Chapter 7: Delinquent Gal
Lunch ended, and the students filed back into their classrooms as the day’s classes continued.The afternoon felt as slow and predictable as ever. The lessons were dry but informative, covering familiar topics he mostly understood, yet he still managed to learn a few new things here and there. He stifled a yawn, trying to keep his attention on the lecture.
Between classes, he pulled out his late assignments, each one neatly completed and ready for submission. His teachers glanced over the work, nodding approvingly as they accepted them. He’d half-expected a lecture, but his teachers seemed willing to cut him some slack this time, acknowledging his effort to catch up.
The final bell of the day rang, signaling the end of classes. Noah gathered his things, relieved that the school day was over, but then he remembered the clean-up duty he had been assigned. It wasn’t a surprise that it was with Althea, the classroom delinquent, who was as much a fixture in the back of the class as Noah himself.
Althea walked up to the front of the room and grabbed the chalkboard eraser, starting to wipe off the notes from the lesson. Noah grabbed a broom, his steps quiet as he began sweeping the floor. It wasn’t a particularly dirty job, thankfully. The students had behaved better than usual, with only a few stray papers left behind. Last year, though, the classroom had been a nightmare—trashy, disorganized, and loud. It was a far cry from the current calm atmosphere, thanks in part to Mrs. Haram’s strict methods.
She was tough but fair, a teacher who didn’t hesitate to impose rules that kept the classroom in line. Noah had come to appreciate it, especially when compared to how chaotic the classroom used to be. He silently swept up, letting the rhythm of the task calm his thoughts. The system of using students to clean up after school was part of the larger framework of responsibilities that had been adopted by the school. It wasn’t exactly ideal, but it worked, and it certainly saved the faculty time and money.
According to Noah’s dad though, this was normal for most public schools.
Althea, to his surprise, didn’t complain as she erased the board. Instead, she glanced at Noah with a smirk. “So, you still checking me out?”
Noah didn’t respond right away, focusing on his sweeping. “I don’t know what you mean,” he replied casually, though a part of him knew she was baiting him.
Althea didn’t push it, returning her focus to the board as she finished erasing the last of the notes. The room was almost spotless, and as the last bits of dust were swept away, Noah felt the tension of the day slip away. Just another routine task, but one that had become oddly comforting in its predictability.
The silence returned.
Noah swept the floor.
Althea turned to the window and shook the chalk dust from the chalkboard eraser.
“You know,” she said, her tone nonchalant but with an edge of irritation, “I don’t like being ignored.” She tossed the chalkboard eraser in her hand before turning to face him, her eyes narrowing. “You were staring at me earlier, right? What’s up with that? Did I smell or something? Or is something wrong with me?”
Althea then helped with the sweeping and picking off the plastic wrappings wedged into the seats and desks with a trash bag she recovered from the cleaning cabinet.
Noah froze, caught off guard by her to abrupt remark. He hadn’t expected her to bring it up. Althea continued with a teasing smirk. “Or maybe… was it love at first sight?”
Noah muffled a laugh, trying to play it off, but Althea caught it.
“Hey!” she snapped, her voice rising. “Don’t laugh! What’s so funny?”
Noah quickly stopped himself, trying to calm his nerves. He glanced at her briefly, then turned his attention back to his sweeping, trying to buy some time to think of an answer. “I wasn’t laughing at you,” he said, struggling to hold back a grin. “I was staring at Raven, actually.”
Althea raised an eyebrow. “Raven, huh? You got a crush on her or something?”
Noah felt his cheeks warm a little, but he tried to keep his expression neutral. “No, it’s not like that,” he replied, hoping his voice didn’t betray his thoughts. “I was just looking at the blackboard. She was writing the schedule and memos up there.” He mentally congratulated himself for the quick thinking, though he couldn’t help but wonder if Althea was buying it.
Althea, however, seemed to consider his answer for a moment before sighing dramatically. “So boring,” she said with a pout. “You’re not gonna flirt with me, and you’re not into Raven. What kind of guy are you?”
Noah simply shrugged, feeling oddly relieved that the conversation hadn’t gone further. It was strange talking to her—he hadn’t realized it until now, but this was the first time they’d really exchanged words since becoming classmates. And with everything that had happened recently, he didn’t know whether he should be grateful for the distraction or be wary of what Althea might do next.
She smirked, clearly sensing his discomfort. “You know, you’re pretty boring, O. Knight,” she teased. “But I guess I can live with it for now. Just don’t stare like that at me again, okay? It feels… creepy…”
Ugh… creepy, huh?
Congratulations, Noah… That was a new achievement.
Noah and Althea finished up their cleaning duties. They locked the classroom door behind them, and the two of them walked down the hall in silence, heading toward their lockers. The hallways were growing emptier as more students filtered out to either head home or make their way to after-school clubs.
Noah’s locker was situated next to Althea’s, in the boys’ section of the hallway. It was customary in Obelisk City for students to have two sets of shoes—one for indoor use in the school and another for outdoors, part of the strict school culture that ensured cleanliness and order. Noah wasn’t one to follow the rules much in that regard, though. Instead of switching shoes, he dragged out his rollerblades from his locker, deciding he’d wear proper shoes tomorrow instead.
As he was about to go on his separate way, Althea’s voice broke through his thoughts.
“Whoa, so gay,” she remarked, eyeing the rollerblades with a smirk. “Does it come in pink?”
Noah blinked as he was thrown off by the comment. He gave her a disappointed look. “What’s up with that?” he asked. “Is that some kind of trendy phrase or something?”
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Althea let out a small, awkward laugh before shifting on her feet. “Nah, I just thought it would look funny to see a guy in roller skates.” She shrugged nonchalantly as her eyes flicked to his blades. “How about you try a skateboard or, like, a mountain bike or something?”
Noah stared at her, utterly baffled. Was this some kind of joke? Rollerblades and skateboards were both for skating, right? Why was one considered masculine and the other feminine? He tried to wrap his head around the logic but found himself stuck. The world was strange sometimes.
He sighed, still processing her comment. "I don’t get it. What's wrong with rollerblades?"
Althea tilted her head, giving him an amused glance. "Nothing’s wrong with them, just... I don’t know. It’s just that rollerblades are, like, a thing you usually see girls wearing. Skateboards and mountain bikes are for guys, don’t you think?" She grinned, clearly enjoying teasing him.
Noah just shook his head, still processing how such trivial things became associated with gender and style. "Yeah, well, I like ‘em," he muttered, his thoughts lingering on how strange this whole concept of ‘acceptable’ hobbies was. “Anyway, I’m just getting used to them.”
Althea snickered but didn’t press the issue further. “You’re weird, Knight,” she remarked with a teasing smirk, “but I guess that’s not a bad thing.”
Noah let out a quiet laugh, relieved the conversation didn’t go further.
They walked side by side.
Noah couldn’t believe how much he had talked to Althea today. In the past, she was just a classmate—a delinquent with a sharp tongue and a reputation. Now, they were actually chatting like regular people. It was a weird shift, but Noah didn’t mind it too much.
A new friend… er… a new acquaintance wasn’t so bad.
Althea glanced at Noah with a curious expression as she asked, “So, where do you live?”
Noah responded without much thought. “Building 165, Ruby Street. Just a walking distance.”
Althea’s eyes widened in surprise. “No way! I live there too! My ma knows the landlord, and he gave us a discount.”
Noah blinked. He was a little taken aback. Ruby Street? Building 165? He paused and looked at Althea, his mind quickly piecing things together. That was his dad’s building. Technically, Noah was “landlord junior.”
For a moment, he thought about saying something—telling her the connection, letting her know that his father owned the building. But something made him hold back. Maybe it was the way she had casually mentioned it, like it was no big deal. Maybe it was because Noah didn’t feel like discussing his dad, or the fact that he sometimes resented the title “landlord junior.”
Instead, Noah just nodded slowly, offering a quiet, “Yeah, that’s cool.”
Althea shot him a grin, unaware of the sudden tension in Noah’s mind. “Yeah, it’s pretty nice. I guess we are in fact neighbors, huh?” she said with a playful lilt in her voice.
Noah could only manage a half-smile.
Bzzzt~~!
Spark~ spark~!
The sudden change in the atmosphere was jarring. One second, everything felt normal—the steady rhythm of their footsteps and the faint evening breeze. The next, it was as if the air itself had crackled, thick with a strange and oppressive energy.
Without warning, Althea stepped in front of Noah, her arm stretched out. Her hand clasped around his wrist, pulling him forward with surprising strength. There was something urgent in her eyes, something wild and frantic. "Not again," she muttered, her voice low but laced with palpable fear. "Not again, shit, shit..."
Noah was taken aback. His mind raced, but he couldn’t form a coherent thought fast enough. Althea was shaking. Her face was contorted in terror, tears streaking down her cheeks as she tried to pull him along.
"Althea, what's going on?" Noah asked in an urgent voice with his heart pounding in his chest.
But Althea didn’t answer him. Instead, she cried, “Let’s go, let’s go!” She was desperate now, the words falling from her lips in a breathless whisper. Her grip on his wrist tightened, and Noah could feel her trembling.
Noah’s heart was racing, too. He felt something was horribly wrong—something about the way the energy in the air had changed. It wasn’t just the panic in Althea’s voice; it was something else.
The whole world seemed charged, like a storm was gathering around them, waiting to explode.
Without thinking, Noah let go of his rollerblades and his bag, abandoning them in the street as Althea dragged him forward. Her grip was relentless, and he didn’t even have time to process what was happening before he instinctively grabbed her wrist, running alongside her… and then ahead of her.
Althea’s eyes flickered toward him, still panicked, but seeing Noah's willingness to follow her, she seemed to steady herself for a moment. In one fluid motion, she discarded her own bag, and they both ran faster, hearts pounding in unison. The world around them seemed to blur as they pushed forward, running for reasons neither of them could fully understand.
The energy around them wasn’t just strange now—it was violently fluctuating. Sparks of light danced in the air, and with each step they took, the hum of power grew louder, more intense. It felt like the very ground beneath their feet was vibrating as if the fabric of reality itself was being torn at the seams.
Noah could hear the faint crackling of electricity in the distance, like a storm had come alive around them, and it was chasing them down.
Althea’s face was streaked with tears, but she didn’t slow down. She couldn’t. Whatever was happening, whatever she was running from, Noah realized, was closing in on them. And there was no time to ask questions—only to run.
The energy that pursued them had gone from erratic to wild. Sparks crackled in the air, igniting in streaks of blue, purple, and green like an aurora that had gone rogue. It was an electric storm that didn’t belong in this world. It was closing in, and Noah could feel the air thickening, crackling with something dangerous and uncontrollable.
His heart hammered in his chest, but his mind was sharp. There was a single thought cutting through his panic: Speed. He needed more speed. He couldn’t fly—he knew that, but maybe, just maybe, he could use his [Fly] skill in a different way. His legs burned as he toggled the skill on and off, pushing his acceleration to the limit, trying to outrun whatever was hunting them. Each time he activated [Fly], a surge of energy coursed through him, giving him a burst of speed, and each time he released it, the drag felt even heavier, as if the air itself wanted to drag them back.
The energy arcs grew brighter, more erratic, like the sky had split open, and everything around them seemed to bend and warp in response to it. Althea’s grip on him tightened as they ran. Her breath was coming in ragged gasps.
Noah pulled her closer, sensing her fear, feeling it surge the stronger the electric arcs became. "Hold on!" he shouted over the crackle of the energy. His mind worked through their options, but there was nothing left but to run. As the energy flared again, he felt it—something deep in his bones told him that they weren’t going to make it out if they didn’t take things to the next level.
In a desperate move, Noah adjusted his grip on Althea and hefted her up, throwing her into a piggyback ride. The sudden shift in momentum pushed him further, his stride lengthening as he pushed his body harder. His legs pumped with every ounce of strength, thanks to the occasional bursts of [Fly], but the wild arcs of energy seemed to grow faster and more relentless.
Noah turned to a corner and then another… and then jumped to the fence.
"Come on!" he gritted through his teeth, his feet pounding against the ground. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep this up—his stamina was running low, and he could see the energy beginning to engulf them from behind.
Then, just as Noah thought they might make it out of the energy’s reach, the storm burst forth. The ground beneath them shook, and with a force that made Noah’s stomach lurch, the crackling power overwhelmed them, sweeping them off their feet.
The world around them seemed to collapse in on itself.
Noah braced for impact. The ground rushed up to meet him. In one final, desperate instinct, he pulled Althea tighter, wrapping his arms around her, and rolled as they hit the dirt. The rough ground scraped against him, but he shielded Althea as best he could, taking the brunt of the fall.
His body hit the dirt hard, and for a moment, everything went black.
As he struggled to regain his bearings, Noah's system interface flashed before his eyes. The words appeared in a blinding flash of light:
[Welcome to the Dungeon]
Before Noah could process what it meant, the words vanished, leaving him disoriented and confused. He glanced around, realizing that they weren’t in the same place anymore.
The environment had shifted—there was no street, no familiar city skyline. Instead, the world around them was dim and ominous, the air thick with the same electric hum that had followed them here.
They were inside a dungeon.