"What is wrong with these people? Why are they looking at us like that?" Bea couldn't help but ask, eyeing the stares trailing their group as they walked down the corridor.
Evadne and Casadin exchanged a loaded look… then smirked at the same time.
"Maybe they just can't believe we're part of the Student Body Officers with a combined donation that doesn't even hit one hundred and fifty dollars," Amanda sneered, flipping her hair as they descended into the locker hall.
They reached their row of lockers, and the shift in energy was palpable.
Whispers. Giggles. Eyes.
Most of the stares came from a particular cluster, Cieryl's circle. The cheer squad, where Cieryl reigned as captain. Their overly-glossed smiles were full of malice disguised as charm, and their attention never left Evadne.
"What's your locker number?" Evadne asked casually, voice light but eyes sharp as steel.
"A-69," Casadin replied with a raised brow and a devilish grin that screamed double entendre. "And the passcode's 6969."
"Seriously?" Evadne rolled her eyes. "Why would you tell everyone your passcode? That defeats the whole purpose of having one."
"Stop pretending you're worried about my locker security," Casadin teased, smug. "You just wanna know what's inside."
She narrowed her eyes. "Whatever. You're hopeless."
"Come on, Princess. Take a peek."
Before she could protest, Casadin had already tugged her gently in front of his locker. With a dramatic flair, he opened it.
Evadne gasped, and not in delight.
"Oh. My. God. You are vile."
Inside were at least seven boxes of condoms, stacked neatly, each labeled with different thicknesses and flavors.
Casadin shrugged like he'd just opened a box of pencils. "I'm a boy scout. Always prepared."
She groaned and smacked his arm. "You are unbelievable."
"Vee, what's your locker number?" Amanda called out between snorts of laughter.
"A-101," Evadne replied, still scandalized. "I haven't even changed the default passcode yet. What is it again?"
"0000, Princess," Casadin said smoothly, leading her a few steps down the row to her locker.
As they approached her locker, a familiar tension slithered through the air.
Hades and his group walked by.
The guys looked uncomfortable, visibly stiff, clearly aware of Hades' darkening mood.
The girls with them, however, looked smug.
Smug and mean.
When they saw Evadne in front of her locker, they shared whispers and sly glances. Like something was about to happen. Like they were waiting for a moment.
Casadin and Evadne exchanged another loaded look.
That didn't go unnoticed by Flynn, who came up behind them and slung his arm over Casadin's shoulder. "Alright. What the hell are you two hiding? You've been giving each other those secret glances all morning."
Casadin just grinned. "It's a surprise, bro."
He glanced toward Hades' group, then turned to the Rebels.
"Count to twenty."
They looked at him, puzzled, but obeyed anyway.
Evadne opened her locker, casually placing her books inside like it was just another mundane school task. But from the other end of the hall, Cieryl's group couldn't hide their anticipation, giggling, whispering, waiting.
Their eyes didn't leave Evadne.
Waiting for something to happen.
But nothing did.
Confusion bloomed on their faces. Panic flickered. Whatever they expected clearly didn't go according to plan.
Meanwhile, Evadne calmly changed her locker passcode.
"...eighteen... nineteen... twenty..." Amanda counted under her breath.
And then,
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
The hallway exploded into chaos.
"Oh my SNAKE!!!" one of the cheerleaders shrieked.
"HELP ME!!!" Selena screamed, flailing wildly as a silver boa slithered around her waist, tightening from her hips to her chest.
"Call animal control!" Hades shouted, backing away.
Panic erupted, students screamed, some scrambled to the edges of the hallway, and others froze in place. No one dared approach. They were too busy losing their minds, too terrified by the sudden appearance of a snake.
What no one seemed to notice…
Was that the boa wasn't poisonous.
Wasn't aggressive.
Just dramatically wrapped, its behavior too perfect to be wild.
Amanda, Bea, Flynn, and Delvin turned slowly toward Evadne and Casadin… whose faces now clearly gave them away.
Eyes wide. Mouths hanging open.
"You…" Amanda whispered, her voice low and disbelieving. "You two set them up."
"Of course not," Casadin said, deadpan.
Then with a smirk, he added, "I'm allergic to snakes."
The double meaning in his tone didn't go unnoticed. Amanda and the others stared at them, speechless.
Evadne, on the other hand, gave a slow, knowing smile.
"I just returned Selena's little surprise gift," she said softly. "Courtesy of her loyal minions."
They still couldn't speak. All four of them, Amanda, Bea, Flynn, and Delvin, were caught between awe and horror.
Because the truth was, everything had been planned.
Earlier that morning, while everyone else was chatting away in class, waiting for the orientation announcement, Evadne had already picked up on the sinister thoughts circling inside Selena and Cieryl's heads. Thoughts laced with venom, vanity, and petty jealousy.
Not because she'd humiliated Cieryl. No.
But because Evadne was too close to Casadin.
Selena, always obsessed with him, always claiming silent ownership, had long made sure no other girl got his attention. Any student who flirted with Casadin, or God forbid, confessed, would mysteriously find herself cornered in bathrooms, mocked in group chats, or worse, isolated by the entire cheer team.
It was sickening.
What Selena didn't know was that Evadne could hear their thoughts. All of them.
And people tended to think about the messages they were planning to send… or the secrets they weren't supposed to say.
That's all Evadne needed.
In the middle of casual conversation with Amanda, she had loudly asked, "Hey, what's your locker passcode again?"
Amanda just laughed and said, "Nice try, Vee. Not telling."
And oftentimes, when people hear a question, even if it's not directed at them, the mind will unconsciously try to answer it. And Selena had thought of the number. Loud and clear. A slip of instinct.
Bingo.
From that moment, Evadne already knew the combination to Selena's locker.
Later, when the rest of the students were leaving for the Grand Theater, Evadne pretended to linger behind, claiming she'd wait for Casadin to wake up. In reality, she needed the halls empty.
She listened for signs of movement. Nothing.
Only then did she gently rouse Casadin.
"What's Selena's locker number?" she asked Casadin on the way to the first floor locker hall
"A-137," he replied, puzzled. "Why, Princess?"
"I just want to return a gift," she said simply.
She moved ahead to her own locker, unopened until now.
But before her fingers reached the lock, she froze.
There was a voice.
Faint, but deep. Male. Aged.
But it didn't belong to any human.
"These humans… they think they can do as they please. They've taken our homes. And now they dare play with us."
Her breath caught.
The voice, it was coming from inside her locker.
Casadin stood nearby, watching her with quiet curiosity. He didn't ask anything. Instead, he glanced around, almost like he knew something was about to happen, and was making sure no one saw it.
"Did… did that voice just come from my locker?" Evadne thought.
"Is that a human voice?" the voice said again, sharper this time.
Her eyes widened.
It heard her thoughts.
"Can you hear me?" she thought, deliberately this time.
"Is she… speaking to me?" the voice responded in disbelief.
"Yes. I'm talking to you," Evadne replied in her head. "So you can hear my thoughts?"
"You understand me, human?" the voice asked again, more curious than hostile.
Then she opened the locker.
Click.
Casadin caught a glimpse of what was inside and,
"Holy fcking sht!" he swore, stumbling back.
Coiled neatly inside the locker was a massive silver boa, its scales smooth and metallic, its eyes unblinking as it stared straight at Evadne.
But it didn't move.
It didn't strike.
Its muscles were still.
Only its gaze burned with quiet, intelligent awareness.
"Snakes can talk?" Evadne couldn't stop the thought from forming in her head.
"We cannot. But we have thoughts," the silver boa replied instantly, its tone neither hostile nor friendly, just ancient, steady. "How is it that you can hear mine?"
'I don't know how to answer that question. Because I don't know either,' Evadne thought back in silent Taglish.
Behind her, Casadin's voice cut through with tension.
"Princess, we need to call animal control. Fuck! Who the hell would put a snake in your locker?" His voice cracked a little, not from fear of confrontation, but from the very real terror of snakes. Still, despite his panic, he moved in front of her, arm out, trying to shield her.
Evadne gently touched his arm, halting him.
"Cas, it's okay. It's not dangerous."
Casadin's eyes widened. "Not dangerous?! Princess, all snakes are dangerous. Even humans that act like snakes are dangerous. What more an actual one? And please stay behind me! What if it bites you?"
"It's a boa, Cas. A constrictor," she said calmly. "Even if it bites me, it's not venomous. It'll sting, sure, but it won't kill me."
She smiled. "Besides, look at it, it's kind of cute, don't you think?"
Casadin pressed the back of his hand against her forehead.
"No fever," he muttered. "But between the two of us, who's sleep-deprived right now? Me or you? Cute? Princess, cats are cute. Snakes are not."
Evadne rolled her eyes. "You're so dramatic. Imagine it with a cat's head. Doesn't it seem cuter now?"
"No. Absolutely not. And don't try using that sweet voice on me. Not working today." Casadin pulled out his phone. "I'm calling animal control."
"Don't call them, human," the boa said in her mind. "Free me. And someday, I will repay my debt to you."
Before the call could even connect, Evadne reached for Casadin's phone and tapped end.
"I told you," she said, eyes sharp now. "I'm just returning a gift."
"But—"
"Trust me, okay?" she said softly. "I'm bold and reckless, Casadin. But I'm not stupid."
'Free you to the wild?' she asked the boa silently.
'Yes.'
She nodded. "But we don't have to wait for 'someday' to repay that debt. We can strike a deal today."
Without hesitation, Evadne reached into the locker and lifted the boa.
Casadin's heart nearly stopped.
"PRINCESS!!!" he shouted, voice going hoarse as he turned a shade paler than marble.
"It's fine. See?" She turned to him, snake wrapped around her arm with practiced ease. "It's not hungry. It's calm."
And then, calmly and with purpose, she began walking toward Locker A-137.
'Since they brought you here to scare me… I'd like you to fulfill that purpose. But not on me, on the one who owns this locker.'
'You want me to kill your enemy?' the boa asked.
'No. Just scare her. Send a message. Nothing more. And in return, I swear to release you before the day ends, Boa.'
Casadin caught up beside her, still shaken.
"Open the locker, Cas. Her passcode's your birth month and date."
Casadin raised a brow. "How do you even know that?"
"Don't ask stupid questions. Just open it."
Still confused but trusting her enough not to argue, he keyed in the passcode.
Click.
The locker opened.
'Do you swear to keep your word, human?'
'Yes. I always keep my word.'
'Then I'll hold you to that.'
With a smirk, Evadne gently slid the boa into Selena's locker and shut the door.
Casadin exhaled like he'd been holding his breath for a full minute.
They began walking away from the scene, heading toward the Grand Theater once more.
"You do realize there are CCTV cameras in the hallways, right?" Casadin said, falling in step beside her.
Evadne grinned. "They're off."
He blinked. "What?"
"Your obsessed, self-proclaimed girlfriend orchestrated this whole thing," Evadne said coolly. "Do you really think she and her minions would bring something that dangerous and not make sure there was no evidence leading back to them?" She winked. "I'm just taking advantage of all their hard work."
Casadin stared at her, not with disbelief anymore, but something far more dangerous. Admiration.
And now… here they were. Chaos.
Total chaos in the locker hall.
Students screaming. Faculty running. Staff paralyzed with indecision.
Selena was on the floor, legs trembling, face pale, as the silver boa constricted tightly around her waist and chest, drawing shrieks of panic from the onlookers.
No one dared get close. Not even the adults.
The snake wasn't letting go.
Evadne glanced toward her friends with a smirk. "The show's just starting."
She suddenly broke into a run toward Selena.
Casadin blinked, alarmed, before chasing after her.
"HELP ME! PLEASE!!!" Selena screamed, her voice cracking as she flailed uselessly beneath the tightening coils.
"This is not a joke!" Evadne yelled at the crowd. "Whose snake is this?! Take it off her, now!"
But of course, no one answered.
They couldn't.
No one wanted to admit to bringing the boa, not when that confession would expose the original plan to terrorize Evadne.
"Did you not hear me?!" Evadne shouted. "Boa constrictors can kill in minutes!"
The crowd gasped.
Selena screamed louder, her panic skyrocketing as the idea of death sunk in.
'Squeeze her a little harder, Boa.' Evadne instructed in her mind.
The boa obeyed, just enough pressure to deepen the illusion.
"AHHHHH!!! It's getting tighter! It's tightening!!" Selena screamed, trembling in pure terror. And then, she lost control of her bladder.
A dark wet patch spread across her skirt.
Some gasped. Others turned away.
But a few students... had their phones out. Recording.
This was going viral by lunchtime.
"I already called animal control!" Rion shouted. "They'll be here in twenty minutes!"
"Twenty minutes?!" Evadne echoed, perfectly timed. "She'll be dead by then!"
Selena wailed. "NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! PLEASE, HELP ME! TAKE IT OFF ME!!!"
"Who owns this snake?!" Evadne bellowed. "This isn't funny anymore! Whoever did this, TAKE IT OFF HER!"
Still… silence.
"Natasha!!!" Selena screamed, eyes wild. "Take it off me!"
All heads snapped toward Natasha. Her face turned ghost white.
"It's not mine!" she snapped, shaking her head. "I'm afraid of snakes! Why would I bring one?!"
But the whispers had already started,
"Isn't her dad some kind of snake collector?"
"Yeah. He's an ophiophilist, right?"
"So who else would have access to something like this?"
"Natasha!" Evadne shouted sharply. "Get over here and take it off her!"
"I said it's not mine!" Natasha screamed, voice cracking. Her eyes darted wildly. Selena had just thrown her under the bus, after she was the one who asked her to help set the whole thing up.
'Grip her more, Boa.'
The boa obeyed again, slowly coiling tighter.
Selena let out another blood-curdling scream.
"FUCK!" Evadne growled and dropped to her knees beside her.
"PRINCESS!!! What the hell are you doing?!" Casadin shouted, panic thick in his throat.
"I'm helping her!" Evadne barked. "Because no one else is!"
She turned to Selena, voice low but firm.
"Selena. Listen to me. You need to calm down."
"I CAN'T!" Selena wailed.
"Listen!" Evadne said, grabbing her face. "Constrictors can feel your heartbeat. The more you panic, the faster your heart beats, and the tighter they'll squeeze. I need you to relax. Do you hear me? Relax! I'm going to try and get it off."
The crowd watched, frozen, breathless, as Evadne gripped the boa's tail and began slowly, carefully trying to unwind it.
'Grip,' she told the boa once she had loosened the first coil, just enough to incite panic again.
Selena screamed.
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!"
To anyone watching, it looked like Evadne was struggling. Like she was doing everything she could, but the boa was too strong.
SLAP!
Evadne's hand connected with Selena's cheek, snapping her head to the side.
The crowd gasped.
"I said RELAX!" she snapped, eyes blazing. "If you don't want to die, then calm the fuck down! The more you scream, the more it'll squeeze. So. Relax. Now."
Selena froze. Stunned. Shaking.
Silence fell across the room.
Everyone believed Evadne was the only thing standing between Selena and death.