Episode 1

Stella Force

001

I met Stella Bergen on a Monday, the seventh of January. It was the first Monday of the year, and, just like any other student in our country, the new school semester starts today. Whether you're in grade school, middle school or in high school like me, this is the day where the two-week Winter Break finally comes to an end.

Ever since I transferred to this school I was never aware of her existence, which is to say that this is my first time meeting her in person. Although I did say meet, this doesn't mean that we met each other face to face.

It just so happens we were put in the same class, that's all.

Apparently, she doesn't have the best grades, or so I heard since almost everything I say about her from now on is just second-hand knowledge, born from my useless talent of eavesdropping on other people's conversations. When the first midterm results came out last December, her name was nowhere to be found on the top fifty, let alone the top one hundred in where my name can usually be seen. This proves that the rumors I overheard were true and that Stella indeed was a problem student, although from the looks of it she isn't bothered one bit.

Mostly because she spends time doodling on her notebook during class. At first, it may look like she was just taking down notes, but the way she moves her pen is barbaric rather than how a normal person writes. I don't even know if those might be called doodles since I haven't even seen her notebook.

Also, she doesn't seem to have that many friends.

Only a handful of friends perhaps.

If this were a show, I would say that she is the quiet type, always avoiding people and being socially awkward during conversations. Well, I haven't talked to her personally yet, but that's the kind of presence you get from her for being in the same class for four months. The rumors I overhear also confirm this fact.

She seldom exchanges words with some of her seatmates and her group mates every time they have a project, but outside of that she is usually never seen talking to another person during recess or lunch.

Not that it matters though since I also spend our one and only free time at school every day.

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She seldom participates in class discussions and extracurricular activities (from what I heard), but I guess it's normal for girls to not get involved in sports.

It's not like there are any high school girls out there with ridiculously athletic bodies. Those only exist in mainstream shows.

The only time I get to hear her voice is when the teacher calls her in class, in which her only replies are “I don't know” or “I forgot”. Once again, this supports the theory that Stella is definitely close to flunking, despite it being only four months since the new school year started last September.

Of course, it's not like she's being bullied by her classmates either. She isn't being persecuted or avoided in any deep or light way as far as I can tell. She only sits there at the corner of the classroom, blankly staring at the window, probably waiting for classes to end.

Like it's natural for her to be ignored.

Like it's natural not to be there.

Well, not like it's any big deal. At our three-year high school, with over two hundred students in our grade, eventually, you're going to encounter people like that. If you start wondering how many people in those two hundred students mean anything to you, the answer is just going to be bleak for anyone, even me.

And I figured it was the same for her.

But it's fine if we don't get to be friends, or that we don't get to talk to one another for the whole year. It would probably be meaningless to think that we would be all buddies by the time the new year comes.

But that's what I thought.

One such day.

To be precise, the seventh of January, after my boring winter break finally came to a close.

I was pedaling on my bike on the way to school at top speed, eager to beat the morning bell when a girl suddenly appeared in front of my path.

That girl was Stella Bergen.

Well, to be precise, she walked straight into my path, and I, you may say as a reflex, hit the brakes to avoid having an accident occur.

Maybe it was the right thing to do rather than swerve and avoid her.

No, maybe it was the wrong thing to do.

Why?

Before I knew it, I was soaring through space.

That's right. I was flying.

I didn't even have time to register any surprise since all of this happened in a split second before my body came down crashing, then tumbling, into the asphalt. It wasn't long before my mountain bike followed suit.

The asphalt. Definitely not a comfortable surface for a human body to fall, let alone crash on.

Note to future self: Never slow down when a pedestrian blocks your path.