The Game: Reality

The Game: Homines || Episode 47

Darya stood at the front of the school entrance, her gaze fixated up on the imposing building. She had gotten used to the feeling of dread she experienced every morning when she woke up on a school day. She takes a deep breath before letting out a deep sigh, and with reluctance walks into the building. The hallways are empty, everyone is already in class, the traffic on the way to school was heavier than Darya's mom had expected, which resulted in her coming five minutes too late. Darya walks the empty school hallways to her classroom, looking around, noticing the calm feeling she experiences when she's alone here. Nobody can bother her, nobody needs anything from her. She contemplates taking a small walk around the empty hallways, but realizes that it's probably too risky to do that. She had already gotten in trouble with her teachers after the fight she had with Elijah, so if they catch her skipping class, she'd probably be in a lot more trouble. The last thing she and her mother need right now is a talk with the principal. She furrows her eyebrows as she thinks back to the shallow conversation she had with her teacher about the fight she had with Elijah, feeling slightly bitter and angry about how the teacher was the one reprimanding her, when Elijah had bullied her for months since she entered the school. Eventually, she finds herself standing in front of the door that leads to her classroom. She hesitates again, her left hand clenching into a weak fist while her right on holds onto her backpack thats thrown over her shoulder. “I don't wanna go.” a little voice whispers in her head, causing her to purse her lips. But she lifts her left hand, gently knocking on the door before reluctantly opening it and peeking inside the classroom after a short pause. She looks at her English teacher's stern expression, her dissatisfaction at Darya's late appearance as clear as day. Darya steps into the classroom, closing the door behind her before turning to the teacher and speaking, hearing her heart beat loudly in her ears as she can see everyone's eyes on her in her peripheral vision: “I'm really sorry for coming late, Mrs. Smith. The traffic—” before Darya can even explain her reasoning for why she's late, Mrs. Smith brushes her off, an irritated look in her eyes: “I don't care. Just sit down.” Darya blinks, pursing her lips before speaking again: “Yes ma'am. I'm sorry.” she apologizes again, before walking to her seat and sitting down, unpacking her stuff as Mrs. Smith continues with her dull lesson. She places her English books on her desk in front of her, feeling bitter and humiliated. “It feels like I'm never welcome in this place. No one ever wants to see me here.” she thinks to herself, feeling slightly hurt by the way Mrs. Smith had brushed her off without a second thought. Suddenly, her thoughts get interrupted by a familiar whisper: “Pssst!” she blinks, Looking over to her side and seeing the familiar smile and blue eyes with grey undertones staring at her. Lukyan smiles at her, whispering again to her as she looks at him: “Good morning. Don't mind the teacher, she's in a grumpy mood today.” He's slightly leaned over his desk, so that Darya can hear his whisper, his head tilted to the side, his black hair falling over his right shoulder. Darya stares at Lukyan for a moment, noticing how happy he seems to be able to see her. She quickly shakes those thoughts away, greeting Lukyan back in a whisper: “...Good morning, Lukyan.” Lukyan smiles brightly, before sitting up straight in his chair again, his gaze shifting back to the teacher. Darya gazes at him for a few seconds, before returning to unpack her things.

The school rooftop becomes more lively as a group of teens enters it, away from the chaotic school grounds filled with other students that are coming outside from break. Darya sits on the bench, clutching her notebook in her left hand while her right hand guides the pen across the paper, drawing the dismantled figure of the creature she has been working on. She hears the lively laughter and talking of the group of students near by, her gaze slowly shifting towards them as she gazes at them. For a moment, she simply watches their lively forms, she watches them make jokes and talk, talking about their day and about how they're not excited at all for the upcoming math test. A strange, empty feeling forms in her chest area, her gaze slowly falling back down onto the paper, her hand frozen. She simply stares at her drawing for a moment, before shaking her head and returning to gliding the pen across the paper.
Eventually, she leans back, closing her notebook and deciding that for today, it's enough drawing. She looks around the notebook and realizes she hadn't seen Lukyan since the last lesson, for a moment, she wonders if she should just leave it be, but her curiosity and boredom gets to her, and she finally decides to go look for him. She stands up, holding onto her notebook as she walks past the group of students, back inside the school.

She walks down the hallway of the school, chatty students passing her by as she wanders about, keeping herself on the lookout for the dark-haired, young man she's set on finding. Her steps slowly come to a halt as she stops in front of a window, glancing outside onto the school grounds in an attempt to find the boy she's looking for. Suddenly, she feels somebody bump into her shoulder, causing her to nearly drop her notebook, which she managed to clutch closely to her chest. “Ugh— watch where you're!—” the familiar voice barks out, before quickly falling silent upon seeing the girl he's speaking to. Darya stares at the boy before her, yet in response Elijah only stares for a moment, before scowling and grumbling out a response in a different tone of voice: “watch it.” he pushes past her, quickly walking away, leaving Darya to look at the back of his head as he hurries away from her. She remains still, before looking back out of the window again, her mind absent as she momentarily forgets what she wanted to do: “Now he's scared. What is he, a dog?” But her memory quickly gets revived again, as she sees the familiar, red hair strands amidst the black, messy hair outside. She turns around, before quickly hurrying down the corridor, making her way towards the stairs and with a quick step, descending them.

The cold wind caresses her face as she looks around, before quickly hurrying over towards the silhouette she finally found. As she's walking, the image becomes to become more clearer to her, as she sees the blue-eyed boy chatting with another group of guys, a cheerful smile on his face, one so familiar to her. Her steps however, slowly come to a halt again as she watches the boy chat away, make jokes and entertain the group around him, a realization dawning on her: “..What am I even going to say to him? 'I just felt like seeing you'?” she stares at the group, seeing just how easy it seems to be for Lukyan to talk to other people. “..maybe I should just go. He seems pretty happy right now.” She thinks to herself, but just as she's about to leave, the dark-haired boy suddenly lifts his gaze up, and notices her amidst the crowd. He smiles brightly, lifting his hand and waving at her, causing her mind to momentarily silence itself. She lifts her left hand slowly, waving back in an awkward manner. In response, Lukyan ushers her over with a smile. Her gaze shifts towards the group of kids gathered around him, a moment of hesitation setting in her body language. But eventually, she steps forward, then takes another step, and next thing she knows, she's walking over towards Lukyan with a quick step and an uncomfortable gut feeling following her.