I wasn't really awake yet.
My eyelids felt like they were glued with some stubborn adhesive, and my brain?
Well, it seemed to be operating at about twenty percent capacity. That's why I was walking to school today like a zombie, dragging my feet, and kicking a stone.
Not dramatically. Not in anger. Just… casually. Like the stone and I were silently judging each other.
"Kick, slide, kick… yep, perfect arc," I muttered under my breath, mostly to make myself feel productive.
Aries had left early with Ella somewhere—he didn't even bother telling me where, because apparently, keeping Jay-jay in the dark is a national sport for him. So, I was walking alone.
No Section E chaos. No Ci-in pretending he wasn't waiting for me with that stupid, expectant grin. No Kiefer glaring like he owned the path (which, let's be honest, he does sometimes).
I didn't call anyone. Let them rest, I told myself. Five minutes of peace before the inevitable chaos starts.
And then came the stone.
I kicked it harder than I intended. Maybe it was a subconscious "morning aggression"—who knows? Anyway, it flew. Perfectly. Right into the forehead of one of the school bullies standing a few feet away.
And just like that, my morning officially stopped being peaceful.
There were five or six of them. And they were now all glaring at me like I had personally insulted their entire lineage.
"Oh—uh, sorry! I didn't mean—" I tried to start, waving my hands like a chicken trying to escape a fox.
"Your stone's a little too… aggressive," the tallest one sneered, smirking.
I gritted my teeth. Aggressive? It hit your head. You're lucky it wasn't lethal. But, of course, I didn't say that. My mom always told me, "Jay-jay, sarcasm is good, but not when you might get beat up." Wise words.
They advanced. Slowly. Menacingly. Like they were auditioning for some villain role in a low-budget action movie.
I sighed. Guess it's that kind of morning.
I squared my shoulders. "Fine. If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get," I muttered, mostly to myself, because arguing usually doesn't help.
And then it got… chaotic.
I swung, dodged, and blocked with some unexpected skill. One, two, three. Before I knew it, two of them were groaning on the pavement.
And then I saw… movement.
Someone else was fighting too.
I blinked. What?
It was fast, precise, almost too perfect. The rest of the bullies were being knocked down with clean, efficient hits, but I couldn't see who was helping me. It felt like a blur.
"Was that… Ellara?" I thought.
But when I looked around, she wasn't there. Literally not a trace. My mind must be playing tricks. Maybe I was hallucinating from thinking about her too much. Great, Jay-jay, losing your mind before lunch. Perfect.
Finally, the bullies scrambled away, beaten and humiliated.
Panting, I straightened my shirt and wiped sweat from my forehead. Then I heard familiar voices:
"Jay, you okay?"
Kiefer and Yuri appeared like they had teleported. Kiefer's eyebrows were raised, but the corner of his lips twitched. Yuri looked… amused.
"Nothing happened," I said nonchalantly, even though my heart was still racing.
"You knocked them out yourself?" Kiefer asked, half proud, half teasing.
"Yeah, but someone else was… helping." I didn't mention Ellara, because—come on, hallucination.
Kiefer's smirk grew. "Hmm. Impressive. Looks like the legendary Mutya is still alive and dangerous."
Yuri laughed. "Don't let it go to your head, Jay."
I rolled my eyes. "Trust me, if I had time to think about my ego, I'd probably lose all my other limbs first."
We shared a small laugh and walked toward the classroom together. Kiefer's arm brushed mine at one point, and I didn't pull away. Not even a little.
When we entered, I noticed Ellara. Sitting calmly.
Not a muscle out of place. Scrolling her phone like nothing happened. My pulse skipped. Was she… really there before? Or am I still imagining things?
I moved toward her seat, trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach. She gave me a small, polite nod. I nodded back. Not too obvious. Casual. Totally not like my heart just did a triple flip.
"Mutya, you've changed," Calix complained, nudging Ci-in and David. "You're talking to her and ignoring us."
I snorted. "Shut up, Calix. She's… interesting."
Ellara, in her calm and quiet way, offered, "You can join us if you want," and somehow, it wasn't rude. Not arrogant. Just… open.
We laughed, joked, and started passing things around. Ci-in tried to ask her what she liked for lunch. "Ate! Ate, what's your favorite snack?"
She didn't answer immediately. Just glanced at him with a slight smile and went back to scrolling. Ci-in blinked. Then, finally, she said, "Nothing special."
Ci-in threw his hands in the air. "WHAT? Ate, that's impossible. Come on!"
David chuckled. "You two are ridiculous."
Even Calix couldn't resist teasing. "Mutya, now you're friends with the mysterious one and ignoring us? Classic."
I rolled my eyes, but secretly smiled. Somehow, in all the chaos, Ellara fit in. Not dominating, not awkward—just… present.
Later, during lunch, Kiefer leaned in. "You handled that pretty well this morning," he whispered, half serious, half smug.
"Yeah, like I said, legendary Mutya. Dangerous and all that."
I smirked. "Stop. You're making me sound like a comic book character."
He nudged me lightly. "You like it."
"I do not."
"Yes, you do."
We shared a brief look—too quick for anyone else to notice. But it was enough.
After lunch, the teasing continued.
Felix tripped over Ci-in's bag, Ci-in tried to blame Ellara "as a joke," and I couldn't stop laughing. Felix was rubbing his arm, glaring, and muttering curses under his breath.
Yuri rolled his eyes at all of us. "Can we just focus for five minutes?"
"Five minutes? In this classroom? Hahaha, good one!" I snorted, elbowing Kiefer, who laughed and shook his head.
Ellara just smiled quietly, as if all of us were slightly ridiculous. But in a calming way. That smile… I swear it almost broke my brain.
By the end of the day, it felt like something had shifted. Ellara wasn't just the new quiet girl anymore. She was part of the chaos now. Our chaos. Section E chaos.
And me? I was starting to enjoy it.
Even if my heart was still doing backflips every time she looked at me, casually, calmly, and confidently, like she owned the room without even trying.
And as I packed up my things, I realized—some things in Section E never change. Chaos, teasing, laughter. But some things… maybe, just maybe, new things could start quietly fitting in.
Like Ellara.
Or Kiefer and me, in our quiet, teasing, awkward, proud, sort-of-in-love way.
Walking home later, my brain refused to stop replaying Ellara's calm smile, the way Kiefer's hand brushed mine, and how my own chaos-loving self had laughed until I couldn't breathe that morning.
Yes, this morning had stones, fights, pranks, jokes, chaos, and awkward glances—but somehow, it felt… perfect.