18 Mindset

They said a mind was like a magnet. If one thought of blessings, one would get blessings; if one thought of problems, they would attract problems. Perhaps that was the reason Ike was attracting trouble, even if he claimed to keep out of trouble. Deep in the darkest desire of his blackened soul, his heart sought the fuel that kept him going before inhabiting this body: thrill.

Ike gazed at the two young guys standing on either side of him before setting his eyes on the bench and table in the quad. There was a group of students, looking at him with one particular guy sitting at the table with his feet on the bench. He had a long top short sides hair, and eyes thin and sharp.

One look and Ike could tell he was the person who called the shots.

"He is the guy?" asked the person sitting at the table. He then gazed at Ike from head to foot, letting out a short, ridiculing snicker. "Take him."

Ike arched a brow when the guys on either side of him reached for his arm. He raised his arms on instinct, keeping his cool.

"Don't drag me," he remarked with a calm tone, glancing at the attention they were garnering in the school's quad.

"What's going on?" a student murmured to another. "Who is that guy?"

"Who knows? But surely, he rubbed Desmond the wrong way."

"Poor guy. I guess Desmond is closer to climbing the rank again."

"He might be able to enter the top 5 this year."

"Gosh…"

The murmurs and whispers buzzed like bees, but no one showed the slightest sign that they wanted to step in. At this point, only two days since school started, Ike already accepted that this place called the school and the students in it often relied on their survival instinct; mind their damn business. There wasn't anything wrong with that. After all, survival was a person's instinct — whatever they were.

"Just lead the way. I don't want to receive an invitation to the headmaster's office," Ike suggested after briefly listening to the people's murmurs and getting the answer of who these students were.

Desmond Larza. The top eight in the district ranking.

The name Ashley warned him about.

How exciting!

"Arrogant." The person sitting at the table named Desmond slowly rose, standing on the bench. He shoved one hand inside his pocket, assessing Ike momentarily. "I heard you are a transferee, so I will extend my patience. After all, you still don't know what's going on in here."

"Believe me when I say I know exactly what is going on." Ike smiled until his eyes were mere slits. "That is why I am telling you we should take this elsewhere."

Desmond's eyelids dropped, keeping quiet in response to Ike's remarks. While keeping his silence, he observed his surroundings and what he could make up for all the buzzing.

'What a narcist, indeed.' Obviously, Desmond's subtle action was something that wouldn't be left unnoticed under Ike's observation. 'Even at this point, he still cared about the attention he was getting. Did he think this is some sort of circus?'

Pleased that the majority of the comments were about him, Desmond sneered at Ike.

"Why?" he inquired, jumping off the bench. "Scared that you will not have a face to show tomorrow?"

Desmond marched in Ike's direction until he was several steps away from him. "Don't worry. You will not be able to come to school for a year. I will make sure of that."

Ike glanced at the growing crowd and then at Desmond, shrugging. "Well, if that is what you…"

"Des!" Ike trailed off when Holly's voice reached their ears, jumping into the middle right next to Desmond. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Teaching someone a lesson." Desmond's response was quick and arrogant, gazing at the young lady that was clutching his arm. Seeing the fire in her eyes, he tilted his head to the side.

"What?" he asked, his irises dilating. "Don't tell me you're angry because I want to teach this guy a lesson after what he had done to you?"

Holly tightened her grip on his arm, warning him through her gritted teeth. "Stop this right now."

"Why?" her warning only made his blood boil. "Don't tell me you're dumping me because of him?"

"I already dumped you long ago —" Holly was unable to finish her sentence when Desmond grabbed her shoulder, pulling her closer aggressively.

"Oy, Holly. This relationship will end when I say it ends. The one who calls the shot here is me, not you. Do you understand?" his voice was low and quiet, squeezing her arm until she winced. "Don't press my nerves anymore. I'll deal with you later."

Desmond sneered, tossing her to the side, almost causing her to fall to the ground. He then set his eyes on Ike, only to feel this surge of anger when he caught the apparent dismay plastered on Ike's face.

'What the hell is this teen drama unfolding right before my eyes?' Ike wondered. He almost couldn't bear the brief exchange between Holly and Desmond. It was cringe, at least for him.

"The school ground is the safest place for duels. Why don't we just have a duel here just in case you'd need first aid?" Desmond stretched his neck from one side to the other, producing satisfying cracks to release the built-up tension on his shoulders. "How about it?"

"No." Ike raised his hands, conceding. "I concede. You'll get no points from me, so there's no use."

"This is not a request." Desmond kept his sneer, making Ike quirk his brows when Desmond's lackey slowly took a step. "I told you. I'm extending my patience and, as part of my generosity, I want to teach you a thing or two about the school you transferred in."

In other words, he would teach Ike who runs this school… in the worse yet most effective way.

A/N:

Happy New Year everyone! This novel is an entry in the Fantasy Carnival contest. If you like the story, send power stones and Golden Tickets, leave reviews, drop gifts, or motivate me by commenting. It would help a lot.

Thank you in advance~

Updates will be regular from toward onwards :)