"I wouldn't be sitting there if I were you, Ms. Harris. Go take the one behind it. Now everyone shut up and focus. Y'all might end up failing Rucib if you don't pay attention." He berated. The class went quiet immediately.
Arlene walked to the chair behind to sit. A beige-haired boy kept his lingering gaze on her. He was her seat partner. "Weird." She muttered almost inaudibly, adjusting her chair away from him while keeping a reasonable distance.
"Hey, Arlene." He nudged.
She threw a deaf ear at him. She grabbed her backpack and brought out her notepad and a pen.
"You wanna know who sits there?" He asked persistently, jerking his head to the seat she'd earlier left. She turned to look at him.
"Don't you know when someone is trying to tell you to back off?" Arlene asked, glaring at him.
He suddenly smirked. "I do. But I just don't want to heed to yours. Heard of the Power Couple? Yup. They own those seats. Zayde and Carmella. I agree he's cool, but I'm way cooler than he is." He bragged, tilting his chin up.
"Ms. Arlene." Mr. Bal called.
She shifted her gaze quickly to meet his. "You know you've been absent for a week now and this is not some subject you feel you could skip. This is Rucib and if much care ain't taken, your grades might be too low to take you to the next class. Ignore Greg and focus. He's smarter than you think." He paused, trailing his gaze to meet Greg.
"Leave her alone." His words were brief, but they were sharp.
'What the heck is Rucib?' She thought, glaring at the board.
"Don't mind him. No one ever understands his teachings. If you have a problem, I'm right here." He whispered with a wink.
She only gave a nod. She wasn't gonna get into trouble again because of him.
📓📓📓
"Finally!" Arlene breathed out, getting to her feet. It has been three long lessons after the Rucib class and all that lingered on her mind was lunch. She walked out of the class, ignoring Greg who called her. Classes had been less disturbing without his voice.
She reached the hallway and halted abruptly. Where was she even heading to? 'The lunchroom of course,' her sarcastic subconscious replied. 'It's obvious, stupid, but which way is it?' she retorted. It was normal to have a conversation with Lena, her subconscious.
"Are you forgetting something...or should I say, someone?" A familiar voice said from behind.
"I was about coming to your class." She muttered with an inaudible grunt, turning around to face Keith. 'You liar', her subconscious scolded.
Lifting her gaze, she met three other boys, each staring a bit longer than usual. She cleared her throat a bit loudly, garnering their attention.
"May we?" Keith asked with a smile, bowing dramatically. She turned around, with Keith leading the way.
"She's cute...but is it just me, or who else noticed she has a fierce look?"
"Pretty eyes at that." One added.
Arlene clenched her fist tightly. She took a deep breath; they were stupid, she knew, but she wasn't gonna let it irk her. These guys weren't doing this on purpose, were they? For Blessed sake, they weren't even speaking in low tones!
Arlene was really trying to pull a good girl act, permissibly on her first day, but the students here were really something else. First it was Greg, and now some bunch of...people.
Walking into the lunchroom, there were sudden shrieks.
"Seriously! Keith coming to the lunchroom?! Are you sure we aren't dead yet?"
"This is unbelievable!"
"I have your tattoo on my belly, Keith!"
Arlene halted. How popular were these guys?
Keith gave a broad smile with a light nod. This was how he wanted things to remain - no Zayde, no Jove, just him, with the school at his feet.
He smiled at Arlene and that rose yet another feat of murmurs.
"Screw me! Are they dating?"
"I heard she's new. Maybe they knew each other before?"
"That's unfair. A new student cannot just take our spot!"
Arlene paid deaf ears to 'em all. Fine, she has known they're popular but she wasn't asking any question relating to that with nothing in her stomach.
Ignoring the angry glares, wishful stares and undescribable gazes, she walked over to a table and sat on one of its chairs. Wait! Why was she seated?! She was supposed to be on the line! Keith and his friends approached her as she stood.
"What? You don't like the chairs here?"
"No. I'm going to get my food." She replied simply, walking over to the counter. She was going to order a cheap dish and she gave no f**ck about people's opinion -her cash, her choice.
"I'll have some chips and dip."
"Variety?"
"Onion please."
"Me too. Same order." Greg spoke from beside her. He was on the next line.
Arlene was quiet - not enough strength to argue.
She carried her almost filled tray and walked over to the table she'd earlier sat on.
Keith kept stealing glances at her food, slightly embarrassed. "Weren't there any other foods? Spaghetti and meatballs? Burgers? I mean, how would you eat something like that when meals here are being paid for?" Arlene stopped. "You mean the food here is for free?! I don't have to pay?" She asked in utter astonishment.
Keith smiled at her - he loved her already.
Arlene gave a slight grin. She was definitely going to eat to her fill -after this chips and onion dip. "You guys aren't eating?" Arlene asked, noticing their gazes on her while she ate. "We don't eat here." "Then why are you here?" "You...you're here, so we definitely have to be too. You know, new student?" Lance rushed, giving her a knowing look.
Arlene gave a long look before returning to her food. "Then you should look somewhere else. I do not wish to choke."
"Oh! There you are. I've been searching all over the place for you. Hey, can I join the table?" Greg asked with a little pant, walking to sit beside Arlene. "Uhh...excuse you. No one said you could sit. " Lance spoke immediately, glaring at Greg. Greg only nodded.
"Um..Arlene, you should keep eating. We'll be back in a few." Keith said, getting to his feet. His friends stood too - they were going to have their lunch at their normal place. When they'd left, Greg shifted his gaze from his food to meet Arlene, his gaze turning serious. "I'll forget the fact that you ignored me all through the lessons, but why would you be talking to the 'LYTA's'?" He asked with a serious expression.
Arlene had an uninterested look on her face. "Is anything wrong with that?" "Anything? Literally everything! They are very dangerous set of people." Arlene wore a bemused look. "How were you able to talk to this 'very dangerous set of people' then?" She questioned, the underlying sarcasm in her voice not difficult to detect.
"My Z Card. Zayde gave it to me; more like it represents the first letter of his name. You see, Zayde's the Supreme Alpha here; well, that's what we call it here. That is his rank, the highest of them all. The LYTA's however were the Supreme Alpha before Zayde came. Now he's here, things changed. So, in other to go back to their past glory and reclaim their position, they tried gaining fame again. They tried the hard way but seeing it was futile, they took to the nice way. They're still dangerous, they are only putting up a façade. However, those who get severely bullied by them gets the 'Z' card from Zayde, never to be touched." Greg breathed, taking a chip into his mouth.
"So what you're trying to say is that this Zayde does not give the 'Z' card unless one is severely battered? How thoughtful." She sneered, finishing the last chip on her plate. She took a sip from her juice box before putting it down. "Does that mean you've been bullied too?" Arlene suddenly asked, staring at him.