Nox looked up from his lunch. Not that it was very good anyway - better than in the movies, worse than the ads. The kid talking to him was around the same age as him, with short brown hair. The irises of his eyes seemed surprisingly yellow.

“Hi,” Nox said.

“Hello! You look kinda lonely. Wanna sit with us?” The kid motioned to the table behind him. “The name’s Clover, by the way.”

Nox never had anyone invite him to anything before. “I mean, like, sure, I guess?”

Nox moved his lunch over to the over table, where he was met with two others. “Clover, why are you bringing over more people?” The girl seemed annoyed. “Isn’t the three of us enough?” She tossed her black hair behind her.

“I think it’s alright. You know most group projects have a minimum of four people per team anyway.” The boy sitting next to the girl looked up at him and extended a hand. “Nice to meet you. My name’s Lexend. But you can call me Lex.”

“Ugh! You’re probably just getting clingy after Ariel brushed you off.” She refocused her attention on Clover. “Who’s this guy anyway?”

“Umm… Well, he’s-”

“It’s Nox.”

“Yeah! Nox. Heh, nearly forgot.”

“...Ayesha. Nice to meet you.”

After an awkward silence, Clover coughed. “Anyway, I was meaning to ask. Do you wanna partner up with us next class?”

Nox had already memorised the timetable. “You mean engineering? Sure, I guess. You guys have any experience?”

“Well, not much. But Lexend had a tutor back at his place!”

He spoke up. “I know some stuff about Essence cables, but it’s not a lot. Compared to Ariel, I know next to nothing.”

“Ariel? I ran into him at the entrance hall. He seemed kinda weird, to be honest. What’s with the whole gang thing?”

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“He’s a rich kid,” Ayesha said, still chewing her food. “Simple as that. He probably lives in Sector 1 as the son of the President or something. Lexend was in his group for like, what, five minutes? Then he got kicked out after Ariel found out he lives in Sector 2.”

Lexend gaped. “Hey! I made a mistake, alright? Can you stop laying in on me?”

“I’ll admit, Ariel’s a total jerk. But why'd you join him in the first place?”

Nox cut back in. “Alright, enough about rich jerks. Look on the bright side! He’s not here now, right?”

The three of them stared at him. “Well, um…”

Nox sighed. “Wait, he’s not pulling any TF2 Spy crap is he?”

“Right behind you.”

----------------------------------------

Ariel didn’t seem too pleased. “Rich jerk, huh? I thought we were supposed to be friends!” he sneered. “What are you doing with these kids, anyway?”

“They invited me to lunch.”

“Sitting with them? Why don’t you sit with me instead?”

Lexend got up. “You bastar-”

“Shut up, pimp.” Ariel turned to Nox once more. “So, what do you say?” His group of ‘friends’ stood behind him intimidatingly.

"...No. You wanna know why?"

"Hmph. Why?"

"Because you're dumb. And ugly." Nox's latter argument didn't have much grounds to work on, but he knew that a single insult wouldn't work up Ariel enough to retort. The one thing everyone hated, no matter how much self-control they had, was being insulted and not doing anything about it.

Ariel snickered. "Well, I can assure you, I am hardly ugly, nor dumb in any way." For some strange reason, Ariel decided to put on a semi-posh-better-than-you accent.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Alright then. I've got Ligma."

"The hell's Ligma?" Ariel was confused. Was there a type of combat training he hadn't heard of?

"Ligma balls. No so smart, huh?"

Ariel’s face turned a fresh shade of red, then purple, then red again. The only thing between him and Nox was the teachers monitoring the canteen. “Next time we meet, you better be ready. Because as soon as the Sim opens, I’m gonna kick your ass.” He stormed off, his group following closely behind him.

“Bruh! That was so cool!” Clover appeared behind him. “But I’m afraid he’s right. He will kick your ass in the Sim.”

“What? How?” Nox was sure he could take it.

“You don’t know? He already has training!” Ayesha stepped back up. “That’s why all of the kids in Sector 1 have a massive advantage. They all have their personal Sims to play on.”

“Well that just sucks.” The lunch bell rang, and the students began to pack up for their next lesson. “But that’s a year away. I’m sure I’ll figure something out!”