Project: Socialize (Chapters 198-Continued) [Hiatus]

273. Final Year of High School

Leaving the house this early in the morning is something that I will have to get used to once again. It has been approximately two months since I last exited the house with Alvelyn and waited by the elevators after regrouping with Muria. This walk to Lumina Station felt familiar, yet it just felt so distant.

The morning heat from the blistering sun overhead was rather unpleasant as the sun's hot rays stung against my exposed forearms that my summer school uniform did not conceal. It was a mild discomfort, but it was enough to make me feel lazy and not want to go to school. Instead, I want to simply lay in my bed until noon while enjoying the cool air that is being circulated into the house through the central air conditioning unit.

I yawned as I looked ahead in front of me, taking in the view of Muria and Alvelyn walking side-by-side on the city road of Palisia where the evenly spaced out roadside trees provided us temporary relief from the sun with their umbrage. Nearby, storefronts were already up and running and are ready to welcome customers. Just before that crosswalk up ahead and to my left, the side opposite of the main road that is shielded off with road fences, is the convenience store that I often visited during my walks to school to purchase some food for lunch.

Like usual, I entered through the automatic doors, ignoring whether or not Alvelyn and Muria will wait for me or not, and went straight to the isle containing the pre-made lunches. I was greeted by the usual greeting by the store's employees, but I simply treated that as a background noise that is no different from the soft, music that is being played through the speakers built into the ceiling. It doesn't matter to me if the Alvelyn and Muria waited for me or went ahead without me. We will all meet at the same time on the platforms at Lumina Station, so there really is no point in me rushing.

After purchasing something for lunch and a drink for both myself and Alvelyn, I paid at the counter using my phone, and exited. I wasn't particularly surprised when I saw Alvelyn and Muria standing to the side of the sidewalk, waiting for me to exit. Without saying anything, I walked over to Alvelyn and handed her what I had purchased. I looked over at Muria, and felt a sense of guilt for having her wait for me. Therefore, I reached into the plastic bag and handed her the drink that I had bought for myself and handed it to her.

Muria seemed rather taken back by my gesture, as she seemed somewhat confused initially and glanced up at me as if questioning my intent. She probably does not understand what I was trying to do, but after a few seconds, she seemed to caught on and accepted the cold, aluminum can from my hand without saying anything.

"Thank you," she muttered softly with a slight smile on her face as she enjoyed the cool sensation that originated from the aluminum can.

I didn't mind giving her the drink, as I can always buy another one when I come across a vending machine at school.

We then continued our walk to Lumina Station, taking the familiar route to the escalators. We rode the escalators up to the second floor of the station and then made our way towards the elevated railway line that will take us to our school. After passing through the ticket gates by scanning our phone by the scanner, we walked up the short flight of stairs to the platforms where surrounding us were no walls with only concrete pillars supporting the floors above us. 

Through the large opening on either sides of the platforms, I looked out and was greeted with a beautiful view of Palisia as it basked in the summer sun. The blue sky outside dotted with the occasional small clouds but was otherwise clear made it so that the metropolis appeared rather bright.

After riding the elevated railway to the familiar train station by Nocsinis Imperial High, we exited the station and started walking in the direction of the school. This route leading from the train station towards the school is populated by plenty of other students dressed in my school's summer uniform who also walked in the same direction. Some of them were walking alone, listening to music from their earbuds as they did so, while the others walked with friends, chatting as they spoke with great vigor about the new school year.

After arriving at the familiar front entrance to Nocsinis Imperial High, the three of us walked onto the school campus and made our way over to the lecture building that still appeared the same as it was prior to our summer break. We then made our way over to the stairway, but unlike before, we had to go up one additional floor as the third year students' classrooms are on the floor above the second year students'. We then made our way over to the classroom with the classroom number on the plate that protruded in the hallway above the sliding doors of the classrooms matching the one that was sent to us in a text message by the school.

Upon arriving, I looked up at the white plate with back letters that spelled out 3-A. This will be my classroom for my final year of high school.

I slid open the door and entered the classroom with Alvelyn and Muria. Inside the classroom, I can see familiar faces of my classmates from last year conversing with each other with great vitality, which made the classroom rather loud. It made me somewhat uncomfortable, but luckily, I had my wireless earbuds in with music playing, so the noise wasn't able to have as big of an impact on me. Besides, I assume I will eventually get used to this noise.

Inside the classroom, Loyd, Noah, and Irina had already arrived. The three of them were standing by the back corner of the room, conversing, and when they saw us enter, they stopped their conversation as they turned their attention to us. Loyd walked up to us with a usual smile on his face, but...upon seeing him, I felt rather awkward. However, this must not even come close to the awkwardness that Alvelyn is experiencing as she is unable to meet Loyd's eye. However, it would appear that Loyd does not plan to press her for a response, so I suppose things will...remain this way for now.

"How's your summer, Alevian?" Irina asked me with a happy smile on her face.

"It's alright," I said, yawning.

I wanted to find somewhere to sit down, but we have yet to be assigned our seats, so if I sit down now, I will have to get up later anyways. Besides, I wouldn't want people complaining about getting a seat that I sat in. I don't need to be reminded of what happened in middle school again. I can still remember hearing them complaining with their friends and think that I couldn't hear them.

The bell signalling the start of the school year rang, and thus zero period homeroom began. Walking in through the sliding doors at the front of the classroom was still Mura, as she is still our homeroom teacher. She walked towards the teacher's podium while holding onto her tablet with one hand. On her face was a smile as she welcomed us back from our break.

"Welcome back everyone," she said. "One more year."

There were cheering from the other students in the class.

"This will be the seating chart for first semester," she said as she transferred the image on her tablet wirelessly to the smartboard on the wall. "Please sit accordingly, and tell me if you cannot see. Don't come to me about wanting to sit next to your friends."

I waited in the back of the classroom for the crowd in front of the smartboard to clear. I am in no mood to be squeezing among them to see where I will be sitting. I will get to know sooner or later, so why bother trying to know sooner when I can know it a bit later? It would appear that the others have the same idea as me as they were also waiting.

After confirming my assigned seat, I walked over to where my seat was. It was at the back of the classroom, one desk to the right of the one against the window. I stared at my seat with a defeated look on my face, as this seat was basically where I sat last year but shifted to the right one desk.

"I'm next to you!" I heard Irina whisper to me.

I looked over to my right and saw her situating herself in the desk next to mine.

"We're all close together," Noah commented.

I surveyed my surroundings, and...my discoveries took me by surprise. Irina is seated to my right, Muria is seated to my left, with Alvelyn sitting directly in front of me. Next to Alvelyn to her left was Noah, and to her right was Loyd. It would appear that...we were all seated next to each other...