1 Syd and Jody
[Visit "Royal Road" for the Pictures]
The cafeteria of Central International high school of London, England.
"...And I can't fucking believe what I just saw. I mean... that black guy. He pulled out the gun and shot another dude in the head! And I was like Yooo... and then!.....Things flipped and went very fucking wrong. Protesting... Racism..mass shooting...you know, Very American things.. It could be called The Whole nation in a nutshell. that music video was some serious deep shit, Not gonna lie."
" Hey, don't you be too harsh? An American is sitting in front of you." Jody sips a cup of Coffee, peeking into Syd's eyes.
" You're offended? " He asked.
" It's not like I'm upset. But as a fellow American, I'm a little displeased as you said 'whole'."
"Don't be mad at facts." The boy laid back.
" I don't even mention how the song talks about Racism. In the past, White people say like Ahh~ black people this black people that, Asian people be like beep boop maths, beep boop Rice fields while themselves be like Gimme extra cheese! , Can I use my credit card~ Are you assume my gender??"
" Stop it, Syd. Or else other people will start looking at you."
The boy grins like he's trying to hold an evil laugh.
sigh.
Jody rolled her eyes away.
" Aren't you like... White?" Jody asked.
" Just Half. I'm born in Australia but raised in Asia."
" Really? what country?"
" Thailand. Ever heard of?" He asked.
" Yeah, I do." Jody nods.
" I had been there when I was 4."
Suddenly the waitress approached their table with a Credit card in his hand.
"Thank you for your visiting miss and mister. I hope you both will come back again"
Jody takes back her Credit card and put it back into her purse.
" I'll pay you later." Syd said.
" Why you said that when you always do that." Jody said in a sarcastic voice.
" Hey, women. At least I always pay you back."
" That's true anyway"
He was right, Can't complain much, though.
The 2 left the Cafeteria and went back to the classroom, but...
"! "
The boy and the girl stopped because there was someone blocking their way from going.
She has pink hair with little green layers.
This young woman is at the same age as Syd but she seems to have a lack of confidence while facing them.
" Hey... Was this girl...?"
" Yeah. She is."
Without asking, Jody lifts her finger up and points toward the girl.
Looking, there is an air moving around the finger behave like a tiny tornado.
Jody calls this an "Air Bullet".
Because she has an ability to control the movement of the air, it Doesn't mean she can do it many times as she wants.
Mother nature doesn't allow something that can destroy the balance of her.
So that means, Most of the Ability users in this world are limited by their body's potential. Notice that it is the word "Most" not "All".
Using an Ability does consume a lot of Jody's energy. She can be tired and run out of breath if she does something like the superheroes in comic books do.
Air bullet is an adaptation that Jody has created to use her ability to protect herself.
She controls the air to move around her fingers like water in a sink when it goes through an exit hole, it spins.
This principle is the same.
The air is ready to be kicked out and what Jody needs to do is to accurately aim the finger towards the target and kick this air out like kicking a football.
This helps Jody very much from losing her energy. Better than doing the same thing, but use 100% of her power.
" What do you want from us, Feminist ?!"
" Why feminist?" Jody asks Syd without looking away from her.
" 'Because they paint their hair like that. " He replied.
" Hm. You got a point."
" Jody Johansan! Syd Barrett!.... Please listen to what I got to say! "
The pink hair girl starts talking.
.
.
.
3 Days ago.
In the morning at the School's Coffee shop.
A woman in blonde hair is sitting alone, her blue eyes are looking up on the social media called Twitter.
She's Jody Johansan, or as known as
"Killer Queen" in the School.
Despite her habits that like to be isolated, She is quite popular in the school and among the ability users.
The reason is simple. She is good looking, She is a kind of silent cool girl who will dominate someone.
And most important, her ability to control the air. It is pretty deadly.
Her Airbullet is fast and feels very painful when it hits.
In the battle in school, Jody could end the match in under 10 seconds, that's her best record.
However, she doesn't like fighting and socialize with people. So she isolated herself out of that place.
But whoever dares to challenge her will mostly face an absolute defeat when Jody pulls out her "Gun".
Life in school is pretty boring for her, to be honest.
Jody looked at the watch and found that it is 8:45 in the morning.
The class starts at 9.
So she better left this place.
She is heading out of the place while she is passing the other table...
!
Jody stopped as something falls on the floor.it is a fork. She has no doubt that it was a person on this table who drops it.
" Oops...Sorry."
The person picks the fork up, He looked at Jody.
He is a boy, brown hair but a bit of blonde in the front.
It looks like he's on his business.
Sooner or later She will know that he is
Syd Barrett.
Jody didn't reply but keep going and finally left the place.
9 A.M.
The bell rings.
Everyone in the class is preparing for the 1st semester of the 2nd year of this highschool. However, Jody was actually older for this year.
She supposes to be in 3rd year already, but it's not that she is bad at studying that the school needs to put her in the same semester twice. In contradict, Jody is number 1 in studying. Her grades are always on the top since she has moved to this school.
the real reason is Jody has moved to this school a bit late. so she needs to wait for a year to join the 1st year.
In the class, Jody sits alone in the back.
Actually, She is placed to sit in the front but Jody refuses and chooses to swap with a kid in the back of the class.
Because she doesn't like to have anyone sitting beside her. She likes to sit alone.
A lone wolf would be a perfect word for people like Jody.
Since the bell has stopped, not for long,
The teacher walks in.
But today is strange. As he came in, he is followed by a male student.
"! "
Jody was a little surprised. because the male student is the same person she met at the coffee shop in the morning.
The class starts talking about this new student in excitement.
Especially the girls, they start to murmur.
" Wow, he's pretty cute though."
" Cute? more like... a bad boy type to me... umm..." the girl bit her lips.
" Yeah, Sarah's right. he looks a bit like a handsome bully type of boys hehehe"
" This guy...."
" hm? What is it, Jody?"
The girl in front of Jody turns back.
" Nothing. I just saw him in the morning. Didn't think that he's the new student." Jody said.
" As if you ever remember anyone's name, Jody" The girl laugh.
Jody didn't reply.
" But Isn't this a little bit weird? I mean, If he is a transferred student, won't he be like in class C or D? Like for real, This class is class 1A. The best class"
The girl asked.
" Yeah ... you got a point. His parents must be so rich that they can pay the school to send him to the best class... or he is a very talented man, I guess..."
her friend added.
The teacher starts to make an announcement.
" Everyone. From today," He smiles,
"We have a new friend who is an exchanged student and will join us this year. from today he will start living with us until the end of the 2nd semester."
The teacher turns to the boy.
" Please introduce yourself to the class."
uhh... Boring... what a pattern... I've seen so many of this situation in Japanese cartoon.
Jody thought.
The boy nods.
" My name is Syd Barrett. double R, double T. I'm half Asian."
" That's it?"
" Yes, Teacher. No matter how much I say it. They won't listen if they don't want to. If they wanna know me, they'll come and ask me themselves. just know that my name is Syd that's enough."
" Okay... if you say so..."
" So, Syd, where do you want to sit?"
" .... um... In a front row, I guess." He said.
" Don't you want to sit next to Jody? so that the class will be equally paired and Jody won't study alone."
" I'm not a picky guy. mister. But she looks like she doesn't want anyone to go near her...scary... so I better not bother."
said the boy.
With out being aware, This word from him made Jody felt that she's offended.
" sssssshhhhiiiiittttt....."
Syd heard the boy in the class was swearing in low voice, it's like Syd had done something that is forbidden.
but he doesn't care anyway.
" However... It seems like the front row is full. So I have no choice..."
Syd then took his table and chair and then he walked to the back of the classroom.
He then sets his table on the opposite side of Jody.
She's on the left side of the room near the window, He's on the right near the exit door.
" I'm fine here," Syd said.
" Alright... "
The teacher scratched his head.
" So Syd, do they inform you that there will be a pretest on the first day of the semester?"
" Wha-?!... "
Syd looks pretty shocked but he can keep his cool and pretend he's not surprised in time. No one noticed but Jody.
She grins.
" Oh... yeah... they may mention...but I forget it... Maybe A jet lag had messed up my memory," Syd tells the teacher.
" Alright. To summarize, it is just a pretest. to let you know what rank you are right now. It won't affect your grade and Syd... it is because you are a transfer student, So you have no grades in the first place and you are only staying here for 1 year. Would you like to join and see what ranks you are on? "
" hm, I'll better pass."
" You're afraid?"
"...."
No one expects Jody to speak. No... No one expects that a person like Jody will care about this new student. But it happened.
Because Jody just asks him.
" !!!! "
The whole class is now focusing on those 2 on opposite sides of the room.
" ...What?..."
" I'm asking you. Syd Barrett. In case you didn't catch it, I'll repeat it. I'm asking. Are you afraid?"
" Uh..No?" He replied, " I just don't want to."
" At least you should give it a try, you know? " Jody glared at him,
"This is the best class in the 2nd year. So I believe that you must be very talented that they send you to this class. I just want to see how good you are."
It may seem like a normal conversation.
But deep down, everyone knows it's not.
It's a challenge. Jody is threatening him.
" Shit... she's really mad that this new guy talks bad about her! "
The students start to whisper to each other.
Jody and Syd still glare at each other for a moment, like they know the actual point of the conversation.
The boy grins.
" Ok. If you say so. Then I should give it a try."
While they are on the test.
One could tell.
Syd Barrett is having a hard time on his paper.
He's scratching his head.
The test they are having has 5 subjects.
1. English grammar.
2. Mathematics
3. Chemistry
4. Physics
5. Literature
" what the fuck does this mean...I don't understand anything about these contexts at all! "
Jody could not help but grins when she heard that from Syd.
Thanks to her ability to control the air movement. So she can hear the vibration in the air better than everybody.
Or in other words, Jody has a better sense of hearing than average humans.
She can clearly hear people whispering, the sound of a people complaining in their lowest volume, and etc.
( So in the end, you are just a kid with rich parents.)
She thought.
A time passed.
finally, the time's up.
The teacher collects the answer papers back.
" The result will be announced in the evening as usual."
He said.
For a day, an only friend in Jody's row is Syd Barrett on the other side of the room.
And now he's sleeping.
For a day.
Really...? Is jet lag this long? doesn't he get like 1 or 2 days free time in England before coming here? When I first travel here from America I have 2 free days in England to adjust the jet lag...
She thought.
However, it doesn't matter. What Jody wants to do is to teach this man a lesson not to joke with her.
She has encountered so many people like this before she got a name
"Killer Queen". So this will be another chilling target for her.
This evening he will know that there's a huge space between both of them.
