Who is this? [ongoing]

Math Class

Gale trudged up the stairs, feeling her shoes make a clean tap noise against the floor with every step she took. The 3rd floor came into view as she came to the top of the stairs. Room 306 was where Mr. Turner resided, who always droned on for ages and bored practically everyone in the room. Gale stopped at the entrance to the classroom, took a deep breath and resumed herself.

She entered the room, no one was there except Mr. Turner. He didn't seem to acknowledge her presence whatsoever, but this was common for Gale. She resigned herself to a life of humility, not usually bothering many people. She was painfully average in a way that made her invisible. In a sea of students, no one would notice her. That was what she liked, though. Slipping under the radar, and succeeding quietly.

She pulled out a chair, there was no screeching sound that followed. The only thing that Gale admired about room 306 was that each chair was accessorized with felt glides. She sat down in her chair, feeling the draft in the classroom caused by the broken furnace. She shivered a bit, gosh she hoped someone would fix that stupid thing. Paired with the dust exuding from the stacks of spare textbooks left in the corners of the room, it truly felt like a winter day.

Their school textbooks were nearly a decade old, it was a shock none's cover had fallen off. Gale opened her own book, feeling the spine crack as it always did. She found an inkling of amusement in the boring drag that was math class from the little doodles that students had left on the pages over the years. Gale felt like she was conducting an archaeological dig as she flipped through the pages of work, every time she did she always found something new. Her favorites were the little hedgehog doodles on every corner of each page.

She knew they were done by the same person because they all were in the same style. She wished she knew the identity of this mysterious artist. Gale wondered if this person knew that their little drawings gave someone amusement every math class, that they got them through a long hour of talking and writing and thinking.

That person she always thought of each math class. Maybe she had passed them on the street, maybe it was someone she already knew. Maybe it was someone she was yet to meet. Either way, she appreciated them. Gale felt her trance break as the bell rang annoyingly loud. At once, she noticed the room was already full of students, and she didn't even see them come in.

When Mr. Turner rose from his cushy office chair, everyone was fully prepared for him to drawl out a long lecture as always. But instead, an office staff, Ms. Almanzio, appeared at the door and made the 'come here' gesture at Mr. Turner. They began to converse in a hushed whisper, no one had a clue what they were saying. Gale swore she saw a hint of a tall silhouette behind Ms. Almanzio, but it disappeared as fast as it came.

The whispers faded as the two staff finished their discussion. Ms. Almanzio walked away to reveal the same tall silhouette Gale had seen at first. It was a girl. She wore a pink silk ribbon in her hair, and star-shaped earrings that glistened in the lamplight near the door. She wore a cardigan and a blush-pink shirt. Her shoes were plain sneakers, looking worn and out of shape. She smiled nervously, then quickly resigned to a uncomfortable frown when she noticed the unamused expressions of the students.

She played with the silver necklace she wore around her neck. Her skin was a dark-tan complexion, with a few freckles interspersed throughout her face. Mr. Turner cleared his throat heartily, then began to speak. "Class, this is..uh...Sylvia, was it?" He asked the girl, who was currently frozen like a statue. "Yes." She whispered, and Gale didn't even know if she saw her mouth move. "Sylvia is here to join our class. She moved here recently. Please be welcoming to her."

Sylvia's eyes seemed to think her shoes were suddenly the most interesting thing ever, while her hands were focused on the art of twirling hair. Gale felt a twinge of sympathy for the girl, but she wasn't much concerned about that. Her outfit wasn't the only thing notable about Sylvia. Gale felt the fog in her mind clear way as Sylvia walked in. She was a bit freaked out by this, everything felt a lot clearer suddenly. She was too occupied with her new surroundings to notice much else.

"So, why don't you take a seat next to Gale and then we'll start class?" Mr. Turner said. Gale didn't care much for that statement until she realized that the name Mr. Turner had mentioned belonged to her.

What? She exclaimed in her own head, startling herself a bit as her inner voice was suddenly much louder now that the fog was gone. As soon as the girl sat down, Mr. Turner began to start the daily drag of math. He was first talking about how disappointed he was with the results of the last exams, but the talk went unnoticed by Gale as she was too busy looking at this girl's outfit. It was so...strange.

Everyone in South Yoylen mostly wore neutral colored, trendy clothes but this girl didn't look much like that. She was wearing fun colours, not nearly as muted as everything else. It looked vintage, like this girl had crawled out of a movie from the 90s. The hair color was unusual, it was a dirty blonde, more grey. Her bangs looked like she had stuck one of those foam rollers in it. The hairstyle was also peculiar, how it stuck out in the back like little spikes. It was strange, but she couldn't complain. She kind of thought it was cool.

It was fascinating.

Sylvia glanced over at Gale. Gale recoiled a bit, ashamed she was caught looking at the girl. "Hi." She said in a smooth voice that was sweet as summer peaches. "Uh...hi." The shorter girl replied, entranced by the unexpectedly beautiful voice of Sylvia. "What's your name?" Sylvia's eyes were overflowing with curiosity. Gale's own grey eyes softened their gaze. "Gale." She smiled faintly.

"Sylvia." A smile cracked upon the girl's face as she whispered it, like they were sharing a special secret.

I knew that. Gale thought to herself, her own smile widening. She resumed her attention to the lecture, and took notes as best she could. Her notes were organized, her handwriting was clean. She took a peek at Sylvia's own notes. Her handwriting was in a series of very swirly letters, forever in the dance of a loop. Throughout the lecture, Gale occasionally stole a glance at Sylvia's notes. Maybe a little more than occasionally. Maybe a lot more actually.

Hopefully she wouldn't notice.

Mr. Turner then allowed his students to work on their textbooks. Sylvia opened her's for the first time. A smile revealed itself, as she giggled. "Look! A little hedgehog!" She showed Gale the page, clearly amused by this new delight. Gale had seen it before, but watching Sylvia get so excited over it made her weirdly happy for some reason. Sylvia continued to chuckle quietly with each new page she turned.

Gale felt a little odd for the whole class, but she didn't quite mind it anymore.

After class ended, Sylvia tapped Gale on the shoulder. Gale jumped a bit, she wasn't used to being touched. "Oh! I'm sorry. It's just...do you know where the science lab is?" Sylvia showed Gale her schedule. Her eyes widened. "Oh, um...I have that class next. I'll show you." Gale sighed. "Thank you!" Sylvia replied happily. We have a lot of classes together, huh...  Gale thought as they walked off into the distance of the hallway.