Marcus put on a pitiful expression and let out a deep breath. Arya could feel the shift in atmosphere immediately. As they sat on the bench, Marcus recounted what had happened last night.
"God, I can't believe your mom would do that." Arya looked at him, careful not to ask if he was okay—anyone who'd been through something like that wouldn't be okay.
"Mom made her choice. There's nothing I can do about it." Marcus sighed, looking genuinely troubled—which he was, a little. But ultimately, he didn't want to dwell on it. That would only make him miserable.
Talking about it stirred up sympathy for the boy whose body he now inhabited.
"I'm so sorry you're going through this. Nobody deserves that." Arya's voice was earnest, her eyes full of concern.
"Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault." Marcus gave a small laugh. "Besides, this is the adult world. We can't control their choices. Honestly, them splitting up is probably better. They were always fighting—it wasn't healthy. It was toxic."
Arya blinked, visibly surprised by his mature perspective. "You're not angry about your mother's selfishness?"
"Of course I'm angry!" Marcus didn't really feel that angry, but he had to sell it. "Who wouldn't be? She just left us for another man."
He shrugged. "But like I said, leaving was her choice. And even if she'd stayed, it wouldn't necessarily be better if she and Dad kept tearing each other apart."
Arya stared at him, astonished. "If I were in your shoes, I don't think I could see it that way. You're really strong, Marcus." She paused, studying him. "You used to complain and get so upset whenever your parents came up. What changed?"
Marcus smiled awkwardly. Of course the original Marcus had been immature about it. Any teenager would struggle watching their parents fight constantly.
"I guess I just... had an epiphany." He knew it sounded flimsy even as he said it.
"An epiphany..." Arya leaned in, scrutinizing him closely. "Is that also why you've been different these past few days? I've noticed you checking out girls a lot more than usual."
'Great. I just changed the subject and we're right back here.' Marcus kept his expression pleasant. "Why not? Is it wrong to appreciate the view? I'm a guy, after all."
He decided honesty was the best policy here.
Arya rolled her eyes. "I guess the stress has you looking for distractions."
Marcus felt oddly called out by that. "Stress? I'm not—"
"Bell's about to ring. We should get to class." Arya stood up, effectively cutting off his protest.
They walked to the classroom together and found it still empty—most students were squeezing out every last minute of freedom before the bell forced them inside.
Marcus and Arya took their adjacent seats. They filled the time talking about their club—the Media Arts Club, which focused on Hollywood films and entertainment in general. It was how they'd become friends in the first place.
"Well, well. If it isn't the lovebirds arriving early."
They turned to see a young man with an average build and unremarkable features—except for the beard and mustache that seemed way too mature for a sophomore. Combined with his curly hair and glasses, he could easily pass for someone in his twenties.
"Stop assuming things about other people's relationships, Ryan." Arya gave him a pointed look.
"Denial at first. Friends at first. But it always ends that way." Ryan's eyebrows waggled suggestively.
"What do you mean, 'that way'?" Arya asked incredulously.
"You know. That way. The official boy-and-girl relationship." Ryan grinned, adjusting his glasses. "Then announcing it proudly on MySpace and customizing your page into a couple theme. Classic scenario for a boy and girl who 'started as friends.'"
"You're being weird again." Arya rolled her eyes, though she seemed used to this by now.
Marcus studied Ryan. He was one of the friends the original Marcus had made, along with Arya. Kind of weird in his own way, but genuinely a good person who spent most of his time with computers and video games.
Marcus had opened the original Marcus's MySpace account earlier, and saw that Ryan was in his Top 8 friends besides Arya. Ryan's profile page was themed around anime girls.
"Hey Marcus." After his back-and-forth with Arya, Ryan leaned closer. "I haven't seen you posting on MySpace. I was getting worried, man."
Marcus chuckled awkwardly. MySpace was definitely heavily used by high school teenagers right now, and it was peak social media. But honestly, he had no reason to post anything.
"I've just been busy studying." Marcus lied smoothly.
"You're studying? First semester just ended, and we're only starting second semester. Just relax, dude." Ryan said with an easygoing shrug.
"Don't listen to him, Marcus. You're doing the right thing by focusing on your studies." Arya interjected.
While they talked, students gradually filed into the classroom—it slowly became livelier as they waited for their first subject, which was Math.
While waiting for the teacher, Marcus earned points from interacting with his classmates, completing one of his daily tasks.
After a few minutes, the bell rang, signaling the start of class. Their teacher arrived—a young woman in her early twenties with medium-length, slightly wavy hair. She had a good figure despite her professional attire. Though she wore minimal makeup, it gave her an authentic "girl next door" appeal.
She seemed to have a friendly personality, beginning with, "Good morning, class."
But the boys didn't seem to respect her much, giving her flirty looks that she clearly noticed but chose to ignore.
Marcus glanced at the young boys, especially the group at the back in their varsity jackets. They seemed incredibly disrespectful, whispering to each other about the teacher. 'The hormones of these kids are really running wild. I know Ms. Katherine looks good, but they shouldn't be acting this way in front of her.'
Honestly, even as a playboy, he sympathized with Katherine. She was just doing her job as a teacher, and with her professional dress and minimal makeup, she wasn't intentionally trying to attract the young men's attention.
Despite the distraction, she remained professional as she taught the class, before concluding with: "Alright, that's it for today." She stood up and added, "Oh, and take out the assignment I gave you and pass it forward."
One after another, including Marcus, passed their assignments forward—except for some who clearly didn't care at all.
Katherine quietly observed those who hadn't submitted but let it go. She left the classroom carrying papers and notebooks.
"Look at that ass. Damn." A student stared with obvious interest. His friends snickered quietly and exchanged crude comments about the teacher.
'Oh boy. I almost forgot this is what high school is like whenever there's an attractive teacher.' Marcus reminisced. After all, in his previous life, he'd been one of those perverted boys fantasizing about hot teachers.
He shook his head and set those thoughts aside. He checked the points he'd accumulated so far: [2.3 Points].
It wasn't much, but it was only the first day after all. Besides, there were still several tasks at school he could complete, like playing basketball on the court, eating with friends, etc.
There was also a task for checking out the Media Arts Club, with a reward of 1 Point. He hadn't visited the club since transmigrating—after all, it was just a club that reviewed and analyzed films and entertainment—but the reward might force him to check it out.
Sure enough, during free period, he checked out the club with Arya. The club members were doing mundane activities like analyzing a classic movie.
That classic movie was something Marcus had never even heard of, since this was a parallel world with completely different content from his previous life.
---
After a long day at school, Marcus returned home with heavy eyelids, clearly exhausted from the day's schoolwork. He'd woken up at 5 AM and stayed awake the whole time because of his excitement over the system.
He entered the house and tossed his jacket onto the sofa, about to collapse and relax, when a shout from the dining room made him jolt upright.
"Ha! You think I'm satisfied with this!? I won't sign any of this shit if this is all you can give me! A fucking twenty grand!?"
It was Nathan's voice, sounding furious and frustrated.
Marcus stared toward the dining room with a bemused expression. "Oh man. What's the old guy up to now?" He stood and walked toward the sound.
He found Nathan standing there holding papers, a wireless phone in his other hand. He was arguing with someone on the line. "No, no. You can't humiliate me like this, William. I won't accept this!" He shouted, then jabbed a button on the phone, hanging up.
Nathan hurled the phone away in fury, then ran his hands through his hair, barely containing his anger. "Motherfucker. Stupid piece of shit."
Marcus decided to see what was going on. "Dad—"
"Do. Not. Talk. To. Me." Nathan raised a hand to stop him.
"Geez, Dad. I'm just worried." Marcus raised his hands in surrender. He knew Nathan was dealing with a cocktail of shitty emotions right now, so he had to approach carefully if he wanted to find out what was going on. Why was Nathan this angry besides his wife leaving him?
"Don't worry about it, it's none of your business—" Nathan tried to brush him off.
"None of my business?" Marcus looked offended. "Of course this is my business. It's about you and Mom, right?"
Nathan fell silent, his cheeks turning scarlet with emotion.
"As your son, and as a man who might deal with these problems in the future, I deserve to know what's happening." Marcus said. He chose those words intentionally, knowing his dad valued traits like being a "man" and independence from the way he spoke, so he tried to appeal to that.
Fortunately, this approach seemed to work as Nathan appeared less angry now. He looked at Marcus for a long moment, his gaze slowly melting into warmth. "Look, son. Things have been pretty complicated lately. And I don't really want you involved in it."
He looked hesitant, then said, "But hearing you say those words, I think you have a point." He sat down at the dining room table.
Marcus seized the chance to sit with him. "So... what happened?"
Nathan's hands clenched into fists, humiliation etched across his face. "Well... that bastard William is willing to pay me just to sign the divorce papers. But that cheap son of a bitch is stingy. He took my wife and he thinks I'll agree to twenty thousand dollars? No. I don't think so."
Marcus nodded. He knew the man Marianna had hooked up with was very rich. Twenty thousand dollars was pocket change to him.
He listened to Nathan's complaints, then couldn't help but ask, "As the wronged party in the marriage, can't you make Mom pay something when you divorce? Or maybe sue them?" He already had some understanding of the situation, but he wanted to hear it from Nathan directly.
Nathan scoffed, almost mockingly. "It's not that simple, son." He added, "This state is no-fault, which means your mother's cheating alone won't really give me an advantage."
Then he looked at the ceiling. "And about suing..." He turned back to Marcus. "You need to understand that justice in this world isn't really for the poor and wronged."
He let out a bitter chuckle. "It's for people with money. So if I take it to court, I'll be dealing with that rich bastard, and he can burn money like it's nothing. He can hire better lawyers, drag out the litigation, bury me in legal fees."
"A poor man like me doesn't stand a chance. I may have plenty to spare emotionally, but definitely not financially. If I sue, I'll be the one who loses in the end—drained emotionally and financially."
Marcus was taken aback hearing these words from Nathan. He'd thought his dad was just a proud, foolish man, but it seemed he actually had brains and common sense.
"It's all about money in this world." Nathan laughed, whether at himself or at the world itself. He grabbed an alcohol bottle from the dining table and took a swig.
After drinking, he added, "Even if I'm the wronged party, the one who really deserves justice the most, in the end, it all comes down to whether I can even afford that justice."
Listening to that rambling, Marcus understood. His dad wanted to be done with the divorce papers, but he wanted a better deal from William.
He wanted to raise that twenty thousand to something more substantial.