The Outlaw

CHAPTER 1 - Ringo Dingo

1 request from client Blue_Berry.

Another client, eh? Business is going smoothly these days. I just put back the phone in my bag and will decide later whether to accept the request or not. By the way, I am using two cell phones. One is for personal use and the other one is for business.

I am Ysabella Mia Morgan, a Grade 12 student at Adelaide Academy. It is a Catholic school and is well-known all over the country because most of the students here are born with a silver spoon. But I am not like them.

I crawled my way up here. Things were light before, though. I do not have to worry about financial stuff or so. Not until my parents decided to have a divorce because they couldn’t afford to live with each other anymore. They have their own families now and I did not intend to live under the same roof with them. I rented an apartment and chose to live alone. Life would be easier that way. Or so I think.

Anyway, class is almost over. I couldn’t wait to have lunch because I am really starving right now. I wasn’t able to eat breakfast because I’d run late for school if I do so.

“Ms. Morgan? Come to the club office by 4 pm. We have a new project to discuss,” Ma’am Amanda told me before leaving the class.

Ugh. I hate going to that club office. There was like a total of five members only. Nowadays, students weren’t interested in paintings or another form of art anymore. I love to paint, but the ambiance of the office makes me less interested. Plus the fact that I am not close to the club members even if some of them were my classmates. But I don’t have any choice. We are required to join at least one club and this is the most decent one.

I am at the cafeteria, eating lunch when a piece of folded paper suddenly appeared on my table. I looked around and saw a short-haired girl walking forward. Just from looking at her back, I can easily tell that it’s Eunice. She is one of my ‘employees’. I earn commissions from her, as well as from other employees, whenever they accept requests from clients.

I opened the paper and it says '6 pm at Student Lounge'. Guess I’ll have a busy day ahead.

4 PM. I was kinda shocked when I found Yuji inside the club office. I wasn’t expecting him to be here.

“Uh, hey,” I greeted him.

Yuji Villareal. He is my classmate and the class president as well. We are really not that close even though we are in the same club. He rarely talks and I am not that friendly, you know. We’d only talk about school matters and nothing else.

“Oh, Mia. Ms. Amanda told me that she couldn’t come here anymore because they have an emergency meeting. Anyway, take a look at this. This list includes all the future activities of our club. Just review it,” Yuji said as he handed me a folder and walks away.

Wait, what? Mia? Mia?!?! No one dared to call me by my second name before (which I don’t know why. Ysabella is indeed a mouthful one compared to Mia). It’s not that I don’t want it. I’m just not used to it. Alright, no big deal.

“Okay. Thanks,” I replied though I’m not sure if he heard it because the door was already closed. Tch. Typical Yuji.

I got my phone and opened the request I received from Blue_Berry earlier. I read the details and it seems easy to do that’s why I accepted it. I do not have time to be picky. I need to have money because my supplies (food, cleaning items, etc.) are running out of stock.

I scanned the folder Yuji gave me and inside it was proposals for the future events of our clubs. I honestly didn’t care about this. As if lots of students will participate. But then again, I do not have a choice.

I scanned it and gave my reviews per proposal. Hmm. These are not bad. So who thought of these? Jane? Andrew? Sarah? They are my club co-members, by the way.

It is half-past five when I finished reviewing the proposals. I’ve got enough time before going to the student lounge. This is our casual hideout. Anything related to Ringo Dingo is done here. This is a perfect spot because it is located in the corner of our school. Students and other faculty staffs are not usually passing by on this area. Just perfect.

I came here a little early and Eunice is still not around. I ventured my way to the vending machine in the hallway to get something to drink first. In front of the vending machine is the faculty for Senior High School Department.

From a distance, I saw Yuji coming out from the faculty and he seems… troubled. It is the first time I’ve seen him with that kind of expression. Oftentimes, he just wears a plain or disinterested look on his face. Mr. Samonte, our professor came out of the faculty as well and talked to Yuji. Yuji just nods, still, with that troubled face.  Okay? What was that about?

Oh well. I proceeded to the Student Lounge and Eunice was already there. But it wasn’t just her. Together with her is a girl, probably around our age as well. Who could this be? Someone from another strand?

“Oh, Ysabella! You’re here?” Eunice greeted. She stepped closer to me and whispered, “New client,” and gave a wink.

I sat down and motioned the new girl to sit as well. I just noticed by now that she’s wearing an expensive watch. I intently looked at it and judged whether it’s fake or not. Not just that, she got those sparkly earrings on her ears, too!

“Name?” I asked.

“Arabelle.”

“Nice to meet you, Arabelle. I am Ysabella, the founder of Ringo Dingo. You probably had an idea already about this application, right?” She nodded and told me that Eunice gave brief information about it.

I smiled. “What’s your family’s monthly income?” She lends toward me and whispered.

I got the answer that I wanted. I handed her a piece of paper which serves as our contract. She scanned it decided to sign later on.

I opened my phone and clicked something.

Eunice knows how to pick a client and I have no doubt about her skills. She has been a big help to the growth of my business.

“I-I received an invite already!” Arabelle exclaimed.

“Welcome to Ringo Dingo,” I said before waving goodbye to Eunice and Arabella.

To be continued...