Before Jake opened his mouth, the student chuckled then explained, "I'm special. Some say I have a special brain; I can remember a person's face and name with one glance. The last time we saw each other was earlier this year, wasn't it?" Jake got goosebumps hearing that answer.
When the student mentioned the start of the year, he remembered borrowing a book for the first assignment he got this year. That was quite impressive, imagine Jake had the same memory power.
"No wonder you work here." Jake smiled approvingly in return as he regained his composure.
"As you can see, this job looks like it was meant for me." Mabella chuckled softly but then regained her authority look, realizing she shouldn't be too relaxed.
"So there's a book you want to borrow?" She asked in a low tone like a professional librarian.
"Yes, I'd like to borrow a history book. Do you have any suggestions for book titles?" Jake asked.
"That's easy. Wait a minute..." Mabella shifted his body and grabbed the computer mouse on the table and then entered a certain code in the book search base. With systematic data collection and computerization standard service, It was quite easy for Mabella to find the title of the book that her guests wanted. "Got it! There are several titles, do you want more specific subtitles or just world history?"
"Maybe, the history of the Roenith kingdom? That would be enough." Jake replied.
"Okay. For that one, the book was on the second floor, the eleventh-row history shelf, the westernmost row on the right side." Mabella said as he jotted down what she had just said on a small piece of scrap paper, then handed it to Jake.
"Thank You." Receiving the address of the book he was looking for, Jake went to the second floor with a circular staircase made of wood.
Jake was again amazed when to find out how accurate Mabella's instructions were. He walked directly to the location she had told, and the book was there. Imagining if he had to search by himself in a three-story library that had eight sectors, that would surely be a hard job.
After picking up a book titled "The Glory of Roenith Empire", Jake looked for the nearest empty desk to do his homework as he had planned. Looking at Miria's work Jake nodded in salute, as usual, Miria did the job well and neatly. Even though Miria had always given him satisfactory marks from the homework, Jake felt he had to double-check her answers.
"Hey, isn't this Jake? I didn't know you were this diligent."
When he was about to finish the last number, Jake was disturbed by the presence of someone who reprimanded him with a sarcastic tone.
Jake glanced at her with a look of disapproval and then continued his work.
"What's your business?" Jake asked dully.
Hearing that curt reply, Syntia, the girl snorted as she lost for words, stunned. She frowned, her face looked in disbelief after Jake talked back to her in a cold manner like that. She sat down and saw that all Jake doing was copying someone's work.
Knowing that Syntia smiled lightly. "You're good at keeping your image, aren't you? You don't want to be caught cheating on your homework, so you go to the library to do it?"
"You want to copy too? Go ahead, I don't mind as long as I'm still here." Jake replied with a lazy glance at Syntia who was sitting in front of him.
Syntia Klevin, Chloe's close classmate. Jake had seen her several times, and what could he infer from her; she talks quite a lot. Even though she didn't bother him, whenever Syntia was around Jake felt uncomfortable. So he tend to avoid her whenever he saw her with Chloe.
However, the current Jake was different. Even the last words from him were enough to make Syntia stunned in disbelief. The girl didn't expect Jake to be able to reply to her words savagely.
Even though from the very beginning she had intended to tease Jake and make him a clown, as usual, she was starting to regret it.
"Is Chloe with you?" Realizing Syntia was taken aback, Jake asked to break the ice while focusing on writing the last answer of the homework.
"Why are you looking for her? Have you missed her already? Oops. Did I just spill your secret?" Syntia grinned, quite satisfied, feeling her comeback against Jake's words.
Jake stopped his dancing pen, then looked at Syntia with a straight face.
"Do I look like somebody who has a crush on her?"
"You... don't have a crush on Chloe? Heh, don't be denied, Jake. My presumption is never wrong! The way you look at her, the way you—"
"What are you talking about? I change my mind about lending you my homework, I need to get back. See you." Interrupting Syntia, Jake packed up his books and went downstairs to the first floor, leaving Syntia speechless with a reddish face.
Jake walked over to Mabella's desk and handed her the history book to be recorded before being allowed to be taken out from the library.
On the right side of the library, there was a corridor that lead to the main building where Jake's classes were located. Going there, Jake met with an intersection. It was only then that he realized why he had taken an unnecessary detour when there was a shorter path. Shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly, Jake stomped his way back through the shorter path.
However, halfway through the open path, Jake heard someone yelling. The source of the sound came from near a building, more precisely behind it. Curious, Jake changed his direction to that direction.
As he rounded the corner, Jake found a first-grader being surrounded by three third-years. The sight before him triggered a bitter memory in Jake's mind. He felt a sharp pain in his head accompanied by a racing heartbeat and shaking legs. Those familiar faces gave Jake a sense of dread.
'What happened to me? Why is this pain suddenly coming?' Worried that he would use his powers unknowingly, Jake screamed in pain to express the misery he was going through.AtIn another party, Seeing Jake screaming like a man possessed by a demon, the three third-graders were dumbfounded. It wasn't long before they all ran away after Jake fell to the ground and lost his consciousness.
Feeling saved, the first grader that stayed decided to rush away but headed towards the school infirmary.
"I'll looking for some help," the student muttered to himself as he was running to find help for Jake.
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Jake opened his blurry eyes before eventually beginning to regain their clearness. 'Where am I?' asked himself. 'Wait, this place looks familiar.' He added.
Sitting down on a red maroon sofa, Jake spread his vision to the environment and realized where he was in. "This is my old home." He muttered in disbelief.
The living room was quite dim, even the wall was painted with pastel color which couldn't reflect light fully. A set of couches, a round coffee table, a television on a long hutch, and also several photos hung on the walls. Jake couldn't be wrong, the place was indeed his old house. But how did he get in there? That was the biggest question.
"Am I dreaming again?" said Jake in low voice. As he wanted to get up, he catch a creaking voice from the corner of the room. There was an old piano, and behind it was an antique wooden rocking chair. Jake clenches his eyes and saw a silhouette in the dark corner.
"Who are you?!" He shouted, alerting his defensive instinct. "Show yourself!" Standing on the couch, Jake grabbed a vase from the console table behind the sofa.
The blurry figure got up from the rocking chair and took a step forward.
"Hello, boy. I have been waiting for you, and look... you finally came." The dim light slowly fell on the figure's face as he took another step, revealing his identity.
Jake gasped, forgetting how to breathe for a moment. His pupils were expanding as he stared at the man. Jake knew him, even though they never truly met, He recognized him. He, the man with black hair and silver rectangular glasses was Ray Windfield, his deceased father.