[19th December]
"Dodge!"
I turned around to see the blurry appearance of an elliptical ball spiraling towards me at the rate of a racing car. I shut my eyes and braced for the impact. A loud smack echoed in the classroom. Puzzled as I felt no pain, I peeked an eye open.
A large hand hindered my vision before it slowly lowered itself. "Are you serious, Rikki? It's literally seven in the morning! Calm down." a familiar voice snapped at the youngest male who sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and wandered to his seat at the back, doing a handshake with Silas as he strolled by his spot.
"You okay?" Jay came into view as he tossed the rugby ball back to Rikki, who effortlessly caught it in one hand.
"I'm fine," I assured and fumbled with my bag strap.
"I forgot my seat arrangement," I murmured in embarrassment. Jay blinked in confusion before breaking into fits of laughter. I felt Rikki and the other twin (who I have yet to know the name of) glance over.
"Are you serious? Your seat's right there." he patted my back and pointed to the chair in the far-right corner at the back of the classroom. Mumbling thanks, I rigidly made my way to the back, eyes subconsciously locked on the boy seated in front of my desk, his head hung low under his black hoodie. All of a sudden, he glanced up and made eye contact with me. I immediately glanced away and so did he.
Dylan was my seatmate, to my surprise. He lazily regarded me as I unpacked my bag, his posture slouched while his arms idly dangled at his sides. Zipping open Johnny's pencil case, I arched my eyebrow.
Why does he have a complete Ironman stationery set? This is humiliating...
"Want a lollipop?" Dylan suddenly offered, waving a cola-flavored candy in his hand. "It's your favorite," it seems like it could be my favorite.
"Sure, thank you," I grinned and let him drop the piece of candy onto my palm, the side-eye he gave the quiet boy ahead didn't go unnoticed by me, but I decided not to question it. Popping the candy into my mouth, I recalled what the strange lady had advised me in my dreams last night. I tapped my fingers on the table in consideration before turning in my seat to face Dylan fully. He was already staring at me expectantly.
"When's the last day of the carnival again?" I asked. Dylan arched his eyebrow and crossed his arms.
"It ends on Ethan's birthday. Why?" that helped in the slightest.
"Oh, it's nothing. I forgot for a moment," I chuckled apprehensively, shifting in my seat.
I may not need to know the exact date, but if Ethan's holding a birthday party and as long as I'm by his side until midnight, everything will be a success. Hey, everything seems to be in my favor!
I smirked and muttered an 'ok' to myself and faced front, jumping in shock when I realized the quiet boy across me had been peeking through his shoulders the whole time, tentatively studying my figure as I tensed up in my seat. "Can I help you?" I meekly mumbled. He flinched and immediately shook his head before turning in his seat, returning his gaze to the teacher who just stepped in. Odd.
"Good morning, class! Please take your seats." the teacher chirped as students rushed to their desks as asked.
"Did anyone go to the carnival yesterday?" he asked as a few raised their arms high. "Excellent! It seems like most of you went. So, how about a little project about it?" numerous students whined and groaned.
"It's totally optional, but it's also worth fifteen percent of your final grade for this semester!" the teacher smirked when the protests got brasher.
"It's a pair work so you have the entire class hour to find your partner and discuss!" he clarified and clapped his hands before taking his place.
Immediately, everyone began moving around to get to their friends, and I wondered if Johnny had any set partner in class. I turned to find my alleged group of friends; Jay and Nick high-fived each other in agreement, Rikki swung his arm around Dylan and roughly shoved him into his chest, the shorter male spouting colorful words out of his mouth as he attempted to push youngest away.
I searched for my last two resorts, who had already moved their tables closer to list down the important key points they should pay attention to. I was a wee bit surprised that the twins were not working together. "Crap," I muttered under my breath. Rikki glanced at me before raising his hand to get the teacher's attention.
"Yes, Rikki?"
"Will you allow groups of three?" Rikki asked with a glint of faith in his eyes, arms still around Dylan. I turned to the teacher, discreetly delivering him a pleading look.
"I don't see why there should be a group of three, the class is an even number after all." the teacher shrugged, to my dismay. Rikki groaned and mouthed an apology my way, Dylan gave me a look of pity which I didn't really appreciate.
Looking around once again, my frown deepened to see everyone paired up, already chatting away and arranging dates to visit the carnival together.
All except the boy across me.
I hesitantly tapped on his shoulder and he hesitated for a moment before twisting around to look at me, most of his face hidden under his black hoodie. I awkwardly cleared my throat.
"Can we be partners?" he was appalled but gave me a small nod nonetheless and shifted in his chair to face me, keeping a good distance between us.
"Awesome," I clapped my hands and opened an unused spiral notebook I found in Johnny's bag, writing down a bold 'carnival project!' on the header.
"Before we start, can I have your name? I don't think I got it before," glancing up, I watched as the boy looked at me in incredulity, pursing his lips before he let out a small sigh. Did I say something wrong?
"You can call me Ethel," he stuttered, fiddling with his fingers under the desk. His voice was really soft as if he didn't want to be heard. I did not think much of it.
"Alright, Ethel! We have to set a date and time to meet up at the carnival so we can work on this project together." at that, Ethel glimpsed at me before he quickly lowered his gaze to his fingers again.
"I can't go out at night," he stammered. "but I can research about the event if that's…okay," added Ethel.
I rubbed my chin before agreeing. "Sure, that'll be fine. But it's a pity you can't go to the carnival. It's actually really fun." there was no response from his side but that was totally expected.
-
"Hey, Johnny, how did the discussion go with the quiet kid? Did you actually get along with him?" Silas played with the food on his plate, staring at me with curious eyes. I shrugged with a sigh.
"It was okay. He agreed to do all the research since he couldn't go to the carnival." I popped a green grape into my mouth.
"Are you sure you didn't force him to do all the tough work?" Dylan sneered two seats away from me. I almost choked on my grape.
"D-did not!"
"He can't go? How odd. Most people look forward to the carnival." Nick arched his eyebrow, mindlessly scrolling through his phone.
"He must have his reasons. It's a shame though,"
"We were very surprised when you asked him to be your project partner," Rikki chimed in as he bit on his bread.
"Why is that?"
"Well, you used to bu-"
Suddenly, shrill laughter erupted in the cafeteria, turning heads. My mouth hung open in hysteria. "What on Earth are they doing?!" a group of girls from another class had dumped trays of food and gravy on a fellow student, their clothes soaked with thick sauce and bits and pieces of vegetables and meat.
I had quickly recognized the victim as Ethel.
Immediately, I stood up and began to approach them. "What are you doing? Johnny!" Jay hissed at me to come back as the rest of the group observed in confusion.
"Hey!" I bellowed, earning their attention as the girl in the middle arched a brow at me.
"What do you want, Johnny?" she rested her hands on her hips, her dark red lips twisting into a smirk.
"What do you think you're doing to Ethel?"
"Ethel-? Oh! The loner has a name!" the girl laughed mockingly as she delivered a dirty glare to Ethel, who hung his head low in shame, but I swore he had a look of astonishment when I stepped in.
"What has gotten into you, Johnny? Have you guys called a truce - is he your friend now? Awe." she and her friends snickered like it was a hilarious joke.
A truce?
"What if he is?" I challenged as I trudged closer to her, the nasty grin on her face gradually sinking.
"Whoa, Johnny! Calm down." someone held me back by my shoulders, I assumed it was Ethan. He quickly led us back to our table despite my protests.
We both halted in our track when Ethel stood up and rushed out of the hall, the group of girls snickering and pointing fingers at him. It was disheartening to see the others wordlessly watch one of their schoolmates get bullied, but they were only protecting themselves.
"Ethel!" I shouted as I pushed Ethan away to run after Ethel, ignoring the confused calls from my friends.
Shoving open the male bathroom door, I glanced around in search of Ethel. "Hey, Ethel are you there?" I called to get an uncanny silence in return. I checked the stalls, they were all empty and unlocked.
"Weird," I stepped out of the bathroom to see Ethel leaving one of the changing rooms a few doors away from where I stood.
"Ethel!" he spun around in hysteria and carelessly smoothened out his new attire as I jogged up to him.
"Are you okay?" I had asked him when I got closer. He nodded tensely, muttering a 'yes'.
"Don't worry about me," with that, Ethel quickly turned around and marched to our classroom. As if on cue, the school bell rang, signaling that recess was over. I sighed in dismay as I observe his figure disappear in the hallway.