Phantom Hunters | Saphir Casters Academy

19 | Blighters

XIX | BLIGHTERS

    Kael bounced on his heels as he made it to his first class. Rita seemed to pick up on his unusually good mood when he took a seat next to her.

    "Hey, Kael. You seem pretty happy today. Did something happen?"

    Kael smiled. "Oh, it's nothing really. I just had a lot of fun yesterday with my brother."

    Students piled into the room, and Wynt was able to grab a seat next to Kael. "Good morning, guys," he said. "How was yesterday?"

    Rita shrugged. "I didn't really do anything. Fadhia wanted me to go shopping at the city with her and that Tyra girl, but I didn't want to go."

    "Okay. What about you, Kael? What did you do with your brother?"

    Kael failed to stop the smile that broke out. "We had fun. He took me to all his favourite places. Now, I'll be able to answer any questions about him." He clamped his mouth shut. He hadn't meant to say that last part. "I mean, I got to know what he's been up to while we haven't seen each other, so that was fun."

    He let out a breath when Fadhia dragged Tyra to the desks in front of them, pulling everyone's attention away from him.

    "Ahadhi kiss the morning!" Fadhia greeted in classic Arridian fashion. "It's a great day, don't you think?" She giggled.

    "I guess so," Wynt said.

    Rita shrugged. "If you say so."

    Kael was about to answer, but was harshly interrupted by the door swinging open. Nox lazily strode in with a bunch of papers in his arms. Today, he wore a black hoodie with the Silver Wolf insignia embroidered in, well, silver. Stopping at the teacher's podium, he dropped the papers and addressed the class.

    "Welcome back to class." He yawned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Let's get started. As usual, I'll start off with attendance."

    Everyone groaned. Not only was attendance boring, but it took a long time for Nox to call out a name and wait for answers from over a hundred students.

    "Mister Nox, sir!" a girl called from her seat. "Can't we just take attendance like we do in other classes?"

    "What? You want me to mark down everyone present by looking through useless quizzes given at the beginning of class?" Nox shrugged. "You gotta be kiddin' me. I don't have time for that."

    "But —"

    "Sorry, kid. I'm your authorised teacher, so I can do this however I want," Nox cut her off. "Pavo Aaliye"

    A student yelled a quick "Here!" and the girl resigned herself to the long roll call.

    Kael looked down at his hands, drowning out Nox's voice. He thought of the time he spent with Kly the day before but refused to think of the hours he spent waiting. No. Kly had kept his promise. It wasn't like Kly had given him a specific time. He had only promised that he'd spend some time with Kael. That was all. 

    He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his name before zoning out again. When Nox had finally called out the final name, Kael gladly shoved his uncertain thoughts aside to focus on the teacher.

    "Okay, kids. You've been through recap last week, so we're gonna do actual learning starting from today. I hope you had time to rest, because this class might feel like a drag." Nox shuffled his papers, then, as if he didn't care, threw them onto the ground; they fluttered away like small, white birds before landing softly like feathers.