"Could you come to the board and solve this question for us?" Miss Lee asked, tilting her glasses at me.
I'm what you'd call someone with absolutely no regard for studies or education. I mean, why would anyone willingly sit in a cramped room, listening to boring lectures about the dusty ideas of people who lived centuries ago?
Walking up to the board with everyone's eyes drilling into me—oh God, I hate these moments.
I took the marker from Miss Lee, though I had no clue what I was supposed to solve. Truth is, I never do. And yet, for some reason, I always get the answers right. Even when I don't know the name of the topic, my hand just… moves. Maybe that's why I don't give a damn about school. Who knows?
What I do know is that every time I'm forced to solve one of these arithmetic nightmares, I feel something strange—like I'm looking at the entire world from above, watching everything unfold from an angle no one else can see. It's an insane presence, rising from deep inside me. But… who fucking cares? Right now, I just need to get this over with.
"Put this here… move that over there… derive this crap… and x should be… yeah, that works. Maybe?" I muttered under my breath.
"Correct," Miss Lee's voice rang out behind me, confirming my answer—whatever it was.
I walked back to my seat, ignoring the stares burning into me from every direction.
"You've got to teach me," a voice beside me said. Alice. Of course. Not just any girl—Alice. The only person in this school I actually know. We've been stuck together since elementary school. Friends? Maybe. Rivals? Definitely. She's always trying to catch up to me, though I have no idea why.
Honestly, anyone who chooses to be my friend probably needs therapy. No one hangs out with the schizophrenic guy. And girls? Yeah, they don't exactly dig it.
"Sorry, I can't teach you. I barely know what I did myself," I replied.
"Yeah, yeah—you've been saying that forever," she shot back. "And yet you always ace the tests and leave everyone else behind."
"Then the usuals," I said with a smirk.
By "the usuals," I meant a trip to the mall. She'd buy me whatever I wanted in exchange for a little tutoring session. Fair deal—at least for me.
Alice groaned. "Fine," she muttered, already mourning her allowance.
"Class dismissed!" Miss Lee barked, slamming her book shut.
"Finally." I shoved my sketchpads and the so-called textbooks into my bag. Textbooks—honestly, I wonder what purpose they serve.
I made it to the school gate, only to stop dead in my tracks.
A chill ran down my spine. Something… someone… was watching me. The sensation was sharp, predatory, like being sized up as prey.
I froze, scanning the street. Empty.
"It's probably nothing," I muttered, forcing myself forward. I adjusted my bag, pushed the feeling aside, and headed straight for the mall.