Lost and confused.
The two things that summed up Grey's current status.
Lost in a forest. Confused by a strange, hot girl.
Grey paused as he took one last lick of his lollipop.
His eyes didn't leave the girl behind the camcorder.
"Since you're a student here, mind lending me a helping hand?"
She was the only person here, so he thought— why not ask her.
He had no other choice, if he did, she'd likely be the last one.
"..."
The girl remained stoic.
Her camera continued to capture every interaction.
Without a hint of emotion in her voice, she responded, "Sure, I suppose."
'Phew, at least she's not one of that strange, rude types.'
Grey's smile widened.
"Great! I need to find the headmaster's office, among other things. The usual newbie struggles, you know? So I was wondering if y—"
"No."
Before he could finish, the girl had interjected with a firm and assertive tone.
Grey was even more confused.
He slowly lifted an eyebrow. "Eh? But why agree then? What's the point?"
Unfazed, the girl calmly explained, "I was trying to be nice."
Grey's frustration grew.
He couldn't believe how "unbelievable" this girl was.
"Nice? But you still said no in the end. How's that nice?"
The girl lowered her camcorder, her finger lightly tapping her chin in contemplation. "You do have a point," she admitted, the gears in her mind spinning.
Undeterred, Grey pressed on.
"Regardless, I still do need your help. Being a student, you'd make navigating this academy much easier."
The girl raised an eyebrow, skeptical of his assumptions.
Her camcorder fixated on him once more, as if awaiting a satisfactory explanation.
"Why would you assume I'm a student? What... because I'm wearing a uniform?"
"Uh, duh. It's pretty obvious."
Grey's arrogance shone through his response.
He's been trying to swallow his pride and hide his extensive arrogance simply because he needed directions.
However, she was making it completely difficult to adapt.
The girl, unbothered, countered. "That's a stupid assumption..."
"How is that a..."
She sharply interjected. "It's a stupid assumption because there's the possibility I could've stolen this uniform... Or maybe I even beat up some boy in the woods an stripped him of his uniform and then wore it."
"What the...!"
It was the stupidest thing Grey had ever heard.
But the way she said it was even more surprising. Her plain personality made anything she said sound smart.
Even if it was inherently stupid.
"See? You don't have a valid answer, hence, your silence..." the girl added.
No.
Grey wasn't silent because of he didn't have a good answer.
He was silent because he hadn't witnessed such stupidity before.
It was profound.
However, he felt it was right to give a response, so he did.
"Okay," he sighed heavily. "Let's say you really did steal a boyʼs uniform, how exactly did the skirt turn into pants?"
The girl paused.
Her finger returning to her chin as she pondered his words.
"Hmm, you make a valid point."
Sighing, Grey shook his head and covered his face with his hand, hoping to mask his annoyance.
As Grey's confidence wavered, he decided to take a different approach.
"Well then, since you won't be helping me, I'll find another way to get back on track."
He felt like he was burning precious time with this girl.
And truly, he was.
To his surprise, the girl moved closer, her camcorder now relentlessly focused on his face.
Grey couldn't help but notice how close her face was to his.
"Hah~ Hah~ Hah~ Hah~"
The girl breathed heavily as they shared one space.
Her hot breath, it was like sweet vanilla that caressed his face.
Despite this unexpected proximity, Grey managed to maintain his composure.
Pushing the camcorder away gently, Grey questioned her intentions.
"What's with the video camera? Are you planning on capturing my every move?"
Then he thought it over.
'The again, I wouldn't blame her... Maybe she's one of those 'fan girls' of mine...'
The girl stared at him intently.
She was about to reply but let the silence linger for several seconds.
"I suspect you're planning to do some shameful things to me..."
She waved her camcorder then continued.
"...I'm going to record everything as evidence."
As usual, her voice maintained its usual monotone and emotion absent voice.
Grey let out an exasperated sigh. His frustration bubbled to the surface.
"I'm not the type of person who would do anything like that," he retorted.
The girl glanced at him for a moment before surprising him with an unexpected compliment.
"You look pretty."
"Huh?" said Grey.
It looked like she was "warming up" to him, until the impassive girl added.
"But that doesn't change the fact that you're still a weirdo."
Grey rolled his eyes.
He was growing irritated by the minute.
"And you think you're not? Look at yourself," he snapped back, gesturing towards her peculiar behavior.
To Grey, the only thing that was remotely normal about her was the fact she wore the academy's uniform.
The girl lowered her camcorder.
She tilted her head, her big blue eyes never leaving his face.
Her countenance had turned from expressionless to confused.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she inquired.
Sighing, Grey explained, "You haven't even introduced yourself. That's one of the first things sane people do when meeting someone new."
For a moment, the girl turned her gaze to the side, contemplating his words. "Hmm, you make a valid point," she conceded.
It wasn't obvious to Grey, neither would it to anyone, but she was annoyed.
Supposedly, Grey had made several valid points to correct her.
However, he was simply using common sense.
The impassive girl however, had a more "exotic" manner of thinking.
She placed her camcorder back into the small fanny pack around her waist, revealing a slight push of her ample breasts as she crossed her arms.
With a newfound sense of authority, the girl finally introduced herself.
"My name is Olivia Lethargia. I'm from Class 2-A."
She spoke in a matter-of-factly manner, and as expected her voice left no room for emotions.
"It's no doubt you'll use my name in your sexual fantasies."
Grey got ticked off by her, again.
Just when it looked like she was starting to get normal, she'd take a very large U-turn down weirdo lane.
Olivia's phone suddenly began to ring.
The persistent ringing shattering the silence of the forest they were in.
Grey watched with curiosity as she reached into her fanny pack and pulled out the phone, answering the call.
He watched the way her perfectly manicured fingers delicately cradled the device.
'She's pretty hot... But she's cold and weird as fuck.'
Olivia listened to the voice on the other end.
It was hard for Grey to discern the status of her discussion.
It wasn't written on her face.
Her expression was stoic and unreadable.
But then, Grey watched as her eyes narrowed slightly.
This indicated that she wasn't pleased with whatever she was hearing.
The person on the other line seemed to grow increasingly agitated, their words becoming a barrage of anger that assailed Olivia's ears.
Grey shifted uncomfortably, unable to tear his gaze away from Olivia.
She slowly pushed the phone away from her ear, visibly disconcerted by the continued shouting.
Her long hair cascaded down her slender shoulders as she calmly, yet firmly, spoke into the phone.
"I understand."
The person on the other line must have said something that struck a chord with her.
'Whoever's on the other end sounds pissed...'
He was starting to think everyone in this school was going to be problematic.
"Oh brother." Grey sighed.
Olivia closed her eyes for a brief moment before ending the call.
She returned the phone to its place in her fanny pack.
Suddenly, Olivia turned to Grey, her eyes gazing intently into his.
"Change of plans," she declared, her tone flat.
Grey raised an eyebrow in response. "Change of what?" he questioned.
He was perplexed by the sudden shift.
Olivia let out a small, exasperated sigh.
"I've been forced against my will to show you the way to the headmaster's office."
"Well, isn't that just grand," Grey replied, his sarcasm evident in his tone.
Olivia shot him a pointed look.
"Of course you would think that. Weirdos like you only find favor in me when I'm naked."
She completely missed the sarcasm and took a U-turn down who knows where.
Grey opened his mouth to respond, to counter her accusation, but Olivia paid him no mind.
"Come on, let's go," she told him.
Without waiting for his reply, she started walking, leading the way to their destination.
Grey adjusted his backpack and begrudgingly followed behind.
Their feets moved in sync.
As they walked, Olivia suddenly came to a halt.
This caused Grey to nearly bump into her.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
At this point, there was no use in him being overly concerned.
He had made up his mind that anything she was going to do would be completely off point.
Hence, there was no need getting surprised at her strangeness.
Olivia turned to him, her eyes expressionless as she spoke.
"Walk in front of me, I wouldn't want you ogling my backside."
"Huhh?" Grey uttered as his face contorted with irritation. "Why the hell would I do that..."
Her stare remained plain. "I wouldn't know how the mind of a weirdo operates, so please if you would enlighten me..."
"Don't start wi..."
Again, before he could finish, Olivia was already walking forward.
She'd dismissed whatever he'd planned to say as unimportant.
Grey sighed.
'Olivia Lethargia huh...'