January 23rd. Tuesday, 3:48 PM.
"Why won't you be my girlfriend?".
"Because I don't like you".
"Then let's date. I'll make you like me".
"No, I don't want to date you".
Delilah wasn't having the easiest time being with Ace. She was really struggling to tolerate Ace right now. The two of them found a small empty study space at the campus library to build their device. They sat opposite each other, building the device on a table. Ace insisted on building it on the floor, but Delilah didn't want to because she didn't want ot be close to Ace. Yesterday, they didn't make any progress as Ace kept flirting and wanted to do other things with Delilah. Delilah rejected everything, but he still wasted her time.
Today, Delilah put her foot down and stopped being nice to Ace. After some strong words, he eventually agreed to build the device, but even now, he wasn't being the most helpful.
"Why?" Ace asked, tapping the table with his fingers. "You're pretty. You deserve a man".
"Maybe I do", Delilah said, tightening her jaw. "But one thing I'm sure of is I know I don't want a guy with a dangling earring".
"Ouch", Ace reacted, dramatically clutching his chest. "Hearing you say that hurts my heart", he grinned. "You're the first girl to say that".
"Every other girl probably thought the same thing but were too scared to say it", Delilah replied, clicking two plastic pieces together.
Ace's smirk grew, "You're pretty fiery. I thought you only looked mean and scary, but you are feisty".
"I'm not", Delilah replied, her eyes glued to the instruction manual. "You're just really annoying".
"Are you rejecting this hard because of your man?" Ace asked, folding his arms and leaning back.
"I don't have one", Delilah replied in a bored tone.
"Malakai's not your boyfriend?" Ace asked, surprised, quickly sitting up again.
"No. We're friends", Delilah said, turning a page.
"Just friends? You don't do anything on the side with him?" Ace asked, narrowing his eyes. "You two have to be..." he made a crude motion with his fingers.
Delilah slowly looked up straight-faced and saw the sex gesture he was making. "Why does everyone think that?" she said, tired of those rumours now. "No, it's totally platonic".
"Cap", Ace said immediately. "There's no way you two are that close, and he hasn't caught feelings".
"You can call it a cap if you want", Delilah said, giving a small shrug as she continued working. "But it's the truth".
"That guy must have no dick", Ace replied, laughing to himself.
"Or maybe he's a normal guy", Delilah said, furrowing her eyebrows at him.
Ace leaned back, "From what I've seen, he's far from normal".
"Are you the type of guy that thinks guys and girls can't be friends?" Delilah asked. "Do you even have any female friends?".
"Yeah. But I'm not interested in her, so I'm not gonna fall for her", Ace casually said. "But, I don't think she's interested in guys".
"Thanks for letting me know that we can never be friends", Delilah replied dryly.
"Fantastic, I would never want to be JUST friends with you", Ace said, smiling like he said something smooth.
Delilah silently stared at him for a moment, "At what point does this become sexual harassment?".
Ace smirked in defeat, seeing he wasn't getting what he wanted, "Funny".
After being shut down again, he finally picked up a piece and actually started building, dragging his chair closer to the desk.
"Say, if I get you points from this challenge, will I have a chance?" Ace asked, tightening a screw while looking at her.
"You had the smallest chance before we ever met", Delilah said, not meeting his eyes. "And you blew it the first time you spoke to me".
"There's no such thing as zero chances with me", Ace said, leaning forward, trying to get her attention. "I still have the tiniest chance, right?".
He succeeded in getting her attention as she finally looked up.
Delilah gave him a slow, mocking smile, her eyes half closed with sarcasm, "I suggest you stop trying right now. There's plenty of other prettier girls at this academy than me. Try your tiniest chances with them".
Ace stopped what he was doing and stared at Delilah, studying the look on her face.
"If not me, then who?" Ace suddenly asked.
Delilah blinked, confused but a little impressed by his persistence.
"Why are you so confident?" she asked, looking at him properly.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Ace cheekily smirked, asking back like it was the most obvious thing.
"Whatever", Delilah rolled her eyes. "This is the last time I'm telling you this. You have zero chance. Stop trying".
"Why though?" Ace complained, tossing a random piece to the middle of the table.
"Can't a girl not be interested in romance and not want to be in a relationship?" Delilah said. "I have zero interest in any of that right now".
"Oooh, you're in your independent strong woman phase", Ace teased.
"It's not a phase", Delilah said, shaking her head. "Independent strong women can still be interested in relationships".
"Okay, Miss Independent", Ace grinned, lifting his hands. "Whenever you do get interested in a relationship, you know who to call", he said, making a phone sign with his hand.
"Yeah. Not you", Delilah instantly shut him down.
Ace smirked, "Hard to get. It's fine, I like the chase".
Delilah clenched her jaw.
"I should've built this myself", she thought. "It would've taken longer, but it would've been more enjoyable".
Delilah was so done, but she couldn't leave. This device had to get built one way or another. They were just over halfway done, but they could've made a lot more progress if Ace had concentrated and made more of an effort.
"This challenge is so boring", Ace whined, leaning back in his chair again.
Delilah didn't respond.
"Don't you think this challenge is boring?" Ace asked.
Delilah didn't respond.
"They could've done a different challenge. Don't you think?" Ace asked.
Delilah closed her eyes for half a second, "This guy isn't going to stop talking", she thought. "Sigh. I have to talk to him".
"...It's the first challenge of the semester, what did you expect?" Delilah unwillingly replied.
"More than this", Ace said. "Every challenge has been boring. The only decent ones were the second and third ones".
"What more do you want?" Delilah asked, a little curious.
"Do you seriously like these challenges?" Ace said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, they're good", Delilah replied, shrugging.
"No, they're not", Ace refused, shaking his head. "I want more interesting ones".
"Interesting how?" Delilah asked. "We've had a race and an escape room".
"Have you watched Squid Game or Alice in Borderland?".
"You want people to die", Delilah said, deadpan.
"No, forget the dying part", Ace said, waving it off. "The games. They're all about betrayal, backstabbing and mind games. I want that shit. I wanna see people hate each other and go crazy".
Delilah gave him a disturbed expression, eyebrows raised.
"You know, challenges like those would hit. This is what this academy should be about", Ace continued, enthusiastically.
"If the challenges were like that, would you actually care about the academy?" Delilah asked.
"Without a doubt", Ace said confidently. "I would be a boss at those types of challenges".
"What I'm getting from this is that you're a backstabber, gaslighter, manipulator-".
"Whoa, whoa", Ace cut her off. "You can't put those labels on me because I said I would be good at those challenges", he smirked. The smirk wasn't helping in his defence.
"Why not? You said you'd be the best", Delilah said.
"I said boss", Ace corrected her, raising a finger. "I wouldn't be the best".
"Who would then?" Delilah asked, looking at him.
"Hmmm. You've got a lot of options", Ace said, tilting his head back and looking at the ceiling. "It'd be someone from 1-A for sure".
"Why only 1-A?", Delilah said, slightly offended.
"No other class competes with my class", Ace said, smiling with his teeth out.
"Why do you sound proud like you own 1-A?" Delilah replied, squinting her eyes at him.
"Heh. I can't own that class", Ace said. "It's filled with a bunch of freaks".
Delilah paused what she was doing and gave him a look. She didn't know what he meant, but the idea she had in her head was not PG-rated.
"I don't mean freaks like that", Ace said, noticing her disgust. "I meant it as a compliment".
"When was calling people freaks ever a compliment?" Delilah asked.
"Trust me, it is. There's people in my class that are freaks of nature", Ace seriously said, nodding. "Not everyone in 1-A is a freak. Most of them are just really clever try-hards".
"Like who? Tell me some names", Delilah said, curious.
"Alexander, Frank, Jack, Naomi, Felipe", Ace listed, counting on his fingers.
"What about Destiny?" Delilah asked, expecting to hear her name.
"Hmm, yeah, I guess", Ace said, slowly. "She might be a fraud, though".
"She was picked to be a representative. How can she be a fraud?".
"I saw how you dealt with her in the last challenge", Ace said, using a plastic piece to point at her. "If you can deal with her like that, then you might be a freak".
"Don't call me that", Delilah said flatly.
Ace smirked, "Heh, I'll let Destiny off for that challenge, because that challenge was dog shit. I know she's better than that".
"Just because you weren't involved in the challenge doesn't make it shit", Delilah said.
"From what I saw, that challenge was a bunch of running, that's it", Ace shrugged.
Delilah exhaled, "Okay... wait. What exactly do you mean by freak?" she asked, confusion returning. "I don't get it".
Ace paused for a second. The first time he did that. The longest silence he'd given her all day.
"The only way I can explain it is that they're built different. Like when I imagine myself going against them in certain things, I don't see myself standing a chance, and that's me", Ace arrogantly said, pointing at himself. "Think about everyone else. In most things, everyone else will have no chance against them. They'd get destroyed".
"Isn't that obvious. You're all in 1-A for a reason", Delilah said.
"No, these guys don't try. That's why they're freaks", Ace explained. "Most people in my class try hard, revise and do the most just to keep the standard, but these guys don't try. It's like their ability is built into them".
"You mean they're naturally gifted?" Delilah said.
"Most people here are naturally gifted. That's why they're here. These guys are more than naturally gifted. They're freaks", Ace replied. "The only way you'll understand is if you're around them. Being in a class with them, you can tell they're different". Ace laughed a little to himself. "I feel sorry for everyone else. It's unfair".
Delilah didn't fully understand, but his explanation made it a little clearer.
"Are you one?" she vaguely asked.
"A freak?" Ace smirked, "When I wanna be".
Delilah rolled her eyes, knowing what type of freak he meant now. "What does that make everyone else in other classes?".
"Pfft. Who cares?" Ace shrugged. "NPCs".
"So I'm an NPC?" Delilah asked.
"No. To me, you're not an NPC", Ace said. "You're a potential freak".
"Tch", Delilah shook her head and looked away, regretting asking. "Let's finish this, please", she said, sounding dead inside.
"Yes, ma'am", Ace said smugly, smiling, feeling like he had made a little progress with her.
(He didn't).
"You're not that bad", Leroy said.
"You too", Dillon replied. "I thought you would be a pain in the ass".
Dillon and Leroy were also building their device in a study space in another part of the campus library. They were nearly finished building the device, as they didn't waste much time. They started building it yesterday, but agreed to finish the next day because it was too much and they both couldn't be bothered.
The two barely talked to each other. Just small conversations and a few words. Both of them wanted to finish building and get it over with. Leroy isn't social, and Dillion just wanted to complete the challenge.
"Why would I be a pain in the ass?" Leroy asked, glancing up.
"You looked like you would be", Dillon plainly said. "You had your feet up on the desk and everything".
"To be honest, I saw your name and didn't feel like looking for you", Leroy replied, screwing in a part.
That answer didn't offend Dillon. He was used to it. "Is that because you're friends with Malakai?" he asked.
"No", Leroy shook his head. "I'm not friends with Malakai".
"What? You're not?" Dillon asked, looking at him, surprised.
"Bro, he's hated in his own class", Leroy said. "What makes you think I'm his friend?".
"I thought everyone in 1-C would like him", David replied. "He's the leader, no?"
"No, bro. It's the opposite. No one likes him", Leroy said, shaking his head even more.
"Even you?".
"I don't hate him, but I'm not his friend", Leroy replied. "He probably wouldn't wanna be my friend anyway".
"Why?" Dillon asked, giving him a suspicious look.
"I hurt his friend in the second challenge by accident", Leroy said, sounding a little regretful.
"Accident? What did you do?" Dillon asked.
"I pushed him, trying to get away, and his back hit a sharp corner", Leroy said.
Dillon intinctively winced, thinking about it. "Don't his friends know you did that?" he asked, surprised that nothing had happened to him.
"I don't think so. If they did, they would've said something to me", Leroy said, stretching his arms.
"Said something. They would've fucked you up if they knew", Dillon scoffed. "Who did you push?".
"Ray".
Dillon looked at him blankly. "Who's that?"
"The Mexican one".
"Makes sense", Dillon said. "You wouldn't be able to push the rest like that and hurt them". He was only thinking about David, Lucas and Benjamin (the tall ones). He forgot about William.
"Why do you hate Malakai so much? What's he done to you?" Leroy asked, keeping the conversation going. "Oh, wait, he shot you", he quickly remembered. "I'm surprised you let that slide. If that was me, I'm getting my get back one way or another".
"He's gonna get what's coming to him", Dillon calmly said, not seeming like it affected him that much.
"Did the shot hurt that much?" Leroy asked. "You screamed so loud".
"I didn't expect him to shoot. I didn't think he'd have the balls", Dillon replied. "It did hurt a lot, though. It hurt more than I thought it would".
"And he ruined your shirt", Leroy added. "That guy has disrespected you a lot. Your get-back needs to be ten times worse".
"Yeah, I'm planning on it", Dillon said with a little smile. "I just need to wait".