Campus rumors.
Clichéd as it was, what happened at the cafeteria became a whispered conversation among the students.
Every time Szeina passed by, they sent looks her way.
To her surprise, though, Principal Dawson didn't call her over to her office. She was expecting it. But, for whatever reason, they spared her from the trivial matter.
Her thoughts were like this when she walked into her last class.
Time seemed to drag and she couldn't wait to come back home, where it was safe.
"Psst, new girl." Szeina's head perked up. She turned around and saw a smiling face.
The girl had raven black hair which was tied neatly behind her. It showed off her elongated face. Her lips curved in a perfect shape and it was clear that she had no layer of cosmetics on her face aside from the light tint of red on her lips.
She's pretty. Too pretty to be talking to Szeina.
"You were a kick-ass back at the cafeteria. Nice work."
Szeina forced herself to smile before turning her attention back to the front of the room.
"Name's Laura by the way." The girl sitting behind her whispered just in time for the teacher to come walking in.
"Ah, I can see why you're all having such long faces. The day is almost over, but alas! You're all stuck with Mrs. Avery for English Class!"
The room erupted in a series of groans and chuckles.
"Don't worry. This would be a fast and boring class. So fast, you won't even notice that it's done until the bell rings so loud, your sleepiness would instantly vanish."
Szeina couldn't help but smile at Mrs. Avery. Among all of her teachers whom she met for today, she was the liveliest.
As if reading her thoughts, Mrs. Avery's eyes fell on her. She beamed brightly, her bluish eyes lighting up.
"Oh, I see a new face. Now, I have a question for you, dear. This is quite a tradition in my class. Everyone here knows that. Do you know of any particular saying that made a tremendous impact on you?"
Caught off guard, Szeina sputtered out the first thing that came to her mind.
"Once is enough for a wise man."
"That---"
"If that is the case," a deep voice from the back corner of the room interrupted Mrs. Avery from complimenting Szeina. "Then why is there such a thing called failed success if there's no repetition of mistakes?"
Fueled by the comment from the brooding guy in the back, Szeina turned in that direction.
"We're talking about wisdom here, not habit, wants or even success."
Greyish eyes caught Szeina's stare. A haughty expression displayed on his handsome face.
"Isn't it applicable to all?"
"No, it isn't." Szeina fired back without delay.
"It can be," the brooding guy refuted.
"Enough!" Mrs. Avery bellowed, putting to a stop on the rising argument between the two.
"This was supposed to be an educational learning environment. I cannot tolerate arguments unless we are in a debate. The two of you, detention!"
--
'If there would be a time that I would have to regret my actions, this would be it. Maybe shutting my mouth was the wisest thing I could have done to avoid being in detention for my first day.'
"This is your entire fault." Mr. Hot fudge grumbled, straining to sit still in his chair. His comment had Szeina letting out a scoff.
"The air in the room suddenly stunk of men's ego and hot-headed jerks."
"What does that make you?"
Szeina turned to him, matching his stormy greys with her oceanic ones.
"Better than you, obviously."
"You could have chosen not to say anything back."
"And lose the game? You wish."
Mrs. Avery strolled in just in time to cut the tension building between the two. She narrowed her eyes upon seeing their smug faces.
"I can tell you don't like each other very much."
"That's the understatement of the year." Szeina muttered.
"I think we could fix that in no time. I for one dislike having troublesome students. So I've decided to give you a project. By the end of this venture, I am looking forward to a positive result. Who knows, maybe you two would turn out to be good friends."
"I doubt that," the guy mumbled.
Mrs. Avery ignored the side comments that came from the two. She clapped her hands together and smiled.
"This assignment is actually a bonus for the two of you. You will have a head start from the rest of the class. And that would be for the better good as well."
She paused and waited for the snide remark from either student. Sensing that neither of them was about to bark out one, she continued.
"Now, I need both of you to pick one Shakespearean play and make a dramatization out of it. I will grade you based on how well you portray the characters, scenes, and, of course, the proper pronunciation of words. It will be up to you how many scenes you would like to pick. Your act should not be shorter than 5 minutes."
Mrs. Avery let her gaze fleet between her two students and waited for any reactions from them.
"No questions? No violent reactions? Alright then. Just so we're clear, since you have learned of this before everyone else could, you, my dears, will be the first presenters. To put it lightly, your act will set the tone for everyone else. I hope you keep that in mind."
--
'Weird fact number two about me: I have no inkling why I was so attracted to the idea of using the public transport.'
Szeina tried not to sulk as she neared the enormous gate which earlier she and Granola entered.
She fancied the idea of commuting on her own. The reason was because she never tried it. She never had a reason to, and Granola made sure she didn't need to.
While she was contemplating whether to wait for Granola to pick her up, a loud horn sounded from behind her.
"How's that for a little payback, newbie?!" Yvann, the name of the brooding guy from her English class, shouted. He stuck his head out of the window of his blue sports car, his face a little too gleeful.
Szeina watched him zoom past, his trail of merriment leaving her to contemplate on how she can murder him in her sleep.
Day one and she already found two people whom she needed to be wary of.
"Great."
Szeina thought her day couldn't get any worse. However, instead of the white Mercedes which Granola owns, it was a familiar black Jeep that honked outside the gates of Alwreck High after Yvann's car disappeared from view.
Rolling her eyes in unbelief, she reluctantly walked towards the car.
Without waiting for an invitation, she instantly joined the owner of the black Jeep. A smug look was on his face.
"What happened to you?" Neyandro inquired.
Szeina feigned a genuine smile as she turned to him. Caramel-colored eyes stared back at her. Neyandro's messy black hair looked more disheveled than usual. It made her think of unwanted thoughts.
Just as quickly as those came, Szeina immediately dismissed them.
"Life happened."
"Oh, shocking. Did someone kill your fire today, little sis?"
"Eww," Szeina grimaced.
She didn't appreciate Neyandro calling her 'little sis'. They were almost the same age. Although, the latter has a leverage of being taller by two inches.
Neyandro laughed at Szeina's reaction. He had the car going by then, finally driving away from Alwreck High.
"How was the first day?"
"Oh, you know, the usual," Szeina replied with nonchalance, her attention focused on the moving view outside the car's window. "People hate me."
"They can't hate you."
Szeina scoffed.
"Right, they can't because I'm screaming love all over me."
"Oh, come on. Who wouldn't be charmed by our one and only Szeina?"
Although she knew it was sarcastic, Szeina exchanged a brief glance with Neyandro.
"Gross."