Companionship

Clara stood up with a bored expression on her face. She looked straight at the adviser as she introduced herself. "Clara Wilson... I graduated from West Samson Middle School, and I'm great at doing absolutely nothing" Her last sentence made some of the students chuckle, including Caitlyn. They were expecting more to hear from her, but she sat down with a blow of air.

The boy next to her stood up as it was his turn. Caitlyn eagerly looked at him. She can tell from his small figure and body language that he's slightly shy, she giggles and lends her ears. "I'm Michael Solovan. I'm fifteen and my birthday is the twenty-first of May. I graduated from East Samson Middle. I think I'm great at learning science.." He glanced at Caitlyn before snapping back to his table and sat down.

His glance slightly flustered Caitlyn. Clara notices this and looks at Michael. "East Samson, huh? Bold of you to state that you're my enemy" She smirked at him, making him chuckle slightly. Then she turned to Caitlyn. "And what's this? First love in sight?" She chuckled while still having that bored energy. The seat next to Michael was empty, so the last student in their row spoke up instead.

The introduction would continue to the last row of students and eventually finish. The adviser showed his appreciation and expectations to the class. He would then discuss their class schedules. This would go on for a while. In the middle of it, Caitlyn heard noises from outside. She turned to listen to it.

"Yeah, yeah, leave me alone. I don't want to hear any of it right now" It was a slightly deep female voice and it sounded like she was tired. The door went open with a bit of force behind it, hitting the wall with its knob. A girl with short messy black hair came in. Her uniform is half unbuttoned and crumpled. But what stood out the most to them was the tattoos on both of her arms, they completely covered her fair white skin. Seeing this, they kept their eyes away from her as she scanned the room for an empty seat.

She saw the empty seat beside Michael and headed there. She slouched down on the chair and rested her leg on her other knee. The adviser silently walked towards the door and closed it. He then looked at the girl. "You're from this class? If so, introduce yourself. Otherwise, go back to your class" There was a bit of strictness in his voice but the girl was unfazed. Instead, her brows frowned in annoyance. She glared at him before speaking up.

"Lynn Langley... I know every one of you knows who I am" She scoffed loudly and looked down at her table. The adviser sighed silently and proceeded on their class schedule. The rest of the procedure went smoothly and their class would begin immediately.

They had two classes until it was time for lunch. The students quickly formed their groups and headed outside. Some remained in their seats, where they ate their lunch. Caitlyn stood up from her seat and talked to Clara, who was on her phone while having the same bored look on her. "I don't want to" She replied to Caitlyn without taking her eyes off her phone.

Caitlyn looked a little surprised. "Huh? You're not going to eat?" She asked. "Yeah. Besides, I ate enough this morning" She replied and stopped talking. Caitlyn had no choice but to go alone. She wanted to visit the school's cafeteria during lunch to explore. As she walked away, Michael watched her exit the room. He gulped and stood up to follow her. As he stood up and walked, Clara looked up to him and called. "Creep..." Michael turned to her and saw her smirking. He just sighed and went to follow Caitlyn.

Caitlyn walks around, looking everywhere as she does. The school building is big and spacious, she can tell that the school was indeed once a well-known and proud school. She then looked at the students. Surprisingly for her, almost every student was properly uniformed and looked like good people. The concern from what she heard from Clara starts to subside as she continues to see more proper students walking around the building.

"Hey!" A male voice called from behind her. She stopped and turned around to see Michael catching up. "Caitlyn, right?" He asked while showing shyness. Caitlyn smiled. "Yes, and you're Michael" She replied. Michael nods with a smile. "It's nice to meet you" Caitlyn nodded as well. "It's nice to meet you too, Michael" The two exchanged smiles.

"You're going to the cafeteria?" Michael asked. "Yeah... I heard the cafeteria here is big" Caitlyn replied. "I heard about it too. Let's go check it out" Michael requested. Caitlyn nodded and Michael went to walk with her to find the cafeteria.

While walking, Michael decided to open a conversation. "So, you said you're good at math?" He asked. "Mhm... I happened to like math and was good at it" Caitlyn nodded. "Wow, so you must be very smart? You also like to solve problems. Is it mathematical problems or any problems?" He asked. "Mostly math problems, but I can do other problems too" Caitlyn smiled. Michael had an amazed look on his face. "Really? Okay, I will give one simple question" Hearing that, Caitlyn knew he was testing her abilities and she was up for it.

"In a bag, I have three ripe bananas and four green bananas. What is the probability of my hand picking a ripe fruit without looking?" "Point forty-two" Michael stuttered in his next words as Caitlyn quickly answered his question. She giggled. "What's with that look? It's the most basic problem" Michael took a second before being able to speak. "Then what's the next digit to that answer?" "Nine" Michael looked surprised once again. "Nine? How can you make sure?" Caitlyn giggled more. "I have it on my mind it like the the six digits of pi"

"The pi? The one that looks like two Ts together?" Michael asked and Caitlyn nodded. "Six digits, huh? then what is the six digits to the answer before?" "Point four two eight five seven" Once again, Michael showed surprise. "Do you know the rest of the numbers?" His voice was full of interest. Caitlyn giggled. "No, silly. There's no point remembering all those numbers" Michael turned slightly red at the realization.

"Okay... How about something else? What's the square root of ten?" "Three point sixteen" Michael furrowed his brows slightly. "Square root of fifteen?" "Three point eighty-seven" "Twenty-five?" "Five... Do you even know the answers yourself?" Caitlyn asked as she giggled. "Well... no..." She confirmed her suspicions with his reply. "Then how are you supposed to know I'm telling you the right answer?" She laughs.

"I guess that was stupid of me..." Michael lightly scratched his head. The two were so busy with each other that they failed to admire the campus as planned. They eventually reached the cafeteria, which was packed with students and chatter. "We're here..." Before them stands a fairly spacious cafeteria with two entrances, students go in and out of the building. After admiring the place, they proceeded inside. "Hm..."

Again, Caitlyn noticed that there was something off again. She could see that the building could look a little brighter and shinier. Then Clara's words came to her mind. 'They always believed that Starheights was still the same as it was in the '10s... This place has gone to... They're now lackluster...' There, she knew the buildings, even the entire campus, had its golden times in the past, but now it has lost its shimmer. A wave of sadness came into Caitlyn as she thought this.

"It's crowded here..." Michael complained as he looked around. "Caitlyn! Over there!" He pointed to a table which has students leaving. The two then rushed to the table to take the seat for themselves. As they sit, they took a few seconds to calm themselves. "Well, we have a table now... You stay here, I will get us something" Michael stood up and left.

Later, they would have their food on their table and begin their lunch. A little later, Michael spoke in the middle of their lunch. "Hey, Caitlyn..." He called. Caitlyn looks up to him as she munches her food. "You know that Langley girl?" He asked almost whispering the question. Caitlyn shook her head no. "Are tattoos even allowed in schools?" He asked again.

"Supposedly not..." Caitlyn replied in a concerned voice. "Then how is she walking around with those arms covered in tattoos?" He asked with a more concerned tone. "I have no idea myself..." Caitlyn responded with a low tone. "Also, you saw the student with her by the door? He also had tattoos... What are these people doing here?" Caitlyn couldn't answer his complaints as she was as clueless as he was.

"But hey, so far so good, right? As long as we stay out of their way, there would be no problem" He reassures both her and himself. Caitlyn nodded with a faint smile. "I mean... They wouldn't mess with other students without reason and risk themselves getting expelled, right?" He asked and Caitlyn did not respond. "Besides, we have studies to worry about. Those delinquents can worry about their things" At this point, he was talking to himself.

Because of what he was saying, Caitlyn fell into deep thinking again. Surely after some time, Michael would notice this and calm himself down. "Don't you worry, Caitlyn... We will be in this together" He nods at her. Caitlyn smiled at his words. "Okay..." She replied. They would finish their lunch and proceed to their next classes after.