20 THE SNAKE HAS A DADDY
"Good morning class," Ms. DeVitch greeted them in a sultry voice. "Today... I'll... be... teaching... you... all... English."
She enunciated every word softly, grabbing a ruler, and slapping it softly on her hand… her face... with a knowing smile.
Steven didn't understand why she needed a ruler in English. He didn't care either. Sleep here. Eyes closed.
'Mmm-hm,' Ms. Devitch looked over the class. She could see them drooling over her now. Now, she just needed to tame these students.
'This'll be soooo~ easy.' She smirked to herself, her vanity picturesque. But her perfect bubble soon shattered. Two girls were chattering away, ignoring her.
'How DARE they ignore ME.' Ms. DeVitch thought to herself, not realizing that most of the class did the same. Her glare flew over and wacked the girl, who didn't notice.
The girl popped her luscious wavy pink hair over her shoulders. She was talking to her friend in English, which demonstrated she had a deep admiration for the curriculum. Apparently, that wasn't enough.
Her friend nodded and smiled. She was equally beautiful with her slightly tanned and dewy skin. Her gorgeous, ocean hair giggled as she laughed. They smiled, unaware of the troubles they faced.
Ms. DeVitch scrutinized their looks. They dare… a threat alarm went off in her head. Even though their beauty wasn't as mature as hers, they commanded presence, attention and the word 'yass'. She couldn't help but feel a bit jealous, and instantly wanted to make trouble for them.
"Dew, you're gonna participate in the Battle of the Freshies?" The pink-haired girl asked her friend. "It's such a lame name, though."
"Mmm... I already signed up." The blue-haired girl softly laughed. "Aphrosite, what about you?"
"I don't know," She sighed. "I'm not a very good fighter."
"Stop lying," Dew pushed her, giggling. "Who wins all those cat fights, huh? Besides, as long as the opponent… hm?"
Dew casually winked, twinkles in her eyes, which the other girl reprimanded: "Dewww!"
"Siti, you know it's true," Dew teased, her voice clear and smooth.
"Ugh, you're making me sound like a…" Siti groaned, covering her face.
"You aren't?"
"Oh, you!"
They bickered for a while, when out of the blue, a wild English Teacher popped up!
"Ladies! Are you listening to my lecture?" Ms. SimpeldeVitch snapped. She slammed her hands on the pink-haired girl's desk. [Ms. DeVitch used Intimidate!]
"Yes," Dew looked down, pretending to take notes.
"No," The pink-haired girl smirked, putting on some lip gloss.
"Don't you know how to give basic respect to teachers? How dare you disrespect your elders!" Ms. DeVitch shouted, her eyes dilating. [Ms. DeVitch used Scold! It's super effective!]
"Ms. DeVitch, I was always told to respect my seniors. I'm sorry, and I really hope you can forgive me." Aphrosite acquiesced earnestly. "If you have the time, I can help you fix your extensions while chatting over some tea." [Ms. DeVitch's Attack missed!]
"Hmm, glad you understand- w-what, no, NO, NO! These are not extensions and I am not OLD!" Ms. DeVitch huffed, flipping her hair. "Address me as Jessica, not Ms. DeVitch please."
Siti sighed and whispered to her friend, "When you're a classic, but got no class. It's so unfortunate when your age overstays its welcome… and that's the tea." [Critical hit!]
"Can't relate," Dew whispered back, nodding.
Then, Aphrosite looked at Mrs. SimpeldeVitch, and said encouragingly, "It's okay, Jessica. You're beautiful for your age."
"Why thank you," Jessica said, her ego soaring through the classroom. Then, her brain started processing the subtle dig in the pink-haired girl's words. It was like watching the internet boot up on a prehistoric, 'before Y2K'-typa-computer. "Wait, what do you mean MY age?"
Siti leaned over, twirling her pink hair, "You're beautiful for your age. Honestly, I couldn't even tell at first."
"I'm twenty at heart," Jessica gritted her teeth, her anger seething through her ears, turning into warm, misty steam. [Ms. DeVitch used Rage!]
"Don't worry, we believe you," The pink-haired-girl agreeably nodded with Dew. [It's not very effective...]
"You both are insufferable!" Jessica took out a notepad from… er… and then a pen from… er… and looked at them. "I'm taking points off your grade. Names please?" [Ms. DeVitch is holding the notebook & pen!]
"My name's Jessica," Siti told her and then pointed to Dew, "She's Michelle."
"Intolerable skanks, -10 points." Ms. Devitch jotted down. "Your class is by far the worst class I've ever had." [Ms. DeVitch used Deduct Points!]
She huffed and sashayed away. [Ms. DeVitch fled the battle!]
"What did we do?" The blue-haired girl blinked, while Aphrosite laughed.
"Let's hope she actually teaches English this time." The pink-haired girl said.
They looked at Ms. DeVitch, who had a mirror up in her face. Their English teacher sat on the table with crossed legs and her hand over her knee. She leaned back dramatically and fell over the table edge. As her head hit the floor, they heard a huge bonk.
The noise awoke Steven.
"R-right, math teacher…" He mumbled, jolting awake. "W-what's happening?"
Mayo, on one end whispered back to him, "We're learning English," and Zero nodded.
"Oh, alright." Steven yawned, his head dropping down once more.
LOADING… [LUNCH]
INITIALIZING: Lunch Menu... RENDERING: Cafeteria Layout... GENERATING: Food Textures... STUDENT TIP: Choose wisely from the buffet line... INTEGRATING: NPC Interactions…
When Steven awoke again, English class had been kicked aside next to fickle words and pretentious authors. Under the chandelier, lunch swept him into a ballroom dance where they looked into each other's eyes. The music of this lunchtime romance made it difficult for him to hear the lunch lady screaming overhead… something about 'burning onions'? Anyway, it wasn't something he was keen on listening to.
Then, out of nowhere, a voice jolted him awake:
"Hey, Steven, can we sit here?"
Steven looked up.
A blonde-haired boy, along with his friend, waved to him and sat down in front of him. He recognized their faces, The boys he had met on the first day: Lucius and Sinclair.
"Hello, S-s-Steven," Sinclair greeted, then immediately groaned. In frustration, Sinclair raked through his viridescent hair like it was a leaf pile that needed to be swept away. "Ugh, I keep s-s-stuttering."
"Who's that?" Lucius pointed to Zero.
"That's Zero," Steven introduced.
Zero begrudgingly waved and whispered to Mayo something. She laughed.
"Why's he talking to thin air?" Lucius whispered to Steven.
Mayo laughed harder.
Mrs. Watson interrupted the banter with her shouting.
Steven's ears zoned in and picked the words up from the white noise. He gently caressed the words, let them linger in his ears, and then, like the words, he disappeared. It was a short while later, when he returned with a mountain of food that the rest of the table realized that their table had been called for lunch.
- 'Ding!'
['Hearing +1']
Lucius and Sinclair were the first to go on the line. They started off friendly, but sooner or later, some dumb subject was brought up, and they started bantering:
"No, ketchup is not a soup." Sinclair groaned, picking out something from his tray.
"But it could be." Lucius argued, his hand tapping the soup bowl with a spoon.
"Ketchup is as much of a soup as you are a lightning bug," Sinclair complained, to which Lucius smirked and said that his point was proven. Sinclair whacked him, causing Lucius to shift his tray forward. Unfortunately, that was a bad idea because Lucius had a bowl of soup in his tray.
Worse, the guy in front of him was wearing a white shirt.
Lucius laughed and apologized, "Sorry, didn't see you there."
The boy with the stain in his shirt turned around.
"Hey, sorry about that." Sinclair apologized while whispering to Lucius to 'be sincere'. Then, he looked back at the guy in front of him.
The guy spun his neck around to look at the back of his shirt. When he turned around again, his face was hit by a hint of annoyance. His black eyes stared at them. It was beguiling and haunting… like looking at the sun, but eclipsed by a dark shadow. Gently, his lips parted.
He scoffed, like it wasn't his day. "Wow, you don't recognize me, do you?" The boy stared at them, before spitting out, "I can't believe my old friends don't recognize me…"
Lucius blinked, finally recognizing him. "You're… Samjo?"
Hearing the name, Sinclair fidgeted with the ends of his shirt, staring at the ground.
"Hey, it's been a long time." The other boy smiled at him with cold eyes. "Isn't that what you're supposed to say?"
"Hey," Lucius tried to put his hand on the other boy.
"DON'T touch me." Samjo shoved the hand, dropping his smile.
"S-s-sor," Sinclair tried to say.
"S-s-s," Samjo mocked, "What cat got your tongue?"
"N-no," The green-haired boy stuttered, "L-look, I-"
"Look, what?" Samjo smiled cruelly, "Last time I talked to you, you were still licking the ground. I bet the dirt helps you sleep better at night." His smile twisted down as he looked at the two for a reply.
Instead, they just avoided his gaze, which seemed to paint his gaze redder than before.
"Keep at it, then." The dark-haired boy snarled. "If you get lucky, you'll find your father, too."
"H-Hey, that's going too far." Lucius tried to step in between the two, but Samjo just put his arm up, blocking him.
Samjo sneered and tilted his head down at Sinclair, like he couldn't believe the sight, "Look at you now," He sneered, "Isn't your family sooo happy now?"
"Do you really want to start this again?" Lucius asked, frowning.
"Yeah, I do." Samjo stared at them. His eyes burned now, like obsidian. "And I don't like you talking back like it was my fault. Wasn't I too kind to you two back then?"
Lucius looked at him, "Listen-"
"Lucius, now you... You'll always be a bottom feeder," Samjo uttered, "When your dad had the chance, he ran like a coward."
"You don't know anything about my dad." Lucius retorted.
"I know yours got a bit of wealth though." Samjo complimented with razor-like wit, "Which your mom loves. She's become really good at digging gold, I've heard."
Lucius scowled, but Sinclair lunged at him, hitting Samjo square in the cheek. The silence after was louder than any noise that could have been made.
Sinclair's eyes widened, as if he realized what he'd done.
"Oh, you want to fight," The boy spat, wiping his cheek with a tight grin. "I can give you one."
"Samjo, stop." A girl rushed over, "Sam, It's not worth it."
She pulled him back and the boy sighed. For a moment, there was a dead look on his face, but then, he simply walked away.
- 'Ding!'
| Backstory unlocked: 'The Snake, the Crow, and the Light! Part I' Would you like to view? |
