Chapter 17

Owl POV: Diesel

       Astrid and I walked into the cafeteria to get something to eat, but she stopped in her tracks and grabbed my arm to stop me as well. "Well, that certainly looks like an interesting group," she said.

       I furrowed my eyebrows and followed her gaze to a table where Pearl, Ester, Levi, Uriah, Piano, and Alvin were sitting at. "What's so interesting about it?" I asked. "They're all friends, right? At least, I assume they're friends. I see them together all the time. Not all of them actually. Just Pearl and Ester and Piano and Alvin. But they can still be friends with... I'm going to shut up now."

       Astrid never paid attention to my rambling. Well, she did listen to everything I was saying but she never seemed to be annoyed every time I went on and on.

       So it was no surprise when she calmly answered the question I asked before all the rambling. "I just find it interesting because there's one person from each house in that group," Astrid said. 

       "Is that a bad thing?" I asked. "Because we're from different houses and you still willingly hang out with me."

       "Diesel, of course it isn't a bad thing," Astrid said. "The only reason why that certain group is interesting is because Uriah is sitting with them when he looks bored out of his mind. Want to go see what's going on with them?"

        Before I could even reply, Astrid pulled me over to their table. "So what's going on with this suspicious group of yours?" she asked.

       Piano immediately glared at Astrid. "What's so suspicious about it? Have you ever thought that maybe, you're the suspicious one?"

       "She was just joking," Levi said. "Relax."

       "I am relaxed," Piano said. "I just have to be cautious."

       "With what?" Astrid asked.

       "That depends," Piano said. "Can you keep a secret?"

       "A secret that a lot of people know because you keep talking about it," Uriah said, leaning back in his chair.

       "You don't even have to be here, Uriah," Piano said. "You said you don't care about what's going on and all this research."

       "Research for what?" Astrid asked.

       Piano looked around the cafeteria to make sure nobody else was listening before he said in a quiet voice, "Information about S.H.R.E.W.D."

       "That company that works with artificial intelligence?" I asked. "I know a lot about them so you don't have to research. Unless you're researching something I don't know. Otherwise I'd be no help and... Yeah. Why are you researching them?"

       "Piano is suspicious of them," Alvin said as he typed away at his laptop. "He wants to find proof that he should be suspicious of them. I'm helping because I know my way around the computer and the internet, Pearl and Ester are helping because they've got the brains, and Levi's memory will help us because apparently, Piano doesn't want to write anything down."

       "You can never be too careful," Piano said.

       "Okay, then what is Uriah doing here?" Astrid asked. "Because he looks bored out of my mind."

       "I am," Uriah said but he didn't bother moving from his spot.

       "So... You're here because?" Astrid asked but Uriah's only reply was a shrug.

       "It's because he doesn't want to be apart from his boyfriend," Piano said which made Uriah sigh heavily.

       "Seriously?" Uriah asked. "What happened to you keeping other people's personal lives a secret?"

       "What? I thought she knew because she's your best friend," Piano said. "And I never said the name. I could have been talking about any of the guys in this group?"

       "You mean the straight guy with a girlfriend, the aroace, or Levi?" Uriah asked. "I'm pretty sure it's obvious."

       "Or Levi," Levi repeated. "I'm glad I'm the one with a name."

       Astrid looked back and forth between Uriah and Levi before walking over to them and punching them both in the arm. "Ow," Levi said, rubbing his arm as Uriah was completely unfazed by the punch. "What was that for?"

       "For not telling me about you and Uriah," Astrid said. "I can't believe both my best friend and my brother betrayed me."

       "Betrayed you?" Uriah asked. "That's a bit out of proportion. We just kept a secret so Wayne can't do anything about it."

       "Then how come everyone here knows?" Astrid asked.

       "I'm going to take a wild guess and say Piano found out," I said. "You know, because he's like the school's spy and knows everything about everyone so it couldn't have been hard for him to find it out."

       "Exactly that," Piano said. "And since I'm good at finding out stuff, I'm hoping I can actually find out information about S.H.R.E.W.D that confirms my suspicion. So Diesel, since you know a lot about the company, is there a chance they can be up to no good?"

       "I'm not sure, to be honest," I said. "I just know the basic information about them like what they research and what they're working on, but there could be stuff they haven't announced to the public. Like secret stuff they don't want anyone knowing about. And that could be why they're up to no good but we won't be able to figure it out because... It's a secret."

       "Then it's a good thing we have a lot of talented people doing the research," Piano said. "Do you and Astrid want to help? We can use more brains."

       "You mean one more brain?" Uriah asked. "Astrid doesn't really have one."

       Astrid gave Uriah a mock laugh before punching his arm for the second time today which, again, didn't faze Uriah. "I will vote for Wayne in the Tiger election," Astrid said.

       "Do it," Uriah said. "We both know you won't."

       "Is that a dare?" Astrid asked. "Because I will go through with it if you keep giving me attitude."

       Uriah snorted. "Okay."

       "Anyway," Piano said to stop the argument between Uriah and Astrid. "Are you and Diesel up to joining the investigation squad? We can use the help, and the more help we have from each house, the better."

       "I'm in," Astrid said. "It will help me keep tabs on my little brother's new boyfriend." She gave Uriah the classic I'm watching you sign and Uriah replied with a thumbs-up.

       "I'll help too," I said. "I still don't know if something is up with S.H.R.E.W.D but that doesn't mean I can't help. And I still know a lot about them so if something doesn't add up with information that we find, I'll know if we should be suspicious or not."

       "Perfect," Piano said.

_________________

uriah is such a MOOD

i wanted to get another chapter up today before i went to bed but i didn't have much time because i basically slept all day lmao. i had to wake up at 7:30 am for my exam and i didn't fall asleep until around 6. and i didn't even wake up at 7:30. i woke up just after 7 so that was fun; having to write a university exam with just an hour of sleep

then i went back to bed as soon as i came home and slept for a while MY BAD