"Warm up!" I hear the teacher yell.

"Wait!" All eyes turn on me as I run clumsily, holding a pair of shoes towards them. As soon as my wobbly legs reach my spot, I begin panting. Even if not visible, I can bet that my cheeks have turned a light tinge of red.

Yeah, I get it. I just ran from the washroom, no biggie. But, do you have any idea how far the washroom is? It's a miracle that I came at least today on time. My academics is the one that's on fleek. Not sports.

"Finally you manage to come on time," the teacher scowls, shooting a disgusted look at me before clapping her hands, ordering us to jog. Groaning, as my stomach already hurts from the washroom run, I begin jogging.

For some apparent reason, this teacher seems to despise me. Well, I am late for almost all the classes. But that's not a really valid reason to hate someone so bad.

Trust me, it's not dislike. It's called hate.

And me, being the last person in this line is just a perfect target for her to pick on.

"Eline, give those muscles some push!"

Darn! I turn back to shoot a small glare at her, which she narrowly misses. (Thank god.)

None of us four have sport classes together. Hence I am stuck in this hell hole all by myself. I notice a girl leading this jog. Her sleek black hair is tied into a ponytail. Even if I can only see her back, I immediately figure out who it is.

Alma. Who else?

I have no idea what I was doing in this school for so long. I actually never noticed that she is with me in gym, Emma in my math class, Aaron in physics. I guess I never really paid attention. The moment I did, I notice them all of a sudden.

To be frank, none of us have seen the 'popular kids' ourselves. Or that's what I would like to believe. Because that tiny incident with Kayla and Jayden shows otherwise.

But definitely for me, it's the first time meeting them in person. Kayla's gossips built up half of my impression on them. The other half was just stereotypical stuff.

After two- three rounds of jogging, we finally come back to our original place. Alma stands at the extreme end and I at the other. I don't hope that she doesn't notice me, since I bet she had already did.

She is too observant to let slip even a dust particle. I shift my eyes away from her, not wanting her to get the impression that I want to talk to her. The chance is likely that it will end up in a mess.

First of all, how did she even become friends with the popular kids? They all seem so nice, except for her, obviously.

Oh wait, Lora!

I totally forgot about her. Sorry for not mentioning earlier but according to Kayla's resources, she is the 'head' or 'queen bee' or whatever cringe-y name you want to associate her with.

Remember how I came to realize that Emma is the popular girl's sidekick? Yeah, that 'popular girl' is Lora. I have actually seen her once or twice. I guess on the school grounds. If I am correct, she has platinum blonde curled up hair, a heart shaped face and cat eyes.

Now I get why Emma was so free to speak with me. Surely if Lora was around, none of this would have happened. Instead, she would've snapped at me, tell me to get my ugly face off her sight, and walk away, swaying her hips. Oh, add some mindless plastic heads tagging with her as well.

I have been so lost in my thoughts that as I look around, no one is present except me.

"This is what happens when you don't pay attention," the teacher snaps me off my thoughts. Can this lady at least tell me where they went?

"Um, where are the rest?" I ask, hoping she won't come with another indirect remark.

"I told you girls to quickly freshen up and play sports of your choice," the teacher says. Just when I was about to thank her, she slips another sentence in.

"But not for you. Take one more round of jogging and sit there. This should teach you a lesson," she says pointing at the empty seat.

My jaw clenches.

"But why?" A sly smile lines her mouth.

"Isn't not following the rules enough to get a punishment?"

"But, I was not paying attention! I would've followed if I knew," I retort, my voice coming off higher than I expected.

"Don't raise your voice, young lady. Go, do as I say or if you want more than this, go ahead and speak." She folds her arms, glaring at me like I am a tiny bug. Listen, I am not short, alright! I am average for my age. But this teacher is the one too gigantic for any age.

And I hate it when people are taller than me. Just makes me feel powerless. And that's what this teacher intends to do, I guess. Swallowing all the curses playing at the tip of my tongue, I start jogging.

I don't really have a problem with this punishment though. Even if I did play sports, the only game I would play is badminton. And she would surely come and stand next to me, just to correct me in the slightest mistakes. It's better I just sit in one corner, free from her annoying existence.

Okay, that might be harsh. But that's how I feel right now. I look around as I take a slight curve. The majority of the girls are playing basketball whereas I see merely two heads playing badminton.

"Whoo!" I hear the girls holler as Alma perfectly shoots a ball into the basket. To my left are guys, some playing cricket and the others, football. And one sitting quietly on the seats, with an exhausted expression and short breaths.

Even if the face is blurred, I can make out the owner. Luke. What's with the whole 'Meeting the popular kids everywhere' thing?

Shaking my head, I tiredly jog the last few steps, stopping as I reach my place. At the corner of my eyes, I see the teacher instructing some girls.

I play with my fingers, impatient for her to arrive. But my eyes dart to the red head sitting alone. Did he get kicked out or something? I can't really figure out what he is thinking.

Some people are really easy to figure out. Those that have no problem in showing how they feel to the world.

Whereas some are just mysterious. There might be nothing that they are hiding. But yet, they put on a mask for all situations. Not wanting anyone to even get a peek of their life.

Luke is one such person. Even with just a day's meet, I can figure it out that he is such a kid. The one that seems nice but doesn't really reveal much. It's more interesting to speak to these kind of people. Mysterious. Surreptitious. All the kinds of words you want to put.

As though noticing my stare, he immediately shoots a glance in my direction. I lower my head, not knowing what to do. I won't go and talk or wave a friendly hand. That's just signing a treaty with the devil.

I pray silent for him to turn his gaze back and thankfully he does. I sigh a heave of relief.

"Good girl. Now, go sit in one corner." I narrowly miss the teacher's sudden presence. Nodding my head, I make my way to the lone seat on the far left. I walk lazily to the seat that looks too lonely.

As my vision becomes clearer, I notice Alma sitting tiredly on the seat.

Time to check my vision.

She immediately looks up at me, giving me chills. Her eyes look dangerous, challenging me to come and sit next to her. I look down, my heart racing at how loathing her eyes were the day before. If there is anything I won't do, it is to sit next to her

As though noticing my slight fear, she sneers. I am seriously beginning to think that she is worse than Lora herself.

Further proving her hatred , she extends her legs on to the seat, covering the whole area.

What in the world?

I part my lips in a pathetic attempt to speak. I seriously didn't think someone would be hated so much for this silly reason. Or is it because I interrupted her small tea party in the canteen? Guess I have no idea of finding out.

The vision of the sport teacher comes next to me. I sigh happily, thinking that someone has finally come to put some sense into her. Instead, it turns out to be quite the opposite.

"Can't you see she is tired? Take some other seat." I glare at the teacher. What the heck? This partiality is going way over its limits.

Funny how you are the victim here.

"I don't think she needs that much space. It's a place for two.. " I point at her, who just gets entertained at my irritation. I suddenly widen my eyes at my little outburst. Sometimes when things go above the limit, you change yourself.

"I am the teacher here. There is an empty seat next to Octavier. Go sit there." The teacher points her finger at Luke.

"M-" teacher leaves the place before I could retort. Screw this place. If I ever planned on avoiding these popular kids, it will never happen. It's like fate somehow makes me interact with them.

No, I won't sit with him.

I walk off to where the boys are playing, muttering and hoping that there should be some vacant seats somewhere. His place can't be the only one that is empty. I have already sat next to Emma twice, had some bad memories with Alma and the last thing I want is to sit with Luke as well. If my friends even knew about this, I would be buried six feet under.

My footsteps remain unheard due to the hoots and passionate cheers of those playing. Finally reaching their area, I glance around, my heart slowly beating in the hope that some seat must be empty.

A seat far away is already filled with sweaty teens, some chugging water and others placing bets on the current match. I bite my lip and force myself to look back at Luke. His red bangs cover half his face as he rests it on his arms. I look immediately back as I see him move slightly.

He is surely gonna think that you're a creep.

I stand for some more awkward seconds before a basketball hits my face. I immediately jump back, pressing my face against my palm, and rubbing to check if there is any blood. Thankfully there is no wound but my face has reddened and my heart is plumetting hard against my chest.

"Get out of the court, girlie!" A tall lanky boy calls out to me as he immediately snatches the basketball from my outstretched arm. Slightly displacing my hands , I meant to glare a bit at the guy, also showing him my red face. He seems unaffected by the collision and throws the ball back to the team, jogging away. I feel myself getting even more mad.

Is he kidding me? For goodness sake, I just got hit by a basketball flying at the rate of god knows what! He didn't even have the sense to mutter an apology? If my mother was around here, she would've beat the sense out of his kid.

Groaning, I walk back to where Luke is sitting. Too much for asking some space.

His eyes are wide open now, taking in my squashed face. I look around everywhere but his face.

Dont ask me. Dont ask me. Don't ask me.

"Are you alright?" he asks just as I manage to sit down. I wince inwardly as his eyes are now fixed intently on my face. It's hard to ignore him when he is asking if I am alright. But this can potentially lead to some friendship.

I look back at him again, arguing whether to respond or not. He observes me for some more seconds before speaking.

"It's fine if you don't want to talk."

My heart crashes at the very moment. I feel like an idiot. A cruel anti-social idiot. In fact, I am anything but antisocial. But I have no other option. If I need to still keep my friends with me, I need to do this. I need to wear this mask. Our friendship has more deeper effects than what one may see. I can't bare to lose our family's hard earned wealth or connections.

But something about these people just prevents me from being silent. The words fall out before I could stop them.

"No, it's fine. Sorry for not responding. It hurts slightly, nothing much to worry about, " I say, looking at his brown eyes. His brows relax and he nods, looking back at the match. The silence grows on and on. Even I felt a bit irritated at the ongoing silence. But I know better than to speak again. I have done my part in not offending him and that's all I can do for now.

Any further step into this conversation will result in many down falls. And I am not sure if I can take that.

📝📝📝📝📝📝📝📝📝📝📝📝📝

AUTHOR'S NOTE

:D

A long chapter. I am so proud! Actually this chapter was supposed to be so short that I thought it would total up to just 500 words. Instead, it's over two thousand words!

I guess I just felt the urge to write a lot today or something.

Oh also,I was extremely bored. That's what happens when you spend an entire Friday and Saturday stuck at your house, without even stepping outside.

I am so bored.

Anyway, let's end with my childish rant. Oh also, I changed my cover. I don't know which cover is better.

Alright then,

Splashes.