Chapter 3: Friends?

•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙THE NEXT DAY•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙

CRYSTAL'S POV

It was my last class of the day, I sat at my desk watching the teacher as she discussed some things with the class. It hasn't been a week yet and I'm already bored of the classes, being homeschool was way more fun than this if I do say so myself.

As I just sat there, my eyes unconsciously wandered over to seatmate John, who was scribbling something down on his notebook. Then suddenly I remembered yesterday's events. I leaned over a bit, making sure the teacher didn't notice and tapped the boy on the shoulder making him turn my way.

"Hey John"

I whispered as he turned to look at me, giving me a bright smile. To me, he seemed to be the only one among my classmates who looks friendly and willing enough to be my friend.

"Sera says hi"

"Oh! You met Sera? You both seem to like you could be friends! So, did you like her?"

"Yeah, she seems like a pretty chill and cool person. but I'm not so sure about her being a High-tier and all."

"Oh that doesn't matter, she usually isolates herself from other students so you don't have to worry about that. She's awesome if you get to know her more."

"Well, if you say so..."

As I was just about to lean back in my seat, John whispered something back.

"Hey, how about you join me and Sera after school today? We're planning to go and get something to eat. Meet us at the school gates? "

"Oh, erm...Alright. If you guys are okay with it"

"I'm sure Sera would be excited that you're tagging along too so don't sweat it."

John smiled brightly once more before turning his head to face front. I just blinked my eyes before leaning back in my seat as I stared out of the classroom window. Maybe it's time I started making friends while I'm here. Of course, I would continue hiding my abilities and power level a secret, but hey, I think I deserve to finally make friends. John seems like the best choice, but Sera...I'm not so sure about her. We'll just have to see how things go from here.

The bell rang, and I got up from my seat, grabbed my bag, then dashed out of the room. I made sure to put all of my books in my locker before I left school, so I wouldn't have to run into any Elite-tier who owned a locker near mine. I ran through the halls and quickly down the stairs until I had reached the first floor.

I ran out of school, finally, I'm free. I looked over at the school gates and saw John and Sera weren't there yet so I decided to wait there. Students then started to exit the building and it was getting more crowded by the minute, so I decided to head back inside in the meantime. As I walked back inside the building I heard someone yelling at me from behind.

"Hey! New Girl!"

Second time I heard that this week

I turned around, only to be punched in the face. Blood trickling down from my nose as I massaged it with my fingers. Damnit! what the heck?! Do they always attack new students? I looked up to see a guy with spiky gray hair and purple glowing eyes, which meant his ability was activated. I glared at the boy from the corner of my eyes. I took a glance around and notice everyone who passed by avoided eye contact with the boy and I. What? Is this a normal thing now?!

"Take that, you useless cripple!"

Spitting blood out of my mouth, I tried getting up but he shoves me back down with his foot.

"I'm..not a..cripple...!"

"I don't care. You're a bitch"

Before he could hit me again, I kicked him in the stomach and scurried away. He was lying on the ground holding his stomach, I think I kicked him way too hard but it doesn't matter. I looked over at the school gates and saw John and Sera looking around to see if I was there, looking kind of disappointed. I grabbed my bag and started walking towards them.

"Are you sure she agreed? Maybe you just said something weird and scared her off?"

"Hey! I did not say anything weird! And yes she agreed"

"Well alright, I guess we can wait here for a couple more minutes-"

"H-hey guys..."

They both looked over their shoulders and saw me walking towards them with a bloody nose. They quickly ran over to me and gave me a concerned look

"Crystal! What happened! " John said with a worried expression, examining my nose.

"I'm okay, I just ran into some guy with spiky gray hair then he punched me, but I handled it "

John nodded his head, seemed like he knows who I was talking about. I glanced beside me to see Sera handing me a tissue, I gave her a thankful smile before taking it and wiping the blood.

"It must be Gavin, he's a Mid-tier level 2.8, he beat me up on my first day of school too but I threw him out of the window, so it's fine."

Sera chuckled devilishly at John's statement as I just laughed along with them. Maybe we could get along. John and Sera then started walking, and I just followed close behind them.

"So, where are we going? "

"You'll see"

After walking for about 10 minutes, we arrived at "Woaba Boba". I walked alongside John and Sera as they walked inside and through the crowd of people. We then entered a cafe and we all sat down in a booth. John and Sera started talking about stuff, while I looked at the menu. It had a list of all sorts of pastries, beverages, desserts, and other stuff too. I then finally decided to join their conversation and we started chatting like real friends. Is this what having friends feel like? I couldn't hold back a smile just thinking about it. John and Sera noticed and gave me a confused look.

"Are you okay Crystal?"

"Yeah, why are you smiling like that?" I let out a chuckle before leaning back on my seat, tilting my head to the side.

"It's nothing...I'm just glad I got to spend time with you guys today." I glanced back at the two to see them giving me a small smile.

"Don't mention it! You are the first person who even agreed to join us. Everyone either avoids us or just hates being around a cripple like... me" John said while fidgeting with his fingers on the table. I was just about to ask a question when all of a sudden a waitress started approaching us with a pen and a notepad in her hands.

"Hello! What would you all like to order?"

Sera and John started ordering their drinks while I waited for my turn, still contemplating on whether I should get a coffee or a hot chocolate. The girl then turned to me, waiting for me to give her my order.

"I'll just have a large cup of coffee please."

The girl nodded and started scribbling down my order on the paper before walking away.

"Hey! We should all do this again sometimes!" Sera nodded her head in agreement as I gave a grin.

"Yeah sure, that sounds fun!" The three of us started joking around and making plans on where we should hang out next when all of a sudden I heard leaves rustling across from our table, I direct my attention to this to see an orange-haired boy trying to hide behind it.

"Hey, guys...I think that guys stalking us. He looks kind of sus don't you think?" The two looked behind them and narrowed their eyes, unimpressed at the boy's presence.

"Oh, that's Isen. He's kind of like a creepy reporter."

As I stared at the boy a little longer making sure he didn't notice realization hits me.

"Maybe he wants revenge cause I didn't sit with him and his friends yesterday" I muttered as the other two just gave me a look.

"What do you mean Crystal?" John asked as I turned back to the two.

"Well, before I went up to the roof yesterday he waved me over to sit at their table, I think. But I just ghosted him."

"Stage one: Avoiding the pervert, Completed!" Sera said in a game-like voice as the three of us started laughing.

"Hey, why don't we give him a little scare?" We all smiled devilishly at one another as we thought of all the possibilities.

We three then came up with a quick plan to sneak up on this Isen guy and confront him. Sera froze time, giving us enough time to quickly hide behind him, ready to give him a big surprise. After we were in position, Sera unfreezed time making Isen confused at our sudden disappearance. He snapped his head all over the shop looking for us until I tapped him on his shoulder. He turned around to see who tapped him on the shoulder. He let out a loud screech as his eyes landed on the three of us all glaring down at him.

"Looking for someone...Isen?"

"O-oh, h-hey g-guys what's u-up"

"What are you doing here Isen? "

Isen looked up at Seraphina who had her arms cross and looked displeased. Isen rubbed the back of his neck and laughed in embarrassment.

"Oh..umm...hey guys I was just umm...passing by..yahh"

We looked at each other with the look that says WTH. But in a blink of an eye, Isen snuck out of our sight and scurried on-off, out of the store as we just watched him leave. We just shrugged it off and went back to our tables and saw that the waitress was already there waiting to serve us our drinks. We said our thanks to her before she left to take more orders.

"Is he always this weird? "

"Yeah, he's a total creep. But you'll get used to it"

I nodded my head and started drinking my hot coffee while she explained how Isen stalk girls from other schools or stuff like that. After we were done paying for our drinks we left the mall. We split ways at the intersection since my house was already near there.

"Bye guys! Thanks for inviting me to hang out with you guys today!"

I smiled at them and they smiled back at me.

"Well, what are friends for and I right? Good night Crystal!"

"Take care Crystal, see you tomorrow."

John and Sera waved goodbye as I waved back at them before heading in the other direction. It feels great to have friends, I thought while smiling to myself. Maybe going to school wasn't such a bad idea after all.