I gazed out the window from my desk, and in deep thought I asked myself 'What the hell am I doing here?' For some reason, I came to school two hours early, so now I'm sitting in an empty classroom with boredom. Mentally slapping myself, I was reminded of why I sat there: So that I didn't have to walk to school with Drake and Elliot. Due to my lack of being able to keep secrets, I get extremely nervous around Drake now. As for Elliot, he harrassed me all day yesterday, making me lose my peaceful Sunday; I had no intention of spending time with him today. He's like a psycho fangirl that won't leave me alone. Drake and Elliot hardly ever talk to one another, so I hope they enjoy each others' company because I won't be there anytime soon.

In the midst of my recognition, a loud bang was heard, coming from the classroom's door. Of course, I went to go check out what made the sound of a beanbag hitting a wall. Ever so carefully, I opened the door and saw Iden lying on the floor, looking like he passed out cold. So, like a caring friend, I thought, 'Nuh-uh. I'm not dealing with crazy stuff like this. Today is not the day.' Thus, creaking the door shut once more.

Waiting by the door for about five minutes, I got worried because, I mean, if you see you're childhood friend on the ground and it sounds like he hasn't moved at all for the past 300 seconds, you're going to be worried. Plus, I felt like a dirtbag for not doing anything but standing in place. Again, I opened the door... but the body was gone.

Crap.

There I went, bolting down the halls and peeking through classrom windows to see if he was in any of them. I literally passed twenty classrooms, but there was no sign of him anywhere. So, I figured that he was at the infirmary. Hurriedly making my way to it, I entered. The nurse asked me what I was doing there, but I just looked around, saw that he wasn't there, and left without saying a word. I'm not sure if I was being rude or liked to leave people in confusion. Maybe a little bit of both.

With that, I continued my search. Turning the corner, I crashed into someone and fell backwards. My mind screamed "Iden", but when I looked up my mind was all "Guess again". Tyler, still standing, reached his hand out to me and pulled me up.

Before I could say anything, he spoke up with a voice of worry, urgency, and panic, "Have you seen Kaira anywhere?!"

I could remember making a look of befuddlement, thinking 'Wait. What?' "Tyler, if anything, she wouldn't be in this school! She doesn't go to this school, and for all I know, she doesn't even go to school at all!"

"Well, she does now! I came here with her and Iden. Iden said he saw you from the classroom window and bolted off, and when I turned around, Kaira had disappeared!" he explained, talking so fast that I was almost unable to make out what he was saying. "I tried to find Kaira, but I gave up hope. So then I figured that I should walk over to the classroom, but once I got there, you and Iden were gone!"

"Well, I'm looking for Iden too!" I said, my hands making useless gestures. "If you see him, tell him to go back to the classroom, okay?" Tyler agreed and we parted ways once more.

The only adult in the school at the time was the nurse because she has to put up the flag every morning. As long as I didn't run around in front of the nurse's office, I would be able to steer clear of any trouble. However, I also must find Kaira; before Tyler, if possible. I pulled my camera out of my backpack and wrapped its lanyard around my wrist several times. Even though I knew her, I had to take pictures of her for my business; don't want to lose any valuable customers.

As I continued on my hunt, the intercom came on, echoing in the halls. Someone can be heard at its microphone, tapping on it as a test. "Ahem, ahem," the voice said. "Testing one, two, three. Testing four, five, six. Testing seven, eight. Okay! Here we go!" The voice was a female's; an all-too-familiar female's.

She continued, "Hi, hi! This is Kaira! So, here's the deal... I heard that new students get their pictures secretly taken by a certain Candid Crew, but I don't exactly want my face to be known before I make an appearance. I've decided to build my own little game. It is currently 5:38 in the morning, but school starts at 7:00, so we have quite some time on our hands. The only adult present is the nurse, but she seems to be taking a nap which I swear that I had nothing to do with. Tyler and Odette are currently the only participants. Anywho, the rules are simple: find and catch me before the teachers get here, and you win; this also means that you could take pictures as you wish! In case this isn't game enough for you, I also have Iden being held captive, so yeah! Oh, and you might not want to be caught by the nurse once she wakes up, so be careful! Have fun! Bye!"

I was in such a state of confusion that I just kind of stood at the end of the hall. Literally slapping myself awake, I tried to stay focused. If she just used the intercom, then she should be... in the office. Quicky, I arrived at my destination. Tyler, who had came before me, was leaving. I'm not a psychic, but by looking at his face, anyone could tell that there was no luck to be found in there.

Unfortunately, our school is ginormous, so this would be much, much more difficult than it should be. Where would you hide? For me, and for my next destination, I chose the football field. We have a microphone for the intercom there too, so it was my best bet. But... surprise, surprise: no one. Needless to say, I had to get back to the school building which was very far away. Hooray me for completely wasting ten minutes.

Hold on a second, I thought in realization, face-palming. She probably took the intercom's microphone with her somewhere. And just because I didn't see her, it doesn't mean she's not there; she could be hiding or moving around. In other words, she might be on the other side of the Earth for all I know. However, she should be close enough to track our movements. Dod Gamn.

While I was thinking like a true detective, I heard Kaira's voice from the intercom once more. "Attention! Update on the game! It is currently 5:50 and another player has entered the game: Cassy! Yay! Be sure to find her and give her knowledge of the situation. Bye, now!"

So now I have to find Cassy, too, so she won't be utterly confused. Though, now that Cass is here, the tables might have turned. I had always suspected her to be a legitimate spy-ninja, and I doubt that she'll let me down this time. Freshly pumped-up, I bolted down the hall. If Cass just came, then she shouldn't be too far away from the entrance, right? Spoiler here... I was finally right.

She glanced at me and raised her eyebrow as if asking "How the hell did it come to this?"

I shook my head and sighed, giving a look that said "Life decided to sucker-punch me with brass knuckles named 'Kaira'."

"You know that I know the situation already," she nodded out.

I nodded back. "Yep."

After our telepathic message, we were rampaging up and down the halls like complete psychos, going in and out of rooms. We even had this unplanned system going on. She would run ahead and open a door while I slipped inside, scowered the land, and made my way back out. With all this going on -- boom, boom, boom -- we were done clearing an entire hallway. As we were doing this, Kaira was taunting us with random messages and how much time we had left.

"Are you guys slacking or something?" she laughed. "By the way, a certain someone looks like she's almost done with her nap. Chop, chop, peoples! Ciao!"

Cass wasn't informed of this, so I explained to her about the nurse. After my explanation, Cass looked at me worriedly. "Do you think that Kaira will still speak on the intercom even if the nurse wakes up? If that's the case, then we might be in a lot of trouble..."

It was then that realization struck me. Kaira is in the infirmary. There's no other way that she'd know about the nurse waking up. Plus, she even told us to be weary of that place which is obviously another way of making us stay away. That sly dog!

Before we went there, I figured that it would do good for Cass and I if Tyler was with us. He's good at making up excuses, so if we're caught, he'd be there to save our butts. Cass agreed with me because it was a pretty good idea. See how I used the word 'was'? To Cass's and my surprise, Tyler declined our invitation. Do you know why?

Me: Tyler! We've been searching for you! We need you to come with us for safety precau--

Idiot Tyler: No.

Me: What?!

Idiot Tyler: I said "No". I'm not helping you. Kaira said that this is a game. I intend to win.

Then he ran off. So, due to Tyler's lack of team spirit and his full tank of competitiveness, we lost him as a valuable companion. Never fear, though! I had the most dangerous beast of the whole school on my side!

"Oh, so now I'm a beast?" Cass asked, amused.

"Just as I thought!" I exclaimed. "I knew you had the power of telepathy!" I clenched my hand into fist. "Oh, man. I can't wait to see the looks on everyone's faces when they hear about this!"

Cass only shook her head. "Telepathy only works if the other person isn't saying her thoughts out loud." With that, she flicked my forehead and dragged me with her to the battlefront known as the witch-doctors' headquarters to hunt for Kaira.

We got there quickly, but in a matter of seconds, we froze like ice. Only at that moment did we discover that we had no plans on how to catch Kaira. It's not like we were just going to barge in. If the nurse is awake, then we'd get in trouble. Kaira's probably inside, acting like she's hurt or sick. Also, the nurse knows that I'm here at school and not sick, so I'd have no reason to be there. Maybe I could say that Cass was hurt? Sick?

If I do that, then Cass might be forced to drink horrible medicine. I tried the medicine at this school before, and trust me, I'd rather drink alchohol. And alchohol does not taste good... to me. When I was little, I accidentally had a taste; I thoroughly detested all forty minutes of it sticking to my tongue. Cass is my friend, so I could never do that to her.

As I was recalling that horrible moment in time, Cass had to shake me back to consciousness. I looked at her all confused-like while she sighed and told me what I missed when I was in La-La-Land. "Pull over your hood and try not to let the nurse see your face," she said. "We'll just peek in so that we can confirm whether or not Kaira's inside."

I pondered the idea for a moment before agreeing. "That could work. I have nothing better in mind, so... yeah. Let's do it," I said, wrapping my scarf around most of my face and pulling my hair into my hood.

Cass hid herself as well, and slowly held onto the doorknob, twisting it clockwise. Oh, the suspense was killing me. With what seemed like the loudest and most dragged-out creak, we peeked inside. Leaning more and more forwards in order to try and spot Kaira, Cass and I were almost fully into the infirmary. The nurse wasn't on any of the beds; so she's awake.

Shockingly, I was able to be stealth-silent. Of course, that was until someone shoved my back. Cass was infront of me; it couldn't be her. So, who else would it be but Tyler? Yes, Tyler shoved me forwards, making me shove Cass, and then he ran off. We toppled forwards and fell inside. Not only that, but we fell right in front of the nurse. There was no possible way to explain that; none at all.

Immediate detention – which seemed like a bit much if you ask me.

By the time the nurse let us go, it was about 6:50. Her lecture was thirty minutes long – thirty minutes too long – and boring to the core. Thirty minutes is one-forth of a detention, so if you ask me, I'd say that we should only get the other three-forths instead of the full two hours. Plus, other teachers showed up and added fuel to the fire. Once it was over, Cass and I walked side-by-side, still looking for Kaira without using much effort. It was as if the lectures drained our energy. Students were making their way to school too. Cass and I merged with the rest of our group which consisted of Lila, Drake, and Elliot since Tyler, Iden, and Kaira were still missing.

I hardly said a thing for the remaining ten minutes. The bell rang, signifying the start of the already exhausting schoolday. Right at that moment, we bumped into Kaira and Iden. Unlike how I pictured him, Iden wasn't tied up and gagged. But that thought hardly surfaced. Mostly, I was stuck on the fact that Kaira was wearing a dark blue wig with ponytails and a poofy pink dress. This was entirely confusing for me; or everyone, rather.

"Oh! Hey, guys!" Kaira greeted. "Odette, Cass... You lost. Tyler lost too. Iden and I were in the Home Ec. Room. We were making this costume while waiting for you guys."

"What?!" I nearly shouted. "The Home Ec. Room was one of the first rooms I checked! Even Cass was with me!"

"Yeah, but once you left, we went inside, and you never came back," she explained. "It never hurts to double check! Even if you didn't see me there the first time, it doesn't mean that things won't change an hour later."

I let out an exasperated sigh. This game got me a detention; it felt as if I sacrificed my life. Looking back at Kaira, I recalled her saying the word "costume".

"What are you supposed to be, anyways?" I asked.

"Fem-Ciel," she replied. "I'm dressed up as this guy named Ciel that is cross-dressing as a girl. I'm a girl that's dressed as a guy that's dressed as a girl." She laughed. "Any-the-who, I look forward to going to school with you all," she said cheerfully. "And may we play many more games in the future!"

[]Author's Note[]

I'M DOOOONNNEEEE!!!!! YES! CHAPTER 8! "8" IS MY FAVORITE NUMBER!!!! WHOO!!

In respect for the number eight, I uploaded this on Christmas of 2014 (for those of you who didn't know). My gift to you, reader. Thanks for sticking around. If you were just about to leave, then I have probably made this awko-taco. But I don't mind... because I like tacos.

I have no idea where this Author's Note is headed, so I'm going to stop before your eyes start bleeding from my ridiculousness. BYE~~!!!

Please continue to read, comment, follow, and give the vote button a slap in the face. Many thanks and best wishes!!

IRIS IS OUT!

        -!Ri$