Secrets of Hysteria

Chapter 1

Look out for these words: ignorant and oblivious.

Birds chirped happily in the sky as you slowly trudged down the sidewalk on the bright, warm sunny day. Your h/c hair stuck to your skin in the heat.

You were on your way to school, where you would spend the day with the rest of the city's children learning about nothing useful. In all honesty, you didn't think it was so bad since you still got to see the boy you were crushing on everyday.

"Y/N!" a sudden voice called out to you.

You could immediately tell who it was and stopped in your place to allow the footsteps to get closer. Once you realized they slowed down, you began walking again at your slow leisure pace. "Hello, Scoops. I'm surprised you aren't at school yet."

"Well," the boy next to you began, "I met this new girl, and I couldn't resist not interviewing her, ya know?"

You couldn't help but roll your eyes at that, a small smile playing on your lips. "At least you didn't go rush off to find Wordgirl. Let's hurry up and get to class. We don't want to explain why we're late, do we?"

Your friend, Scoops, laughed with a nod. "You have a point there. Come on!"

You watched as he hurried off ahead, leaving you alone once again. You barely picked up your pace, since you actually didn't care if you were late or not. You were exhausted from staying up the entire night. In fact, it was a miracle you were even up and walking.

In the midst of your tired induced mind, you failed to notice the sounds of a rambling boy behind you. You did snap out of it when the voice was right next to you.

"-Again! This will be the last time she does this!"

Your eyes widened as a small blush made its way to your face at the sight of the fuming blonde male passing by.

"T-Tobey!" you gasped out, reaching a hand out to the boy. "Hold up!"

The blonde slowed, glancing back at you with confusion. A small sighed left his mouth as he forced a smile towards you. "Hello, Y/n. A surprise to see you still walking to school."

"Well, I left my house later than usual," you mumbled, averting your eyes as you dropped your hand. "What about you? I thought you always got there early with Becky."

"I had a small run in with Wordgirl," he huffed, scowling as he turned away to continue walking. You quickly followed after him with a tilt of your head.

"Again? Did she foil your plans again?"

"She always does! I'm tired of it!"

You fell silent, staring at Tobey as he ranted to himself. You both eventually reached the school, rushing to your class as quickly as you could with Tobey lagging behind.

Your mind was clogged with anger and annoyance. Almost everyone knew of the blonde's obvious crush on the heroine. Everyone except himself and the hero herself.

It bothered you. You had always liked the villain boy, and had shown how you felt on multiple occasions, yet he was so ignorant and oblivious to how you felt.

You blinked as you looked up in sudden realization. You quickly glanced around, seeing yourself in your class with other kids. A frown made its way to your face and crossed your arms.

Since when had you known what ignorant and oblivious meant?

You glanced at the teacher, watching her blabber on about pointless things that you didn't care for. Carefully, you shifted in your seat and turned back to look over at the partners behind you.

"Psst. Becky," you called out to one of them.

The girl looked up with a surprised expression, immediately smiling at you. "Hey, Y/n. What's up?"

"What does ignorant and oblivious mean?"

Her smile brightened as she put her book down. She leaned forward, whispering back, "Ignorant means lacking knowledge or awareness in general, and oblivious means not aware of or not concerned about what is happening around one. They could be consider synonyms in some fashion."

You blinked at her. "Would you describe Tobey as those words?"

"Hm," she pondered the idea, glancing at the blonde to her left for a moment before shrugging. "In some cases, I suppose. I guess it would vary depending on a situation. But now, I guess he is quite oblivious. I'm not so sure about ignorant, though."

You gave a nod of your head, turning back to the teacher with a frown. You hadn't really gotten the answer you were looking for, but you honestly didn't feel like bothering the girl anymore.

School ended after what felt like forever. You honestly felt like that was just a waste of time. It had no significance to further any plot. All you learned were two new words, after all.

With a huff, you left your class. The chatter around you grew as kids flooded the halls. chatting away about who knows what.

"Y/n! Wait up!" Becky called after you. You paused and waited for her to catch up. She smiled as you both began walking together.

"So," she began, "do you have a thing for Tobey?"

You choked on your saliva, stopping in place as you coughed roughly.

"W-what?!" you hissed, surprised and mortified.

She grinned back at you, still walking ahead. "You heard what I said. Do you like Tobey? It's a simple yes or no question."

You rushed to catch up with her, gritting your teeth in anger. Your face was burning, and you had no doubt that it was flushed red.

"Oh, wow. You don't even have to answer. Your face says it all!"

"Shut it! Why are you asking anyways?!"

The brunette laughed and stopped walking, making you stop as well to watch her turn to you. "I'm not oblivious to how you look at him. Plus, when you asked me the words, you only asked about Tobey. It's kind of hard to not realize it, Y/n."

You scoffed and crossed your arms, glaring at the ground with heated cheeks. "Well, he doesn't like me."

"What makes you say that?"

"He obviously likes Wordgirl. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a shrine dedicated to her." A startled sound came from Becky, causing you to look at her with confusion. "Becky?"

Her face was flushed as well with her eyes wide. You watched as she blinked hard, shaking her head, and placing her hands on her cheeks.

"Becky?" you repeated.

"Sorry Y/n! I gotta go!" she yelped out, turning on her heel and racing off, leaving you by yourself on the sidewalk.

You crossed your arms, your hands gripping and tightening your upper arms. "Yeah, okay, Becky. I'll see you later."