Volume I Chapter 7

"Headphones on, everyone!" I heard Ms. Hudson say as I unconsciously follow her words with a drifting mind.

We were currently at one of the rooms of the East branch's first floor, the recording room. Our English teacher had specifically said that today's activity was all about dubbing characters from a certain storyline pasted on different stalls. But instead of preparing myself on the said activity, I couldn't help but let my mind wander and re-imagine myself on the past few days that I had transferred into the most rumored obnoxious section throughout school.

"Let's go! We don't want to anger sweet Hudson's ass any longer."

"Shush, you."

"Do you guys want to crash Roberto's priced desk later?"

"Duh, you know I'm down for that!"

"Quiet guys."

"Shut up, Ben. I'm asking Sasha an important question here."

Staying at a room full of familiar yet unacquainted students, for a few days, made me see a lot of things that I unexpectedly missed for a little while. I missed having my old friends to talk to, I missed being in accompany with some people that already know me, and I missed being acknowledge just because I was there. I already had a feeling that separating would result into many changes in my environment. But bracing all of it alone until now is, making me feel more down than I should feel. However, I do need to thank one certain weird individual in this classroom of wary students.

My eyes trailed down the rows of seated students, searching for a girl whose hair resembled dark chocolate. With a squint of an eye, I found her flowing locks, sitting between a girl and boy on the front row. Her hands were placed upon her nape, burrowing her head on the small desk that was attached below the monitor in front of her. Seeing her act like she was being troubled for the first time, I couldn't help but let out an amused expression at her silent actions. It gave me the sense to question on what was exactly going inside her head. She looked incredibly silly from my view, far from the reliable image that she kept on giving me within the chances that we had interacted with each other. It gave me an uplifting feeling and bounded curiosity, on the certain contradictory that was happening in front of me.

Why was she acting like this? I wonder if something must've greatly troubled her for her to act like her unusual self. A thought then occurred to me. What does she exactly see whenever our seating arrangements were inverted? Do I act also look like this? Bored? Silly? Probably not. I haven't exactly done something embarrassing this week other than bumping someone in the hallway. I remembered falling down from the large momentum because I wasn't looking. That day, was also the day that I had forgotten to bring my glasses with me in a hurry. I didn't get to see much of the one who bumped into me, but I did find the high-pitched voice somewhat familiar.

The troubled girl, Pearson, then suddenly tilted her head to the right in such a quick manner that I'm afraid she'd break her neck with the exerted force. I saw her forehead crinkle, as she kept on muttering words that I couldn't hear from far away like a fish swimming in a tank. I had an inkling that her conundrum was probably connected to her character role and lines. But looking at her mouthing invisible words like this, spells more amusement than several comedy gigs that I, myself, just watched yesterday.

While I was busy thinking and backtracking some comical moments I've seen on television, her head snapped in several different directions like a thief trying to see if she could get caught. And because of that, our eyes met in the silliest manner I've ever known. Caught red-handed by staring, I couldn't help but let out a giggle and an amused smile to the person who made me laugh today, in which I received someone holding her tongue out and ignoring me for the rest of the hour. I shook my head, finding the girl more unpredictable than when I first met her at class.

"We should stand up!"

"Yeah! Stand up and fight!"

"Fight who?"

"Your mom."

"Fuck!"

The first time that we met wasn't really much of a story to tell. I remember looking for someone who bore her name and the others, just so I could gather up the group for a short meeting. I ended up having to ask someone who approached me, Gian, in the group, to gather all of the members after Ms. Roche's subject. That day, I had assumed in my mind that there was a rebel slacker in the group, just because they didn't attend. But I didn't really take it much to heart because there was always someone who's like that in every project at school. However, I had to take back my petty assumptions quickly when I received a late-night text about a presentation that was already made. It surprised me when the boys sent the slides and one screenshot proof about their conversation with the maker of the file. To think that it was that one member who didn't attend and had eyed me warily that day after her talk with Gian, I thought that I should at least see the presentation that she did.

When I had finished reading the whole thing, however, I couldn't help but keep an eye out for the girl on more group projects in the future.

Vanessa Pearson.

"How interesting you are…"

"Ms. Collins?"

I was then snapped awake when I heard Ms. Hudson mention me through the line.

"Ms. Collins, I do hope that you aren't day dreaming because I'm here to tell you that the family of three is next."

"Uhm, yes. Thank you for the warning." I cleared my throat and adjusted myself on my seat to bring my focus back from my recollecting mind.

"Your welcome. Although, I do thank you for the compliment dear." The line then cuts off with a giggle and I felt my face felt hot from the teasing of the adorable English teacher in the room.

"Pearson." As if hearing someone calling her name through the shadows, the girl turned her head in my direction and smiled when our eyes met for the second of the day.

"Woof?" She then gave me a lopsided smile, something that an adorable dog puppy would do in those cute videos you see on the internet.

"If you're giving me the dog language, should I hiss at you instead?" With my words, her face had returned to its usual aloofness in class. The two of us were currently at the lockers, grabbing the last two subject textbooks for the day. I already finished mine when I had my locker sorted this early morning.

"That won't be necessary, cat." She cleared her throat and with the tussle of her hair, led the way back to the noisy classroom. "So, what's up?" She asked and I had to mentally roll my eyes of the question.

"The ceiling, dog." She grinned and continued, "And what's down?"

"Oh, I don't know actually. Mind telling me what it is?" We were playing her mind games again, so I took the approach directly back at her.

"Is this about the committee volunteer work earlier?" I mouthed a bingo to her and went ahead in the classroom to take a seat. There was still a lot of time before the next period starts, so she took the seat beside me and tried to chat me up about the wonders of volunteer work.

"We don't do that much really. Just help manage the event with the teachers for extra credits and good words." I told her as I tap my pen beside the table. Her body was leaned towards my direction, giving off the fact that she was interested and made me unconsciously lower my voice.

"Hmm… Do they need us after school? Like meetings of some sort."

"Probably… Why? Got any other plans?" I noticed the trail of hesitation on her voice, so I tried to lightly pry.

"Actually, yes. I have plans." She said as she looked me directly in the eyes, telling me that she was serious of her words and wasn't making excuses.

"Well, it's just the school's tree planting event. I'm sure you can squeeze in a couple of minutes of your time." After Ms. Hudson's dubbing activity, Ms. Callaghan called the two of us to fill in the position of two students on the school's tree planting event. She called it volunteering, but the two of us could tell that it wasn't when the students we're filling in had very important positions on the committee.

To be exact of the situation, we were supposed to be the substitute of the student council's secretary and treasurer of the senior division. A troublesome position, if you ask me.

"I don't know, really. I'll need to talk to someone who'll be expecting me after school." She gave off a grunt, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. Just who will she need to meet that could make her frown like that?

"We wouldn't be in such a position if Croc and Mullen wasn't found sucking faces in the janitor's closet." I pointed to her a well-known rumor from early morning's event. The two of them were the ones responsible for this senior year's work in the council, until they were found out almost going home run on the janitor's closet. It wasn't much of a big deal if they did it elsewhere, but the fact that the janitor's closet had to be near the principal's office, makes me shudder of their unfortunateness.

"If I knew that I was going to be picked, I would've sucked others faces as well. In fact, should we try finding someone right now?" She faced me with wriggling eyebrows, and I can't help but slap her shoulder for the second time of the day.

"Ow! You know, I'm already thinking that you've quickly gotten used to slapping my shoulder when I quite remember that we've only just talked for a couple of times on occasion." She gave me an accusing look as I bluntly said my piece. "Well, if you're going to fulfill your role as my olive branch to the devils, this should be a great start. No?" She gave me an incredulous look, her face asking me how did I know of the matter with her and Steven's silent conversation.

"Don't think that I didn't notice your glances with each other. As much as I hate to say this, I'm a Clementine, remember?" I've already long noticed the intense bugging of the tall boy to this aloof girl. Although I don't know when their agreement actually started, having gone through that aftermath of the history class event and the arrangement of seats on Ms. Roche's class, I've already formed a small suspicion on the two of them.

They didn't exactly fail my guesses when after Ms. Callaghan called us, Steven gave her a hard stare for the entire day. I say entire day, for until now, the guy behind us kept on keeping an eye on the two of us in the room.

"Well, fuck. Busted?" She shook her hands in a jazz manner, and I gave her a gaze of confirmation.

"I'm actually offended about that 'agreement' when I didn't exactly sign up for it." She gave me an answer that I hadn't really expected, but was somewhat waiting for it. I mean, I wouldn't really blame her when there's an intense rivalry on the two sections for the past five years. So being repulsed to someone like me was already a given.

"But I'll clarify it to you now, that I talked to you out of my own interest." I gave her a glance, trying to see behind her smiling face of underlying intentions. For a couple of minutes, silence was what we had. But even though it was somewhat pressuring to speak up, her words of clarification gave me relief that someone wasn't talking to me for the other's benefit.

Looking at her from such a close area, I couldn't help but notice how her eyes would have this glint of mischievousness underneath. Even though I always saw her giving off an aloof expression whenever she was with the others, the teasing smile plastered in her face fitted her eyes so well that it gave off the warmth that I was really missing these past few days.

"Ehem! Okay, my smiling lovelies. I don't know what's happening here, but I do hope that you won't steal my best friend and make her your confidante, Clementine." A voice from the back made us snap back and look at the speaker. A girl with a wavy short hair stood behind us wearing her trademark artsy suspenders. It was the girl that I'd always see stuck with the silly girl beside me.

Jill Stanford.

"What? Don't give me that look Wikipedia." She gave a wronged glance on Vanessa as I look at both of them doing a silent conversation by themselves.

"Whatever, Dora." Her uncaring tone was back again, as the girl she was talking to now was grabbing an empty seat next to me, intending on joining our private conversation.

"Even though I admit that I may have always came off as an ignorant bitch to you, which I'm slightly guilty of and sorry about, it's nice to meet and have you here Clementine. I'm Jill Stanford, the weird devil's one and only bestie." She gave her hand out for a shake and made a stress to introduce herself as Vanessa's best friend.

"I do have a name, Andy Collins. Nice to meet you Stanford. Please address me by my name because I actually hate that nickname." She gave off a snort but nodded at my words nonetheless.

"Then call me Jill, Andy darling. Dora's off limits." She winked at me with her hands propped up her elbows. I could only give her a smile of acknowledgement as I turn to her best friend for inquiries about the girl's playful behavior. She only nodded at me with a grin as the girl in question cut off our silent conversation by asking me a lot of things about my past section.

"So, is it true that the Clementine's were axed because of an inside rumor? Is it blackmail material? Rude material? Or lewd material? Ow-!" The girl hadn't finished what she said when her best friend turns to slap her head with a thin textbook at our desk. "I prefer if you stop asking our new friend here with useless things that caused her group of friends to be separated, Dora."

"Well, I wasn't asking you- Ow!" They continued arguing and as much as how comical it looked in everyone's eyes, being stuck in the middle as a shield for one prying girl and obstacle for her best friend, wasn't what I had imagined our group conversation to be.

"Okay, the two of you should stop. As much as I enjoy your funny quarreling, the school bell's about to ring. I'll answer your questions next time, Jill." The girl only gave me an eager and victorious look as her best friend glared daggers at her from her seat.

"I'll be expecting that darling! Toodles!" The girl then scampers away to her seat, quite jolly from getting an assurance from someone she just fully met.

"So, should I be expecting you on the meeting later?" I looked to the girl who was now standing beside me, about to head for her seat.

"Hmm… I don't know. Should you?" She sing-sang but passed me a sticky note that she somehow had gotten in her pockets.

'After the meeting, text your relatives that you'll be a little late going home. Wait for me by the gates afterwards.' A pat on my shoulder was all I've got after I looked back at her with a questioning look.

"So, where are you taking me stranger?"

"Are we back to square one again, Ms. Collins?"

"If you don't tell me why you kidnapped me in the center of the city, then we will." I glanced around the plaza seeing the different walks of life. We were currently walking on the sidewalk, passing by couples who'd spend their time having small picnics in the place. It's been five minutes when the girl in front of me stopped in a futuristic internet café, across the city street.

"Good! You're finally-" A large man sitting at the front desk, greeted the girl with me with his loud voice. He looked quite messy from far away, soot was covering his shirt, face, and hair, to the point that I thought he was a car repairman who lost his way on the first day of his job. "Here, I know, David. Is the other boss in his office today? I need to talk to him about something, a thing that might have to last for a couple of weeks later." The man who I soon to know was David, threw a couple of keys at Vanessa as he gestured the way to the back.

"You can sit here by the way. I'll be back sooner than you could say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." She gestured by the seat across from David and I could only snort at her wonderful words.

"Yeah, no. I'm not saying wonderful in such a colorful way, thank you." She gave me a grin and finally walked towards the door that said employees only.

"So, new friend?" I heard the man across from me speak, his eyes darting towards the way Vanessa went and my seat. I gave him a nod and said, "Yes. Even though we go to the same school and year, it's the first time we've officially interacted with each other."