The next day, I went to class as usual, feeling pretty optimistic about the day ahead.
As I was heading to my first class, I noticed Sora walking towards me, and it looked like she was also on her way to the same class.
I thought it would be nice to chat with her while we headed into the classroom, so I decided to greet her with a smile.
When I greeted her, Ai and Matsuki were walking next to Sora, as the three of them were heading towards our class together.
Ai was staring at Sora with a glare, while Matsuki seemed to be acting pretty casual around her.
Sora seemed to notice the two of them being there as well, and she quickly turned to face me with a fake smile.
"Hello. How are you?" She whispered awkwardly, making it clear that it was an act of politeness and nothing more.
Ai and matsuki suddenly stopped walking, and they just started starring at Sora while she tried to act friendly towards me.
Sora's fake smile made me slightly sad, as I felt like the two of them were trying to give her a hard time.
"I'm... fine. How about you?" I responded in a quiet voice, wanting to protect her from any potential drama.
"I'm also fine." Sora responded in a forced voice, trying to maintain her friendliness.
Ai and Matsuki kept staring at her in disbelief, as if they didn't believe that she was being friendly with me.
Sora suddenly looked at me, but she seemed a bit nervous about the situation.
Ai and Matsuki were continuing their staring contest with Sora, and it seemed like the situation was making her feel quite uncomfortable.
To avoid any more drama, I decided to try and deflect the situation with some humor.
"So... what class are you heading to?" I asked Sora, trying to divert the attention away from her.
Ai and Matsuki soon let out a small laugh at what I said, as if they were somewhat amused by the situation.
They quickly moved on from their taunting of Sora, allowing her to relax a bit more once they had stopped their staring contest.
"Thank you... for trying to divert their attention." Sora whispered to me, looking quite relieved that the drama had been resolved.
"Anytime." I responded in a soft voice, as I was glad to have helped her out in a tough situation.
It was clear that Ai and Matsuki had stopped their bullying only because they were entertained by the scene.
Sora seemed thankful that I was able to quickly diffuse the situation and seemed to be feeling more comfortable now.
We continued walking to class together and eventually made it to the classroom.
Once we got inside, I took my seat and watched as Sora decided to sit next to me.
While AI and Matsuki had stopped their teasing, it seemed like the drama between them and Sora was still lingering in their minds.
As the class began, Sora and I quietly listened to the lesson and took notes. It was pretty quiet in the classroom as both of us focused on the subject at hand.
Even so, I could feel her presence next to me and how she was feeling a bit tense, likely from the drama with the two of them earlier.
Sora's slightly tense aura made me feel slightly bad for her, as it felt like she couldn't fully relax in the class.
At times during the lesson, I caught her taking a few quick glances towards me, but she quickly turned away and acted like she was just looking around the classroom.
I felt like she was being considerate of me in that moment, as she didn't want to get into potential drama with AI and Matsuki just to keep being friends with me.
I appreciated her considerate nature, and I decided to try and reassure her that she didn't have to be so careful around me.
"You don't have to be so careful with me. You can be yourself and talk to whoever you want." I quietly mentioned to her, hoping to make her feel less tense in the situation.
Sora continued to look over at me, as if she was pondering what I had said.
She was probably considering my words, and I could tell that she was feeling pretty uncertain.
I wanted to try and reassure her that I was ok with her hanging around Ai and Matsuki, but I wasn't quite sure how to approach it.
Thankfully, Sora finally decided to speak back up in response to my suggestion.
"Well, yeah... but I still want to hang out with you, you know? Ai and Matsuki are my friends, but I want to be friends with you too." She responded in a whisper, continuing our brief conversation.
"Oh... well, I'm glad to hear that." I replied back to her quietly, feeling pretty happy that she wanted to continue our friendship.
"But you don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine even if you're busy hanging out with them." I added on, wanting to reassure her that she didn't have to feel guilty if she had other plans.
Sora just shook her head a bit in response, as if she didn't want to accept my suggestion.
"Well, I do want to spend more time with you, and I want you to be part of my friend group too." She replied quietly, making it clear that she wanted me to be around her friend circle.
My heart started beating a little quickly upon hearing this, as it was the first time that someone had invited me to join their friend group.
"Are... you... sure?" I asked her in a whisper, still quite nervous about the situation.
Sorta nodded her head in response, indicating to me that she was sure and that she really did not mind if I was part of her friend group.
"Well, then... sure, I'd like to join." I replied back in a soft voice, finally agreeing to be part of her friend circle.
Sora seemed quite happy about this, as she smiled slightly and let out a small sigh.
I was feeling pretty good as well, as this was another milestone for our friendship.
My heart skipped a beat as I noticed the intense stares coming from AI and Matsuki.
It was clear that they weren't happy about me joining Sora's friend group, and it felt like they wanted to get me away from her.
I was starting to feel slightly nervous about the situation, as it seemed like this situation could turn unpleasant at any moment.
I kept trying to smile at Sora, hoping to ease the tension in the air.
But the looks coming from AI and Matsuki felt even more intense and threatening, and it felt like a tense atmosphere was slowly beginning to build up around us.
Along with AI and Matsuki, the guys in Sora's fan club were also giving me intense looks.
It felt like the air was getting really tense, and it felt like something bad was about to happen.
Sora continued to look at me with a fake smile, as she tried to act nonchalant about the situation.
The intense atmosphere was so thick that I couldn't help but feel slightly panicked.
Between the intense stares and the growing tension in the air, it felt like I was being treated like a criminal of some kind.
At one point, I half-expected to be tackled and arrested for being Sora's friend.
"Is... is this how they treat all of her friends?" I thought to myself, feeling incredibly stressed out by the situation.
As the time for the class neared its end, the tension was continuing to rise.
The boys in the fan club kept giving me intense stares as if they were prepared to attack me the moment we left the classroom.
Sora continued to act friendly, but it was clear that even she was beginning to feel the tension in the air.
Everyone stood up from their seats, as we headed for the exit.
I couldn't help but feel extremely nervous as we all walked out of the classroom.
The tension between me and the fan club boys was still continuing to grow, and I was really worried that an altercation would break out soon.
"I guess this is the part where the boys start following us, right?" I thought to myself as we kept walking towards the exit.
The boys did indeed begin to follow us, and they walked in formation, as if they were trying to encircle me.
I could sense a tense atmosphere around me, as if the boys were looking for any reason to start a fight.
I started walking a bit faster, trying to get away from the group of fan club boys that had begun following us.
But the boys just quickened their pace to match mine, getting closer and closer with each step.
It was clear that running was my only option at this point.
I could hear the boys behind me, as their steps were becoming louder and quicker with every passing second.
I quickly began to sprint away as fast as I can, trying to create distance between me and the group of fan club boys behind me.
The boys were still behind me, but I could tell that they were beginning to fall back slightly as I kept increasing my pace.
I still kept running as fast as I could, not wanting to give them the chance to catch back up or take advantage of me slowing down.
After a few more moments, the boys finally gave up chase, as they seemed to not be able to keep up with my speed.
I took a few deep breaths as the tension between us finally seemed to ease up a bit.
I looked back a few times to make sure that the boys were definitely not following me anymore before slowing down my pace.
As I began to slow down, I realized that I was a bit out of breathe from all the sprinting I had done just now.
My heart was still beating pretty fast as I caught my breath, feeling slightly relieved that the boys in the fan club had given up.
As I tried to catch up to my next class, I bumped into someone-it seems like it's that red hair girl again
I bumped into a girl who was walking in my direction, and I was surprised to see that it was the same girl with the red hair than I had bumped into earlier.
"My apologies. Sorry about that" I quickly apologized to her, not wanting to come across as rude.
The girl with the red hair just rolled her eyes and brushed herself off, not appearing to be in the best mood.
"It's fine. You're a bit clumsy, aren't you?" She responded back, sounding slightly annoyed with the situation.
"I guess you could say that..." I replied back, trying to sound a bit embarrassed.
The girl just continued to look at me with a blank expression, not seeming to be too forgiving about the whole situation.
But didn't she bump into me before? She's just as clumsy
"It's a little hypocritical of you, don't you think? I feel like..." I was about to point out her hypocrisy, but before I could finish my sentence, she interrupted me.
"Yeah, okay, whatever. Let's just say that we're both clumsy and be done with it." She cut me off and said as if she didn't want to continue the convo.
I was slightly pissed off by this, as she seemed to be treating me like I was the one who was completely at fault.
"Well, I guess that's fair." I replied back quietly, feeling a bit irritated by her attitude but not wanting to make a scene.
"Are you heading to next class too?" I added on, hoping to change the subject before we ended up in another awkward argument.
"Yeah, sure. I'm heading to next class as well." She replied back to me in a dismissive tone, indicating that she didn't actually want to make any conversation.
I wasn't sure if she was part of my class or not. I didn't remember seeing her before this meeting, but she may have joined later on.
But the way she spoke to me made me feel like she thought she was someone special not to be rude.
The girl with the red hair was indeed from my class, but she had never really stood out to me before. In fact, you could say that I had completely overlooked her just like I had done with a lot of other students in my class.
The girl with the red hair just let out a small hum as she continued to walk alongside me, not appearing to want to initiate any kind of conversation.
We followed the crowd towards one of the classroom buildings, walking past groups of other students. I couldn't help but notice how quiet and antisocial the girl with the red hair was, as she didn't interact with anyone.
"By the way, what was your name again? I still don't remember." I decided to break the awkward silence by asking her this question, trying to make conversation.
I couldn't help but be a bit surprised upon learning her name.
"Ah, Maki... that's a nice name." I responded back as we continued walking.
I was a bit interested in finding out whether I had met Maki before, as she seemed pretty familiar.
"Did... I meet you before?" I asked her in a slight stutter, wondering if we had ever had any previous interactions.
"That's a little rude, don't you think?" I responded in a disappointed voice, trying to sound sympathetic towards her.
Maki seemed to not care for my opinion, as she simply kept walking next to me without acknowledging my comment.
I got the sudden feeling as if she had been purposefully being rude to me out of spite or jealousy.
"I mean, I'm sure you stand out in your own ways. I can tell you're not the type to brag about your strengths" I added on, trying to be a bit more encouraging towards Maki.
Maki just responded back with a small "hmph" sound, which made it clear that she wasn't really interested in any kind of positive or encouraging words.
It seemed like she had already made up her mind about me, and was content with the fact that she viewed me as a lame and forgettable person.
She's some trouble..