Laguna High.
One among the many high schools in District C6. There was nothing special about it aside from the abundant number of students going through the enormous gates of the said school.
Girls wore an above-the-knee box pleated skirt that was in navy blue with two white strips an inch above the hem. Paired with white high socks and black shoes, a white long-sleeved blouse all undecorated with the same colors.
The uniform of the boys was loose-fitting trousers, matched with a short-sleeved white blouse which was supposedly tucked into their navy blue trousers. Obviously, not all of them followed the proper dress code, as many left their blouse dangling over their pants with a few undone buttons.
Standing before the school gates, Ike looked around at the students walking past him from all directions. He waited for this day to come and now that he was a few steps from experiencing proper school life.
How exciting!
'I remember it used to be uh… never mind.' The side of his lips curled up, gazing at the intricate cursive metal design on top of the gates that said, "Laguna High."
"My… I wonder what is the difference in teaching —"
The excited grin on his face instantly faded as someone passing by bumped against his shoulder. He looked up, only to see this tall and brawny male wearing the same uniform cast him a cursory look without stopping in his tracks.
"Not even an apology," he mumbled, keeping his eyes on the student walking into the gates as if he didn't bump into someone. "Well, can't blame him. I was in the way."
Ike shook his head, not allowing that brief moment to ruin his mood. He gazed at the gates again and nodded in satisfaction. Before someone could bump into him again, Ike marched inside along with the countless students entering the gates of the Laguna Highschool.
The premises had a long driveway, which the students must walk through, leading to the quad where the pathway would split for each building.
Just by looking at it, Ike had guessed there were at least a thousand students enrolled in the school. Quite a lot, but also not surprising. This was one of the biggest public schools in district C6 and most students who couldn't afford the insane tuition of private school probably go in there.
"My… I wonder how the teacher handles all students," Ike snickered, amused by what he had seen so far. "It'll be interesting to know."
For the past several weeks, Ike had been eager to start the school year just because he was bored staying home. Even if he goes out every once in a while, there wasn't anything amusing around the area of C6; it was a rural area.
Hence, he had high expectations. Until…
SPLASH!
Ike stood by the door of the Class 3 section Venom. His new uniform, which he ironed meticulously early in the crack of the dawn, was now drenched in water. He raised his eyes to see the hidden snicker on some of the mischievous students' faces. Anticipation was apparent in some of the student's eyes, obviously waiting for his reaction.
"Good thing I had my coffee this morning." His lips curled up into a thin line, not giving the reaction the culprits were looking for. "Good morning, classmates."
Unbothered by his dripping-wet uniform, Ike sauntered in and searched for a spot. He ignored the gazes on him as he found a spot on the corner. When he sat down, he tilted his head to the side as he decided to look back at the group of five students near the raised platform in front of the classroom.
"Good morning," he greeted them with a smile, warranting some dull grunts from them.
"How boring. I thought we'd be able to see someone cry early in the morning," said the young male student with a petite physique yet a towering stature.
"See? You should've pulled the string earlier," added another, hooking his arms across a female student's shoulder standing beside him while he propped his bottom against the desk. "Babe, I told you. We should've mixed the bucket with eggs, so whoever was lucky person will have a stronger reaction."
As if their mischief was something so important, the group of five students — two girls and three young guys — disregarded Ike as if there were no hard feelings about the morning prank they pulled. Instead, their conversation went from what to mix next before hopping to any random topic they could broach.
'I see…' Ike mentally nodded, taking out a hand towel to wipe himself. 'So, they didn't particularly target me. It was just my luck, huh? Oh, well. What else can I say?'
After watching a clip where Ike was being bullied, he came to this school prepared. And by that, he meant bringing an extra uniform in a ziplock, a hand towel, socks, and even protective covers for his notes and books. But now, he added an umbrella to his to-bring list in his head.
As he dried his hair, Ike noticed a particular gaze from his back. He looked back out of curiosity, only to see a young female with huge glasses that had thin, golden frames and slightly thick lenses. She was cupping her tender cheek, keeping a pencil on her puckered upper lip, eyes directly on Ike.
Normally, when a person was caught staring, they would look away. However, she simply held Ike's gaze with an air of nonchalance without showing the slightest sign of breaking her eye contact.
"Hey." Ike raised a hand slightly, flashing her a polite smile. The female classmate didn't greet him back as if she didn't have any other interest aside from staring at him.
"Well." He shrugged, not really interested in making friends at the moment. First of all, he needed to change.
Ike was the first to break eye contact with 'Glasses'; he already gave the girl a nickname. Without a word, he took his bag and headed to the doors at the back to change. Fortunately, when he returned, the seat he sat in was still vacant and none of the students paid attention to him.
The classroom was big enough to cater to at least 50 to 70 students. There was a small raised platform on the front and two large boards for the teacher. It was definitely something different from the school he used to know. Back then, studying under the linden tree was enough for a classroom. But now, they simply compacted all these youngsters in a wide room.
It took around thirty minutes since Ike's arrival for the homeroom teacher to arrive. He was a male teacher with a height of a little less than six feet and a lean physique. He introduced himself by the named Alonzo, the Class Venom's homeroom teacher, and also their instructor in World History.
"Ashley Sinclair?" Alonzo, the homeroom teacher, called as he went through the roll call of his class.
"Here!" a female raised a hand, making the teacher lift his eyes to her. "Present."
The homeroom teacher sized her up before setting his eyes back on his paper, calling another student's name before hearing another "present" in the room. Meanwhile, as their class was going through one of the boring routines of the day, Ike looked back at the girl named Ashley Sinclair.
She was the same person who was staring at him previously.
'So Glasses' name is Ashley Sinclair, huh?' Ike watched the girl named Ashley gaze back at him, only to flash him a bright smile. 'Hah… what a weirdo.'
"Bernis October?"
"Present."
Ike shifted his attention to the farthest corner of the room. His brows furrowed the second his eyes landed on this student named Bernis October.
'Oh?' he blinked. 'So that guy this morning at the gate… he's also my classmate, huh?'