After packing my things up and loading it on our driver's car, we set up. It didn't take long before we finally reached school, Nick and I almost always go to school together. Despite him being a prefect at school and is recommended by the head prefects that it would be better for him to be at school earlier than the others, he turned it down and decided to accompany me to school every single day.
For that, I'm grateful. I really am. But if it weren't for me to not have mana in the first place, this wouldn't be happening at all. And for that, I always had this guiltiness towards Nick.
Why does me not having mana has to do with this? Well, when mana circulates through our tissues, it stimulates the cells and enhance almost all factors, which includes the nervous cells.
It doesn't make people smarter since knowledge had to be obtained through one's own effort, however, it does dissolve both the fatigue of the body and the mind to a certain degree that an average person only needs 4 hours of sleep, which is the half of the bare minimum of 8 hours of sleep I require.
This caused me to had to go to sleep right after dinner on a daily routine, which often gets disrupted by days of teachers just being sickos and decided to dump piles over piles of homework on us, leaving me no choice but to power through them at night through sheer determination and coffee. Yet I still have no other choice but to wake up at 4am in the morning so that I can attend school, which often starts half an hour later.
Which is why, every time we went to school together, I was haunted by the thought that I was dragging Nick down.
Why? Well, isn't it obvious?
As we walked through the school gates together, everyone will land their eyes on me. After all, the once-prodigy-turned-failure type of character isn't a common thing you'd encounter in your life, right? I can tell that everyone wants a piece of me, everyone.
They must be looking down on me, whenever their eyes fixated on me, I couldn't help but imagine how they think of me. Was it disgust? Was it curiosity? Or was it shame? Probably one of them, or even all of them. Either way, I don't like it one bit.
I don't like the attention. I'm afraid of it. Why can't they just look away? What is so interesting about such a puny being like me who lost everything? Why can't they just ignore me just like how they ignore others?
"Alright, we're here." Nick said as he stopped in front of me. We were navigating through the school compound together just now, and it seems we had arrived at our school canteen. Most of the stalls aren't open yet, so it's usually the gathering place for events.
And as expected, I can see a teacher already sitting with quite a number of students lining up before him in a corner. On closer look, I've noticed that the teacher is none other than Mr. Zheng himself. Seems like he's in charge of the camping trip, no wonder I was approved to go when Nick signed it up for me.
"Good morning, Mr. Zheng." Nick greeted him as I followed closely behind. "I'll leave my brother in your hands in the next 3 days, okay?"
"Ah, yes. Come on at stand at the back of that row, Edmond. It's good to have you on board." He looked up and smiled at us before pointing me in the direction of the row he's talking about. I nodded and quickly ran over to the back of the row. And I couldn't help but feel everyone turning to look at me as I passed by, so I closed my eyes and focused on getting to my destination, keeping the bad thoughts away as best as possible.
After a couple more words with Mr. Zheng, Nick set off, probably to do prefects work. I waited nervously in the back as a couple more students arrive, ending up queueing up behind me. Once again, I felt their gaze and tried the best to ignore it even though I couldn't help but feel their eyes burning into my back.
Seeing that most of us are already here, Mr. Zheng told us to sit down on the benches and began talking about things concerning the trip. For example, our schedule, rules to follow when we're outside, and more. They're mostly things already written on the registration paper and is told again as a reminder.
Finally, the speech ended, and now we wait for the bus. While the other students seems to have finally decided to no longer pay attention on me and began talking with each other as Mr. Zheng decided to head off somewhere during the wait.
The moment I relaxed my nerves, I can feel a surge of tiredness wash over me. All my energy left me, and I lied against the table, falling into Dreamlands where nothing will bother me...
...Or so I thought.
"Hey ex-prodigy!" Someone from behind me shouted, and it jolted me back awake. Quickly realizing who they are, I closed my eyes shut and pretend to be asleep. Praying that they will be leaving very soon.
But unlike the dreamlands, nothing goes as I wish in this harsh reality. Heavy footsteps approached from behind, and I shut my eyelids harder, trying to deny reality from truth.
Just then, I was yanked from my position and off of the bench by the shoulder, forcing me with no choice but to open my eyes and look at who it was. And as expected, it's him.
"I'll just cut straight to the point." The boy before me said as he smiled with a cunning smile plastered on his face. "Since, you know, you'll be gone for this trip and..."
He reached his hand out upwards towards me. "You know the drill."