Psycho X Psychic

Catherine picked up the mic and saw that her friends were expecting her to sing, curious as this was the first time they will hear her voice.

She stood up in front of them, facing the monitor. The song she picked in a panic was about to start so she had no choice. This song was the old song that Teren always made her sing. She felt embarrassed picking this song but here it comes...

Ting~*

The first word that came out of her mouth made the mic ping up.

'Ugh! Kill me!'

But she had practiced this so many times before. The next line of the lyrics compelled her to continue and she did. She sang until she fell into her own world of her singing.

Only midway through the song did she realize that Mira and Eline were singing with her. This gave her strength and confidence. When she finished the song, she realized that she wanted more.

She looked back and heard Eline say.

"I'm surprised you picked an old song. But this was popular back in the day, right?"

"Y-yeah?"

"I'll pick an old song too. Let me see..." Mira then placed her song next in line. Meanwhile, Catherine was getting nervous as she asked.

"Umm... don't my voice bother you?"

But this just made Eline and Mira confused. The former just shrugged it off.

"Who cares if you're good or not, we're here to sing and have fun!" she stood up and hugged Catherine's waist while her other hand was holding a second mic.

"Ah, me too."

Mira stood up and joined them.

"Also, haven't you looked at the monitor?" she asked Catherine.

This made Catherine turn her head around.

"The monitor?"

[97! Your voice is fantastic!]

The karaoke naturally gave her a score to which it hit her like a truck. Tears came rolling out of her eyes.

"E-eh?"

Both Eline and Mira got surprised by Catherine's sudden tears.

"Wahh..." she cried.

"What's wrong? Catherine?" Eline asked to which she responded-

"Sorry... I can't stop it..." Catherine wiped her eyes but she couldn't stop. After some time, she calmed down while Eline and Mira were beside her.

Since they were already in that mood, Catherine felt that it was natural for her to tell her story. Why? Maybe, they could accept her burden too, she felt afterward.

"The truth is..."

Catherine told them what she told Teren.

"Hmph! Aren't they too stupid!?" Eline harrumphed as she felt the itch to give each of Catherine's parents some slap to the face.

"They should just disappear already. I know, why don't you sleep in my house tonight, they wouldn't care anyway, right?" Mira suggested.

"E-eh?" Catherine blinked a few times. This was not the reaction she was expecting. She thought that they would act the same as Teren.

"Wait, I want to sleep there too! It's already late, I'll just text my parents that I'll be staying at a friends' house." Eline giggled, excited at the thought.

"So, what do you think?"

Mira then asked Catherine.

Catherine was stunned and felt that something tickling her chest. It was sweet and relieving... Towards Mira's question, she strongly nodded.

"Sure!"

"Then, it's settled! My mom wouldn't be so angry once you're there. Also, we didn't have any alcohol so we're fine." Mira said.

Catherine felt like she wanted to jump. Isn't this her first sleepover in her friend's house? Although they had that camping, they were 'threatened by Nick' back then. For them, this is their first official sleepover.

"But, you know, there's something I can't believe."

Eline then said with a disappointed voice. This frightened Catherine a little.

"W-what?"

"Well, it's because we're not the first you told this about."

"Yeah, why did you tell Teren first before us?" Mira followed up with a question, confusing Catherine.

"Wait, how did you know that I told Teren first?"

...

Sometime later, Catherine came out of the karaoke bar and looked around in a hurry.

[He was the one who called us here. Didn't we tell you that earlier?]

'No, you didn't!'

Catherine replied in her mind as she recalled what Eline and Mira said to her earlier.

'But I'm the stupid one here! Did I just think that it's a coincidence that they're there?!'

She ran, knowing that Eline and Mira encountered Teren when he was paying for the extra hours they will need.

'Damn him! He actually planned this!'

Catherine finally understood his weird behavior afterward. When he suggested that they should start singing, when he was focused on his phone, and when he left early.

However, why was she running? What was she expecting?

'It's been more than an hour already since the two arrived...' Catherine thought but she continued looking around, 'He has somewhere to go...'

'So why am I looking for him?'

Then she stopped as she huffed and perspired. Behind one of the decorative trees on the road, a high school boy was inconspicuously leaning on it. He seemed to be doing nothing, waiting for something as he looked at the empty space in front of him, sometimes checking his nails, and other times, he would just whistle.

Catherine crossed the road. It was almost midnight and there were few to no people on the streets at this hour. It was silent under the streetlights as she walked up to the high school boy.

Obviously, it was Teren.

However, getting close, Catherine just stood there, staring at him.

It didn't take time for Teren to notice her there.

"Catherine?" Teren then looked around her with a surprised expression. He had a worried face. He looked at where Eline and Mira were.

"What are you doing here?"

Catherine finally spoke after a daze.

"Hm? Well, this is embarrassing. I thought I would hear you three before you could see me." Teren scratched his head.

"Did you... plan this?"

It made sense. Mira and Eline have no choice but to go out and escape their parents if Teren ordered them to do so, she thought.

Since he was caught already, Teren didn't give any excuse.

"Ugh... did it go wrong? Sorry, I hesitated earlier too but it seemed that I made the wrong choice."

"..."

Seeing that Catherine was just staring at him in return, Teren felt bad.

"W-well... I don't know if you can trust me but I'll try to help you fix it. I was the one who set it this up in the first place."

"No..." she shook her head, "There's nothing to fix. Also, you didn't answer my question. What are you doing here?"

Thinking that Catherine was in a bad mood, Teren answered honestly.

"I... was just waiting for you three to come out and see if what I did turn out to be right or wrong."

Right after Teren finished his sentence, Eline and Mira came out of the corner and saw Catherine.

"Cat!" they called out and ran to her, "You suddenly ran and... huh? T-teren, you're still here?"

"Hm?" Teren frowned since they seemed to be okay, "Aren't you three in a fight or something?

"Fight? No, far from it. We're actually having a sleepover at Mira's house!" Eline couldn't keep her excitement.

Hearing this, Teren was deeply confused as to why Catherine was acting this way. Didn't she want this or did he misunderstand something?

'But it seemed that they have something planned.'

Thinking about this, Teren said his goodbye and left.

Meanwhile, Catherine just stood there and watched him leave as she couldn't say anything...

After some time, when Teren's figure was finally gone, Eline and Mira pulled Catherine away from her stupor, waking her up.

"Did you change your mind?"

"Huh? About what?"

"About the sleepover? It's sudden so I understand if you're not in the mood right now." Mira said which Catherine strongly shook her head along with a strong response.

"No! There's no way my mind would change!"

This made Eline and Mira widely smile. It's because they feel the same way. They didn't think about the consequence at all and were just thinking about how the three of them will enjoy the night.

"Then, let's go!"

When they reached Mira's house, her mother was about to shout at her for suddenly disappearing in the middle of the night but stopped when she saw two other people.

After some introduction, her mother smelled them and smelled no alcohol so they were let go.

Her mother then called Mira to which the latter got nervous.

"Here's money if you need snacks. But don't go outside, just order something. I know that there are definitely midnight deliveries here. just call them."

Mira then came back to her room, seeing that Eline and Catherine were making themselves at home. She then brought the news to them to which they excitedly searched for midnight deliveries to which they found one and ordered.

"Hm, there's no school tomorrow, right?"

Eline suddenly said. There's school tomorrow.

"Yeah, I think there's no school tomorrow." Mira followed.

"I guess we can stay awake for a little longer."

Catherine played along to which the three laughed but then Mira's mother told them to keep their volume down since it's already midnight.

"Sorry..."

Before the three laughed more quietly after her mother left.

"But, Catherine... what happened to you earlier? You just froze up in front of Teren?"

Mira then remembered to which Catherine tilted her head.

"I don't know either... words just can't seem to come out of my mouth earlier and my heartbeat is going crazy. I think I developed some weird sickness? If that's true, it's because Teren is weird."

"Wait, wait, wait, that happened when you talked to Teren?"

Eline asked with a curious face.

"Yeah? What about it?" Catherine nodded as she hugged Mira's big pink pillow.

Remembering the time Catherine suddenly ran out of the karaoke, Eline and Mira looked at each other and thought in unison-

'Oh no...'

Seeing that they were having strange expressions, Catherine asked.

"What?"

"Well, how do I say this... did you fall in love with Teren?"