The five boys casually strolled in Leonidas' direction until they realized he was in a lotus pose in the middle of the field.
"Pfft... What is he doing, meditating?"
"Damn freak!"
Leonidas opened his eyes and saw 5 boys surrounding him and looking at him menacingly. He could only sigh at this sight.
He noticed one of them was that giant he saw beside Julian before supper. That giant was now with his impressive cronies.
Leonidas stood up leisurely making sure to take his time. He looked at the boys and said "Do we have a problem here?"
"Yeah we do. You!" One of the boys with a long sweet potato shaped face said.
"Yeah! That's right. You were talking shit the whole day. Now look at you." said another pig nosed cronie.
Leonidas held back the urge to laugh. Not only are some people ugly, but they also have no braincells to speak of.
It's almost like the universe just made them to struggle. Just made them to experience the most pathetic suffering possible.
'If you want me to make these idiots suffer... Your wish is my command.'
"Really..?" said Leonidas looking intently at the instigator. The giant was quietly observing from the side,almost as if he was being cautious. But Leonidas could see the ferocity and anger he withheld in his eyes.
'Hmmm... Maybe this one has... Half a brain cell?'
"Leonidas I want you to get in your knees and apologize to us for cheating in the game. Or else-"
"Or else what? Hmm?" said Leonidas mockingly.
"You bitch!!" the giant lost his reasoning and lunged forward trying to grab Leonidas. But his lunge was brought to a screeching halt.
"Stooop!! What are you guys doing? Attacking a fellow student?!"
"R-Rosaline... What are you doing here?"
Rosaline stood at the entrance of the field with her phone in her hands. It seemed like she was ready to take an incriminating video of an assault that was just about to happen.
The 4 cronies visibly gulped. They couldn't touch Rosaline since she was practically Julian's girl. If they had started beating Leonidas up it would have been too late. They could even go to juvenile detention.
"What?! Ofcourse not. We were just saying hi"
"Yeah..."
"Ofcourse. We would never do something like that."
The giant began speaking and was followed by all the other cronies. Cold sweat was visibly flowing down their faces.
Rosaline started walking towards the center, where Leonidas was, and said "Really? Well that's good. We really should get along don't you think?"
"Ofcourse." he said with an ingrafiating smile, then looked to Leonidas almost as if he was saying 'you were lucky this time'
Leonidas merely smiled to himself. 'I wasn't the lucky one'
"Let's go gents" said the giant while taking sneaky glances at Leonidas. Leonidas could only shake his head. He was so wilful a few moments ago. Now he had turned into a dog with its tail in between its legs.
Rosaline kept walking until she was right next to Leonidas. She had a graceful smirk on her face almost as if she was saying 'you don't have to thank me'. Leonidas was wondering how long she had been around. Watching him.
"How do you always get yourself in trouble." she started while holding back a giggle.
Leonidas smiled and said "I never go out looking for fights. But whenever someone starts a fight I always make sure to end it."
"What can I say... I'm a really nice guy" said Leonidas with an air of charm.
Rosaline giggled gracefully and couldn't help but laugh at his shamelessness. There are many ways to describe this boy. But 'Nice' isn't one of them.
"What were you doing here anyway?" she asked with interest.
"Oh so you've been watching me for a long time?" said Leonidas almost to himself.
Rosaline was startled but she didn't show it on her face. She merely smiled gently and said "What do you mean?"
Leonidas smiled and said "Nothing. Anyway, I was just meditating. Nothing major."
Leonidas began to stretch his body. He had been in the same position for almost two hours. After he was done he then gazed intently at Rosaline with his deep black eyes, causing Rosaline to blush because of this.
"What's up?" said Rosaline almost stuttering through her words.
"Hey. Who are you? What's your name?" said Leonidas moving closer to Rosaline. Although Rosaline was taller than Leonidas by a few centimeters, Leonidas had an imposing air about him that made Rosaline step back unconsciously.
But she soon regained her demeanor and corrected her blunder as she looked at him as intently as he was looking at her.
"Rosaline Mitchell" said Rosaline confidently.
"Nope." Leonidas said while shaking his head. Leonidas turned away from her and put his hand to his chin in contemplation.
"What? What do you mean?" said Rosaline, her heart rate increasing rapidly.
"Your regal demeanor. The graceful way in which you carry yourself. Your exotic accent which doesn't sound African or European. Your skin tone that is unblemished almost as if you were a sheltered child. Your intellect and maturity, indicating a superior upbringing."
Leonidas sighed and continued "Even when I asked you your name, you lied to me. People's pupils constrict when they lie. Their hands started sweating. Their heart rates increase. I could tell immediately. You lied."
Rosaline unconsciously took a few steps back but Leonidas turned to her again, following her, and continued "A fake identity, that seems so real, with even a fake family history and everything. Secret Guards who follow you around everywhere. And a noble bearing that's almost ingrained in your DNA..."
"To be honest, if this wasn't really life, I would think you're a princess or something. Or atleast the daughter of some billionaire third generation. Pfft... But that's impossible am I right?"
Leonidas was so enraptured with his thought process that he didn't even notice when Rosaline fell flat on the floor. He immediately felt sorry, thinking he was too close to her and he forced her to move backwards, sending her center of gravity out of line.
"Oh damn are you okay? You're not hurt are you?" Leonidas said, while reaching out his hand.
"Y-yes I'm fine. You were just a bit close there." Rosaline said while grabbing onto Leonidas' hand. Leonidas gently pulled her up and for a moment Rosaline could feel his breath in her skin. Her face became flushed for a moment before regaining its former unblemished state.
Leonidas gazed at her and seeing the reluctance and apprehension on her face, he sighed "Haaahh, well anyway thank you for helping me out with those idiots. Although to be honest, I never really needed your help"
Leonidas turned towards the exit and walked away.
"Wait!" said an anxious voice from behind him.
Leonidas turned around only to see a gorgeous face that could take any teenager's breath away. The wind was blowing, which made her blonde curls look even more radiant in the dimly lit field.
"The guards. How did you know I had guards?" said Rosaline tentatively.
Leonidas could only enlighten her "Don't get me wrong. They're really good. But throughout the day today they would make sure they were at most 5 meters away from you at all times. So even though they were rotating and were disguised, I could always tell what they were."
Leonidas turned away but before he could leave he heard Rosaline say bitterly "So you're really gonna leave a weak maiden alone at night?"
"But you're not alone, are you?" said Leonidas while exiting the field.
Rosaline could only look on in silence with a bright smile on her face. Even she had no way of knowing what she was thinking right now.
A figure emerged from the shadows and stood behind Rosaline, who had an amused expression on her face.
"Princess, should we-"
"No. Just do as I told you. Find out more about him. That's all."
Leonidas had been paying special attention to Rosaline. Ofcourse he remembered her from the alternate time line. But in that time line she disappeared during the 8th grade. The worst thing is that everything was hushed up and all the school said was that she transferred schools.
Leonidas had a feeling that things weren't that simple.
Leonidas went back to the house where he was met with the boys, who gave him his share of the prize. They then started talking about what all boys talk about at their age... The things they would do to this girl, and to that girl... Even the teachers weren't spared...
Seeing this, Leonidas excused himself promptly. He took a shower and went to 'sleep', but in actuality he was cultivating the whole night.
Thw next morning, after breakfast, Leonidas was met with a new day of games and fun. But not before the teachers explained the schedule. The groups will be put together into 2 big groups of 7 groups, the A group, and 6 groups, the B group.
The A group would go on a ranger excursion into the wild while the B group stayed and played other games. In the future they would swap places such that the B group would go on an excursion.
Ofcourse group 11 was placed into the B group and would stay to play games with the other B group people.
That day Leonidas was forced to play soccer and basketball until lunch. Unfortunately, Group 11 had only 4 people who were talented in physical activities.and one of them, Leonidas, was definitely not going to put any effort into these games. Especially since there was no reward.
After the games, the other kids from the A group were already back and everyone had time to have lunch.
Before lunch began, the teachers announced excitedly "Today is a really hot day. So after lunch you can go grab your swim suits and go to the pool!"
Celebrations resounded from everywhere. People were excited for various reasons. Some were excited to cool off from the sun. Some were excited to see others in their swim suits, while some were just excited to have the opportunity to continue flirting.
Because of the good mood, the dining hall became loud and busy. Leonidas shook his head secretly when seeing and hearing everything. Is it mating season already?
Meanwhile, Rosaline who was sat next to Maya, was speaking to Maya, Lihle and Priya and some other girls at another table. At Lihle's poking, the topic quickly turned to Leonidas.
"Hey is he as weird as the rumors?" asked one girl to Rosaline.
"He's not weird. He's smart, talented, and independent. He's different" Rosaline said without the slightest embarrassment on her face.
"You know Maya said the same thing. Do you guys have a crush on him or something?" Lihle teased menacingly
Maya turned her head towards Lihle with a blank stare that said 'I will spank you' but Rosaline started coughing out her food as she had choked at the idea.
"Ofcourse not!" Rosaline said resolutely
"Pfft hahaha, our sweet Rosaline is falling in loove~" Lihle continued teasing while all the girls made some ambiguous *Ouuhhh* sounds.
Rosaline waved them away but she needed a way to change the topic, so she turned to Maya. "Heh, but I'm not the one who's following Leonidas in the shadows though, right Maya?"
Maya nearly spit out her food. Why was she now a part of this. Receiving ambiguous gazes from everyone around her she merely scoffed and said "I didn't follow him, I was passing by and I saw him. So I stayed to see what he was doing. That's it. And how did you see me? Perhaps we're you also watching him from nearby?"
Rosaline realized she may have dug a hole for herself but she remained calm and said "I was heading out to see him. Turns out he was meditating."
"Meditating?! Who does that? What a weirdo!" said Priya.
"I knew it he's definitely a weirdo" said one girl.
"But don't you think he's kinda cute. Like maybe if he grows up a bit, he'll definitely be super good looking" said another girl shyly.
"Oh my God Tanya... Do you like him?!" said Priya with a playful smile on her face.
"I-I'm just saying..." said the girl defensively.
The back and forth continued until everyone finished their food. After they were done they went back and changed into their swim suits then went to the pool.
Leonidas, on the other hand, was genuinely unbothered. He had brought a book with him to do some 'reading', but couldn't help but notice when some girls were giving him weird glances. He was wearing shorts and nothing on his upper body, which highlighted his sculpted muscles.
Leonidas had been working out almost every day since he was back. This was a habit from the previous time line. When a sorcerer runs out of power, they can only depend on their body. He kept his body in tip top shape, which drew a lot of looks from the girls.
But the period went well and after supper the teenagers were told that it was movie night. They were given popcorn and snacks and they watched the movie The Three Stooges
Leonidas was honestly annoyed. What a trashy movie. No wonder he had never heard of it, even in his first life.
He left and went back to the house after 15 minutes of this horrendous 'comedy'. He had better things to do.