Gisela pushed herself a bit further. She could hear the school bell ringing and she knew that if she would not run at full force, she would be really late for class.
Having been bothered by the recurring dream...a dream where some of its parts, she could not exactly recall, she had overslept.
She couldn't remember the face or the promise and yet they kept coming back to her mind. She was getting pissed off but refused to let it show.
Ignoring the annoying memories and dreams, she tried concentrating on getting to her school.
She took the short cut in order to get there on time. Sensing that no one would see her, she climbed up the fence and jumped down with a full twisting layout before landing on her feet gracefully.
She fixed her glasses and her uniform, before sauntering towards the school building. When she finally reached the hallway, she slowed down her gait.
She could hear some students whispering but as usual she ignored them while concealing her presence.
"I can't believe I am in the same class as her!" One of the boys said as he was eyeing the roster posted on the wall.
"Who?" his friend asked.
"Shirayuki Gisela."
As soon as she heard her name mentioned, Gisela's eyes feed towards the group of boys who were looking at the rosters.
"What seems to be wrong with her?" the boy with light brown hair asked.
"You haven't been in our class last year, Raiden, so you did not know her. She is as creepy as hell!" Hachi, who happened to be one of her classmates last year answered.
Raiden raised his brows. He was a bit skeptic about what Hachi had said. But Hachi continued. "She's a geeky weirdo. She is quite intelligent and can rival Shiro in academics."
As if on cue, Shiro, their iinchou (class president) last year joined the conversation. "Although, she doesn't look like it, unlike the normal nerd stereotype, she was a bit fast." he added in almost a whisper, "She could appear and disappear without anyone noticing her... like a ghost."
"Really?" Raiden asked with incredulity.
Shiro nodded before filling in a few details. "But don't try and get close to her. She seemed like a loner. She doesn't have any friends, and she was barely tolerated by teachers."
"Everyone treats her like an outcast... Can't blame us. She has peculiar looks, always gloomy aura..." Hachi added. "Most of the students called her with several horror-related names "Yuki-onna" (Snow Maiden) and "Ice Witch". Because of her cold attitude that matched her family name 'Shirayuki' (White snow).
"Maji de? (Seriously?) "What does she looks like?" Raiden asked with utmost interest. It was not everyday that you would encounter such a person.
"You haven't seen her yet?!" Shiro and Hachi asked simultaneously.
When Raiden nodded, Hachi began babbling. "she was popularly referred to as "Sadakoi" which was short for Sadako no Futakoi (Sadako's Twin). She resembled the said character from "The Ring". The only difference was that she wore round thick rimmed megane (glasses). It was quite impossible not to cross path with her."
"That's because we were classmates."Shiro pointed out and continued. "Anyway, students believe that she could curse anyone who would approach her and would try to talk to her. They say that bad luck will befall on you once you come near her."
"Honto desu ka? (Really) I think they are just urban legends. You are already teens, but you believe in such..." Raiden said while shaking his head.
Hachi then said in a rather low voice. "Some say that she was into occultism...She will bring misfortune to those who would lock gazes with her-"
Hachi was not able to finish what he had to say. Shiro had nudged him in order to catch his attention.
They had noticed that the hall had kept quiet. When they turned, their eyes widened. Gisela was standing a few paces away from them.
The boys' faces paled considerably. They've been caught gossiping about her. The hallway became still. Noticing her presence, most students students stopped talking and began edging away.
"Go... gomen nasai! (I'm sorry!)"A girl, who had been near Gisela, bowed and apologized before escaping.
As Gisela walked, students made way for her while muttering apologies and excuses before fleeing... Gisela ignored them and entered the classroom.
The tense air lifted after she had gone inside but she knew that they would resume whispering when she's out of sight.
"No wonder you called her such." Raiden said while eyeing his two friends who had been frozen on the spot.
For a couple of weeks, Gisela's routine remained the same. However, she could not shake the feeling that someone was watching her.
Whenever she tries to glance at her classmates, they would bow their heads down or would simply avoid looking her way.
Ignoring the noise that her classmates were making, Gisela was busy scribbling on her notebook. As usual she was alone in her seat, which was at the isolated corner of the class. Her classmates were busy pairing up with one another for their project.
Nothing's new with how her classmates treated her-like an outcast. After all, who would like to hang out with Sadako's twin sister?
For about a year of being treated like an outcast, Gisela had gotten used to being alone. She already accepted the fact that no one would like to get to know her for who she really was. Majority of the people in school had judged her based on her looks.
Truth be told. She actually wanted the we-don't-know-that-you exist-treatment. She hated too much attention.
Being treated like an outcast in school, Gisela had more breathing space. She could enjoy the peace that came with being a loner. So, Gisela ended up doing the things she wanted to, alone.
For now, she just continued making plans for her project like she regularly did, in a one-man-army-style.
"Konnichiwa! (Hi!) Is this seat taken?" asked a male voice that made Gisela stop what she was doing.
Even though, she wouldn't look at the speaker, she knew that the voice belonged to Akira Raiden, the most popular boy in class.
Gisela was puzzled as to why he would be approaching her. Although, he was friendly, approachable and helpful, still he did not seem the type who would be befriending an outcast such as her.
She was actually surprised that he even came up and talked to her. Wasn't he warned by his friends not to approach her? But in any case, that was not her problem. And if he would like to sit...
Without looking at Raiden, she answered in her cold monotonous tone, "You can sit there, if you want. That isn't mine anyway."
Raiden was surprised by her cold treatment. He did not do anything wrong, right? He looked at the girl to see if she was somehow joking. But he could not see her expressions since her long black hair was almost covering her face. Nevertheless, he sat down and continued observing her.
"Nani? (What?)" She snapped at the boy after a few more minutes of eerie silence, her face remained emotionless. "Staring at other people is rude."
Gisela felt awkward because of Raiden's stare, she was not used to have other people stare or even approach her. Usually people would avoid her or would simply ignore her.
Raiden looked away after realizing that he was staring at her and he answered, "Nani mo nai...(Nothing...)"
Gisela was very much puzzled by his behavior, why would this guy sit beside her? Being one of the popular boys in school, Raiden had his own group of friends and his own group of fans who were dying to be with him and were usually crowding around him... but today...
"Don't have your adoring fans with you?"
"Betsuni (Not really). I got tired of them...sumanai (boring)."
Gisela was a bit surprised when he answered. She never noticed that she actually said what she was thinking aloud.
But because she had finally started a conversation with Raiden, the boy grabbed the opportunity to finally ask her, "Do you have a partner for the Science project?"
She just shook her head, still continuing with her work; not even giving a glance to the person talking to her. After all, she was only giving one-fourth of her attention to him.
'Chotto matte (Wait a second)... did he just ask if I had a partner? Duh? He already knew that I am an outcast.' she thought to herself.
He then said unhesitatingly, "I still don't have a nakama (partner). Won't you be my nakama (partner) for the project?"
Her brows creased and finally she looked up and saw his handsome face, "why would you want that?" she asked with her not so-interested expression, although she was observing him.
He got short dark brown hair contrasted with his fair skin. Even though he's a guy, his lips were somewhat rosy pink. He also got very expressive brown eyes, which always seemed to smile.
He looked quite good with his school uniform on. Although he had left three buttons open, which made his white undershirt visible, he couldn't be considered as a violator yet.
"Well, because I want to." After a few minutes, he answered in a very serious manner; his eyes were locked on her face.
Since, she could not take those brown eyes, which seemed to see right through her, she just looked away.
"Aren't you supposed to be staying away from me? You might get cursed." she said.
"I don't believe in curses and I really wanted to be your nakama (partner)."
"You're weird...just go to one of your fans... and don't bother me." She told him and then continued with her work, thinking that he would finally leave her alone.
After a few minutes of silence, Gisela was surprised when he talked again.
"What if I beg? What if I get down on my knees and beg-rather I will execute a dogeza (grovel)?"
She looked at him and saw that he was making those cute puppy eyes like he was begging. But for Gisela, he looked like as if he was losing his mind.
But when he was about to move in order to kneel, Gisela just asked him while knotting her brows, "Did you lose a bet?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" his face was contorted, as if he was totally clueless of her question. He wasn't able to move from the seat.
"No one will ever dare come near me, unless they were dared or they lost on a certain bet. So, be honest." She said emphasizing some of her words.
"Of course not. I came here with my own free will to talk to you." He said with conviction.
However, he was answered by silence. It looked like Gisela didn't believe him.
So he tried to change the topic, "Anyway, can I be your nakama (partner)?"
Still, he was answered by another eerie silence...Although, he knew that Gisela was turning down his offer with her usual cold and non-verbal answer, still he continued asking her and talking to her, as if they were friends.
"I won't be leaving your side until we become nakama and until you allow me to help you." He said to the unresponsive girl.
The minutes ticked and their science period was almost up, but she continued ignoring him. Until her ears got irritated with his voice so she finally snapped at him, "Get lost. You are bothering me."
But the boy, because of his determination and persistence, still continued his one-way negotiation... until, Gisela, who got tired of trying to push him away, agreed to be his partner.
A satisfied smile was plastered on his handsome face.
A/N
Thank you very much for reading! I had revised this part.
I want to know your reaction about this... so please leave a comment...
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~Kai~
11/30/14