Hugh's heart stopped as Jane stared at him. She had one of her hands on the door while the other held books. Her long black hair was dead silent as it gleamed in the light.
He did not move an inch, trying to look inconspicuous as ever, even though he still had metal fragments in his hand. He opened his mouth as he was about to explain and lie to her about this situation, but his stomach grumbled in protest.
His gut burned, and the smell of iron got stronger as he put the metal fragments in his hand near his mouth. The temptation to take a bite out of the metal became stronger as he almost lost himself in the thirst.
He was able to keep his sanity due to Jane's piercing eyes under her round glasses towards him. He definitely could not show her that he eats metals, or else he would not know how to explain it.
He had to get out of here ASAP. If he waited any longer, he would lose himself in the hunger and show Jane his greed towards inedible materials. He did not have the time to explain today; he would have to do it some other time.
He pushed himself off the lockers as he stumbled his way towards the shifting room. He held the metal fragments in his hand as he was still hungry for them.
Jane stood still as she watched Hugh try to get out of the lockers and towards the shifting room. She had an expressionless face that hid the mysterious thoughts running through her head.
Hugh finally reached the shifting room as he disappeared from Jane's sight. It was at this moment that Jane started to walk towards the lockers.
*step* *step* *step*
Her footsteps echoed in the empty hallway as she had her eyes focused on the torn-up lockers in front of her. She reached out her hands and touched the holes in the lockers, feeling the sharp edges on them.
There were missing pieces from the holes in the lockers. They should have been somewhere on the floor, but there were hardly any that she could see. She thought back to when she first caught Hugh red-handed.
Hugh was about to put the metal fragments in his mouth but stopped when he noticed Jane. Was he trying to eat the metals?
This question floated in her head as the mysterious veil seemed to come over Hugh due to this incident. There were so many more questions that were not answered. Why did Hugh try to eat the metal lockers? Why here? Why that? Why now?
The more she tried to probe, the more questions popped up in her head. She had dismissed Hugh as a weak student due to his loss to Aric. She thought that Hugh was only able to get in the special class due to connections, but it seemed like there was more to this story than she thought.
She took out her personal tablet and wrote some text regarding Hugh.
Hugh: Fat guy
Desire: Silver and Brown Armor
Strength: Defensive ability
Weakness: No attacking ability, and Desire has a timer
Extra:
Allegedly beat Aric and Dempsy in a three-way fight
It was proven wrong when Aric beat Hugh one on one
He was found trying to eat metal fragments.
Threat: ???
She thought that only Aric and Serena were her most significant threat, but it seemed like she also had to keep an eye on Hugh. He was the most mysterious of all of them, which meant that he could pose the greatest threat.
———————
Hugh navigated the shifting room towards his house as he held his stomach from hunger. He just had to hold on for a little longer so that he would be able to eat food from the refrigerator.
In the meantime, he ate the metal fragments in his hand. His teeth crunched the metal and tore it into little pieces as it instantly dissolved when he swallowed it in his stomach acid.
The metal was able to satiate him for a little while as the shifting room reached his house, but his stomach quickly burned again as he stepped foot in his house.
He ran through the hallways, bumping into chairs and sofas as he had tunnel vision on the kitchen. He was starting to see spots in his vision, almost losing his sanity.
Thankfully, he reached the refrigerator in time as he ordered anything on display. He opened the fridge and started to eat the food right there on the spot.
His head was holed up on the refrigerator's cold interior as he filled his mouth with any food he could see. He did not bother chewing the food as it felt too soft compared to the metals he ate before.
After a while, Hugh was satisfied as dirty plates laid all around him. He laid down on his back, exhausted and content at the food inside his stomach.
He had fully regained his sanity, and he was now able to think properly. His comfort quickly fell apart as he remembered the incident with Jane.
He did not know the extent to what she saw him doing to the lockers. She could have just seen him punch the lockers, which he could make the excuse of anger taking over. If she saw him eat the metal, that would be a lot harder to explain.
His heart accelerated as anxiety filled his body. He took deep breaths to try and calm himself down. He was just thankful that this situation was not as bad as it seemed. He could just say that he has a unique power that lets him eat metals. If she saw him transform, that would be a different story.
He had to calm down. He laid on his back and closed his eyes as he recalibrated himself. He had to focus on his task at hand; he had to improve his armor so he could fight better.
With this plan in mind, he planned to visit the Student Council's building to ask for their permission to go to the dungeons.
Even if they had a bad reputation, he still had to try. If worse comes to worst, he would have to bribe or force them in some way.
He stood up and patted his uniform down. He slowly walked on the hallway towards the shifting room as his steps echoed a muffled sound on the velvet flooring.
He went into the shifting room and went towards the navigation tablet. Bob said that the Student Council building was located in the sophomore's house circle, so he searched the map there.
Amid gridline shaped houses, there was a building in the middle that occupied the whole street. The top view of the building had a hexagram shape with a 6-sided star on the inside.
Hugh was not able to directly travel towards the building using the shifting room, but there was a small building near it that accommodated the shifting room.
Hugh did not wait any longer as he confirmed his destination to the navigation tablet. The room shifted, and it only took a second to transfer him to the location he wanted.
He walked out of the shifting room and onto the cement floor. He looked around and immediately saw the magnificent building owned by the Student Council.
It was colored black and gray, a complete contrast to the bright blue sky in the background. It looked intimidating with its completely dark exterior like prison walls.
Hugh walked towards the building while he observed the building. There seemed to be no life inside it as he could see no light or windows that let him take a sneak peek at the happenings inside.
He walked around and found the building entrance, manned by two students with a black armband around their right bicep, which had a bright red embroidery that displayed - 'Student Council'.
The two students also had black gloves that they wore as they pointed towards Hugh.
"You there! What do you want?"
One of the guards spoke towards Hugh with a commanding tone. Hugh guessed that these guards were part of the Student Council, but there were probably at the bottom of the food chain.
Hugh walked forwards and faced the two guards as he spoke his intentions.
"I would like to speak with one of the Student Council Officers."
The two guards knitted their eyebrows as they heard Hugh speak. They looked at each other, seemingly in disbelief about Hugh's intention.
"Why?"
"Do I have to tell you guys that?"
Hugh's rebuttal annoyed the two guards as they almost raised their hands in anger. They looked back in the door and calmed themselves down.
One of the guards looked at Hugh then spoke.
"No one's here."
"Really? I don't believe you."
The guard balled up his fist as it trembled in anger. Hugh was surprised that the guard was able to keep his cool. The guard flashed a half-smile as he spoke to Hugh.
"Believe it or not, there's no one here to entertain your questions."
"Where are they then?"
The guard smiled as he spoke.
"You should go to The Prestige tonight."