The week before had been a strain, as the school had dropped a random test on them, and today was the day the results were supposed to come out.
He carried himself towards the school as he noticed a familiar face walking in front of him, and he hastened his pace to catch up to the gentle, feminine figure that walked with a sense of maturity in its steps.
"Hi Naomi", his voice still carried no emotion, though the girl seemed not to mind it as she replied soon after "Oh, high Arwin, excited for the results"
Arwin couldn't feel a thing when it came to emotions, so he didn't need to ponder the question, yet it swayed in his mind.
One of his goals was to come off as normal as possible after all he had lost, most of that while he was in there. It almost made him feel sorry for the new guy, too bad he couldn't feel emotions.
"I wish, I'm more nervous than excited" Naomi giggled her teenage side showing for a moment "Well, your face kinda tells a different story"
Arwin let out a sigh. It was not that he could control his facial reactions, at least not yet, he turned his gaze back to Naomi, hoping to push the conversation somewhere else.
"How about you? Are you excited?" Naomi touched her lip briefly, a simple smile on her face "Well, to say the least, I am excited. I did study hard for this test after all". Her smile widened and her steps hastened, rushing to get her to her destination, and so they soon arrived, navigating through the school's halls to make it to the notice board.
The two stood in front of the notice, where a large group of students had gathered. There was a mix of anxiety and excitement in the air as some students celebrated good results while others frowned in their own disappointment.
Arwin and Naomi pushed through the crowd, inching closer to the notice board with every step they took through the crowd until they came face to face with the dreaded results.
Naomi's eyes were glued to the notice board as they shone with intense focus. Her finger flicked across the board until it landed at a specific point on the board. Her face went from focused to relieved and finally to joyful as a proud smile appeared on her face.
"Just as I expected, it seems all that studying actually paid off" A smug look appeared on her face as she turned to Arwin as if expecting him to ask for her position.
He let out a silent sigh as he decided to indulge this comrade, who was now forced onto "So what was your score?" Naomi put a hand on her waist, displaying that mature aura of hers. She moved her finger to the notice board, pointing it at a specific area to which Arwin's eyes followed.
No.15: NAOMI ALDE
Naomi had every right to brag about her position, their class had more than three hundred students, so this position was a feat in and of itself, as it kind of left him wanting to know his own position.
He turned to the notice board, moving his eyes down the notice board as he searched for his own name among the numerous names that lined the notice board until he finally came across his own a cursed name.
No.28: ARWIN GREENWOOD
This was not what Arwin had hoped for, but it was at least a start. He shifted his gaze towards the top of the list, where he saw the names of the school's three top students.
No.1: CATERINA CROMEWELL
No.2: MIRANDEL AVES
No.3: GEPARD MELLIS
"Naomi, do you know who these people are? If you do, then can you please tell me about them?" Naomi moved to join Arwin, and her eyes followed his gaze, soon landing on three names that sat at the top of the list. "Yes, I do know them, actually, but why do you know about them?"
"Isn't it obvious I'm not happy with my position, so I want to raise my rank and what better way to do that than to surround myself with the wisest of the wise?" Naomi turned again to the notice board, passing her finger along it as she searched for another name. Her finger froze, her face twisting into a frown.
She sighed as a disappointed voice left her lips, "I knew that guy was slacking off with his books, he spends too much on basketball" Arwin followed her gaze as he came upon a name that made him sigh.
No.302: JACK SAMUEL SNOW
Naomi held her waist again, shaking her head as she turned from the notice board "How am I supposed to help this idiot?" Arwin touched the poor girl's shoulder, Naomi touched her face, her frown deepening as she did, "He did even worse last time".
"I'll talk to him later today, maybe even involve him in my own study plan," Naomi turned back to him with a slight glint in her eyes, her lips twisted into a sombre smile. The girl then turned once again to the notice board, this time focusing on the three names at the top of the list.
"You did want to know about them, but I can't say much about number three, though", Arwin's eyes moved to Naomi, the girl, touching her chin as she observed the three names with a bit of intrigue.
"I thought you knew them all", Naomi jerked her head to Arwin, her lips opening slightly as if blaming Arwin for coming up with such a conclusion. Arwin avoided her gaze as the young lady explained herself in a grumpy tone.
"Well, I do know him, but just not that much, since though he is a student here, he's a special case who's allowed to study from home, so I've never really got to know him that much"
Arwin turned to the name in question, a sense of curiosity taking him over, "I wonder how he got that permission to study at home" Naomi shrugged briefly, a nonchalant voice escaping her lips. "I don't know, never really cared, actually".
"How about the other two? Do you know about them?" Naomi proudly nodded, her face twisted into a smug look "Of course I do, who do you take me for? So who would like to hear about first?"
Arwin turned back to the notice board and soon concluded who he wanted to meet first. His preferred outcome lay in wait on the other side of his choices he had to reach it after all he went through to get here. Even an emotionless monster like him could not afford to fail in this mission to reach the outcome he desired.
His lips open slightly as his mind ran different simulations of all the outcomes that could happen, but at the same time, he doesn't have that much information, hence creating loopholes in his simulations. He sighed silently as he finally concluded.
"I think I've made my decision. Tell me about the girl called Mirandel Aves first" Naomi smiled as she held her waist "You got it, I'll tell you all you need to know about the mysterious girl we know as Mirandel Aves".