The temperature under the blanket wasn't too high or too cold. However, the sleeping position wasn't just clicking. Nova shifted from her back to her right side, but this felt foreign and wrong. She rolled to her left, her hand flinging out and brushing against a point of strange heat. Still half asleep, she skimmed her fingers, ultimately grabbing the thing in her hand. It felt hard and unsettlingly smooth.
Her eyes flung open.
Ares was watching her actions with an interested expression, ready to stop her in case she tried pulling 'it'.
Still holding the thing, Nova murmured, "Do something about your horns before they cause disaster."
Ares tilted his head. "Got any ideas?"
"There are lots of things you could try. For one, wearing a bonnet."
'A bonnet?' Ares had seen some in 'her' closet. He would remember to borrow one from her when he visits her today. In case Nova asked where he got it, he would just lie and say he bought it.
Nova sat up, picking her phone from the bedside table. It remained only ten minutes before her alarm would ring. She found herself smiling at the mundane routine, which no longer felt so dreadful. She took her time getting ready for school, then left for the neighborhood's intersection accompanied by Ares. It was the second day he was seeing her off.
A bus was already at the stop, picking up passengers. She waved at Ares, then entered the bus where she sat beside a man whose beard and hair seemed to tell a thousand stories. In an environment where the majority were staring at smartphones, his nose was buried in a newspaper.
She slightly lowered her head and read the headline. 'Government Under Fire: Unity Party Reacts to DAP's Accusations.'
'Ah, the boring politics.'
As she straightened up, the newspaper was placed on her lap.
'Hey.'
She turned her head towards the man, and he nodded.
Wonderful, now she would have to pretend to read this. She picked up the newspaper and began turning through the pages, looking at the images.
Not long after, the bus pulled up at the designated stop. She stepped out onto the sidewalk. Sun rays reflected onto the commercial building's glass walls, bouncing into the atmosphere. She crossed the multilane highway, joining the silent stream of students moving along the walkway. A little further down, the massive school's steel gate rose before her. Students now began joining each other, narrating what happened the previous night and that morning on their way to school.
Moving through the entrance, Nova walked along the athletic field. Boys ran around the tartan track, and among them was the school team captain. Though Nova was far, he was able to identify her from the crowd.
"Novie!" He energetically waved.
Nova inwardly groaned. She would have appreciated it if he hadn't shouted out to her in front of everyone. Besides, how did such a name attach itself to her? She lifted her hand and walked past the science block, entering the main building. As she turned down the second hallway on the right, she began hearing a commotion.
Students, some from the neighboring classes, were crowded at the doors of her classroom. When they noticed her, they all went quiet.
'What's the matter today?'
As long as she hadn't committed a homicide, there was nothing to fret over. Girls' faces were crimson. Had they sipped some liquor on their way to school? Even though the legal age was twenty?
She shouldered their gazes, pushing through them. When she got past the threshold, she instantly took a step back.
'Fuck!'
Had she entered the wrong place? She averted her gaze from the walls to the desks and noticed the same crude symbols. This was no longer a classroom—it was a back-alley tagged with lewd drawings.
She scowled, quickly walking to her desk. It was clean and pristine.
"I see..."
Someone was trying to mess with her. As she tried to place her finger on who this person was, the class representative, a timid girl with two pigtails, walked inside the classroom followed by other girls carrying buckets of water and detergents.
Nova sat at her desk and fished out a book, 'Oblomov' by Ivan Goncharov, and began reading. The classmates finished washing off the paintings fifteen minutes before the first period chime would ring, and now they were shamelessly talking behind her back. She pressed her fingers in her ears.
Out of nowhere, a girl stood in front of Nova's desk. She was from Orlyssa's class. After Nova met her gaze, she asked, "Are you Celeste?"
Nova slightly nodded, and the girl dramatically placed her palm on her cheek, laughing while flicking her eyes from Nova's face to chest. "Aw, so the rumours were right, huh? Or is it just that you're hard to miss? Hehe." When she saw that Nova wasn't laughing, she cut to the chase. "I'm not here to start anything. Lyssa, the bitchy blonde? You know her. She wants you in the courtyard."
There was only one Orlyssa in the school so there was no need for such a nasty description. Nova left the classroom for the courtyard. Standing at the building's entrance, she gazed around at the benches under the boughs. There was no Orlyssa.
'Damn, this girl.' Was this simply her nature?
Nova stood there, waiting. After two minutes, she turned and returned to the classroom. She'd look for Orlyssa during the first break.
The moment the chime for the first period rang, a teacher—who wasn't their subject teacher, but the head of their year—entered the classroom followed by a senior girl and boy. Students who had formed circles immediately rushed back to their desks. Eventually, the atmosphere became so tense and silent that Nova could hear those around her breathing.
The teacher seemed to have lived most of his life frowning since there were permanent lines across his forehead. Without saying a word, he commanded with a booming voice, "Alright, everyone. Out in the hall. And I mean everyone. Leave your bags here—every last thing, right down to your pen caps."
Nova's chest instantly tightened. As everyone began leaving, she quickly opened her bag.
There it was. A can of spray paint.
Who did this? Who wanted her expelled? While trying hard not to look suspicious, she gazed around. She would definitely be seen if she tried throwing the can out through the window. Seconds were counting and students were becoming few in the classroom. The two senior students were already at the first row checking the backpacks of the students who had left.
'Shit!'
She had no choice but to leave the can inside the bag, and try to explain herself out of the matter later. As she closed the bag, it was suddenly snatched from her hand.
"Hey...!"
She looked up with a twisted face and saw Orlyssa. What was she doing here?
In the next moment, Orlyssa grabbed her wrist, pulling her down the aisle. Why was she doing something so dangerous? They exited the classroom through the back door and continued running down the hallway. After entering the washroom, Orlyssa locked the door. The two heaved rapidly.
Catching her breath, Nova complained, "You risked it. Someone might have seen us."
Orlyssa pulled the spray paint from the bag and walked into the nearest toilet stall. "Humans have a right to pee, right?" She lifted the lid of the toilet tank and dropped the can inside before replacing the lid.
She then came out with downcast eyes. Seeing that, Nova knew she was about to apologize, so she spoke before she could.
"So it was him? What does he want?"
Orlyssa hesitated, scratching her cheek.
"...I think it's...envy."
Nova glared. She already knew he was stupid, but not an imbecile.
Orlyssa sneezed in two consecutive bursts, rubbing her nose with the cuff of her blazer. "It's my fault for trying to make friends with you. I'll ask him to stop this sabotage, I promise."
'Ask him to stop?' There was surely another way to solve this.
Orlyssa sniffled. Though it may seem selfish, there's something she wanted to get off her chest. "I'd like to confess. Maybe this might slightly change how you perceive me."
Nova didn't know how she believed she perceived her. She checked her watch, then looked at her. "Can it wait till first break?"
Orlyssa discreetly nodded, as though not actually satisfied. They parted ways, but Nova didn't go directly to class. She went and kept her bag inside her locker. When she entered the classroom though, her classmates still looked at her with suspicious eyes. However, the search seemed to have ended without her missing bag being questioned. Maybe they thought she were absent.
When the first break arrived, Nova went to the courtyard. That girl from the morning had lied about Orlyssa calling her. She definitely planted the spray can in her bag immediately after she had left.
"Ain't she actually the real bitch here?" Nova sighed.
Standing in the courtyard, she saw Orlyssa seated on a bench under a shade, her hand lifted to signal where she was. Nova fiddled with her phone for a moment, then went over and sat beside her, their clothes almost touching.
"You're late." Orlyssa said, looking away.
"Terrible joke. Two minutes haven't even passed since the bell rang."
Orlyssa turned her head towards Nova for a moment, then faced forward. It looked like everything went well.
If she hadn't heard the rumors about the paintings in Nova's class, she wouldn't have monitored Blaze's actions and discovered he was the one behind it.
"He's not smart; he simply caught me off guard," Nova defended herself. She was curious to know what Orlyssa wanted to confess, so she added, "I think you wanted to talk about something."
"I won't beat around the bush. You probably think I shoved you out of the car, but it was actually Blaze."
Well, this didn't surprise Nova. If she hadn't spent some time with Orlyssa, she would have adamantly refused to believe her. In fact, that night, she only felt a hand on her waist, and didn't see whose it was. Even so, Nova still had a question. "Why did he do that?"
Orlyssa looked at Nova with wide glistening eyes. She then leaned back on the backrest, her expression softening. "I guess he's simply the impulsive type... Atchoo!.. Nnnf."
'What a stupid reason.' A flame suddenly burned inside Nova's chest. She surreptitiously fidgeted with her phone, then held it out at a conspicuous position. "Is it okay if I have his contact? I know exactly what to say to him."
Orlyssa's eyes flicked at her. She was obviously lying. Nevertheless, she pulled out her phone and gave it to her.
Before lunchtime, Mr. Kaelen asked the students to tick their names under the sport they'll do. The sheet was passed to Nova by the boy sitting in front of her, and she immediately ticked under swimming. She passed the sheet behind her and instantly left the classroom.
"Now..." She typed, then sent the message, which was delivered right away. Orlyssa had texted her asking her to grab lunch together, but she told her she'd join her later. She killed time in the library by browsing genres she had been overlooking.
After fifteen minutes, she left for the back of the gymnasium. As she approached, she saw Blaze standing with one foot against the wall, moving his jaw from side to side.
"Tch! It's you. This a booty call or what?"
Nova stopped a meter before him, then spat. "You've got a dirty character just like your face."
He grimaced, widening his eyes. "Don't talk to me about character when you made me wait here for an hour!" His gaze was rather intent, as though he was doing it deliberately.
However, Nova wakes up every morning to a certain someone's unsettling eyes, so she wasn't about to be intimidated by his. She met his gaze head-on, replying, "What's your problem with me?"
As though disappointed, he slapped his forehead, slightly leaning forward. "Man, Lyssa hasn't told you about me? I'm surprised to see you. Thought you'd be out there looking for some fast food job, hahaha..."
What was so funny that was making him roar while clutching his sides? Did he know there was a man in history who died from laughing at his own joke?
She retorted, "Too bad for you, maybe you're the one that should be thinking of how to deal with an abusive contractor at a construction site." She removed her phone and tapped the screen, and an audio started playing.
"You're late... Terrible joke. Two minutes haven't even passed since the bell rang... He's not smart; he simply caught me off guard... I think you wanted to talk about something... I won't beat around the bush. You probably think I shoved you out of the car, but it was actually Blaze... Why did he..."
Immediately, Blaze's pupils dilated. He removed his foot from the wall, dropping it on the ground with a 'thud!' "Dumbass!There's no proof!"
Nova's lips slightly curled up. She knew she had finally touched a nerve. "Don't joke with me, I can create one. You either leave me the hell alone or you're fucking done."
It seemed like his anger had become volatile since he began approaching her. "You...!"
Nova started taking steps back. They were in a conspicuous place, and she was sure nothing could deter this person from using violence. "Don't come to me..."
He still strode over with popped eyes, his hands trembling like a live wire. When he came within her reach, she lifted her leg. "D-don't..." And forcefully struck forward, connecting between his legs. "...closer!"
"Eh-yugh!"
The next second, she saw him wriggling on the grass, clutching the area between his legs. Whatever she hit must have been rather painful as his scream was so high and shrill. She wheeled around, running away.