SOON AFTER HE left Stella alone at the magical board, he pushed his way through the sea of blue and white so that he could plant his feet in front of AcA counter. He heard a few unfriendly whispers because of his rude behavior but it made him all the more desperate. He kept on pressing the silver bell on the counter until one of the staff attended his depressing needs.
"Yes?" said the staff without the commonly use smile and friendly tone of office worker he usually received when he came visiting the counter. His nonsensical behavior must have ticked off the staff and he does not feel sorry about it.
"I wanted to know why I have to repeat a grade. My final result last grade was fantastic and to add, I received an offer letter! Please explain this absurd situation I'm facing right now," Gitto shoots out his dissatisfaction that he had been holding back since he saw his name listed with his fellow 12th-grade junior.
The only response that he received was, "name?"
Hearing it made him wanted to explode a mouthful of colourful curse words that he can come up with but he held his tongue. "Gitto Lee," he answered fast enough for the staff to capture.
Very loud screams and shouts made he turned his head to where the damned magical board was. A name that he did not know was called or rather shouted repeatedly. Several other students that were busy with whatever business they had on the counter were also doing the same as he was, trying to unravel of the unknown reason for these noises.
"I guess the exchange students are here. The Kimberly's," said someone on his back.
Kimberly's?
He then remembered before that when he was trying to find his name on that damned Advanced Class list, he saw two names with the mark K.I.S.E. It was the Wisdoms twin from one of a very prestige family that held power to govern on this valley. Knowing it made his skin crawled. He did hope that Stella did not meet them in the hall though thinking of the possibilities of that to happen was worrisome. His instinct told him to run to Stella at this instant –
"Mr. Lee?" called the staff making he snapped his attention back to the matter at hand. Yet he cannot hide his anxiety away. His feet kept on tapping the floor. He even pushed an innocent junior girl aside so that he could have more room to let out his anxiety and that he could hear clearly the answer to his problem.
"Sorry," he offered feeling guilty for what he had done to the girl and she just brushed it off.
He did not know if he should felt annoyed that he got that kind of treatment or that he should felt grateful that the girl acted cool considering his rude behavior conquering the counter like he owned that place. Though this place was crowded at this time of year, he or anyone should know that such an accident did happen and one needed to learn how to cope with one own hurt feeling for the whole day. He did prepare for that and as he slowly turned his head back to face whatever reasons AcA would throw, he did not anticipate this.
A man in the middle of his twenties stepped out from the administration office caught Gitto attention. He barely saw that man and it was three to four paces away with students milling in between them yet he saw that man. When he could not even handle his anxiety of not being in the same class with Stella and the possibility of the Wisdoms twin meeting Stella on this hallway, their eyes met. And at that moment, he could feel his spines aligned and his body hair on his limbs stuck out.
That eyes.
Those dark green eyes that seem almost swallowed him alive in the see of never ending torture and anger.
He cannot move. Both his legs stubbornly planted his body straight on that man eyesight and both of them suddenly in a weird combative staring contest. As if that man really wanted Gitto to look at him. To stare and to feel the despair his eyes – his soul. Upon seeing it he knew of what he had seen was bad news. That supposedly he remember something that he long forgot or that he wanted to forget.
"Mr. Gitto Lee!"
"Yes!" he snapped. His head turned to see the staff that held his answer to his fate. The staff eyes go smaller and smaller by the minute he ignored him before. "Sorry," he offered.
A piece of the paper slide under the counter glass that separates him and the AcA staff. The staff finger was pointing about something on the paper he gave. "It seems that your credit hour for co-curriculum and social service did not meet the standard," he said bored.
Gitto's forehead wrinkled and his nostrils flared. "What do you mean by that? I never skip class... and I finished the required social service time. I have proof. My friend Stella, we finished it together," he argued. How ridiculous he felt to be pushed a year because of this stupid thing. "We did it together, darn it! Please, sir, I can't be held back a year. There's must be a mistake," he begged.
If Lily Ghotham to ever saw this she would condemn him for the years to come and he did not care. Not now. He may act like a clown and admittedly sometimes he took things for granted but he never fails in performing his tasks. Not if it means Stella's safety he could fall on his knees.
"Sorry to disappoint you kid but if it's what the board says, then you have to accept. The offer letter is just a formal process but it is not decided until the board decides for you. You're a genius kid. Everyone knows that. But you can't fight the board. Any dissatisfaction you want to say while I'm feeling pity?"
The staff turned to face other students when he shakes his head. He grasped his hand tightly. His world starts to crumble one by one. He could feel it and all of this was because of that stupid magical board. He wanted to lash and kick but doing all those could not change the fact that Stella would be far away from him. When things started to take turns now that Stella had celebrated her birthday last week, she could be in more danger than she ever had years before. He was Stella knight after all.
Her black knight and she was his pride.