For the seventeenth time that morning, I applied lotion to and brushed the honey-coloured monstrosity I called hair. For all effort there was still no noticeable noticeable changes to the tangled mass, not sure why I even bother trying. I looked at my reflection in the mirror- a total eyesore. Absurdly dry skin and equally dry lips combined with the brown abomination growing from my scalp and flowing halfway down my back to give me a queer appearance. My height and bone structure don't make matters any better, but my one saving grace were my eyes- they had the colouring of metal- nothing special, but the real kick was the way the color changed according to the angle of the light, my mom said it changes according to my mood- not like I believe her.
The piercing sound of my alarm snapped me out of my self-appraisal, thirty minutes till the orientation ceremony for the freshers, as I began considering skipping the event, my dad pushed my door open;
"If we don't leave now we're going to be late" his tone was unusually enthusiastic, I couldn't resist the urge to smile.
I couldn't resist teasing him either;
"Someone's excited, can't wait till you and mom have the house to yourselves?"
"Deedi!!!"my mom's voice cut off whatever he was going to say. She was actually blushing. Weirdoes
Throughout the drive they kept grilling me on staying out of trouble, making sure to call home every day,..... naturally, my mind wandered. We were at the school before I knew it.
My parents walked me to the desk where I turned in my luggage and got a hostel number along with a brochure and complementary mint. We walked towards the parking lot together and halfway there I stopped;
"This is as far as I go" I wasn't going to cry.
My mom looked at me and tilted her head to the right, her dark brown hair falling spilling unto her shoulder.
"Take care of yourself Mellis" She stretched out her hand for a handshake. I had repeatedly told her not to hug me or kiss my cheeks in public. Smiling, with my eyes watery with tears, I quickly covered the little distance between us and hugged her tight as I planted a kiss on her cheek. I pulled back a little later and wiped the tears from my eyes
" It's allergy season" I explained as I sniffed repeatedly
"Yeah, I have them too" my mom said as she flicked off a year from her cheek. She was actually blushing.
"Weirdo" I said it out this time.
She smiled again "You get all your genes from me"
My dad just stood watching us, he was smiling too and his face was a little red. Weirdoes.
I watched them walk to the parking lot, 30 minutes later, I was still standing there. So much for staying out of trouble, the orientation had begun and I still hadn't left the spot. With a sigh I turned and made my way towards the hall.
September 15 2047- thirty years after the Beijing incident- my first day of highschool. The world has changed greatly over these years. The Nori Suppression Corps now provide perfect security from the goblins, and with residential and industrial areas located far from possible devil spot scenes, most people in my generation haven't ever seen a real goblin. Resources gotten from Nori expeditions have led to cutting edge breakthroughs in medicine and technology and man has reached the golden age of it's existence. No wars, no hunger, all diseases were curable, all wounds 'healable', man has no needs - no fears.
My name is Mellis Daquer, Deedi, as my mom calls me. I'm 16 years old, mostly introverted and yeah, I'm a guy. I'm a freshman at Sasami Memorial Academy.
Finally reaching the hall, I stopped at the door;
"Here goes nothing" I pushed it open and all eyes turned my way, I cringed inwards having successfully interrupted the ceremony.
08:55pm
I tossed my phone unto the table as I collapsed on my bed. Mom and dad were having a blast, multiple pictures of their multiple dates had kept me awake twenty five minutes past the general bedtime.
This was kinda messed up, my internal clock wouldn't let me sleep until one in the morning. I sat up and picked a manga from the table only to put it down ten minutes later. My roommates snoring was quickly becoming annoying. I groaned and buried my head back into my pillow.
10:00pm
The balcony behind my room overlooked an expanse of grassland neatly lined with trees and lit by multiple street lights. I stood watching the night sky from the balcony trying to locate constellations when a ball of crumpled paper hit me on the head, I turned around to see a girl in the next balcony.
"You can't sleep too?"she asked as she stretched
"Mmm"
My reply seemed to tick her off because I got pelted by two more paper balls.
"You're the guy who showed up at the end of the orientation right? Mellis Daquer was it?"
In response to her questions I threw a paper ball back at her. She giggled.
"I like your eyes"
This earned her another paper ball.
"My name's...."
I cut her off with the last paper ball. " I don't care what you're name is."
She smiled as a thought crossed her mind. Paying no attention to her, I went back to my thoughts. Why were both boys and girls put in the same hostel anyway?
I had just put the thought from my mind when someone grabbed my shoulder, I turned around and to my surprise, the girl stood behind me with a smug grin on her face. I was so shocked I had to ask;
" You jumped from your balcony?"
I turned around and for the first time I noticed how narrow the gap between our balconies was.
"My name's Xiaosheng, it means laughter. What does yours mean?"
"Mellis, it's latin for honey-brown"
She burst out laughing, "Someone had a good sense of humor"
I scoffed "You're one to talk"
Suddenly Xiaosheng pushed away from the railings and walked towards my room, I was admiring her straight, waist- long black hair when I realized that she intended to go into my room. Just as she pushed the door open, my roommate sat up on his bed, he looked from me to Xiaosheng then beggan lowering his head back to his pillow, then I think it registered in his sleep clouded mind that Xiaosheng was a girl because he suddenly pulled the sheets to properly cover his nude form. Xiaosheng looked away, they were both blushing. Weirdoes.
12:15pm
Mellis sat while Xiaosheng attempted to fix his hair and Deka, Mellis' roommate, engaged them both in a ridiculous argument about the pros and cons of both genders sharing one hostel. Finally Xiaosheng packed Mellis' hair into a neat ponytail before proceeding to cut off the ponytail and dash out of the room.
Deka chased after her as she ran unto the balcony but stopped when she leapt over the railing, Mellis however jumped after her and they both fell to the ground, luckily, they were on the first floor so their fall wasn't too hard.
On the ground, Mellis had her pinned under him. She was laughing excitedly and I was starting to get irritated when suddenly all traces of laughter vanished from Xiaoshengs face and her violet eyes filled with terror. I heard the crack of lightning and turned over just in time to see a devil spot open above the school....