TSCEIAB Ch. 29
by stellarina
“Dad, I’m off!”
When I finally calmed down from my embarrassment, it was time to leave. I came out of my room and waved to my dad, who was watching TV in the living room.
“Uh, okay. Don’t forget what Daddy said……. .”
“Dad, please.”
“…… Hmm. Have a safe trip.”
Dad let out a small sigh and smiled. I walked up to him, gave him a hug, and walked out the front door.
Well-timed, I saw a car approaching our house from afar. It was Melissa’s car.
Beep!
She honked the horn briefly and pulled over.
“Hi, Haley! You’re out? Did you wait long?”
“Hello. No, I just came out.”
“That’s a relief. Get in.”
As I climbed into the passenger seat and buckled up, Melissa beamed.
“I’m so excited, you know? I’m so happy I get to go to a party together with you today. I’m sure it’s going to be fun. I promise!”
Her usual chatter filled the silence. I nodded, feeling a little excited as well.
“Yeah, thanks for taking me with you today.”
“No problem. Shall we get going?”
“Yes.”
The stopped car shook and started moving forward. The music Melissa had been playing rang in my head.
I half-listened to Melissa’s chatter and chimed in between.
“Oh, speaking of today’s party. Hugo is coming too.”
“…… Uh, what?”
What did I just hear?
As I looked at her wide-eyed, Melissa turned the steering wheel and spoke again.
“Hugo. I heard he’s coming today, too. Don’t you think that would make the party even more fun?”
* * *
I wanted to go back home because of the unexpected name, but I couldn’t.
While I was stunned, Melissa drove on and kept chattering.
Finally, before I could come to my senses and tell her I wanted to go home, Melissa’s car pulled up in front of a large gate.
“Wow, tise house is huge.”
Melissa muttered in surprise as she looked at the large gate of the place she had never been to before.
Even though we were only in front of the gate, we could hear the loud music and the kids’ chatter.
“It must be in full swing now, it’s already noisy. Let’s go.”
Melissa pulled into a decent spot and unbuckled her belt. I hunched my shoulders like an idiot and held back a sigh.
“Haley? What are you doing?”
“Uh, um…….”
“Let’s go. I’m sure the others have arrived by now.”
“No, I’m …….”
“Hurry!”
Melissa hurriedly got out of the car and opened the passenger door so I couldn’t escape.
I groaned as I unbuckled my seatbelt, unable to resist her urging.
‘Hugo is coming. Why is he here? Who invited him? Did he have friends?’
I felt extremely rude to Hugo, but I couldn’t stop my imagination from continuing.
Meanwhile, Melissa grabbed me by the arm and dragged me halfway into the mansion.
“Hey! Melissa! What’s up? Who’s that next to you?”
“Hey, Olive! This is my friend, Haley Baek. Haley, this is Olive Harper.”
Someone greeted Melissa from the entrance. It was a big, blond boy who greeted me with a handshake as if he was sociable.
“Oh! You’re the transfer student who came to our school, right?”
“Uh, yes. Nice to meet you. But my hands are a little sweaty…….”
“Oh, yeah. No worries! I’ve only heard about you, and now seeing you in person, I couldn’t help but act like we’re close friends without realizing it.”
You heard about me?
I looked at him in bewilderment, and he smiled awkwardly.
“I haven’t been to school because I’ve been busy with the gate raid. Instead, Melissa here told me about you. We’re childhood friends.”
Gate? Raid?
‘Is he an Esper too?’
He blinked, and Melissa chimed in from the side.
“Olive, I’m sorry, but Haley doesn’t know much about Espers. She didn’t know much about your team boss either.”
“What? Really? You don’t know about Hugo?”
There were words I couldn’t understand. It seems that the ‘boss’ of the ‘team’ they’re talking about is Hugo…….
‘Oh! Come to think of it, it’s already that time.’
I pulled out the information from the original story from the back of my memory.
When I first awakened as a guide, it was natural for espers to move individually, but not now, 10 years later.
The size of the gates are getting bigger and bigger, and their grades are getting more diverse.
The center organized teams based on the characteristics of the espers in order to attack the gate more efficiently.
‘Wait. So he’s Hugo’s teammate?’
I widened my eyes, and Olive smiled softly again.
“Ahem! I’m an A-list esper, and I’m on the same team with Hugo.”
Olive shrugged his eyebrows as he introduced herself again.
“I’ve seen people who don’t know much about Esper, but I’ve never seen anyone who doesn’t know much about Hugo.”
“…… I don’t use the internet.”
“Really? So what do you usually do on your days off?”
I guess she’s Melissa’s childhood friend.
Olive clung to me, just as Melissa did on the first day, and asked me a lot of questions.
Luckily, Melissa saved me from my troubles.
“Olive, ask that later. We’ve just here, you know?”
“Oh dear. Sorry. Let’s go inside. We’ve got time to know each other.”
Haha, Olive laughed and stepped aside to clear the way. The view opened up as if a giant door had disappeared.
Only then that I was able to see the view of the mansion.
“Wow…….”
The gate itself wasn’t the only impressive thing.
The wide garden in front of the mansion made my jaw drop.
In the corner of the garden, I saw kids having drinks (what I wanted to believe) with barbecue.
In the middle, in front of the fountain, a group of girls were huddled and chatting, while on the other side, boys in their underwear were giggling as they jumped into the pool.
“Ugh, my eyes……. ”
Melissa, like me, looked away and immediately crumpled her face as she looked in the direction of the pool.
“Don’t look over there, let’s go in. There’s pizza and hot dogs inside. Aren’t you hungry?”
Luckily, Olive stepped in and blocked Melissa’s view. Melissa shrugged and linked arms with me.
“Let’s go, Haley. I’m a little hungry, so let’s have something to eat.”
“Yes.”
Olive followed us as we began walking.
Perhaps because of his popularity, he waved to those who recognized him every few steps.
‘It would be more fun for you to go and play with the other guys than to follow us.’
I glanced at Olive, and he raised an eyebrow and asked, “Hmm?” I shook my head and walked into the mansion with Melissa.
“Oh …….”
The inside of the mansion was even more chaotic. It was beyond what I imagined it would be for a typical house party of American teenagers.
Melissa, who was beside me, burst out laughing as I couldn’t hide my confusion while expressing my admiration.
“Haley, your expression is so funny!”
“Ahaha!”
Following her, Olive burst out laughing.
Then, as if the laughter had caught their attention, the kids who had been hanging out with each other flocked here in an instant.
“Hey, Olive! You came back from the raid?”
“I heard you entered the B-grade gate this time. How was it?”
“Olive! I heard that Hugo is coming today, is that true?”
Now, everywhere I went, I heard stories about Esper and Hugo. It was one thing to have a lot of people, but the constant hearing of unwelcome names drained my energy.
“Mel! When did you get here? Come join us!”
“Perfect timing! Mel, did you hear about the new dessert shop in Crimson Town? They have…….”
Before I knew it, Melissa was surrounded by girls I had never seen before.
“Hey, guys. Hold on. I came with a friend…….
Melissa flustered and pushed them away to find me, but I shook my head to indicate that I was fine.
‘Her friends are so happy to see her, but I can’t keep Melissa to myself.’
Above all, I was so exhausted that I wanted to be alone for a while. I was thirsty too.
“Haley!”
“I’m fine, so hang out with your friends. Introduce them later.”
I waved goodbye and squeezed my way through the crowd.
My breath had cleared up a little as I escaped.
“Phew…….”
I trudged to a quiet corner and leaned against the wall. I sighed as I was exhausted.
How long had I been standing there, lost in thoughts?
“Hello. What are you doing here?”
Someone spoke to me in a low voice.