The moment I stepped through the front door, the chatter in the classroom shifted.
"Morning, Faulker!" someone called out from the middle row.
"Yo, morning!" another voice followed.
I smiled a little, raising a hand as I made my way toward my seat. "Morning, everyone."
But before I could even sit down, half the class had already turned their attention to me.
Mari looked up from her phone, tone calm but curious.
"What's going on with you lately, Faulk? You've been kind of amazing at… well, everything."
Sera leaned forward on her desk, grinning.
"Yeah, seriously. You suddenly turned into the main character or something."
I gave a lazy shrug, trying to play it off.
"What can I say? I fell from a tree and woke up a genius."
The whole class went quiet for a beat, then erupted into laughter.
"Oh yeah," someone said between chuckles, "Lyna told us you actually did fall from a tree before ending up in the hospital!"
"Lyna told me to learn a lesson from that. I took it literally." I said, smirking as I dropped my bag beside my chair.
When the laughter died down, I asked, "Anyway, is there any club I haven't visited yet?"
"Art club!" someone near the window said immediately.
"And the acting club!" another added. "You haven't gone there yet either!"
I thought about it for a second, then nodded. "Alright. I'll check out the acting club today."
That instantly set the class buzzing again.
Some were already trying to guess what kind of role I'd play.
"He'd totally be the lead," someone whispered. "No, he's got villain energy," another said.
I was about to sit when a familiar, skeptical voice cut through the noise.
"Since when did you and the 6th Seat get so close that she trusts you to do her job?"
I turned to see Krueger leaning against a desk near the back, arms crossed. It took me a second, but I remembered him.
The guy who warned me about losing my student ID card.
I met his gaze and said, "She needed someone who could handle the workload."
He raised a brow. "And you just happened to volunteer?"
"Yeah, something like that," I replied.
As if on cue, Lyna stepped inside the classroom, followed closely by Clara.
The chatter instantly quieted.
Not completely, but enough for everyone to turn and notice.
"Good morning," Lyna greeted, her voice composed as always.
"Morning," Clara added, flashing her usual confident smile.
A few people greeted them back, but most of the class was still crowding around me, their curiosity far from satisfied.
Clara's eyes swept across the scene.
She caught the sight of me, being surrounded like I'm some kind of celebrity.
She let out a small sigh.
"Alright, everyone," she said, clapping her hands once. "Fun's over. Disperse."
A few students blinked at her. "Huh? Why?"
Clara smirked, tilting her head toward Lyna. "Because, someone here deserves a little one-on-one time with her boyfriend."
A wave of teasing oohs and laughter followed, and I could feel the heat rising to my face.
Lyna didn't react much. She just sighed quietly, as if used to Clara's antics.
"Clara..." she said in a warning tone.
"What? I'm just helping you out, no?" Clara said, grinning wider.
The students reluctantly began to return to their seats, though not without a few knowing glances thrown our way.
Once the crowd cleared, it was just me, Lyna, and Clara standing near my desk.
Lyna folded her arms lightly. "You seem to be attracting quite a bit of attention lately."
I scratched the back of my neck, trying to hide my grin. "So I've noticed."
Clara, still munching on her bread, said "Careful, Faulk. At this rate, you'll need a bodyguard just to walk to lunch."
Clara stretched her arms, sighed, and headed back to her seat.
The crowd finally began to settle down, leaving only Lyna, who quietly took her place beside me.
"Hey," I said, lowering my voice so only she could hear.
"Can you teach me again tonight? In the library. Like usual."
She nodded once, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Mhm. Sure. Try not to make the librarian chase us out again this time."
I snorted under my breath. "Hey, that wasn't my fault. It was you who started talking about forbidden council records."
"That's because a certain someone asked too many questions about it in the first place," she said, her voice teasing but low enough that the others couldn't hear.
I met her golden gaze for a second longer than I meant to.
Perhaps, that gaze itself is just pulling me in...
Life slipped into a rhythm after that.
Every morning I'd attend classes, and every afternoon, I'd jump from one club to another. Football, cooking, literature, and even the boxing ring.
Every night, like clockwork, I'd sit across from Lyna in the quiet corner of the library, surrounded by nothing but the smell of old paper and the ticking clock.
She'd quiz me, explain things I didn't understand, and somehow make studying less miserable than it usually would in class.
Days blurred into weeks.
I didn't know what Shimotsuki was scheming behind those sharp emerald eyes of hers, nor what the 1st Seat was planning up in his unreachable tower.
All I knew was that I was getting stronger, faster, and smarter.
And before I even realized it, Finals were over.
I lay on my bed that night, staring up at the empty ceiling. My body felt heavy but my mind were wide awake.
Everything had happened so fast.
Across the room, Alejandro was scrolling on his laptop, checking out the beach house we'd rented for the break. "Looks alright to me." he murmured.
Nayuta was by his bed, tossing clothes into his bag while humming something out of tune.
Then Shayne, sitting cross-legged on the floor, suddenly looked up with that mischievous grin of his.
"Hey, gentlemen, question." he said, breaking the quiet.
"As a male… what's the thing you should be looking forward to the most at the beach?"
Alejandro didn't even glance up. "The cool breeze, atleast for me." he said flatly.
"I don't know," I replied.
Nayuta pointed a finger at the air. "Sand castles, maybe?"
Shayne sighed dramatically, shaking his head. "Wrong. All of you are wrong."
We looked at him, waiting. His grin only widened.
"The answer is... That's right, dear readers. The answer is, the girl's swimsuit."
I sighed.
Alejandro face-palmed himself.
Nayuta uttered "I knew it, you sick pervert." while zipping up his bag.
Shayne shrugged. "What, are you not curious about how Clara will look in swimsuits, Nayuta?"
Nayuta covered his mouth, thinking.
"...Now that you said it, maybe I- WAIT. Why did you mention her specifically...."
Shayne's grin grew wider.
"Because it's obvious, my dear friend. You've got a thing for her."
Nayuta's face went blank, then slightly red.
"Wha—what the hell are you talking about?"
I couldn't help but chuckle. "You're too easy to read, man."
Shayne wagged his finger.
"See? Even Faulk agrees. You kept sneaking a few glances towards her. Everything about it smells... romantic."
Nayuta threw a pillow at him. "Shut up!"
The room filled with laughter.
Alejandro shook his head at the sight of his roommate's friendly banter.
Shayne was cackling like a maniac.
And Nayuta... he seems worried, wondering if Clara and everyone else has noticed it.