Where she equips her shoes and starts moving out, she makes her way into school, another day of boring school. Right?
Same old architecture and same old entrance that looked like an iris door with a security guard checking every student upon entry - she came with a renewed understanding of what causes Yaren to be suspicious of her, the misunderstanding that was seeded when Yaren and she were in Ava's house, unbeknownst to her
And so it begins, Ava went to school and started learning things from many of her teachers, listening as she could so she could gain technical sophistication before dropping out of a semester. Still, Ava is curious, though, how can she reconcile her relationship with Yaren? It's a question that boggles the mind, one that has her thinking a lot; she doesn't really know if Yaren likes her now or not. Either way, it's not worth worrying about; instead, just relax and focus. Yaren can come later.
And so Ava continued paying attention, she bought Compiler designs, Laser technologies, Wireless components, and electronic spare parts, things she needed to do to physicalize her project. Ava listened to Sir Walden, Raphael Garcia, Dr Baldwin, and other teachers, especially the Artificial Intelligence teacher for computer science topics. Ava continued studying and listening, and for some short time, falling asleep, albeit temporarily, as books scattered around the table she was in, so she could get herself back up with awareness of what was happening.
Ava continues listening to the lecture, before being dismissed from the class, she looks for Yaren and here we go again, Yaren has managed to make friends with other people, and other than that a boyfriend from another class or so she assumed, Yaren has become rather popular she was quite dwarfing Ava but she wasn't really popular to begin with just somewhat nice to look at. Ava walks near Yaren in the hallway, asks with a disillusioned face, 'You seem to be enjoying yourself.'
Yaren was chatting up with her friends when she heard an echo of someone she knew look back and say, "Oh, hey Ava, it's been a while. How are you?"
Ava nodded her head, curious about Yaren's improvements, "Quite the upstart, aren't you? You manage to join a circle."
Yaren laughed, "Of course, dear, these are my new friends. Whom I met, btw, you should meet my boyfriend Mike." Yaren pulls out her hand and signals Mike to come so she can introduce her. A fair-skinned but rather young-looking male with Black hair and downturned eyes, his chin projection was in fact prominent, his jawline is just about right but not too sharp in contrast to Henry, who was stunning. Mike was instead normal but somewhat appealing and affable compared to the Casanova-rich kid.
Mike welcomed her without any ostentation, 'Hi, Ava. We've known each other for some but barely do we barely meet.
Ava looked at Mike and said 'Likewise, champ, I am aware you have been dating Yaren, correct?' Mike smiled with a resounding word, 'yes'. Ava then replied, 'I see.' Ava's eyes started darting around slowly, and she asked this time without intellectual detachment, 'How… did you and Yaren meet anyway?'
Mike scratches his chin and says, "I think it was when he was new to the friend group or something. She was cute, of sorts, but I respected her. We started talking and then one and then decided to ask her cause why not"
Ava responded, "Interesting.. I don't know what to say to that, but it's interesting." Ava looked at the other friends and then went back to Yaren, "Sooooo. Yaren, I don't know what to say, but you made somewhat significant progress."
Yaren said, "Yeah, pretty much, but I am just getting started."
Ava looks at her friend, having nothing to say, and the friend group starts whispering to each other, still making weird rumors about her, of her rebellion when she entered the school with a collar. Rumors of her transgressing juvenile laws like curfew and stuff.
And so one guy emerged from gossiping. He looked like an individual with black hair with brown skin, with almond eyes, and asked, "You are Ava, right? One of the prettiest women… Uhm, I mean one of the capable students out there, right?"
Ava, having no idea what to say, "I am pretty, yeah, but I don't think it's much of a celebrity type, hopefully you don't have any weird ideas about me, to be honest."
Jacob responded, "Ah, don't worry, I don't have any weird ideas about you, since you never talk much."
Ava reminded him, "I am the shy type." Jacob responded with interest, "Shy, you say.. Never knew that until now, I thought you were the super reserved type."
Ava appeared amused and said, "Me, reserved. Just not super reserved, but thanks,"
following up with appreciative eyes. "Either way, what do you people plan to do?"
Jacob, with his almond eyes, said, "I don't know, just talk chill with others, I guess."
Ava then adds, noticing his somewhat relaxed personality, "Seems about right, though, do we have anything in common?" Jacob looked at her and said, "You tell me."
Ava, feeling somewhat unsure but wanting a resolution, said, "I wish we could continue talking, but it seems like we may not have anything in common."
Ava said, "Though I am interested in listening, so I will just sit here."
Jacob said, "Okay, I will just speak with my friends, you do whatever you want," and so Jacob returned to his place with his clique while Ava began to sit near them and listen
Jacob continued talking with his friends. Sometimes they would do brief gossip and then talk about the trivial things; however, the more they talked, Jacob and his Clique continued their conversation
The more they talk, the more they are concerned about Ava, while Ava listens, doing absolutely nothing, probably because having someone with them who is not engaging with them in conversation is awkward.
Yaren was part of the clique, a new of course, and her being familiar with Ava says nothing but thinks Ava is being disingenuous about herself and her psychology application books.
Yaren looks at Ava and asks with suspicion, "Are you going to say anything else at all?" Ava faces her and answers, "I am not sure if I should say anything at all." with a demure tone, with shyness in her eyes
Yaren's voice launched forward with disdain, "Seriously? This is why you have no friends, you don't talk to others."
Yaren's face was etched with disappointment.
Ava looked at her and apologized, "Sorry… I just don't have anything in common with them. But it will be nice to listen if that's okay."
Yaren looked at her with sarcasm and said, "Well, you can always introduce a topic," one of the friends said, "Yeah, you can do that, Ava, right?"
Ava then tries to think something mainstream, "What is the best computer right now? I want recommendations," Ava says with a naive smile, and with her hand pointing up
The friend group looked at each other, where one head stood up and asked the crowd, "Has anyone heard from AzureTech? Their APU performance is pretty sick, can even do well in single-core performance, and the integrated GPU can let you play games? any games really just might not be the best for VR, but good if you are on a budget"
The other asserted, "The best computer might be from Azretech."
Another said, "Really. I want that computer, but I am on a tight budget, just an APU is good enough for me to play games, not VR and Hologram simulations."
"Meh, lame" another person from the group with black hair and round brown eyes with tan skin came
This person with black hair with slit eyes said, "Oh, okay, rich kid. It's not like everyone has a super good processor and whose parents own dozens of quantum computing units for who knows who. Lucky for you."
Jacob then stopped both of them, "Cut it out before things escalated," with him touching both of the people's shoulders, where the two relented and excused themselves from this topic.
One of the two then looked at Ava, where the guy's mouth moved, "Why do you ask? Are you gonna buy a computer or something?"
Yaren interjected, "Or maybe she is planning on getting a new computer that is way more powerful than hers." The two boys who were close to arguing looked at each other and then shrugged. They simply did not mean to get angry; they conceded to talk about another subject that is trivialized
They looked at each other and started sitting down, where they talked about some general stuff and chit chat, leaving Ava alone in a cloud of emptiness. There was simply nothing else for her to talk about with Ava
Yaren watched Ava for a bit and said nothing as if this was to be expected- was it awkward for Ava to tag along? Yaren just observed Ava with disappointment
Ava continued to watch Jacob and his friends talk to each other.
Ava makes no move.
Jacob and his friends, alongside Yaren and even Mike, continue to banter and talk about trivialized stuff, on and on.
It was boring, Ava; she was wasting her time, but she didn't know how to act.
She listened, but it was filled with gossip and boring conversation. Someone must have a good knowledge of this stuff to engage with them, but it's like a big, boring lore behind them. Could this be the folly of cliques?
Ava then asked the clique, "What kind of people do you engage in conversation with like this?"
Jacob looked at her and responded, "That seems like a question we all can't answer. But if I were to guess, I actually don't know, we just have similar interests and we just try to vibe."
The other person with cavalier clarity, "Yeah, yeah, we just chill and stuff and make joke."
To which Ava responded, 'Ahhhh, I see. So you like 'chilling' with other people to speak?"
Jacob looked at Ava, "Yeah, we could only vibe, but you don't even speak to others - you are kinda weird, aren't you?" with some honesty
Jacob looked at Mike and asked, "What do you think of her? Does she do well in our dynamic?"
Mike replied, 'I think she does alright, but I don't think she's the social type. She may be an actual weirdo. I think Yaren knows about her. Not gonna lie, though she is nice to look at, which gives me a good impression, the only hassling part is her reservedness."
Ava listened, "Aww, thanks, but I am not a celebrity. I am just a geeky girl" causing Jacob's curiosity, he responded with slight interest, "Geeky girl, huh. I am betting you are like a girl who spends time on the internet."
Ava slapped her own face as she felt quite embarrassed that she said nothing. Ava then departs - she didn't want to say anything at all, at the very least, she just left and walked away
The people watch her leave and ask if she just thinks of us as inferiors; in reality, that wasn't really what she intended. She left because she felt embarrassed.
Another person said, "Jacob, you should be glad she knows your name.' Jacob said, 'Well, looks like my ID is pretty known here. I wear all around, or maybe she knows me because of my popularity."
Yaren replied with forced indifference, with her blonde hair, "Oh, don't worry about her, she just wants to be alone for a bit. I did give her the chance to talk. It didn't go well."
Mike said, "Indeed, it was a bit awkward. But let's be honest, some of us were curious about her"
Yaren slapped his back, "Curious? What do you mean curious?" In a burst of jealousy, Mike lets out a little laugh, "Oh, come on. It's just that I always get the impression that she is unapproachable whenever she is in class."
Jacob, with his widened mouth, asked, "Hah, you thought of her differently from other people? I mean, she is definitely different, but to think she was socially awkward felt off. Come on, Yaren, tell us about your friend here, we are all dying to know."
Jacob whispered into Yaren's ear and asked the following: "I know she had a collar on her neck for days. Did she actually do curfew?"
Yaren disclosed, "No…. She attempted to sneak into a private corporation. That's all" Jacob then tested his notions, "Ah, I see. So she wasn't going out to get laid with someone."
Jacob asked with his face all confused, "Why, though?" Yaren was unable to give a satisfying answer: "I don't know either, but I think she wants to find his dad or something."
The other person with slit eyes with dark hair showed interest, "Dammm, quite interesting though."
Yaren said with rather disinterest in her eyes, 'Mhm, just things you need to know about Ava, and you are correct, she is different. Sometimes I feel jealous of her because she has internal issues, but I don't know how to help with that. I know some secrets, but I am not likely to tell'
Other people listened some even dismiss her and thought she was sentimental there is no doubt though Ava is quite the interesting one, some even wondered what's like to be like her but they said nothing as they rather be shallow than to engage with something that will challenge their ego and placate them as talking about trivial things allows them to pass out on time and to garner a sense of responsibility and perked up interest
Deep down, they all didn't want to touch Ava's abilities and beauty despite some of the boys being once overwhelmed by it, like seeing a perfect princess in her reserved nature, one of them gossiping about her being with some boy, that she won't talk to anyone.
Ava walked away from the meeting, feeling embarrassed. She has no idea how to talk to them, and she was worried that she made a terrible act towards her friend's group; meanwhile, on the other side people simply don't want to think of Ava
It's not like they can't handle someone like her, it's simply the cognitive dissonance they have towards her and how much they assume that she thinks of them being beneath her which wasn't even true.
With a handsome man once again in a blazer with a cap, watching Ava disappear from the circle, his brown hunter-like eyes were filled with predation. It was Henry, and he smiled
He stepped in with the audience, removing his cap and his public cloaking device, and then said to the people around the clique with total snobbery, "You know, Ava is too good for you - and you people were all right. She's too good for all of you."
Mike stood up, his downward eyes were starting to look straight at him, "Hey, what the hell is your problem?"
Henry's eye turned amused. He put a palm on his chest, "No, I am just saying, you people were talking about Ava being the most perfect female in school, amazing beauty, amazing intellect, amazing achievements."
"She is the pride of every asian parent and teacher."
"She is in your school, oh, your school is definitely for elites."
"She is with you or something, your circle is too privileged."
Henry's head was staring upwards, saying, "Just admit it…" with his head straight at Yaren.
"None of you is perfect with Ava; you are all beneath her foot. She is made for something, something more than you possibly think."
"And she thinks you are all stupid, genetically inferior people, less beautiful versions in her pretty eyes."
"She's made for someone else," Henry arrogantly smiles
Mike's eye looked at Henry with anger, "And who would that be?"
Henry smiled. On the other side, Yaren touched her own arm - her brown eyes showed stress and vulnerability.
Henry's face dropped to agony, "I don't know, I don't think I am worthy. But I hope it's me" before leaving with his hands on his school uniform pockets, disappearing.
Yaren was just holding her arm, looking away in shame. Mike then looked at Yaren and asked, "Yaren, are you okay?"
Yaren looked at her boyfriend and nodded, even forcing a smile, "Yeah, I am okay", but from her eyes, the stars were gone but filled with sadness and vulnerability, no one would see it.