Ziyan, who had been lost in whatever thoughts occupied his mind when he heard the sound of her voice. His head snapped around so quickly it was a wonder he didn't get whiplash. His eyes instantly dilated as soon as his gaze landed on that familiar face. He had heard she was going to join the academy today. What he did not expect was she would be joining his class. For some reason, he had thought she would be in the upper sections with the academy's elite students.
A smile bloomed on his face which only widened when his eyes met with her, though she immediately averted his gaze from him.
"Miss Kayzer, you may take any empty seat," the teacher gestured to the several vacant spots around the room.
"Thank you," Astra said and made her way to the empty desk furthest from Ziyan's position, something he was already expecting making him chuckle under his breath.
On the desk next to her, the boy stared at her with wide eyes. When Astra glanced his way, his face flushed such a vivid shade of red that he could have been mistaken for a traffic light.
"He-hey," he managed to squeak out, his voice cracking slightly.
"Hi," Astra responded flatly, but her voice was soft, and immediately turned her attention to the front.
However, not even a minute had passed when she felt some moments to her left. She tilted her head to find only to find the blushing boy had vanished, replaced by none other than Ziyan himself. His chin was resting on his palm and was staring at her with a slight curve on his lips.
"I didn't think you missed me so much to come to my class," he mused.
Not bothering to give him a reply, Astra turned her attention back to the front where the teacher was explaining something she already knew. Still, she stared at the board as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. She could feel glares directed at her, along with curiosity, probably wondering who was this white-haired girl and why was the campus golden boy talking to her.
But among the sea of stares, there was one pair of eyes that held nothing but excitement and admiration.
"Is that who I think it is?" Nova whispered excitedly to her best friend Eliza, practically bouncing in her seat
Who would have thought the mysterious stranger who'd helped her at the mall would end up as her new classmate?
"I hadn't noticed it back then since I was too busy teaching that pervert a lesson, but she's really pretty," Nova continued in an excited whisper, barely containing a squeal. Eliza nodded, agreeing with whatever her best friend was saying.
A moment later, her expression fell. "It's such a shame she's friends with that jerk."
"That jerk happens to be your cousin," Eliza pointed out dryly.
"You don't need to remind me of that," Nova's face scrunched up in distaste. "That has always been the biggest regret of my life."
Eliza shook her head, already used to Nova's love-hate relationship with Ziyan. The two were maternal cousins who had by a miracle, been born on the same day.
"Do you think I should warn her to stay away from that devil?" Nova wondered aloud, then gasped softly as a new thought struck her. "Oh no, what if his crazy fan base targets her? I can't let that happen! She's so sweet and innocent. I need to protect her from the devil and his cult!"
Eliza, who had seen Astra take down a grown man with one move, felt her eyebrow twitch. She had to bite her lip to keep herself from talking.
Whatever it was, she was not going to get between these two cousins. The last time she'd tried to mediate between the cousins, she almost ended up in a mental asylum while trying to pull them away from each other. Some battles weren't worth fighting.
At the back of the class, Astra remained oblivious to Nova's self-appointed role as her guardian angel. he was too busy pretending to be paying attention to the board while trying to ignore Ziyan's gaze.
"You know," he murmured, leaning close enough that she could catch the faint scent of his expensive cologne, "if you keep glaring at the board like that, you might actually burn a hole through it."
Astra's only response was to pull out her tablet and begin taking unnecessarily detailed notes.
The class soon ended and Astra suddenly found herself surrounded by a crowd of curious classmates.
"Hello. Welcome to our school. Do you want to eat lunch with us?" one of the girls said.
"Your hair color looks amazing! Which salon did you go to? It looks so natural!"
"Hey new girl, are you single by any chance?" A boy leaned on her table but he was soon pushed away by his friend who took his position.
"If you are, I'd be happy to change that status for you." He threw in a wink at the end.
Astra who was suddenly bombarded with these sudden questions and the long range of emotions, stared at them flatly. However, before she could open her mouth to reply, she felt the temperature seemed to drop several degrees. She craned her neck to find Ziyan had a dark look on his face. The smile on his face remained, but it had turned dangerous and cold.
The other students finally seemed to remember his presence and immediately shut up. Some actually took a few steps backward, their faces draining of color. They were so lost staring at the angel that had descended into their class that they had totally forgotten about the devil sitting next to her.
"Scarm," he said in a low voice and that was all it took for the crowd to disperse so quickly that they practically left afterimages.
Once they were gone, Ziyan rested his chin on his palm and turned to face Astra, his lazy smile returning on his face only to find her gathering her things and leaving.
"Hey, wait for me!" Ziyan called out, scrambling to follow her.
Astra didn't slow down. If anything, she picked up her pace, but instead of heading toward the lunch hall where the rest of the student body was gathering, she made for the stairs she'd noticed earlier. It was not long before she was seated on the sun-warmed concrete, her back against the wall. The only problem was the annoyingly persistent shadow that had followed her all the way up and was now sitting a few feet away from her.