Back at the dorms that evening, Dan flopped onto his bed, still visibly annoyed. Luck entered, catching the frustration in Dan’s expression as he placed his bag down calmly.
"Rough day?" Luck asked, an eyebrow raised in mild curiosity.
Dan rolled his eyes. “You could say that. I had the misfortune of spending half the period paired with Celia Princer, aka Miss ‘I’m Better Than Everyone Else.’ It was supposed to be some kind of team-building thing, but all it did was make me want to crawl into a cave and never speak to anyone again.”
Luck clearly amused. “She gets under your skin that much?”
“Under my skin? The girl is practically an infestation,” Dan scoffed, crossing his arms. “I mean, I had to defend my own existence to her. She thinks I’m creepy for confidently stating facts. Facts, by the way, that are all true.”
Luck raised an eyebrow. "I mean, third on the entrance exam—nice, but doesn’t mean you have to sell it so hard. Some might say it’s... intense.”
Dan narrowed his eyes. “I was simply stating what’s true. You know, I have standards.”
Luck just shrugged, fighting back a smirk. “Standards, right. So, aside from scaring off Celia, anything else exciting happens in fifth period?”
Dan shook his head, falling back onto his bed with a sigh. “Just the usual. Class chaos, the teachers attempting to tame it, and here I am, wondering how I’ll survive the rest of this year.”
Luck amused, tossing a pillow at him. “Relax, man. The year's just started. Who knows—maybe Celia and you will be best friends by the end of it or even LOVE each other.”
Dan just shakes it off.
Later that evening, Dan was tidying up his side of the room, tossing old papers and dusting off shelves while Luck sat on his bed, scrolling through his phone. Out of nowhere, Dan sneezed.
Luck glanced up, deadpan. “Bless you.”
Dan mumbled a quick “thanks” and continued cleaning. A moment later, he sneezed again.
“Bless you,” Luck said, a little less enthusiastically this time.
Dan gave a nod of thanks, and just as he returned to dusting, he sneezed a third time.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Luck sighed, a tiny hint of impatience slipping into his voice. “Bless you,” he muttered.
Dan chuckled but kept dusting. Then, right as he bent down to pick something off the floor, he sneezed a fourth time. This time, there was silence.
Luck, without looking up, continued scrolling through his phone, tapping the screen with quiet focus.
Dan straightened, looking over. “Excuse me.”
Luck glanced up briefly, then back at his phone. “You’re excused.”
Dan raised an eyebrow. “Your ears must be blocked or something—I just sneezed.”
“I know,” Luck replied casually, still looking at his screen.
Dan narrowed his eyes. “So you just forgot to say ‘bless you’ to me, right? Alright, well… go on, then.”
Luck finally looked over, expression flat. “Nah, bro. There’s a limit.”
Dan blinked, processing that. “So you’re not going to bless me right now?”
Luck shrugged, nonchalant. “Dude, stop being selfish. I just blessed you like three times already.”
Dan scoffed, throwing up his hands. “Oh, my fault. I didn’t know there was a limit to the amount of times I could get blessed!”
Luck raised an eyebrow, putting on an exaggeratedly serious expression. “Exactly. You’re taking all the blessings for yourself!”
Dan threw down the duster, staring in disbelief. “So you’re saying you can’t spare one more blessing?”
“It’s always ‘bless you, bless you,’” Luck replied, barely hiding his smirk. “What about me? I need blessings too!”
Dan’s jaw dropped. “Bro, it’s the principle! I sneeze, you say, Bless you!”
Luck sighed, leaning back with mock exhaustion. “Dan, you got a whole bunch of blessings just now. Just because I didn’t bless you this one single time doesn’t mean you’re going to get struck by lightning—or worse, end up forced into that club.”
Dan shook his head, exasperated. “Unbelievable. Next time, I’ll just announce my sneezes to make sure they get their proper blessing.”
Luck nodded, totally deadpan. “Maybe I’ll keep a tally.”
The morning air was cool, a refreshing change from the stifling heat of the classroom. The students around me moved in their usual rush, their voices creating a soft hum that blended with the distant sounds of the campus coming to life. Sunlight streamed through the windows, casting a warm glow over everything, and for a second, I almost felt lighter, as if the day might turn out better than usual.
But then my eyes landed on the bulletin board, and I froze. The words blurred for a moment as my brain struggled to catch up. I knew I should’ve taken that last blessing, I thought, barely able to keep the frustration out of my voice. It felt like the universe had conspired against me. I could’ve avoided all this if I’d just taken that last blessing, but here I was, stuck with the Volunteer Club. This wasn’t how I’d imagined spending my free time.