick to dealing with loners that I learned from being one. It's to deal with them in secret where no one can see you.

The reasoning behind it is simple. The minute you do something flashy, it causes attention that will lead to misunderstood scenarios. You must take the greatest care in order to prevent people from talking behind the loner's back.

"Distract the five of them somehow. I don't really care how," I tell Thalia simply. I point at the group of five who participate in Serenity's hazing. If those five are watching, then any advances I try to make to gather information would lead to collateral damage that I don't want to clean up.

"You're taking this rather seriously," Thalia comments as a reply. I sigh, shaking my head. I look back to her with a glare. See, she's interpreting my swiftness with seriousness. In all honesty, I'm as serious as a Munna trying to stay awake.

"You'd be surprised what people can do when their backs are to a wall," I tell her. I wave my hand, shooing her away. Time isn't really of the essence, but I do want to get all of this over with as soon as I can.

With a resigning shrug, Thalia gets up and moves towards the group of five which I have personally codenamed The Clique. I watch silently as she weaves through the maze of chairs and tables. I tap my left index finger as I try to formulate an actual plan to coerce Serenity into, at the very least, explain what her problem is. The less I have to physically do is ideal.

Laziness does trump the potential of people.

I look over at the wall. Any ideas? I ask it silently in my head. See, people think you're insane if you talk to walls aloud. But in your mind, you're usually safe.

Usually.

I glance back over at Thalia...

...where I see her talking to Serenity?

"Thalia! What are you doing...!" I gasp silently, gritting my teeth. Why would she approach Serenity so brazenly? That blatantly goes against what I asked her to do. I try to get up to stop her, but I know that only brings more attention to Serenity or myself.

All I can do is wait and hope either of them makes the right choice.

"Hey! How are you doing?" Thalia asks Serenity, waving her hand hello. Serenity looks up at her cautiously. Like a scared Bunnelby, Serenity's eyes dart from Thalia to the table and at her surroundings. Anyone could predict this would happen. Introverted people are introverted for a reason. Dealing with people sure isn't their specialty.

"Hello?" Thalia says loudly. She waves a hand in front of Serenity's face. As if Serenity didn't hear you Thalia. Can't you take a hint? She can't talk even if she wants to. I can tell you right now she doesn't want to.

"I need to go to the bathroom..." Serenity says curtly. She then stands straight up and looks at Thalia for maybe half a second. She wrinkles her nose as she darts for the public restroom. I hear snickers from The Clique in the near distance. Despite this, I nod in approval of Serenity's actions.

See, a strategic retreat is a good response. If you respond happily, people will just think you're showing off. If you respond brusquely, people will still think you're showing off. It's practically a lose-lose situation. It goes back to what I say: discuss things with loners with as much privacy as possible.

Perfect time for me to swoop in. No need to question me here. Just a random guy following a school girl going to the bathroom. Nothing suspicious here at all.

I ignore the scene in my head where I'm a rough courtroom sketch and being publicized on television. Getting out of debt as fast and efficiently as possible is priority. Getting caught in a scandal is not.

I use my special technique that lowers my presence (also known as moving quietly and naturally) as I close in on the target. I watch as Serenity disappears around a blind corner that leads to the halls where the public restrooms are. I'm certain I can attain privacy there, save for a wandering passerby and potentially security cameras contributing as evidence in my court case.

I take a deep breath trying appear as casual as possible. I toss on a poker face. I slip my hands halfway into my pants pockets. I relax my shoulders. I slide my fingers through my hair one last time. With a final exhale through my mouth, I walk up and turn the corner into the hall.

To my surprise, Serenity is there waiting for me.

"If you're going to keep following me, I'm going to scream," she murmurs quietly as she glares at me. Her furrowed expression is a mixture of shy and serious. Loners tend to be bold if they sense their solitude being compromised. I bet you can guess how I know that.

"Don't threaten me like I want to actually talk to you. I'm doing this for my own wellbeing," I scoff at her. I put my hands to my hips for extra dramatic measure. She turns away in response, her hair basically whipping my face. Rude? Not necessarily. More like not adept at expressing herself.

"Well, it doesn't help my wellbeing. So go away," she replies, turned the other way. She proceeds down the hall.

This doesn't look too good, does it? On the contrary though, I know it's actually more ideal than it appears to be.

"I have a plan to take care of them. Don't you worry," I tell her simply. She stops in her tracks. She looks back to me, turning on her head halfway towards me. All I can see is her left eye as it doesn't even look in my direction. I can only assume it's so her left ear could hear me clearer.

"Serve it cold," she replies. She continues walking on and takes a right, opening the door to what I assume is the bathroom. I nod to her response as I lean back on my heels. Those three words are my green light to finally even out the odds for the loners out there in the world.

I walk back from the hall as casual as I walked in earlier. I scan the scene. I spot Thalia walking towards the Striaton Bar portion of the building through the hall connecting to the Restaurant. A perfect time to intercept her...

...which is the complete opposite of what I do. I silently observe her go into the realm of the brothers I don't want to meet. Perfect time to slip away, I know.

Telling Thalia my plot will only hinder its success. You'd think that briefing her would prevent her from ruining it. You'd think that saying something would help avoid dire interruptions.

You'd be surprised.

I Combee-line to the exit. The wooden double doors that are the entrances to this world are luckily also the exits. The red glowing EXIT sign above the door agrees with my metaphor. As I walk out, ignoring the pleasantries and departing thanks for visiting! phrases, I realize just how early it still is.

I already have most of it figured out. And with...time to spare? This isn't how it's supposed to go. I should finish it with almost precise timing to keep the suspense. I should have coincidentally well-timed epiphanies that come right when I need them to.

I guess the world isn't as magically orchestrated as we make it out to be.

My pace slows to a stroll. As the chill of a blustering squall runs through my clothes and hair, I realize I have nothing planned for the rest of the day. Sounds like the usual for me.

Resigning to boredom, I make my way home. I decide to take the long way around instead of cutting through the alley. You never know what idiot might lose their wedding ring there.

As I pass the buildings again, I pull out a ball. This time, it happens to be Emy. I shrug and release him from his plastic prison with the press of a button. I look down at him, his colored feathers contrasting with the bland sidewalk, where I see he's...glaring at me?

"Arch!" he squawks fiercely. I look at him blankly. He has a concerning expression as if he's scolding me about something. I bet he feels he has some sort of authority being prehistoric.

"What do you want?" I ask him, my tone angry from Emy's unwarranted outburst. His left wing with a claw moves, pointing at his left eye.

In that instant, I feel the sharp pain from my retinas throb the inside of my head. I pinch my eyes slightly, trying to massage the pain away. It feels as if someone is hammering the back of my eyes.

"Emy...if you're still concerned about my eyes, it's fine. It's too late to go back. And frankly, despite the pain, it keeps me sane," I explain to him. Even though I'm merely assuming he's feeling compassionate. He is a bird. He was a fossil. Do they even feel compassion?

The throbbing becomes bearable soon after. I realize my feathered friend almost dredged up old memories that I didn't want resurfacing. With a simple press of the same button, he's returned to his capsule.

With that, I end the night on a less pathetic note. Tomorrow is the day where I finally execute. And hopefully it's a step closer to the day I won't have that insane debt looming over my head.