---
"No way your bumass really suggested in giving yourself a cape." Dante says sitting on the edge of his bed, slouching and pouting like the lil' ungrateful boy he is. The last word in his sentence was full of distaste for no reason that I can't help but laugh a bit.
We're currently at his place, his room. It's the first time I've been in it. It's surprisingly tidy as well. The room's decent for about three people to fit in, a bed adjacent to the entrance of Dante's room, a desk on the left side of his bed, a large rectangular window embedded on the right of the room--rays of sunlight shining through the curtains--a 52ZgB aircon at the top right corner, his closet was apparently under his bed, and a study table below the window.
His room smells like...hm. How do I put it? Well, I guess it smells like him. The smell of vanilla Ice cream. It smells yummy. He uses that perfume. I dunno where he bought it.
"Eh? I think it'll look sick on me," I retort at Dante's initial response. "It makes me stand out."
"That's the thing--I think you should just lay low for now. I don't want to see a mug shot of your silly ass face on the midnight news."
"Aw~ You'll miss me if that happens, right~?"
He deadpans, his tone changing. "Fine--FINE, whatever. Wear a cape for all I care--get a mugshot. Let's see what happens."
"Nahh I'm playin'. I won't." I reassure the lil' boy.
I see his eyes twinkle for a bit, his pouting turning into a smug grin. "Oh? Klara actually taking genuine advice from me? That's like 1 in a gazillion-- Holy smokes." He tends to exaggerate. "What a rarity."
"Hey--I take your goofy ass advice any day--"
"Nah nah, how bout in that boxing match you haphazardly hooked in after some suspicious lad in a trench coat asked you to join."
I scoff, rolling my eyes. "I still won."
"Well...I mean you did but still--you fought against a 6'7 foot dude heavy on implants!" He says. "He was taller than you!"
I shrug.
"C'mon, I heard a crack when the dude struck your rib..." He adds. "You're okay still, right?"
I like how he always asks about my safety in the end. It's so him. "I literally fell 20 meters from the sky, and crashed onto a smelly dumpster truck."
He crosses his arms. "That's not answering my question."
I laugh at him, stretching my arms as I stand up from lying down on the floor. Yeah, I was lying on his clean floor. "I'm finneee, don't worry about ittt~ You're such a worry wart 'bout me sometimes. You see what I do!"
He huffs, puffing out his chest. "It's called, 'making sure my friend is safe and not on the verge of death.'" He says, rubbing his nape and looking away. Heh. He does that when he's nervous. All that rubbing his neck and stuff.
I think he's eyeing somethin' I'm not noticing. But anyway~
"This Monday, tomorrow, don't do anything too flashy, yeah?" Dante suggests. "Wear some baggy clothes or shit. Do whatever makes you NOT stand out, aight? I don't wanna see you suddenly hovering outside of my classroom window on the 377th floor."
"I like that idea."
"Fuckin' hell..."
"Whaat~ You gave me the concept, and I find that interesting ~"
"Pleaaseee don't do anything retarded tomorrow. Pleasseee..."
Oh no, he's unknowingly doing the puppy eyes on me again. I can't take it! Ouuugh the pain...! The temptation...! Ughhh...! I must agree with his terms!!
"ALRIGHT! Alright, I'll do it--ughh, you're so boring sometimes!"
"Yey!"
"By the way hubby. You're making me lunch."
"Fuck."
---
The silence is loud. I lift my head off my arms, looking around my classroom like an idiot. Shit, how many sessions have passed? Does...that matter? Guess not. Half of the things here I learn I won't really apply in real life. Huffing as I play with a strand of hair, I blankly leer at the blackboard littered with numbers.
'Ugh, my head's burning from all this unnecessary learning,' I said, rubbing my temples, before my head slid into my arms, my face planted onto my desk. "Fuck~," I said out loud, my voice muffled. "I want home so bad~" I shuffle my ass on my seat. Sometimes I like my cake, sometimes I don't. Right now, I kinda hate it. The seat's too small. Groaning, I lift my head to gaze once more at the looming equations of math.
Squinting, I lean to my left, toward my friend Lara. "Psst, hey. Is...Is that algebra?"
Lara, my blonde friend begrudgingly nodded at me, keeping her eyes stuck on the board, trying to pay attention, grumbling when she didn't understand a single word our holographic teacher for a substitute uttered. She shuts her notebook gracefully, her blonde hair flowing down her shoulders as her pristine figure lets out a hefty sigh. "I despise this subject."
Okay, so Lara, she's only got a few implants, like the required USB ports embedded on her neck and metallic hands enveloped in fake silky skin. That's it apparently. She doesn't want to be covered in metal, which of course I respect. As I said, she's got shoulder-length blonde hair, orange eyes, an intense glare--that would send any man on their knees, and y'know, nice, kissable lips and packing some assets just like me, hehe. But yeah I'm still a head or two taller than her. She's at least 5'8, like Dante. Oh, wait. Nah he's 5'7 lmao.
"Sooo relatable~ Fuck this subject for real," I say, my shoulders drooping and my eyes dropping; feeling the weight of 3 hours of sleep loom over me. Maybe if I didn't agree to race on a fuckin' weekend, I would've had a proper night's sleep and not had Yuni and Bell haul my ass to this hell of a school. "Oh my God~ I didn't sleep that fucking muchhh~ Damn it Yuni~ Bell~ I could've just...nnghh," I whine. My back started aching now too. "I hate my fucking boobs. My ass is fine I guess--but the back pain is real, my tits are killing me--"
"Klara--my goodness--stop it. The boys are looking at you right now. You're being way too vulgar..." Lara whisper-shouted at me. "They've gained interest once you talked about your ass and 'tits,' just shut up already."
Rolling my eyes, I planted my face back down my arms. Taking a nap in math doesn't seem so bad. The teacher ignored my whining so far, hopefully, he wouldn't suddenly announce that there'll be a test in the next three days--
"Alright class, we'll have a test on trigonometry this Friday," my teacher's hologram broadcasted. "Be sure to read and understand the questions before answering. And when you review, always practice. Practice makes perfect guys don't forget that," Shit, did he read my mind? No way--I can't do that test...I didn't even listen to the lesson at all...!
Lara's smart! She can help me with this..! We compare scores with each other and most of the time she gets higher scores than me! Yeah--She can definitely help me out, I, a good and humble BFF, have the obligation to request assistance from my good friend. "H-Hey, Lara--"
"Bitch...don't get me started--I don't understand t-the fucking lesson as well...Don't rely on me..!" she retorted like, immediately, gasp, she's giving me the side-eye. I guess we have the same amount of brain cells. She's just like me for real. "Go ask your...boyfriend or somethin'? Dante? Was that his name? The loner? Say--isn't he a meathead like you?"
I didn't register another word she said after she uttered 'boyfriend' from her leaky mouth. "D-Did you just say...boyfriend? Listen you tiny bi-atch--'boy friend' has a GAP in it. A SPACE. SO it's boy (space) FRIEND. A space in the Boy AND friend"
"Yeah, yeah whatever. I know you hang out a lot with that guy during dismissal. You carry him in your arms, push his buttons, and tease him a lot like he's yours~ I can observe too y'know~"
I start to feel my face get a bit hot. "Oh shut up. You don't know one thing about our relationship...! We're just friends anyway. I don't think he has...an interest in me anyway!"
"What ya mean he doesn't--he has! I'm sure. He probably likes you, like--a lot a lot-- probably doesn't have the balls to confess though. I mean, I guess he's okay. And come on, there are a lot of hot guys in our school! You've got soooo many choices! I'm a hundred percent they all like you too! Come on, you're a 6'5 female with packing assets, an actually good personality, and a toned body with abs--like you have abs right? Six pack?"
"Uhm, a faint 8-pack," I responded, giggling. Yes. I'm bragging that I've got some abs. "Like, you won't see it directly, but in the right lighting, you can see the outlines, hehe."
"Seriously?! Ugh--I want abs now.."
"Pshh, You've got a flat, appealing, slim belly it's fineee, don't worry, you're really hot too y'know~?"
"Noooo you're hotter!"
"No youu~!"
Before I knew it, the bell rang. Its annoying ring echoed in the brightly lit horizontal neon blue highlights embedded onto the hallway's walls in front of my class. Stretching my legs and arms, I get off my seat and stand at my full height. Not to brag, but I tower over my classmates. Like, I'm officially the tallest in my class. I get it, some guys don't approach me cuz, I'm tall, horizontally tall in my hips, and...intimidating? I mean, I take a good look at myself in the mirror very often. I don't wear that much makeup, only a few eyeliners or no makeup at all. I technically can say I'm genetically blessed. I've got like, clear tan skin, unlike most of my classmates who applied for cybernetic implants. Yuck. Fake skin--anyway--I also got shoulder-length brown and black hair--a bit more on the brown side, I'm planning to cut it short, like an undercut maybe? I think it'll look good on me. I exercise 3 times a week, to balance it out. Guess that's how I maintained my hourglass frame. And then my friends say I'm humble.
I mean, I can't say I'd turn down the compliment hehe.
As Lara and I left our classroom, waltzing down the brightly blue-lit neon hallway, I couldn't help but internally lament about my stupid uniform feeling pretty tight again. I internally cursed. I didn't want to buy a bigger size--but for some stupid reason, I keep getting taller and bigger...! I was...6'3 like 2 months ago...
Shit yeah--I forgot to wear baggy clothes too~
Lara caught me squirming while we trudged to the cafeteria since it was our lunchtime. "Tight again huh? Isn't that the third time already? Stop growing already sheesh, I know you're genetically blessed already so stop it...!"
"H-Huh? It's not as simple as 'stop growing,' it's a bigger problem than that! I don't care if I'm horizontally and vertically tall, I'm worried about using money to buy a bigger, baggy uniform for me!"
"Then buy one."
"Pee-hew genius. You got money?"
"...N-No?"
"My point exactly. I've got nothin' but a penny in my wallet!"
"Maybe if you learned how to SAVE and didn't spend it all on TWO cars; you'd be packing 10 grand."
"Hey! Buying those 'cars' were the best thing I've ever done! A-And uh..saving? Er...Yeah, I think I should do that," I said, chuckling as I scratched my cheek. "Maybe I should get a job..."
On my right, I'd see a pack of students placing their books in their lockers erratically--just throwing or tossing them in there before getting back up, and sprinting. Yes, they're sprinting. I mean it's understandable since the cafeteria's food there's just--Magnifico! French kiss. It's simply amazing. I can just think about it and spit's gonna run down my mouth and make my tummy grumble.
But for me personally, I think Dante's cooking is ten times better. That's just me of course. I'm not biased.
That's why I asked him to cook lunch for me this time! Only requested it once! He usually cooks for me when I visit. (Even though it happened twice) Hopefully, I didn't stress him out for it...
...
"There's my lazy goober!" a voice called out. Oh yeah, I recognize that tone. It's Yuni!
I turn my head to my right and see Yuni and Bell waltzing along an adjacent hallway in the direction I faced them, the dark blue neon-lit hallways made it seem like they were enveloped in a blue hue. Yuni had her signature smirk on her lips, rizzing up every boy that trudged passed her with a wink. If there's a woman version of the word "playboy" she would be that. (I think there is but I forgor) She wore our school uniform as usual.
Her long black hair swung with each step she took, looking pristine amidst the sprinting group of students, oop, she's arched her back--yup, deliberately puffing out her chest, looking absolutely gorgeous, especially with her expert knowledge of makeup aaaand she's wearing a short skirt again.
She's intentionally revealing her thighs--I get it, they're jiggling, they're horizontally tall--they're appealing to look at, sure...I mean they are nice to look at, so yeah, she can keep it.
The faint red highlights on her kneecaps also add to the fact that they're implants. She smirks at me before flipping her hair, revealing for a second a couple of USB ports embedded on the right side of her neck.
I roll my eyes before playfully scoffing. "Show off. Your freckles look like makeup now! Keep it up!"
"Heyyy, my freckles are all natural! I kept my face a no-zone for implants cuz I'm dazzlin' and I know it! So these--these thingies ya see," she said, pointing at each and every freckle splattered in between her nose bridge. "They are the OG's 'yo'! Purely from genes! My momma and Poppa gave that to me!"
"Okay okayy I get it!" I feel a grin crawl through my lips. "They certainly didn't give ya the height gene though."
Yuni was a towering 5'5.
The latter was perplexed, her jaw lay gape out of, a grin curving in her gaping mouth, still finding it hilarious. "You're evvvviillll!! You do all this silliness to Dante? Hmmm?"
"Nah for real, he's got it worse," I reply, chuckling.
"Why'd you gotta be so devious to your boy toyyy hmmm?" She retorted, trying to make a comeback.
"Oh silence you~ It's lunch time. He's made lunch for me--it'll be sooo yummy, you guys should definitely try it."
And then there's Bell.
She's wearing a hoodie. Again. I mean it definitely fits her style considering she's a geek for anime and manga. Also, those odd mangas she reads.It starts with an "H." I don't necessarily recall what they're called but I prefer to not delve deeper into the thought. I...may have gazed a bit at it but stopped.
Anyway, she had a gray baggy hoodie on--under that hoodie was our uniform--hair that reached her thighs in a pig-tail style, and the ends of her hair had blonde tips. She's got pale skin and also got a few implants, just both her arms, and legs.
There would be dimly lit purple highlights around her kneecaps and elbows too! Her hoodie was just covering her elbows. She has blinking blue eyes that would make her glasses blink in the color blue, like--for real--those were her implants. Flashing blue irises that would blink in morse code the mood she's in.
Right now...uhm...if I gather all the stuck-up knowledge in my head about Morse code...I think she's hungry. She's a lot more reserved than the rest of us. I could say she's almost Dante in a way. Except for the part where he likes anime (he doesn't watch that stuff) and a bit more charismatic--he kinda lacks in that department. I believe he's more of a reader.
"I'm hungry," her belly emits a low growling sound, confirming her statement.
"Then we gotta go eat now huh?" Lara said, snickering, rubbing her hand on Bell's head. "You eat like a bear and you're as slim as Coca-Cola! How'd you do it?"
"My metabolism," she retorts. "It's very handy. Lucky me, I don't have to worry 'bout how many calories I gotta take to keep my 'very curvy slim body' in proper shape," she adds mockingly with a small grin. "Unlike you guys."
"That was very owie in my heart, Bell!" Yuni groaned, with a small smile on her lips. "Oh nooo my fewwings!"
"Hey! I have high metabolism too!" I retaliate, slapping my belly. "I ate..like uh, four whole chickens!"
"Fried, right?" Bell said, adjusting her glasses.
"Of course fried. What--you think I'm gonna gobble it raw--"
"That's what she said."
"That's what she said."
"That's what she said."
"..." My mouth was just hanging. "Man, you guys probably think you're sooo funny."
Bell chuckles. "It is."
"It is not."
---
Jeez, how does Dante do it.
Bro manages to leave no trace at all whilst leaving the lunch that he made FOR ME by my USUAL lunch table I sit in every damn day.
Of course, the cafeteria's crowded too. Even though it's a full acre large, it's still filled to the brim with high school and college students.
My table, with my friends, is situated at the very right corner of the cafeteria where it's dark and dimly lit by the white light blaring at the corner.
Yuni, Bell, and Lara head off to buy their lunch, I go ahead and sit at our table in advance.
"OooOh. Lunch." I say to no one in particular, sitting down on the chair tucked inside the rectangular table being used for eating. It's enough for six people.
Glancing at the only object currently sitting atop the lunch table, was a container. A metallic container that has my lunch. Made by Dante.
"A sticky note." Once again, I say out loud, picking it from where it was pasted and read it.
'Too many people. I'll eat at Timmy's.' was all it read
I scratch my head. He's eating there, huh?
"What's that?"Apparently she manages to take a peek at the note Dante left for me. "Ooooh~Yo boyfriend leave you a love note~?"
I flinch, my face a bit hot, turning to the voice behind me, it's Lara, holding a tray with a variety of delicious meals. She grins at her own statement.
"There's a [space] in the boy friend you goof."
"Uh huuuh, sure~" Lara retaliates, placing her tray beside me before sitting on my right. "Where's ya boy, by the way? Doesn't he eat here? Food here's insane."
"He's eating at Timmy's."
"Ooooh. Yo boy's got good taste." She says, grabbing a spoonful and taking a munch.
"Oh shaddup." With that, I open the metallic container and pop goes the cover as a small cloud of smoke leaves it.
Holy shit.
"Holy shit."
"Wat ish it?" Lara asks, lazily gazing at the contents of my container with her mouth full.
The cafeteria doesn't serve this stuff cuz... "It's Pork sisig!"
Lara swallows. "Pork...what?"
"Pork sisig. A Filipino cuisine~"
She takes another chomp of her food, combing her blonde hair in the process. "oooooOOoh." Then she does a thumbs-up at my face. "Kewl."
"You should try it," I tell her taking the spoon already prepared for me thanks to Dante, and taking a bite. "..."
Fuck it's good.
"I'm good, thanks~" she replies, seizing another chomp on her meal. "oompf, Bell and Yuni are comin'."