Unfortunately for me however, the classroom was locked. I tried to open the door using brute force but since it was reinforced with augment, only another augment with equal or higher firepower could break it. I unfortunately had neither of the two, so I was stuck waiting outside.
'Of course it's locked,' I grumbled. 'I thought all of the teachers were already in their classrooms.'
"I'm so tired, I wish I was asleep right now."
My inner thoughts were interrupted by a nearby voice
I turned to the voice and saw a brown haired boy lying down on a nearby bench. He had a blanket tightly draped around his body like a cocoon and a pillow wrapped around his neck, but his eyes were wide open.
'At that point you might as well sleep, you already got the whole setup.' she let our a small chuckle.
I tried to think of a logical reason behind the boy's actions, but I seriously couldn't think of a single one. Quite frankly, I was at a loss for words. The boy wasn't someone I saw during the assembly and I couldn't recognize him either, so that meant he was probably someone's sibling.
But who would leave their brother in such a decrepit state? His hair was messy, his eyes looked hollow and lifeless, and there were dark bags underneath his turquoise eyes.
'Seriously, who even is this guy-'
Suddenly, the brown haired man turned directly towards me. I quickly turned away, but I could feel his gaze piercing my soul.
"If you're wondering about the blanket and pillow, someone gifted it to me out of the goodness of their heart."
'That's what you get for staring, dipshit.'
I let out a sigh before slowly turning towards the boy, "So someone gave it to you."
The boy's eyebrows raised slightly, "You think I willingly brought a blanket and a pillow here?"
"You make a fair point, though it wouldn't have been the weirdest thing I've seen all day."
"The fact that you find this weird says a lot about your home life."
"The fact that you look like you were kicked out of a homeless shelter says a lot about your home life."
The boy chuckled, "Touché."
He leaned up and set aside the blanket and pillow, placing them on the bench next to him.
"So, are you an international class student?" he asked.
"You ask when I literally tried to open the door?"
"You could be trying to sneak in."
"In broad daylight?"
He smirked. "Wouldn't be the weirdest thing I've seen all day."
"You're insufferable."
"Ouch, you'd say that to a someone you just met?"
I let out another sigh. "Only if they really pissed me off."
"It's just friendly banter, I would never be mean to anyone." he said in an exaggerated tone.
"Whatever you say."
A light jingle played over the intercom, signaling that classes were about to start.
"Well, that's my cue to leave. I wish you a great rest of your day." I snarked as I turned back towards the door.
I waited a few moments before begrudgingly taking out my phone the check the time.
'It's already 11:30. The doors should auto-unlock by now.'
Like magic, a resounding click rang out as the door slowly opened up.
Before walking inside, I turned and gave one final look at the brown-haired boy.
'What a nightmare, I hope I never see him again.'
I walked inside the classroom and flipped on the light-switch near the doorway, illuminating the rest of the classroom. The room was built like a standard lecture-hall, with rows of desk getting progressively higher until it reached the back of the room. Because the door was finally open students had started to flock towards the classroom, but since I was the first inside I got to pick my seat.
'Hmm, I can't see very well from the back,'
I scratched my chin.
'And the front draws too much attention.'
Ultimately, I chose to sit on the far let side of the middle row. I could clearly see the teacher's area and had a nice view from outside the window.
As students started to walk in and pick their seats, I overheard my name whispered throughout the room. I could feel their piercing gazes, but I paid them no mind.
I pulled out my cellphone and fidgeted with the screen as I continued to listen in on my peer's conversations.
"That's Rei? She looks more pretty in person."
"I sat next to her during the Orientation Speech."
"Ah, she has a scary look on her face. I don't know if I want to sit near her."
"Wasn't she the first one in here too? Did she skip the banquet?"
"Talk about a scary aura, why'd she have to sit in the middle of the room?"
"I wonder if the rumors are true...."
"Hey, do you mind if I sit here?"
I flinched at the sudden noise and nearly dropped my cellphone in surprise before slowly turning towards the burly Asian man who asked.
"Liu, what did I say earlier?"
"Regarding that, to be frank I don't care. Because of you I can't even choose my seat."
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Huh, what do you mean..."
My voice trailed off mid sentence as leaned past and got a glimpse behind him. Sure enough, every seat in the entire room was taken....except for the middle row. Behind Liu, students were lining up behind him as if he was a protective barrier between me and them.
A chortle escaped my lips, "Really? All of this because I look scary?"
"Fear does wonders to your mind, especially if that so-called fear is so close by."
"Then why aren't you afraid?"
"Because I admire your competitive spirit," Liu said as he sat down in his chair. "You seem apprehensive at first but they'll warm up to you soon-"
"I don't really care to be honest," I looked around and scanned the faces of all of the students in the classroom. "It would help me a lot more if they just continued to fear me."
Two consecutive beeps rang out from the loudspeaker, causing conversations from all across the room to cease entirely. Ignoring this, Liu opened his mouth to protest but I lifted my hand and blocked off his face.
"Shut up and pay attention."
I pulled out a small notebook from my back-pocket and set it down on the table in anticipation for today's lesson.
Suddenly, the door handle twitched. The entire class stopped what they were doing and turned towards the doorway. The door swung open, and I fixed my eyes on the person who walked in.
"Hello International Class." a loud voice exclaimed excitedly as they walked inside the room.
The man had a pale-colored face, turquoise eyes that seemed to sparkle in the classroom lights, a single mole placed underneath his right eye, and a small bruise on his left cheek. A small commotion began to erupt in the back-half of the classroom as their new teacher walked up to the desk, yet I was frozen stiff; my eyes the only thing on my body that moved. What appeared in my line of sight was an all too familiar face. A face I had just seen moments before entering the classroom.
Sitting in front of the teacher's stand, holding their curriculum Omnisphere, was a brown haired man with a wrinkled peach colored shirt.
"Hello, I'm Grayson Harris. I am a graduate of this school with my MBA in Augmentation Analysis & Integration. I am eighteen years old so I am a bit older than the rest of you but I hope that I can connect with all of you on an individual basis so that you can all become as successful as myself. "
A cascade of noises erupted from inside of the classroom.
"Grayson Harris? isn't that Caroline's disciple?"
"Caroline? You mean that manic professor?"
"Apparently this is his first gig; I hope he isn't too terrible."
People were quick to declare their reliefs or reservations out loud, but I was too transfixed to do either.
'That kid, he's...our teacher?' Quite frankly I was in shock. I refused to believe it was true, but the fact that he was holding their class's Omnisphere was something I couldn't disregard.
I clicked my tongue.
"Of course I had to insult the one person who could kick me out." I grumbled underneath my breath.
Today was now in the running for being one of the worst days of my life, and I still had another six hours to go.