entry #9 | ¢σσкïєѕ

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'Don't we all love spending a whole hour sweating and laboring over a sport we don't even like?'

(Y/n) was on the verge of seizing the volleyball from Wei Wei's hands and throwing it out the window. Or better yet, impaling it onto one of the start stakes making up the iron gates surrounding the school campus. You know, like how those tyrannical rulers and generals would do to the heads of their enemies.

A little graphic, but you get the picture.

Glaring at the white ball in the other girl's hands, she reluctantly got into position, bending her knees and leaning forward just a little. She joined her hands together in front of her body with the inside of her wrists facing up.

Now imagine that ball not as a volleyball but a metal spike. Now imagine it spearing through her wrist, tearing through the flesh and arteries to the bone beneath it. That was how her body was feeling at that moment.

Dramatic? You can't blame her. (Y/n) has been hanging around Reese for a long time, after all.

Wei Wei's face was the picture of worry and care as she rotated the ball in her hands. "Um, (Y/n)?"

The (h/c)-haired girl looked up. "Yes?"

"A-are you okay?"

She offered the taller girl a thumbs-up. "Just peachy."

She wasn't okay.

As someone who preferred spending her time indoors and lazing about, having to actually work in P.E. due to their spartan of a teacher was hell. Brutal, painful hell. Her calculations allowed her to move significantly less than the other students and consequently sweat less, but it was still a lot of work.

'Who even likes running and jumping around for an hour straight?'

After covering the basics in their previous class—well, more like him dismissively throwing it at them—Mr. Johnson for some unknown reason decided it was a smart idea to start the games the second day.

'Let's get a round of applause for our muscle-brain of a teacher's intelligence,' (Y/n) seethed mentally. 'Feel free to clap your hands. Over your eyes, that is.'

All around her, many of her classmates were either sweating buckets or passed out. Or failing miserably at the sport. It was usually the third option.

Keep in mind she's spent too much time than what is deemed healthy with the alien named Reese Grayson.

(Y/n) swept her eyes over her team which consisted of six players. Unfortunately, none of them included Wei Wei. The black-haired girl was placed on the opposite team and being one of the tallest people there, she was the closest to the net. (Y/n) was the furthest.

Her teammates looked just as unmotivated as she was, if not more, especially given that one of them had a familiar mane of long, golden hair. She was—

She was...

'Um. Well, this is awkward,' (Y/n) sweatdropped. 'I don't remember any of their faces.' As someone who got by in life by identifying people by their hair colors and hairstyles, attending a school in the UK filled with blondes was proving to be rather difficult for the quiet girl. The only reason she could distinguish her friends from a crowd is due to their hair colors.

Reese with long, crimson hair, Lucinda with white-gold locks, Carmen with brown hair and blonde highlights, Isla with lavender hair, and Jasper...

Well, Jasper was Jasper. He never dyed his hair entirely, but he changed the color of his highlights every month.

Mr. Johnson stood off to the side, his signature whistle hanging around his neck and his hands on his hips. His head was lowered as he listened intentively to a pair of boys who had come up to him. Their voices were drowned out by the noise of the gymnasium. One had his hand pressed to his nose and the other had an urgent look on his face as he spoke in a rapid voice to the male teacher.

He nodded and stepped to the side like a gatekeeper, allowing the two boys to leave the room. His momentary distraction gone, he returned his full attention to the game.

Rather than a game, it was more like one team's one-sided victory.

In the world of sports, there are two types of teams. The try-hard team that does everything and anything to win and the uncaring, lazy team who'd rather be anywhere but the court. (Y/n)'s team was the latter. Was she frustrated? Not really, because she was one of the people who rather stand there doing nothing.

"Come on, team," Mr. Johnson urged them. He came up to their side of the net. "Where's the energy and spirit that comes with your youth? Where's your motivation? Where's your competitiveness? Your youth won't last long, mark my words. You'd do yourself good to enjoy this while you can. What do y'all say, gang?"

'I say we have air soccer instead,' (Y/n) suggested mentally. 'Or table basketball. Don't those sound fun?'

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Johnson," the blonde on her team said, although she didn't sound sorry at all. "The thing is, I recently spend like five thousand dollars on my nails last weekend so I can't afford to damage them. You know what I mean?"

"Oh yeah, totally," the male teacher laughed, waving a hand at the girl. "I mean, just look at my nails. I got them done since it's such a smart idea to spend a fortune on mani—pedi—whatever-cures when I have P.E. Mmm, yeah." His girlish tone dropped to a flat, baritone one. "What I'm saying is get your mind into the game, Ms. Taylor. Capisce? ¿Lo entiendes? Intelegi?"

The blonde's sweet smile faltered as she spun on her heels—yes, the girl had the decency to wear heels to gym class—and stalked towards her clique.

"Ah, so Ms. Taylor understands Romanian," Mr. Johnson nodded to himself. "I'll keep that in mind. Alright, the show's been canceled since last year, folks! Eyes on the game, not me. Even though, haha, I know I'm awesome, thank you."

"I can't see the other team," (Y/n) muttered dryly under her breath. "Your ego's in the way."

Did she mention Mr. Johnson was the son of her father's best friend?

"Uh, here I go," Wei Wei said awkwardly. "I guess." She set the volleyball over the net. No one moved to catch it.

Such an energetic class.

"How are you doing, kid?" Mr. Johnson laughed, clapping a hand onto the (h/c)-haired girl's back. "Still into robots and all that good stuff?"

The two of them were in his office after class. P.E. ended ten minutes earlier than other classes to ensure the students had enough time to get their diamond earrings and stilettos on.

That was sarcasm.

(Y/n) took a few seconds to throw off her gym uniform, which consisted of a t-shirt and shorts. But since Fortuna Insititute was an elite school, that set cost her two good Benjamin Franklins. And that was without all the adjustments many students paid for to make the uniform more appealing. Now she was in the male teacher's personal office, just a few doors down the hall from the gymnasium on the second floor.

"I'm not a little kid anymore," (Y/n) grumbled. "And for the last time...Mr. Johnson, I work with computers...not robots."

"What's the difference?" He said, his energetic tone unchanging. "They're both machines with all those cogs and whatnot. Failed my engineering class, y'know. Never liked those chunks of metal."

"...Explains why you kept coming over to our place...when you wanted to Google something," the girl muttered. "You need a new computer...Eli." Only when it was the two of them did Mr. Johnson allow the girl to call him by the nickname she's used since childhood.

"It's not me," the teacher protested. "It's the machine. I told it to search up 'how to make french toast' but it wouldn't listen. So I uh, I kinda threw it into the wall."

(Y/n) never felt like anyone could be this hopeless before. How did he manage to survive the adult world all these years?

"You're not supposed to talk to it," she said through gritted teeth. "Your model...doesn't have voice recognition."

"Why doesn't it? You have it. You even named it Alexa!"

"Like I said, Eli...you need a new computer. And there's something called a keyboard you can use."

A guilty look rose onto his face. "I uh, I sorta threw that away."

She groaned and facepalmed. "'Sorta' or did you actually throw it away?"

"...I threw it away."

"Eli...you are barred from touching any of my computers...from now on. Actually, my entire house."

"W-wait, please no," Mr. Johnson cried. "Aaron and I have a movie night next week! You can't do this to me, (Y/n)!"

"I can and I will."

He sighed and settled back into his seat, letting out a satisfied sigh as he sank into the cushion. "Anyway, how's my boy Reese doing? Still into theater?"

"Of course," she replied. She pulled out a chair facing his mahogany table and settled into it.

"Does he want to go into acting or somethin'? I thought he wanted to be a transformer."

"Eli...that was nine years ago."

"Darn, time flies fast. This is what happens when you're old and wisen like me," Mr. Johnson sobbed. "Kid, treasure your time in high school. 'Cuz when it's gone, it's gone. And it ain't comin' back."

(Y/n) rolled her eyes as she played with the figurines on his desk. "Good to know. But I'm not worried about aging...right now, old man." She began stacking them irregularly on top of his files.

"I bet you're not the type to give up your seat to the elderly on the bus," he scowled.

"I actually am. Because that's you."

"You know what? Just get outta here." He rose from his seat on the other side of the desk, his leg colliding with the edge and knocking her tower over. He began shooing her out the door despite her protests. "It was a nice talk, kid. Now it's time for you to keep getting good grades and sh*t. Have a good one!"

With that said, she was shoved out the door and had the door closed in front of her face. 'I can't tell if I'm the older one here or not,' she snorted. 'Wait, Eli and dad are going to have a movie night without telling me? Traitors!'

She hefted her bag into a more comfortable position on her back. Then she glanced at the grandfather clock standing at the end of the hallway closest to her. "Five more minutes before class," she murmured. "Wow, I'm early for once."

The locker room door opened and a boy stepped out. Well, more like ran out. His slender fingers were white as they pressed tightly into the straps of his backpack, and he was breathless, bent over slightly as he tried to catch his breath. His bangs hung in his face, preventing her from identifying who he was.

But that hairstyle and golden hair sure looked familiar...

As if finally realizing he wasn't alone in the hallway, he looked up, his scarlet eyes locking with hers. Her eyes widened in recognition.

"Ah," they said in unison as they pointed at each other. "It's you! From the hallway!"

Realizing they had spoken at the same time, Jaehyun flushed and looked down at his shoes in embarrassment. "N-nice to see you again...um..." He blanched; he didn't know her name.

"(Y/n)," the (h/c)-haired girl answered with a yawn. "Thanks for saving me from...getting squashed yesterday."

"I-it's no problem," he said, flustered. "I didn't realize we had the same class."

"That makes two of us. Wait actually...I think I might've seen you before." She held her chin in thought. "Um...or maybe not."

Did she meet him before?

The blond's eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry I'm not memorable!" Jaehyun began apologizing frantically. "I'm sorry for ruining your class time! I'm so sorry I was b—"

"No one said anything about you ruining P.E. for me," (Y/n) sweatdropped, taken aback by his reaction despite having seen it before. She patted him gingerly on the back. "You're all good...Jay."

He brightened. "So you do remember my name!"

"Yup. What class do you have next? I have English."

"I have math," Jaehyun answered.

"Ooh, nice. What about after that?"

His smile faltered. "...I'm in your last class too, (Y/n)."

She stared at him. He stared back.

"I'm so sorry! That was too impertinent of me—"

"N-no, it's my fault," (Y/n) quickly apologized. "I don't...really pay attention to my surroundings. It's not you...it's me." 'That kind of sounds like an excuse a guy makes when he cheats on his girlfriend. Woah, was I that kind of guy in my past life? That's not a good thing, is it...?'

He looked relieved. "O-oh, okay then. Want to walk together?" She agreed, and the two started heading towards their next classes right before the bell rang. With both of them being more on the antisocial type, they wanted to reach the art room without getting caught up in the incoming crowd.

Jaehyun has had his fill of crowds and fangirls for seven lifetimes.

(Y/n) was walking towards the classroom purely by instinct. Her head was in the clouds as she dreamt of the extremely comfortable bed she saw featured on the television last night. 'Gosh, that looked so comfortable...I wonder if dad would buy it for me? No, I can't bother him. I'll just make some adjustments to my current one. It has served me well for almost a decade now—wait, where did Jay go?'

She looked around her in search of the blond boy. The halls were beginning to fill up with students also going towards their next classes. Swarms of the elite among the elites' sons and daughters glared and hissed at each other to get out of their way.

When you take the privileged from society, used to luxury and being at the top, and throw them all into one building, it's only natural things will start to go wrong.

"B*tch," a girl hissed to her neighbor who had bumped into her. "Do you know who I am? Look where you're walking! I could've caught your sleazy commoner germs!"

"If anyone's a commoner," the other girl retorted. "It's you, sl*t."

"I am NOT a peasant, you wh*re! I can make your family disappear with one call!"

"Oh yeah? I can too!"

'Ouch,' (Y/n) shuddered, placing a hand on her heart. 'What's wrong with being a plebian? I like being a plebian.' Her dad was a rather good lawyer, but she wouldn't say he was especially famous. Their family was middle-classed; it was a wonder she managed to get into the school in the first place.

'Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be looking for Jay,' she realized. 'Where is the sunflower anyway?' She spun in a full circle in search of the boy in question. But from her height, all she could see were the chests and heads of the other students who milled about in straight lines.

Even while they were walking straight in the same direction, they still managed to walk into each other.

Rich kids.

"Jay," the (h/c)-haired girl tried calling him. "Where are—woah." Then she saw it, one of the most amazing things she'd ever seen in her life.

Amongst the proud, spoiled, and ambitious students of Fortuna Institute was Jaehyun, nicknamed the school's golden child. The students parted like the red sea before him without a fuss. If they weren't clamoring for the P4's attention, they were obediently letting them pass. Today was the latter day.

The blond clutched his bag to his chest, clearly uncomfortable under the attention he was given. But he kept himself upright and poised; all for the sake of the family name, he told himself. A child of the Kim family cannot embarrass himself.

(Y/n) quietly waited for the boy to catch up to her. "Cool magic trick," she commented. "Teach me someday?"

"I'm not sure it's much of a trick," he laughed quietly. "But I'll try my best."

She was half-joking when she asked him that. (Y/n) glanced at his face. He looked completely serious and even excited at the prospect that someone had asked him for help. "Wait, for real?"

"I-I mean unless you don't want to—"

"Of course I do!" She said hastily. "It would be a...big help if I can snap my fingers...and everyone disappears. Wouldn't that...be cool?"

Jaehyun was too nice to burst her bubble, but he didn't want her to get hung on the wrong idea either. "Um, (Y/n)?"

"Yes, sun—I mean, Jay?"

"...That's not how it works. I can't make people disappear." 'Actually I can,' he added silently. 'Money can do anything.' He felt a pang of sadness at the thought.

"Aww, okay," the (e/c)-eyed girl sighed, pulling her excited look back into its usual blank one. "Oh look, this is my stop!" They had arrived before the English classroom in Spring Hall, the room almost full despite her having left a few minutes early.

"I'll see you next period," Jaehyun smiled at her. "Bye, (Y/n)."

"Bye, sun—um, Jay!" The two waved goodbye at each other before going their separate ways. She took her seat near the back next to her project partner, doing her best to not catch his attention. The white-haired male was surrounded by a group of girls, one of them being the redhead (Y/n) remembered seeing at the front of the room.

She immediately tuned them out. The last time she accidentally listened in, she learned a few words that made Jasper get angry with her.

'Wait a second,' (Y/n) realized. 'If sunflower's next class is math, isn't that in Autumn Hall? That's the furthest away from Spring Hall! Why would he come with me in the opposite direction?'

She thought for a while.

'Oh, I know! He's just a nice person. I guess not all the kids born with a silver spoon in their mouths also have a golden knife to go with it.'

The (h/c)-haired girl leaned forward and rested her chin on her hand as Mr. Howards began teaching. 'The only relatively nice people I've met in this school are Izzy, Lucy, Carms, Jas, Noves, and Wei Wei,' she mused. 'Keller and his friends are cool too.'

Despite the group's acting like they've known each other for years, that wasn't the case. Isla and Lucinda met in their first year of junior high at Fortuna Intermediate Institute, and Carmen a year later. The three became friends with Jasper during the last semester of the same school, and the four went up the escalator system to Fortuna Institute.

And there, they met (Y/n) and Reese. The two were childhood friends, brought together by unlikely circumstances. Two souls with opposite personalities and prone to arguments that lasted from a minute to a week. It was during Year 10 they met. And the six have stuck together ever since.

She frowned and scratched her head. 'Wait, how did I meet Reese again?' She had a slight recollection of her first meeting with Isla and Carmen, who in turn introduced her to Lucinda and Jasper. But as for the redhead...

'Argh, why don't I remember?' (Y/n) raked her hands through her hair in irritation. 'I feel like it's important but I have no idea what it is.'

No memory, no idea, nothing at all. Not even a single moment from the time she befriended the red-haired male.

'Urgh...oh well!'

She gave up.

'All that matters is that we're friends now. Who cares about the past?' She relaxed and sank deeper into her seat. 'No more thinking. My brain hurts.' The (h/c)-haired girl buried her face into her folded arms and let out a long sigh. All her fatigue and stress seemed to go with it, leaving her feeling refreshed and pleasantly drowsy.

'I've spent too much of the day awake. Time to fix that.'