Several of the students around the room stared at me like I was a piece of meat as they ‘subtly’ scooted over to make room for me. Not room for Torren and me, just me. It was weird. Were they- were they trying to include me? This isn’t how school was supposed to go, even if I was a bit pretty. They should mock and kick me to the back of the room- right, I’m a noble. Must be because of that…

Instead of picking a seat with any number of strangers, I moved to an abandoned back window seat. It was far enough back I should be able to sneak away from attention and had room for Torren to sit next to me and ‘shield’ me from the others. Also, it wasn’t near Feras at all. Bonus points.

I sat down, catching a few disappointed gazes. They quickly turned away with a flush from the boys and girls in the room as Mr. Jarvis coughed once more, gathering the room’s attention on himself. “Alright, where were we before this tangent? Forgetting where I was isn’t a good sine…”

I sighed as I straightened my back into a ‘noble posture’. The top of my desk changed, it being a screen, and pulled up the book the class looked at. This was going to be a long day… I knew I should’ve brought my handheld radio.

——

Surprisingly, I had an extraordinarily easy time following what Mr. Jarvis was saying. ‘Course, after it was all filtered and translated by my lessons in Tech. I guess it made sense. Math and science were important parts of getting Tech to work. I must’ve picked some of this stuff up somewhere along the way? If anything, this was helping to cement some ideas that had already been floating around. Shore up my foundations and all of that.

Mr. Jarvis walked around, handing out paper homework. Paper. It was so weird. Was this something posh schools did? I could’ve sworn everything had been digital way back when. “Don’t forget to have this done by-“

A bell rang, cutting him off entirely. Students all around the room stood up, completely ignoring him as they stuffed stuff into their bags… right, I need a backpack…

”The bell doesn’t dismiss you, I do.” Mr. Jarvis half-heartedly called as he flopped a hand to the door. No one seemed to hear him as they headed for the exit. “Dismissed.”

I stood, Torren quickly falling into step beside me. The remaining students in the classroom, mostly those in the back though there were quite a few from the front, stalled. Some sneaked glances at me with equal parts odd obsessiveness and attraction. A classic corporate look, if you ask me. They even had expectant and friendly expressions like they wanted to talk to me. Disgusting...

Thankfully, Torren pulled off his role as a loyal knight to a T and stepped in between myself and the others, immediately causing their expressions to fall as they slowly strode towards the door. Big W for the guy.

I ignored the stragglers and constant frozen pulses of Insight as best I could and headed to Mr. Jarvis’s desk as he sat down. “Mr. Jarvis?”

Damnit! More stutter. Much more stutter. It would be far easier to hide my poor acting skills under a shy damsel of distress, and I couldn’t just drop the act around teachers. You got this Shiro! Just intentionally screw up your speaking abilities. How hard can it be?

”La- Meno. Do you need something?” Mr. Jarvis smiled politely.

”I- I didn’t receive a schedule or supply list or- or much of anything…” I ‘timidly’ pressed my fingers together and looked the other way. Was that good enough? It felt right, but also- also kind of like I wanted to puke?

Mr. Jarvis sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Right… Principal Bously should’ve given you all of that… okay. I’m your homeroom instructor, so you’ll return here at the end of the day for the last hour. I’ll have everything ready for you by then.” He looked at his terminal and quickly wrote some stuff onto a piece of paper. “For now, follow this. I’ll get you a map and all later too.”

I took the offered paper and looked it over. My schedule was eight hours with lunch being the fifth. Don’t forget to stutter now, Shiro! ”T-thank you…”

”Yo, Mistah J, I can show Lady Meno around. Ain’t a problem.” A girl walked up as she smacked on a piece of gum. She had a Mohawk- rather, three Mohawks. One down the middle of her head and two on either side. Heavy black makeup was splattered around her face and she had several piercings.

“Ah, I would appreciate it. I’ll give you ten bonus points for the help.” Mr. Jarvis smiled and turned back to his computer.

”Thanks Mistah J.” She led us out of the classroom and into the hallway. The girl turned toward me fully and eyed me over, her gaze quickly passing to Torren as she stuck out her hand. “Nice to meetcha! I’m Claire. Claire Collins…”

I returned the handshake, forcing an innocent smile as my mind whirled into action. She was the best friend of Quora Kalis, our missing girl. “Y-yes. I’m Meno Maeni- but you already knew that…”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

”Ay, don’t sweat it. A bit of reintroduction never hurt anyone.” The girl shifted to Torren as her voice shifted, taking on a roll to it. “And you, big guy?”

Torren glanced at me with a mystified look on his face as he engulfed her hand in his. “Baron Trovare Lukheart. Pleasure, Miss Collins.”

Oh, I like that. Going for a strong but distant type, ay Torren? Also, I was a big fan of how he was blocking out social interactions for me. Not only because social interactions were disgusting, but they also made me seem like a hot commodity since not just anyone could approach me. Hopefully, it wouldn’t backfire and would further increase everyone’s desire to interact even more so than just sycophantic tendencies towards the granddaughter of a duke.

Claire smiled with a laid-back look as she lazily turned and started to walk down the hall. “Next we got marketing and business management. Basically manipulation 101, but that don’t sound polite.”

I sighed as we followed her to our next class, the students forming a sea that flowed alongside us. Hopefully, this one wouldn’t be a drag.

——

By the time lunch rolled around, I couldn’t be happier. First was math, then that Manipulation 101 class, Corporate History, and Social Studies. The last three were quite the drag.

Marketing and Business Management wasn’t as bad as Claire made it seem. It was actually more so focused on the runnings of a business, what we needed to know, and how best to sell a product. Still, I could see where she came from, especially during a short market analysis. That was all off my first impression though…

Corporate History was basically just a brainwashing class. The teacher was some kind of Sentinel fangirl that never grew up and constantly spewed shit about how great Sentinel was. Occasionally there would be some interesting facts about the company, but most of it was corporate propaganda. Disappointing, but about as expected.

Social Studies was far more on propaganda and manipulation in my opinion. Although we didn’t get into much today, it seemed to be almost entirely focused on studying society and what made it tick.

I continued to be a hot commodity in every class. My attention was split between the teachers and students equally. So far, the teachers seemed nice enough. I managed to keep up with the shy girl act as best I could while observing all I could for the two gigs that had been thrown onto my plate.

I hadn’t really talked to anyone else yet - Claire and Torren acted as solid foils to keep people away - but that wouldn’t last much longer. Lunch hour was bound to be full of social interaction one way or another.

Torren and I - him carrying all of our papers and assignments since I was a ‘proper lady’ and couldn’t do it myself - stepped into the lunch room. I looked over at the guy who looked far more excited than I had ever seen as he held our stuff. To be honest, I could get used to a man servant following me around holding my shit… too bad they cost so damn much….

Claire turned towards us and waved a hand to the large room. “This is the lunch room. If it's a food, the kitchens here can make it. You might have to special request it, but the chefs will make anything you want. Ah, and the pay for access should’ve been with your admissions, so don’t worry.”

I looked around the room, spotting several people with packed lunches. “W-what about them?”

”Ah, they refused the extra charge. Probably a low-income household. You shouldn’t have to worry about that, Lady Meno.”

“Ah-ha… yeah.” Right, I came from a ‘rich household’. “I- I’m not too hungry today… you go on ahead, Sir Trovare.”

”Thank you, m’lady.” Torren eagerly headed for the line, closely followed by Claire. For the first time today, I was entirely alone. Insight tingled as I felt the eyes of dozens on me.

Glancing around the room, I caught several eyes and just as many turning heads. Idly rubbing at my arm, I couldn’t help but feel… nervous. Like, incredibly so. This was my first time without Torren keeping me from social interaction all day…

I moved through the cafeteria with as much regal shyness as I could muster, heading to a back corner of the cafeteria. A seven-person table sat pressed up against the window, entirely abandoned.

As soon as I sat down, I could feel someone approach from behind. I half hoped it would be Feras or Torren come to save me from the death trap of my own making. Unfortunately, it was a complete stranger.

The guy who walked up was a bit- well, I’d hate to stereotype people, but he seemed like a jock. He wore the same uniform, but his jacket had been swapped out for a lettermans showcasing Sentinel’s colors proudly. He was definitely in one of my classes, but we had yet to speak.

The guy had chrome eyes that sparked with a lively red electricity and his palm had been replaced with some kind of chrome I wasn’t familiar with. “You mind if I take this seat?”

”O-oh, not- not at all.” I ‘shyly’ bit my lip and ducked my head. I bit just a bit too hard, barley managing to stop myself from flinching.

The guy slid in across from me and set down his tray. Looked like some kind of steak, maybe? “I don’t think we’ve spoken yet. I’m Sean.” The guy gave a dip of his head. The way he said his name aggravated me though. He spoke as if I should know who he was. From what I’ve managed to see and hear, itt wasn’t an uncommon attitude amongst the people in SPS.

”Meno Maeni- ha…. Y-you already knew that though.” I shifted in my seat and rubbed at my wrist.

Two more students walked over, bickering the whole way as they approached. One of them gave off warm Cues the entire time like a cheerful dog. He had shaggy blonde hair and a friendly smile even as he argued with the other.

The other guy was like his complete opposite. He stood tall, a cold expression frozen on his face as he lightly pushed up his glasses. Why he wore glasses in this day and age was up in the air. Short-cropped black hair sat on his head.

I barely got to the tail end of their conversation as the glasses guy snidely muttered to the other. “… probably won’t even notice a scrub like you, especially with Sean already here.”

”Just shut it- she only has to see my eyes. I’ll be able to convey my sincerity then.” The friendly dog-looking guy spoke too, his voice getting progressively quieter.

“Keep telling yourself that-“

“Hello! I’m Aaron.” The dog guy gave a large smile as he walked over with his lunch tray. “Can I sit with you?”

”I-I guess.”

The other guy that came with Aaron frowned and moved opposite the table from him. “Jayce. I’m sitting here.”

“O-ok…”

The three guys stared at each other across the table as they ate in relative silence. The glares weren’t exactly hostile, but they definitely weren’t friendly. As soon as they finished eating, I had a bad feeling the conversation would actually open up. I didn’t even have to act as I squirmed uncomfortably at the atmosphere that filled the table.