4 Everybody's Mad At Me

Jessica stood right outside the classroom and wondered if she should just sneak inside. The professor inside the class looked very strict.

'Yep, definitely looks like the kind of person who would not let students off easily.'

She was seriously considering sneaking into the classroom. She was skilled in infiltrating bases of criminal organizations, so infiltrating a mere classroom would be a piece of cake. Right?

Not really. The cameras in the corridors didn't have any blind spots, so equipment to interfere with cameras was needed for a flawless infiltration. Either that, or she had to disguise herself as someone from the university's faculty. But she couldn't do that. She needed to enter class as herself to get her attendance marked.

She took in a deep breath and took a step inside.

"Professor, may I come in?" she asked.

The professor stopped teaching and looked at her sternly. Looking at her slightly haggard appearance, he frowned.

"Miss, would you mind explaining why you are this late?"

"There was an accident on the train I took. You can check it on the news. My friend got injured and lost consciousness, so I had to take him to the hospital. After making sure that he was alright, I took a train… but as fate would have it, it broke down. I had to travel the rest of the distance by foot."

Jessica explained with a helpless expression on her face; her voice was loud enough to be heard by everyone in the class.

Silence.

For a moment, there was complete silence in the lecture hall. Even the professor was stunned speechless. He had been teaching for over two decades. 'My car broke down,' 'I was sick, but I got a bit better,' 'There was heavy traffic.' He had heard all sorts of reasons for a student being late, but this was his first time hearing such an explanation. As strict as he was, he would glare at the student even if they had a legitimate reason. But today, he couldn't bring himself to glare at the student that was this late. He took out his phone and looked it up. After confirming the timing of the train derailment, he sighed and said,

"I'll excuse you just this once. Take a seat."

Just as the professor said that, everyone got out of their stunned state and started murmuring.

"Did I hear correctly? Did you hear what I heard?"

"A train derailment, then a train breakdown? Our railway system may not be perfect, but there has never been a train derailment before. As for train breakdowns, the last one in this city was over a decade ago."

"Hey, look. The train derailment did happen. Apparently, it was planned by some terrorist group."

"Nobody died, but some people did get seriously injured."

After confirming that the latecomer wasn't spouting nonsense, the students started to feel bad for her.

"God. What kind of bad luck did she have to experience both a train derailment, and then a train breakdown?"

"Poor her."

"And on the first day here no less."

"Silence!"

All the murmuring stopped when the professor shouted. Even Jessica flinched.

At the professor's gesturing, she went to the backbench and sat down. She greeted the only other student seated on the bench with a smile. He was a handsome boy with curly black hair and blue eyes.

"Hello."

"Hi."

He smiled and greeted back.

After this brief exchange, they shifted their attention to what the professor was teaching. As students who were able to enter the best university in their country, they were naturally devoted to their studies. In the whole class, only the professor's voice could be heard.

After this class was lunch break. Jessica's best friends, Emma and Rosie were waiting for her in the cafeteria, so she packed her bag and left. Her deskmate observed her and smiled after she left. It was a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Meanwhile, Jessica also thought that her deskmate was interesting. Although the only interaction she had with him was just saying hello, she knew from his aura that he wasn't someone ordinary.

'He's definitely strong. I wonder if I should spar with him some time?'

Although the boy seemed ordinary at a first glance, well, except for his handsome face, Jessica's battle-hardened instincts could tell that he was strong. Jessica smiled, but after a moment, she frowned.

'This is the second person I've met today that's stronger than me.'

Jessica had a natural talent for fighting. Be it martial arts, using guns, or other battle tactics, she was good at them all. She was an all-rounder in that regard. Her instincts and reflexes were enough to beat most of the ordinary soldiers or police officers. Besides her Aunt who was in the police force, she hadn't met anyone stronger than her current self. For her to suddenly meet two people way stronger than her, it felt that something was off, but she couldn't tell what it was.

She stopped thinking about it after a while and smiled.

'Well, it means I should train harder to surpass them.'

Soon, she reached the cafeteria, bought some sandwiches and milk, and looked for her friends.

"Hey, Jess! We're here."

Jessica followed the voice and saw her two friends sitting at a table near a window. The girl with blue eyes and shoulder length blode wavy hair was waving at her with a wide smile, while the other girl with black eyes and black hair tied in a high ponytail glanced at her with a small smile and then resumed eating. If one looked closely, one could see relief visible in their eyes.

Jessica walked towards them and said,

"No fair, Rosie! You didn't wait for me and started eating."

Rosie ignored her and continued eating. Seeing Rosie like that made the girl with blonde hair, Emma, remember something. The smile on her face suddenly became cold. She glanced at Jessica with that cold smile, humphed, and then started eating her lunch.

"What did I do now?"

Jessica asked helplessly. She couldn't think of how she made her friends mad at her. She hadn't even talked to them today…

'Oh.'

She realized something and put her lunch on the table, took a seat and then took out her phone from her pocket. She looked at the dozen or so missed calls and text messages from them and then guiltily put her phone back.

"I'm sorry…"

"What do you mean 'you're sorry?' Just apologizing won't cut it."

Emma replied in a rather calm tone. That combined with the icy expression on her face would send chills down the spine of anyone who looked at her.

"I won't do it again, I..."

"You promise?"

Emma spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"What good is your promise, hmm? Rosie, how many times has this happened just this year?"

Rosie calmly replied,"I've lost count of it."

Then she continued eating her meal without sparing Jessica even a single glance.

"Well. As petty as I am, I remember every single time you've done this. Hmph. You got seriously injured one of those times. I'm telling you, I won't come to your funeral if you keep this up."

Jessica chuckled. She felt warm whenever she saw her friends worry for her.

That chuckle irritated Emma. She angrily kicked Jessica from under the table. After that, she sighed and asked crossly,

"So, what happened? You were on the train that had an accident today, right? Did you get hurt?"

Rosie stopped eating and looked at Jessica, obviously waiting for her answer.

Jessica narrated what had happened, skipping the part about Lucas likely being targeted by the one's behind the incident. Instead, she said vaguely that he was injured, so as a fellow student, it was only right for her to send him to the hospital.

Emma narrowed her eyes and said,

"That's not all, is it?"

Although she asked it in a questioning tone, it was obvious that she knew that Jessica was hiding something.

"There's too many people here."

Jessica replied.

Emma nodded in understanding and changed the topic,

"So, did you contact Aunt Olivia?"

"…"

Seeing that Jessica did not reply, Emma narrowed her eyes and scoffed.

"Very good."

Rosie sighed and sent Emma a glance. Emma understood her and then the two of them continued eating her lunch as if nothing had ever happened. Once they were done eating, they left without sparing Jessica so much as a single glance.

Jessica sighed as she stood up and went to a place with no one around. After confirming that there weren't any cameras or wiretaps, she contacted her Aunt.

[Beep.]

[Beep.]

[What's the matter, sweetie? Is there something wrong?]

Olivia Versteckt, Jessica's mother's younger sister, had taken Jessica in when the latter's parents died in a car accident. She was the one that had trained Jessica. Using weapons, martial arts, battle tactics, everything that Jessica knew about fighting came from her.

"Not really. Everything is okay. This morning, you see, I…"

Jessica explained everything that had happened, including the part about Lucas likely being the target.

In an office in a police station, Olivia, a woman in her late thirties, sat at her desk and was frowning.

She looked up the kid from her niece's university, and her frown deepened.

Meanwhile, Jessica looked dejectedly at her phone. Once she had explained all that had happened, her Aunt had just given a 'hmm' and then hung up. It was obvious that her Aunt was angry at her as well.

'Everybody's mad at me. Sigh…'

Jessica reflected on her mistakes and put her Aunt's number on speed dial. That way, she'd be able to contact her Aunt whenever she was about to do something dangerous.

She put her phone in her pocket and started to walk towards her next class. When she entered the building, she saw someone familiar.

"Hey!"

She called the person from behind.

The person stopped and turned to look at her.

"Hey. We meet again."

He said with a bright smile.

"Yeah. …Oh, right! Where are my manners. I'm Jessica Brown. What's your name?"

"I'm Neo Weinner. You can just call me Neo. Do you mind if I call you Jessica?"

Neo seemed rather excited for some reason.

"Yes, I do mind. Call me Jess."

Jessica was rather excited too. They both looked like good friends that had met after several years.

"Hahaha! Great."

"Neo, mind if we spar once our classes are over?"

"You took the words right out of my mouth."

The girl who wasn't too far from them heard their chatter and was speechless.

'What kind of person hits off with the other so well just because they wanted to spar with each other?'

She thought that it was ridiculous.

Jessica and Neo decided on the time and venue for the spar on their way to class. When they reached class and looked for an empty bench, Jessica spotted Lucas sitting alone on the front bench.

One bench could easily accommodate five or six people and most of the benches in the class were more or less full of students. Lucas was sitting alone in a hall where everyone else was talking with their friends. The noisy hall made him look all the more lonely.

"I found my seat."

Jessica said as he looked at Lucas.

Neo followed her line of sight and found the bench with only one person on it. He opened his mouth to ask,

"Mind if I sit there with you both?"

"It's not like I own that bench."

She shrugged and went towards Lucas.

"Hey there. How're you feeling?"

She asked with some concern. After all, Lucas hadn't gotten out of the hospital for long. Besides, she had promised Mr Graham that she'd take care of him.

Lucas nodded at her, as if returning her greeting. Then he went back to just staring out of the window.

Neo observed Lucas for a bit and then smiled as he greeted Lucas.

"Hello. I'm Neo. Nice to meet you. Mind if I sit over there?"

He asked as he pointed to the empty space left to Lucas.

Lucas glanced at him but didn't say anything.

"…It looks like you don't talk much, haha. It's fine. Anyway, silence means agreeing, so I'll take your silence as a yes. Don't complain if you don't speak up."

Neo said in a cheerful tone as he sat beside Lucas.

Jessica quietly sat on Lucas's other side and just looked at Lucas. On the other side, Neo was looking at Lucas too.

"You could be a celebrity with this kind of face. I'm jealous."

Neo said as he admired Lucas's looks.

Jessica chuckled and agreed with him.

"I know, right?"

That was when they noticed that the students behind them were also talking about how good-looking Lucas was.

"Lucas, we have a sparring match this afternoon. Will you be our referee?"

Jessica suddenly asked.

Neo looked at Lucas as if he also wanted Lucas to come.

Lucas didn't answer and continued looking out of the window.

Jessica sighed in exasperation and said,

"If you keep this up, you won't be able to make friends. Man, I'm actually starting to worry about you."

"It's fine. It's our first day here, so maybe he's nervous. He'll start speaking when he's more comfortable with us," said Neo, "And as I said before, staying silent means agreeing, so he will be our referee."

Jessica smiled and nodded.

"Haha. We got our referee. It's too late to refuse us now."

"We ignore you for some time and you go make new friends. I think that you don't want us to be friends anymore."

Jessica heard someone say from behind her. Her smile froze and she said,

"Ahaha, this is Lucas and this is Neo. I met both of them today. Lucas, Neo. This is my best friend, Emma."

"Hi. Nice to meet you. I'm Emma Herlain."

"Nice to meet you too, Miss Herlain."

Emma sized up Neo with her gaze, then turned to Jessica. She pulled Jessica's hand and took Jessica out of the class to talk to her in private.

"So, what's the deal? Are you bored of having me and Rosie as friends so you made new ones behind our back?"

As soon as they went to where there wasn't anyone around, Emma said as she glared at Jessica.

"Ahaha. Lucas is the one I took to the hospital. As for Neo, I can tell that he's strong…"

"So you decided to spar with him."

Emma sighed in exasperation and then shook her head, as if showing her disapproval.

"How did you know?"

Jessica hadn't told anyone about the match, so she asked.

"Hmph. How long have we known each other for? It's not like this is the first time you decided to spar with someone because you felt they were strong. So, out with it. When is the match?"

Emma spoke as she glared at Jessica.

"After today's classes are over. There's a practice room in our PE department, we'll have our match there."

Jessica answered. Then she took out her phone and showed something to Emma. Emma smiled as she looked at it and said,

"You do know that just having it on speed dial isn't enough."

"I know. If I encounter something dangerous, I'll tell my Aunt right away."

Jessica smiled.

"Well, you better keep your word."

"I will."