Who Are You?

The screeching sound of a marker rubbing against a whiteboard, along with the chatter of my classmates filled my ears as my head was turned to the window. Turning my head to the sound of the sliding marker stood a man wearing a white dress shirt, a black tie, black pants and shoes. He was bald on top with the slightest gray hairs circling it, as if hanging on for dear life. He stood at a mighty 5,7 making him the second shortest in the room. He stood upright as if trying to assert dominance on the room full of vultures that would pick at any action he did. 

Mr. J, was what people called him, as adamant as he was about it at first. On the whiteboard were different shapes ranging from three cornered ones all the way to ones with nine. Though he tried to explain what they were for, his audio wasn't able to beat the constant chirping from those in the room. Turning my head from him to a desk on the far right of the room leaning against the wall closest to the door. 

Sat there was a man wearing a light blue lounge coat with silver accents, below it was a white dress shirt and a light blue tie matching the coat. Everything below his waist was black from his pants to his shoes. He and everybody else were similarly dressed, as if everybody agreed on a style, though this was far from a choice. He had dark hair covering his forehead, nearing his light blue eyes that stood out from his copper like skin that could shine even in the dark. He was turned to his left facing a boy with dirty blonde hair and glistening green eyes that went along with his pale white skin. 

The one against the wall was Alec and his friend with dirty blonde hair was Noel. They were both on the basketball team and rather good, good enough to earn the position as the heads of the hydra that was this classroom, more students had their eyes on them than they did on Mr. J. Whether it was admiration,envy or annoyance, who could tell…me. 

Since I spend most of my days watching people as they walk by me, talk, or exercise. I've begun to be able to predict people's actions and emotions from this hobby. Turning my head I began to examine people's expressions, from the girl with clear jealousy in her eyes as she looked at a specific cluster of "popular" girls, to the man who almost balled up in the back corner of the class trying to hide himself. Judging by his repeated glances towards Noel, the balled up boy with jet black hair covering half of his paper white face leaving room for a single eye, seemed to have history with him. Noel turned his head for a split second taking a break from his conversation to glance at the boy, letting out a slight chuckle before turning back to Alec. 

"Hm.."

Call it whatever you will, creepy, strange or weird, people watching is rather enjoyable. It's been a habit of mine since young, from parties my parents dragged me to or malls, I've always leaned towards examining those around me over being scrutinized myself. It seemed the world agreed with my choice as I was never in a position to be in anybody's sights, even my own parents have stopped trying to get me to socialize. 

Bzzzzz, Mr. J's phone vibrated heavily, almost knocking itself off his desk which took up the entire left corner. His phone only vibrates when the headmaster messages him, due to it being a "work only" phone in his words. Mr. J walked over to his phone tapping it to read the message. Mr. J capped the marker before slamming his hand onto the table to get everybody's attention. As if shot with a jolt of electricity everybody including me turned to face him. 

"There's another snot nosed brat coming in, so pay attention to the fro-"

Cutting him off mid-sentence was the sliding of the door in the top right corner of the room which led to the hallway. I watched the door as what walked in was a rather tall girl wearing our school's female uniforms. Which was similar to what the boys wore excluding the ties. Even in the required baggy pants she exuded an aura of elegance. Even I, who had seen many people, had to admit….she was certainly charming. From the jet black hair that was tied in a ponytail reaching her thighs to the blemishless skin that appeared makeupless, or even her pale crystal like blue eyes that resembled frigid ice, she was beautiful. Her face was heart shaped, and she had pink lips that reminded me of peonies and a dainty nose with a smooth bridge. Her hair which was parted in the middle only revealed the center of her forehead leaving the rest covered by bangs that were brushed to both sides of her face. Her jaw, which was sharp enough to cut through diamond, was held up high complimenting her tall stature and good physique. Even in the flat footed black sneakers the school required she stood at a height of 5,10. Many if not all of the male students were looking at her with a shine in their eye similar to a child's when they're playing make believe. As beautiful as she is, fantasizing about her only seconds after seeing her is extreme. Seeing their fanatical eyes that didn't leave her face caused me to let out a quiet chuckle. 

 "Care to introduce yourself, miss?"

Seemed even the professor wasn't immune to her charm seeing how easily his speech turned respectful. The girl turned to the professor holding her hand out, not making a sound. The professor who felt rather embarassed gave her the black marker and backed away to his desk. She turned to the board and wrote her name. Following the gentle press of the marker against the board was a trail of ink forming two words. "Ciel Cherith''. French for blue and Hebrew for winter meaning the literal translation of her name is Blue Winter. Her eyes glanced to the back left corner of the room around my general area for a moment. Picking up on that I raised a brow out of curiosity. Noticing that, she shifted her vision directly in front of her and bowed. 

Not used to this behavior the students started chattering amongst themselves in an instant, pecking at it like ravenous birds.

"Can she not talk?"

"Why the hell is she bowing?"

"Better than being loud."

From trying to find a fault in her to making disgusting comments nothing was too below these vultures of insecurity. She stood tall still, not giving a damn about the comments, drawing my interest even further. Mr. J coughed into his fist before turning to Ciel with a smile. 

"You can sit over there by…"

Then he paused for a moment while looking at me. My name wasn't anything too difficult, it was me that was difficult to remember. My presence is minimal, I'm always working alone. The only reason he knows I exist is because of a sheet of paper called attendance. Waiting for him to remember I looked at my reflection in the window to my left, seeing a boy with curly hair styled in a curly fringe with a classic fade cut with scissors. His brown eyes that blocked light like solid rock and clear porcelain skin all together should've made him at least somewhat magnetic with people. However, there was one odd thing about this boy…about me. I wore a pitch black, almost completely mechanical mask covering the bottom half of my face. This was due to a medical condition, I don't know what it's called and neither did the doctor that diagnosed it apparently. It stops proper blood flow circulation to a few places. One of them being my alveoli, limiting the natural exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen in my body. This mask acts as a filter on its own, while I don't know exactly how it works I do know it has to stay on for a majority of the day. I can take it off to shower and eat but that's about it, in order to avoid a stack up of carbon it's a necessity. Maybe due to the mask I'm avoided by the classmates around me, I'm used to stares from the first few times people see me or even rumors but I've grown accustomed to interest coming and going, after all, thoughts are as fleeting as gusts of wind. Soon they begin actively avoiding me until they forget about me, and my seat definitely helps, I'm not quite in the bottom left corner but I'm not in the front either, I'm two seats up from the back and three seats from the front. 

Heads turned to look at me, some with disgust, curiosity or pity. Mr. J walked to his desk to check the attendance sheet. 

"Asher Clovis" 

Looks like he got my name right for once. Ciel nodded and walked to my row and sat in the column next to me filling up the seat that had been empty for weeks. 

"Anyways class can anybody tell me the ang-" 

Cutting him short once again was the sound of the bell, that didn't manage to even manage to stay in power for even a second, before getting drowned out by the students. We hurriedly put our things in the required laptop sleeves the school gave us, almost running out of the classroom. Mr. J tried to stop the kids only to be ignored. Walking into the busy hallway that was filled with the sound of footsteps and students trying to talk over them. I looked at my watch trying to figure out how much time I have left before the class I enjoyed the most, Gym. Turning from my watch to the windows that were in the hallway. I admired the flowers blooming on the trees outside, and the clear skies that made the world look like a good place. Walking through the hallway, avoiding brushing against as many shoulders as possible, I noticed many people were staring at me…no not at me, but rather behind me. I turned my head slightly seeing the icey blue eyes staring at the back of my head. Turning my head in front of me to avoid as much contact with Ciel as much as possible, I walked faster trying to create as much distance as possible. Being in the same area as somebody as eye-catching as her might get rather annoying after all. I hurried down the stairs to be met with an empty hall. This is one of the hallways nobody is ever in, making it the perfect environment to separate myself and the chirping of those eagle eyed classmates. 

However, to my surprise I heard footsteps echo from behind through the vacant hall. Snapping my head back I saw the sunlight from the windows being reflected off of something icey blue. The same eyes I was trying to avoid were now staring at me as if they were trying to decipher my existence. The footsteps echoed through the empty hall as she got closer and closer to me looking into my eyes before stopping at an arm's length away from me. She took out her phone struggling to enter her password before finally getting it and then turned it to me. Her smooth yet somewhat deep, monotonal voice echoed as her eyes looked into mine.

"Do you perhaps know where my next class is?" 

Thrown off by her voice I took half a second to collect myself before answering. 

"Yeah it's in the gym…"

My already rather exhausted voice was only made huskier from the mechanical mask, add that to my shock that we shared a class, I probably sounded idiotic. She looked at me slowly tilting her head. 

'Oh right she's new'

Realizing how unhelpful I must've been, I looked at her and opened my mouth hesitantly. 

"...Follow me I'll lead you there"

Going against my rational sense and will to remain unknown and out of my peer's sights I offered my assistance, her charms seemed to affect even me. Which I found rather interesting, which is rare because I find interest in very few things being one of the main reasons I don't bother socializing with my classmates. I don't do anything that doesn't interest me, meaning I do barely anything at all. 

She nodded, waiting for me to lead the way. I walked through the hallway and she followed behind. The only noise that echoed now was our footsteps as we both stayed silent not letting a single thought leave our mouths. We eventually reached the gym which was rather empty due to everybody either being in the locker rooms or loitering in the halls. I pointed to the female locker rooms, signaling her where to go. She picked up on it rather quickly, walking away but not before bowing towards me. She stumbled her own foot once quickly catching herself before speeding up her pace. 

'Is she embarrassed?'

I held in my laugh before going into the male changing room. I changed into my gym uniform which was a pair of black shorts, a white T with the school logo, a blue bird spreading its wings wide flying upwards, on it and white sneakers with blue streaks on them. I had a locker separated from others, not because of the fact that I specifically asked for one, it's just that the boys who had the four lockers next to mine all asked to be moved. Even though I knew the reason, Rather than being offended or hurt I was relieved, less people I had to deal with. After changing I walked out into the crowded gymnasium where the squeaks caused by sneakers refusing to leave the floor for too long filled the air. Turning my head I looked at Alec and Noel playing basketball, sweat dripped from them like a waterfall. They had probably only been playing for 10 out of the 80 minutes we had to stay here, meaning to sweat this much they must have been going full throttle from the very beginning. 

To give a description of the gym would be rather difficult not due to the detail but rather the sheer size. The gym itself is around 300 meters in length and 250 in width. As large as it was it makes sense considering this school only accepts the above average of the above average, from all around the world. So the facilities would have to be the same as well. Otherwise, the complaints from parents about the prestige of the school would flood the place like a tsunami. The bleacher which covered all four walls of the gym had hollowed out paths made in them for entering the gym and the locker rooms. 

I walked up the bleacher stairs, finding an empty seat which wasn't very hard since participation was required excluding a few exceptions, like me, I sat down watching everybody play their sports. The gym was large enough to split it up into three sports and still function neatly. The sports were tennis, volleyball and basketball. However, eventually everybody stopped their respective sport to watch Alec and Noel play a one on one. I couldn't say I wasn't interested since these two were both the top picks for team captains. However, they both had fundamentally different styles, I always preferred Alec's more due to how simple it was. Alec's was straight forward yet effective, not wasting time on special moves, he didn't care to stand out much. Noe's style was much more flashy, using fancy tricks to grab people's attention and complicate things. 

Alec gave the ball to Noe while smiling. I moved down a few seats so I could hear what they were saying. Alec's deep, and energy filled voice reached my ears more and more clearly as he looked at Noe dead in the eye.

"Guess we can settle this here?"

Noe who had more of, laid back voice which sounded like he was exhausted which knowing him it was a possibility. It wasn't as deep as Alec's but it certainly wasn't high either.

"Sure, always wanted to kick your ass one on one" 

They both let out a chuckle before a clock was started and Noel started dribbling the ball. The ball's impact against the floor echoed throughout the quiet gym filled with attentive watchers. Noel stepped forward dribbling and as soon as Alec rotated his body and pushed himself towards the direction, Noel stepped back still dribbling before going into shooting form. The ball rolled off his fingers into the air rising and going forward to no end, until the ball started falling in an arch going through the net without even touching the rim. Though this seems rather basic, they were at about the half court still, which was around 125 meters away from the basket and this all happened within 10 seconds. 

"Nice shot blondie." 

Alec smiled still as confident as he was in the beginning. 

"What can I say I'm just better" 

If there's one flaw about these guys, it's that they talk like they're straight out of an early 2000s movie. 

As soon as Noel got the ball in his hand he ran straight towards the basket, this time with his eye solely on the basket and not Alec. Alec, who quickly caught up, kept control of his pace to stay right next to Noel. As Noel leapt into the air towards the basket which was around three or four meters high, He tried to push the ball into the net only to meet an immovable barrier. In front of Noel was Alec's hand pushing the ball towards him stopping it from going in. Noel had no choice but to let go of the ball as he began dropping, Alec who was also dropping, was already prepared to dribble as soon as his feet touched the floor. So, after the ball bounced off the floor the first time and back into his hand, he went for a shot which flew an approximate distance of 200 meters, and fell straight through the net. 

Essentially every student in the room, including me, was stunned. No…not every student there was one who was still stoic. Ciel did not even pay attention to her surroundings, not sparing a single glance towards the game. She was drawing in a notepad with a soft tipped marker. After analyzing the drawing for a few minutes I know one thing…she is not an artist. Her drawing was of a stick figure with green dot eyes and scribble scrabble on the head that somewhat looked like curly hair. 

'...how creepy' 

It was a bit creepy, but ignoring that I looked back at the game, since only 5 minutes were left on the clock, the game was nearing its end. 

Noel made a dunk, increasing the point difference between him and Alec to three points in his favor. However, Alec, who stole the ball from Noel shot the ball from the three point line, making it in 3 seconds before the buzzer. Since it was too close to end neither of them could score again, meaning they tied. Noel and Alec walked over to the bench, collapsing onto it as soon as they got close enough.

After processing the game they had just witnessed everybody began playing their respective sports while the two rested on the bench. The only ones on the bleachers were me and Ciel who sat a few rows below me. Tens of minutes go by before the bell rang out signaling the end of the day. I looked at my watch reading the time. 

"14:20" 

Ciel and I were still packing up even after everybody left, so the coach looked at us and said with his husky and exhausted voice. 

"You two take care of packing and locking up the equipment room."

Looking around the floor of the gymnasium I can understand why he'd ask us to clean it up. So I nodded, and to my surprise so did the ice eyed woman. The coach then walked away slowly yet surely, fighting against his visibly aching back. 

I picked up things like tennis balls and tennis rackets, and Ciel picked up the volleyball stuff. I went to one of the basketballs holding it in my hand. I threw it up and caught it with that hand a few times. 

"Not the heaviest." 

Being careful to not be heard I mumbled under my breath. I dribbled the ball a few times, looking at the net. The distance between me and the net was about 7 meters, I'm quite accurate with measurements due to my beyond photographic memory and imagination. It works as simple as imagining a ruler which was the spitting image of an actual ruler and its size and using it to measure distance. As for measuring other things like sound, before I took up people watching to the highest degree I used to relieve my boredom by filling my memory with different things to memorize, be it different measurements, photos, fun facts, etc. 

Keeping the weight of the ball in mind I shot it forward, as the ball flew through the air keeping my hopes up, I noticed a certain pair of blue eyes staring at me. Glancing away from them I watched the ball graze against the rim before falling to the floor. The ball bounced over and over again with the sound echoing into my ear. I didn't seem too surprised it missed, even with the necessary angle I didn't have enough power to shoot 7 meters. However, what did surprise me was the sound of claps towards my right. And there she was Ciel Cherith clapping her hands as if she was impressed. The girl who didn't even glance at the game between two of the best players, was clapping at a missed shot. Not being able to hold in my curiosity, acting against my character I walked towards her. 

"Why are you clapping?"

She looked at me and ignored my question to ask her own. 

"Why do you hide?" 

"What do you mean hide?"

Our entire conversation thus far had been question after question with no answer. 

She pointed at my eyes before opening her mouth. 

"Hidden" 

With a shaken expression and the feeling of anxiety which I haven't felt in long I responded.

"...Who are you?"