It’s break now, and I make my way to the crowded cafeteria. As I walk through the hallway, I notice Aria walking right alongside me, but she appears to be oblivious to my presence. She hadn’t noticed me, though I don’t blame her. I have perfected the art of blending into the background.
Shit.
I also spot Dave in the distance.
The thought of their paths crossing sends a surge of dread through me. It can't happen; I won’t let it.
Even though my life is pretty shitty, I still cherish it very much. As if on cue, a plan forms in my mind. Following suit with that "plan" - it's more of a gamble really - I bump into Aria, the collision causing her to drop her phone.
I choose the risk of getting killed by a cute, pretty girl over encountering a giant ogre beast any day.
She looks pissed as I catch a glimpse of her eyes when she bends down to pick up her phone. “I-I’m sorry,” I stammer out, my voice barely audible over the din of the bustling hallway.
To my surprise, she smiles and says, “It's fine.”
It is?
“Luckily, my phone didn’t break.”
This is strange... She's being nice. Though I guess I can't say much in that regard, as I had never talked to her before this. Only heard rumors.
Aria, The Ice Queen. Over her years here, she had rejected so many boys that honestly, you could call it an achievement. Worthy to be put on a resume like “I’ve rejected 1000 boys so far, still counting.” Impressive to say the least. But there are also other rumors that say she’s just gay and simply isn't into boys. Though I don’t blame her for that.
Our school is filled with dorky or emo-looking boys with the sole exception of yours truly, me.
I was both, dorky and emo-looking. Not that I want to die, mind you. It's just that I look emo because I don’t get much sleep due to working all those part-time jobs, so I appear like I want to kill myself. It's almost funny in a twisted sort of way.
“I am really sorry,” I said again, just in case I get hunted down in the future, you know?
“No, really, it’s fine,” she reassures me with a genuine smile.
“Don’t worry about it,” she adds, her smile brightening, way too bright for me.
Me and her are solar opposites, yet I find myself drawn into her eyes. As I take a closer look, I realize she isn’t just beautiful; she's stunning. Her eyes, in particular, are a captivating shade of blue that holds my attention.
“Prettyy….” I accidentally let out.
“Excuse me?” she responds, her brows furrowing in confusion.
Oh shit, did I just say it out loud? Now she probably thinks I'm a perv or something. Great, just great.
“Sorry, I meant your eyes,” I fumble to clarify.
“My eyes?” she questions, clearly taken aback.
“Yeah, they are really beautiful,” I manage to get out, feeling the weight of my awkwardness crushing me like a ton of bricks. The skill it takes to make a situation this worse deserves something, and for me, it should be death.
She just stares at me, her gaze feeling like it's piercing right through me. I half expect her to punch me or something. Panic sets in as I try to salvage the situation.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean that, I did mean that- but I didn’t mean it in any weird way, I swear,” I blurt out, the words tumbling out faster than I can control them.
She finally responds, her voice carrying a hint of surprise, “No, it's just that no one has ever said that to me.”
Liar. I'm sure she gets plenty of compliments like these, but why bother lying, Mrs. Princess? Either way, I've managed to dig myself into a deeper hole of embarrassment.
In the very corner of my vision, I catch a sight of Dave, that tank, and I totally forgot about him amidst my encounter with Aria. Panic surges within me; I need to get Aria away from here before Dave decides to make his move.
My mind races as I search for an excuse that could help me extricate us from this situation. But before I can come up with a viable plan, Aria surprises me by saying, “So, Ali, you wanna have lunch together?”
Before thinking for even a millisecond, I blurt out, “Yes.” Oh, wait, she called me by name? I don’t recall ever telling her that. Am I on some meme page again? The thought lingers, so I decide to ask her about it.
“You know my name?” I inquire, a hint of surprise lacing my voice. She casually responds with, “Yeah, it's on your ID card.” I heave a silent sigh of relief. I guess not this time. Maybe today is a good day after all… on second thought, maybe not.
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Aria starts walking, and I follow suit, relieved to be walking away from the looming threat of Dave. As we make our way into the bustling cafeteria, I can feel the weight of everyone's stares on us, but today, I don’t care much. It's still better than confronting Dave. I hear people whispering about us. The noise is suffocating, but I decide to ignore it.
"Aria and I then walk towards the Cafeteria Counter. “What would you like to order?” the counter lady asks, and that too with a smile. Is it because I am with Aria? Social standards are strange. Usually, she’d just give me stares or be grumpy whenever I ordered.
“Yes, we’d like…” I start to order the usual school food, but I'm cut off by Aria.
“We’d like Gourmet Truffle Mac and Cheese and…” Aria begins ordering, then she stops and looks at me.
“What do you want to eat, Ali?” she asks, her tone surprisingly kind. But I don’t know what to say, as I've only ever tried the cheapest option they have to offer here.
“Whatever you want,” I say, my expression reflecting my confusion.
She simply chuckles and turns back to look at the woman behind the counter. “And Signature Filet Mignon,” she says confidently.
She just said words that are non-existent in my vocabulary. If I didn’t know these were names for food, I'd have guessed she was casting a spell on me.
She gave her order, and then she starts walking. But the order... she didn’t even pay. Did she put it on my tab? Guess I’ll have to live on the streets again.
I scan the cafeteria, desperately seeking an empty table tucked away in a corner. I'm determined to avoid sitting in the middle of the cafeteria's clamor, but it seems there are no unoccupied tables in sight.
Ugh.
Aria then picks the centermost table. Like, wow, this feels almost like a prank, a dirty one at that. It's certainly turning out to be an eventful day for me. As we sit down, the chattering in the cafeteria only intensifies, and I can't shake the feeling that this situation is becoming increasingly surreal. Aria seems to sense the mounting attention too, and she turns her gaze around the room. The chattering gradually subsides, a testament to her ability to command respect. I guess this is the power of the school's Ice Queen. Pretty impressive.
We proceed to eat our food, and the food is absolutely amazing. Every flavor is new to me, and it's the best thing I’ve ever tasted. Too tasty, in fact. Or is it because I'm sitting next to a pretty girl? I inwardly chide myself for such cheesy thoughts.
Suddenly, my momentary reprieve is shattered as a small mob of self-proclaimed gang wannabes enters the cafeteria, led by none other than Dave. He stands at the center of the group, his presence unmistakable. At first glance, I mistook the approaching entourage for a colossal boulder, but upon closer inspection, it's clear that it's our beloved Dave.
Dave himself isn't particularly scary; he's just infuriating. However, the entire student body at this school fears him because of his family's immense wealth and influence. His father practically owns the school, and if something doesn't go Dave's way, he can simply cry to his dad, and voilà, he gets what he wants. There are rumors that he's had students expelled from the school before, simply for being rude to him or anyone who dared to deny him. If that doesn't happen, he's known to make their lives a living hell or worse, make them disappear. It's said that his father has connections to the Mafia, so most people avoid him like the plague. There are even some girls who drool over the idea of being with Dave, solely because of his wealth, with no other reason in mind.
The deafening silence that follows Dave's shout of my name is soon broken by the cacophony of people heading our way. I respond with a hesitant, "Ye-yeah?" Dave grins with a sinister air and casually remarks, "Where've you been? We've been looking for you."
I maintain a nonchalant facade, even though I know that my life is teetering on the brink of disaster. "Me?" I reply with faux innocence. "What happened?" I can't help but feel the weight of impending doom as I await Dave's response.
"Yaaah, come with us real quick. Let's have a long talk," Dave suggests, his cronies beside him sporting smirks and grins that make it seem like they've just won the lottery. Panic courses through me, and I struggle to come up with a suitable response. I know that if I mess up here, things could get ugly real fast.
"Come o-" Dave begins, but before he can finish his sentence, Aria intervenes with a surprising display of defiance. "He won't be going anywhere," she asserts confidently.
Aria just committed all three felonies at this school in one sentence. Number one: talking back to Dave. Number two: interrupting Dave. And number three: speaking to him in a rude manner. Why? I don’t know. She had no reason to, but she did.
Dave's grin disappears in an instant, replaced by a look of surprise and irritation. I chime in, "Don't interfere between me and the boss's conversation," my tone dripping with rudeness. I'm not proud of my response, but it's a reflex, a last-ditch effort to salvage the situation.
Aria attempts to say something, but I cut her off sharply, "SHUT UP." I had no choice. She can probably still live, and I didn’t care if she hated me, but if Dave gets pissed, worse things could happen.
I make a move to stand up, intending to follow Dave, but suddenly he issues an unexpected command. "You too," he says, his gaze now targeting Aria.
Something about that didn’t feel right. The noise that was once there was completely gone, and I felt goosebumps. The air got colder, and my head felt heavy. I had never experienced this before.
Dave smirks, and my mouth moves on its own, going "No."
My demeanor shifts. I adopt a cold expression, and the fear that had gripped me moments ago vanishes. "WHAT did you say to ME, you little piece of SHIT?" Dave's anger flares, and he attempts to throw a punch.
I don’t know why I did that, but I’ve accepted my fate at this point. Even though I had never talked to Aria before or even cared that much, it was out of character for me. Having been surviving on my own taught me not to care what happens to others. It was about survival, which I had been doing a good job of, so why did I just throw it all away?
Maybe the Abyss was finally calling out to me.
“Until I became nothing,” I whisper silently. It couldn’t have been heard by anyone, maybe Aria, as she was still closer to me.
Dave's punches miss their mark as I deftly evade them, causing him to appear more like a clumsy fool than a fearsome bully. He continues to swing wildly, and I manage to dodge each of his attempts. But with each miss, I dig myself into a deeper grave, knowing that I can't keep up this evasive dance forever.
Finally, Dave halts his assault and takes a step back. I breathe a sigh of short-lived relief. However, my respite is cut short as another figure steps forward. It's one of Dave's lackeys. Something seems off about him, and then I notice a pocket knife glinting in his hand, and my heart sinks. Why the hell does he have a knife?
Panic sets in, and the classroom falls into a chilling silence as everyone registers the presence of the weapon. No one dares to utter a word.
Goosebumps ripple across my body as the knife-wielding student inches closer, his expression menacing and filled with an unsettling darkness. There's no doubt in my mind that he's killed someone before. I begin to back away cautiously, my instincts screaming at me to put distance between us.
Suddenly, the atmosphere changes. His legs hint at an impending sprint, and my body reacts in kind. I pivot around, ready to sprint away, but then it happens. My foot catches on something, and I stumble forward. Life seems to be playing a cruel joke on me at this very moment. We trip simultaneously, and he falls on top of me, the knife held ominously straight.
Then only pain followed, intense pain that surged through my abdomen as I feel the sharp, agonizing sensation of being stabbed.
"SHIT!" Dave's panicked exclamation echoes through the room as he steps back. “YOU IDIOT, I ONLY TOLD YOU TO SCARE HIM?!!” his face contorted with fear. He seems genuinely terrified, as if he's just seen a ghost. The scene is gruesome, with blood slowly seeping from the wound.
"ALI!" I hear a female voice calling out to me. It must be Aria. In that moment, I feel a strange kind of peace. Well, not really. I'm still in a lot of pain, obviously, but it doesn’t hurt too much. I hear more screaming and people calling my name, which feels surreal. Who would care about me? I don't even know that many people in this school.
And then, it happens. Things around me start to shift and twist, as if reality itself is leaking. Colors spread out everywhere, enveloping me in a whirlwind of sensations. People's faces change, the sky changes, and then the floor changes. It feels as if my entire body is being torn apart, atom by atom. The sensation lasts for only a moment, but it stretches out into what feels like an eternity.
When the chaos finally settles, I find myself on a hospital bed. The room is a whirlwind of activity, with doctors and nurses working tirelessly to stabilize my condition. The beeping of monitors and the hushed urgency of medical professionals fill the air.
Ali was overwhelmed by a profound sense of helplessness as his thoughts raced. He couldn't comprehend how he had gone from the chaos of the cafeteria to this sterile hospital room. The world had shifted in an inexplicable and terrifying way.
"WE'RE LOSING HIM!" the doctors' panicked shouts pierced the air, and Ali felt a profound disconnection from the world around him. The medical team continued their frantic efforts to save him, working tirelessly for what felt like an eternity.