The ORION Project | ✔

chapter 6

Joshua Phillips had three things on his to-do list that sunny morning. One, get rid of Kendrick Yong permanently, two, get breakfast and three, bump into Grace Ilori. The easiest task was one and three, as of now, food was not a priority but the other two were, if he let two dangerous people run wild around campus without keeping them in check then ORION would have a crisis on it's hands.

And while Joshua was certain Kendrick Yong knew more than he should about ORION, he still didn't know enough. It was still easy to get rid of him now while he still thought ORION was just a cult of bored rich kids even though it was so much more than that. Grace Ilori would be harder to trick. He took a sip of the beverage in the Styrofoam cup in his hands and shrugged.

Joshua rounded up the corner and stepped into the sidewalk and right into Grace, he let a little of the coffee in his hand spill into her clothes and watched with satisfaction as she jumped back.
He feigned a look of innocence as fury crept into her features, she'd be more pretty if she didn't wear a frown on her face always. He took a moment to observe her as she fumed, she had long dark hair that was braided into cornrows; she obviously didn't care much about her appearances and she wore an Adidas tracksuit that he was sure was a fake brand. Joshua wrinkled his nose in distaste at the sight.

A worn out tennis bag was slung over her shoulder, and for a moment, Joshua narrowed his gaze, the student he sent to spy on her had informed him just minutes ago about her game with Kendrick Yong. He wondered what they had spoken about, he wondered if they knew each other.

"Watch where you're going, mutt." Grace snapped, obviously thinking he wouldn't know the meaning of 'mutt'. There were three types of people in the university, the ones who knew Joshua and loved him, the ones who knew Joshua and envied him and the rare  ones who hated him. Grace clearly hated him and Joshua wondered if she had always hated him or if Kendrick Yong had let something slip about him.

Maybe I've underestimated this boy, Joshua mused quietly. He might have to keep Kendrick Yong closer than he wanted, the last time something like this had happened he had quickly gotten rid of that person that had posed as a threat to ORION but he couldn't simply get rid of Kendrick, not when he had a powerful and influential father, someone who wouldn't let the death of his only child lie unsolved. There was only one way to deal with Kendrick was to invite him but the thought alone made him grit his teeth in anger, Kendrick was really forcing his hand. Joshua hated losing control, more than anything else.

He pushed out thoughts of Yong from his head and focused on the seething girl before him.

"I assure you, I'm very much human, not a mutt." He said, letting himself smile. Grace scoffed but he saw her eyes lower with embarrassment. She made to brush past him but he stepped onto her path, almost touching his chest to hers. She took a hurried step back and almost slammed into a law student behind her.

The girl shot Grace a look of disdain before smiling nervously at Joshua as she walked past.

"I'm sorry, let me make it up to you." Joshua said.

"I don't need anything from you," She snapped. If Joshua had actually cared, he might have been offended. "Now, step out of my way."

"I said sorry, Grace." He let false irritation seep into his tone and almost smiled at the way her eyes widened in surprise.

"How do you know my name?" She said, unlike other people, she wasn't impressed or curious. Instead she looked suspicious.

"I know you like to read." He said with a nonchalant shrug. This time, she looked afraid and this time, Joshua let his smile show. Grace must have gotten the photograph, his smile was that of pity. There was so much she did not know, so much that made her important, and in the wrong hands, dangerous.