Prologue
Entering a room with strangers makes me feel lonely and strange. They stared at me and I couldn't tell their faces from one another. I wanted to turn around, but seeing their dumbstruck eyes, I had no choice but to continue. When I walked in, I had the impression that the crowd had quieted down. I walked away, rolled up my sleeves, and looked around.
So this is my classroom. A student stood up from his seat. I had noticed the lack of a lecturer from the moment I walked into this room. He must be the class leader or representative.
"Excuse me? You are...?" He is tall and a bit muscular. As I'm sizing him up, I thought that in a few years later, his build would be similar to the brutes in black that used to surround me in my past life. The only difference is, with his blazing red hair, he gave me a friendly smile. Maybe, this is not a bad start...
"I'm a new student."
"Dani Ferret?" He confirmed, and it seemed that he had guessed it already. But the students around us are different. They exchanged whispers and gasped in surprise with each other.
"What the heck?!"
"She's that Dani?"
"Oh, I thought she was a boy."
"That explains why we didn't see her: Dani Ferret, the transfer student with the highest admission test results, did not attend the opening ceremony for the students."
Finally, I had to face my "classmates." Their surprised expressions are still visible. Even though I've been here in this country for three months, I'm still not used to the kind of stares they were giving me. At least they're not looking at me with pity and hatred. I had the urged to laugh at that sudden thought.
"Why didn't you attend the welcoming ceremony this morning? That is mandatory." My eyes was drawn back to him again. His voice, too, is soft. Instead of criticizing me, he looked curious.
"I couldn't find the gym." I said simply and he didn't ask anymore. He then gave me instructions.
"You should go to the Dean's office later; for now, pick a seat; there are still several empty chairs in the back."
I chose the window seat in the back corner. It was until this moment that I again realized how reputable this school is while staring at the tall and relatively grandiose buildings through the window. I felt more eyes on me. It was because someone proudly stood in front of me, blocking my view. He drew his arms across his chest and looked at me with narrowed eyes. His behavior caused a stir.
"Oh my God!"
"Don't tell me Eugene is interested in her?"
"That's possible."
"But it's Eugene we are talking about!!"
"What are you doing, Eugene? I know what you're up to, so you'd better stop!"
A high-pitched voice suddenly invaded my ears. When I turned at my side, I noticed a girl dragging a chair towards me. She dragged the chair clumsily that it made a scratching noise before sitting next to me with familiarity.
"Hi, I'm Bella. But you can just call me Belle!" She told me excitedly with her high-pitched voice. Because of it, I had to fight the urge to cover my ears.
"Belle, I think you're going to make her ears bleed." The class leader, who I assumed, spoke in a scolding manner yet he appeared to be holding back a laugh.
Are they friends?
"I told you to stop talking near to people's ears. You never listen." This time, a low drowsy voice came from behind me. I cocked my head to catch a glimpse and noticed he was sitting behind me.
"Wow, they are approaching her."
"Well, people who are the same attract each other."
Hearing those words, I also wonder why these people are crowding around me. As I was homeschooled before, I heard that most of the students who attend official schools are primarily arrogant, dumb, and immature. They're really different from the people I have encountered. But more than that... it's very easy to read these people. Another face abruptly approached us. He is familiar and is looking at me with a childlike smile.
"We meet again,"
"You knew her?" They asked while the class leader scolded him.
"Jun Kaizer! Care to explain why did you skip as well?!"
"Hmm. Since Ms. Dani here didn't mention anything, then it's a secret." He simply said and winked at me. With a wide smile, he was scrutinizing my face and I did the same. He has a brown hair and wears a constant smile. He looks innocent but I got a feeling that he is smiling because of the embarrassing situation earlier. I couldn't help but relived those moments.
"Excuse me, are you lost?"
Someone asked me. He is looking at me with a blank stare and so I replied 'I'm not lost' before turning straight following the path. But somehow, I again ended up in the same place with him.
"Are you following me?"
"I got here first so how did I follow you? You're lost, right?" He asked me again and continued to blabber how it's the first time he saw me.
"No, I'm not lost."
"Okay. Well, then." He then turned around so I hesitantly chase after him.
"Wait, I'm not lost, but could you please show me the way?!"
I wasn't lost. This is due to the fact that this school is too large, and all of the buildings are grayish-white in color with same styles. And I'm not bad at direction either. Absolutely.
"Heh. Dani Ferret?"
My stream of thinking was interrupted. I took a glance ahead of me. This person who is blocking my view. He's just staring at me, but I'm not sure why I have such a deep dislike for him. Perhaps it was the way he look. He appears to be looking down on me.
"Listen to me, you may have the highest scores in the exam this time, but with me around, you can't act arrogant."
I wondered how would he react if I told him that I even purposely lose some of my points to avoid getting attention. To think that it still ended like this.
"Woah, I told you. It's impossible for him to be interested in her. You know how he is, he sees her as his rival."
"More like a threat."
"First Belle and now he is picking the new student. He's really competitive."
I heaved a sigh. Right, being plunged suddenly into this strange environment that I'm not used to, I don't know how to deal with this situation and being like this makes me uncomfortable. How should I deal with this? After thinking for seconds, I decided to ignore it.
It seems like they're right. This pure arrogance and naivety coupled with their privilege background, the four sides of this room is masked with that kind of atmosphere. Looking at the animated expressions of the people around me, I have the impression that I am surrounded by obnoxious kids. Too different from what I have previously encountered. So, there shouldn't be a problem. This is merely nothing.
"Idiot." I murmured.
But my clear voice echoed throughout the room. They were surprised. I was surprised too. Perfect timing! How come they suddenly stopped talking like that? It seems like they were eagerly waiting for my response and now that I did, the atmosphere had changed.