Sylvian's alarm had gone off obnoxiously loud throwing him from a great sleep. Annoyed that he had to wake up much too early, he rubbed his eyes and groaned wishing he could just roll over and go back to sleep. But, it was Monday - a school day - sleeping was not an option. He muttered to himself under his breath like Monday was a personal nemesis and begrudgingly rolled out of bed, got dressed in his uniform, did his hair, and made his way down the stairs.
His aunt and the nanny were already at the breakfast table. His aunt was drinking green tea and skimming through a fashion book, looking up briefly to smile at him. "Good morning! How did you sleep?" she asked cheerfully.
Feeling grumpy about getting up too early, Sylvian just nodded. "Good morning. I am... okay, I guess!"
When he finished his breakfast, he had put his backpack on and was walking out to the bus when his aunt quickly grabbed his arm and said, "I will drop you today."
All the way to school, Sylvian was subjected to hour after hour of his aunt babbling about the school, how great and vintage it looked, and how everything worked in but a flash a debrief and goodbyes and into the gates he entered, only to feel the intense burn of all of the eyes on him. He felt another being following him, and when he turned around there weren't anyone. Overthink it, whatever, Sylvian thought as he turned the corner, and went into class.
After sitting down, Sylvian is quietly preparing for his first lesson while blankly looking over his student books, and he saw a familiar face rise from the crowd; Akiel. And a bunch of his friends, and the only person he recognizd was Julia; she was claimed to be Akiel's own personal bodyguard as far he could remember, anyway Julia was in front of him smiling ear to ear.
"Hey so you're the guy that Akiel hates huh. What is this? some gay romcom going on?"
Sylvian could feel his eyebrows drawing together and his eyes narrowing. "Shut the hell up and leave me alone."
Julia laughed out loud. "Oh, sweet Jesus, you've got quite the temper. Nice. Luckily Akiel picked the right person. But good luck! He doesn't mess around. That's all I had to say. Bye!"
Sylvian went back to his book, angry. Did everyone really think he was Akiel's personal plaything? He balled his fists in muted rage but forced his mind to something else.
Lunch came and gone. Sylvian went to the same spot under the tree, ate quickly, and buried himself in a book, just as he normally did. The bell never rang, and he only realized when he was still in his spot, in the book it seemed, just as the announcement of the end of lunch echoed through the halls and likely through campus as well. He noticed Akiel and his entourage smoking out of the corner of his eye just as he brought his book down to his lunch tray. Sylvian feigned disinterest with total focus on his book again.
But Akiel made sure to catch his gaze. He stepped closer, slapped Sylvian on the head.
"Sylvian, what is your problem? Don't you have a mouth to speak up?"
Sylvian felt the heat rush to his cheeks. "If you hit me again, I'm going to--"
Akiel laughed. "You don't even know how to be scary, do you? Did you see what they were doing?"
Sylvian turned further away. "Who? I didn't see anything."
Akiel gave him a pat on the shoulder. "I know you saw. But if you tell anyone, I can make your life hell."
Sylvian was surprisingly calm. "I don't care. Not my problem."
Akiel smiled. "Alright. Good. So... what are you doing, not in class? Bunking? "
Sylvian's eyes widened when he realized how late it was. "After lunch? 6th period?"
Akiel laughed, remembering, "Power went out, remember? You could have checked your watch."
Sylvian sighed and took off running to the class. He was relieved to find out that his teacher hadn't even got there yet.
Finally, the last period of the day came: Chemistry. Sylvian walked into the room and wished for at least a decent partner for the project. Instead, he saw Akiel; probably the very last person he wanted to see. Sylvian slowly sunk down in his desk mumbling to himself. After the teacher explained the project, as she always did, Akiel leaned over, "Hey, I didn't take notes." Sylvian jerked back from Akiel and shouted, "Are you stupid? What are we going to do for the project?" Akiel just laughed like only a child could laugh at something so serious at the same time. "Chill, dude, I took the notes." Sylvian felt his ears get hot. He let go of Akiel and sank back down in his desk with some relief. Akiel suggested doing the project at Sylvian's house and out of pure habit, Sylvian nodded, knowing he was destined for doom. When Sylvian finally got home after school, his head was pounding. He just wanted to take some meds, eat some hot soup, and fall asleep. Almost as he was about to request an Uber, his aunt appeared—smiling, glowing with happiness, and so much energy she could have possibly put something in the dinner she cooked. He sighed, and after a moment of doubting, he got in.
At home everything appeared to be normal, while in fact Sylvian's sickness indicated he would indeed be absent from school tomorrow. Sylvian felt a little guilty leaving his friend Akiel all alone throughout Chemistry. However, Sylvian shrugged it off and - without any time to spare - completed all of his homework in less than 45 minutes, and spent time to get ready and face the day - even if the pounding headache remained persistent.