"Hello everyone, I'm the new guy in town, Ashen Freeman."
The classroom went quiet. Dozens of eyes turned toward him, curious but silent. Nobody said anything, not until someone finally spoke up.
"What kind of dumbass names their kid Ashen Freeman?"
The voice belonged to the so-called alpha of the class. The kind of guy everyone made way for when he entered the room.
Normally, the smart choice would be to avoid his type. But Ashen wasn't the kind to stay quiet.
"The same dumbass who gave birth to a face like yours," he shot back.
The class erupted with a loud, drawn-out "Ohhhhhh!" followed by laughs and cheers.
The bully's face twisted with anger. Of course it did. Classic bully, loved throwing insults, but couldn't handle one aimed at him.
"Hey, hey. That's enough," the homeroom teacher, Miss Cecilia, finally spoke, her voice firm as she tried to restore order.
Surprisingly, the class actually listened to her. Would you believe that?
"And you, transfer student," she continued, narrowing her eyes at Ashen, "I hope you're not the troublesome type."
That depended entirely on her definition of troublesome.
If she meant the quiet, considerate type, then yes, Ashen was absolutely that. But if she meant the type who stayed silent and let others walk all over him just because they could? Yeah, definitely not happening.
Still, Ashen kept his thoughts to himself. Instead, he flashed a smile and said, "I'm a very thoughtful person, ma'am."
The innocent smile worked wonders. The teacher's cheeks flushed pink, her head grew hot, and for a second, she seemed completely caught up in her own little fantasy land.
She coughed, trying to regain her composure. "Ehm, ehm. Over there" she pointed toward the row by the window, "...there's an empty seat next to Freya."
Ashen walked over, slipping into the seat she indicated. "Thank you," he said politely.
Freya shifted her chair slightly to make space for him. He sat down, placed his books on the desk, and prepared for class.
"Alright, everyone. Today we'll be covering..." Miss Cecilia trailed off as she moved into the day's lecture.
Ashen glanced at the girl beside him. A proper introduction was in order. "Hi, I'm Ashen Freeman, the new guy."
Without looking at him, she replied sharply, "Hi. I'm Freya Dawn, the girl who's not interested." Her eyes stayed glued to the front.
"Chill, woman. What's with the attitude?" he muttered.
And then it hit him, he probably should not have said that out loud.
Freya turned and gave him a cold glare. Not just any glare. The kind of icy look that could freeze a mountain solid.
"O~kay... my bad," Ashen said quickly.
He tried to ignore her, but the feeling of her sharp gaze burning into his side was impossible to shake.
Then, out of nowhere, a folded piece of paper hit his head from behind and fell on his desk.
Whoever threw it had some crafty aim, applaudable by every standards.
Ashen picked it up and unfolded it. Written inside were the words:
If you value your life, stay the hell away from her.
A death threat?! Of all the unexpected things that could happen today, this was definitely top of the list of what to not expect.
Ashen turned around to see who sent it, and of course, it was none other than the classroom alpha. The guy smirked and flipped Ashen the middle finger.
"Seriously, dude? What are you, a high schooler?" Ashen muttered.
Technically, they both were. But come on, was it too much to expect at least a shred of common sense from him? Higher schooler or not.
"The world's moving on, and this clown is still stuck in the nineties," Ashen grumbled, loud enough for Freya to hear. Not that she cared; her eyes stayed locked on the teacher.
"Ashen Freeman," Miss Cecilia suddenly called out. "Your eyes should be on the board, not on Freya, alright?"
Busted. He scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, ma'am. I was just asking her for notes and stuff."
The whole class howled in sarcastic "Ooooohs," but Miss Cecilia quickly shut them down before things got out of control.
When order finally returned, Freya turned to give Ashen another one of those piercing looks, this time for almost dragging her into trouble.
"I know, I know. My bad, okay? No need to go full Queen Cold on me," Ashen said, raising his hands in surrender. "Sheesh. Everyone in this town seems to have anger issues."
The lesson dragged on slower than Ashen would have liked. But eventually, Miss Cecilia dismissed the class.
Freya stood up, ready to leave, when Ashen reached out and tugged at her bag. "Hold up, Miss Grumpy," he said.
She spun, glaring at him again.
"I swear I wouldn't have stopped you if I didn't need help," Ashen explained quickly. "I have no idea what class we've got next."
Honestly, he wouldn't have bothered if he wasn't desperate. That icy stare of hers was enough to make anyone reconsider life choices.
"Didn't you get your school curriculum timetable when you registered?" she asked flatly.
"They didn't give me one," Ashen admitted. "Said none were available, and I should ask my classmates to help me out... in that area." He emphasized the last part, hoping she'd get the point.
Freya frowned. This guy screamed trouble. Her gut told her so. But, he wasn't wrong, they were classmates. Helping him out once wouldn't kill her.
"We've got History next," she finally said. "Keep up."
Turns out she wasn't completely heartless. At least not as completely as Ashen has been led to believe.
Still, he isn't taking her off the grumpy list just yet. She's going to need more than a direction to their next class to get her name erased off of it.
Going on, Ashen made the mistake of asking, "History, huh? Is it compulsory?"
Freya raised an eyebrow. "Unless you want an F, then yes, it's compulsory."
Ashen sighed. He took it back. She wasn't nice at all. She was a certified meanie. A bitchy one, at that.