He looked up when the door burst open very loudly, making a bang sound. His lips twitched and heart tugged in discomfort, surprise and a little curiosity when he saw her figure appear two hours late for detention. With her tiny body, she somehow had a very large presence. Large enough for him to be aware of it. Be a little afraid of it.
Ace Adams.
She had somehow managed to caught his attention.
No, it was more like she had demanded his attention.
Once again, his chest tighten in discomfort and confusion.
"Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in?" James said while grinning very widely at her. His other friends had different expressions on their faces. Matt just slipped in a polite but confused smile while Andy looked a little creepy with so much teeth showing.
As for himself, he acted indifferent. Like he should have had when she pulled off that fake smile.
An urge to kick James flashed in his mind like a warning bell. It nagged him to leave her alone, to just let her be. To not get involved but he couldn't find it himself to say anything. Just a slight glare would have been enough to make them keep quiet, to make them stay away but he didn't wanted to raise his head enough to look at her directly.
She somehow made him cramped in his chest and he sure didn't like the feeling.
"Ace Adams." he saw from the corner of his eyes that she had nodded at them in greeting and introduced herself in a very 'Denny Crane' manner. She spared him no glance.
"Nice to meet you, Ace Adams. I am James. This is Andy, Daniel and Matt."
Sometimes he really wanted smack James in the head. His habit to be overly friendly and nice was a real pain in the ass for them. He really wanted him to shut up.
"Ah. Jamey, Andy, Danny and Matty, so adorable!" She said, a very sarcastic grin on her face. This time, he did raise his head and looked at her carefully. The atmosphere around her have changed. The grin wasn't forced but more amused. She no longer had the air of indifference around her but she felt more like a normal person, an approachable person.
Daniel felt a slight shiver down his spine.
What is this girl?
He watched as she took the furthest seat from us and looked at the sleeping supervisor. Mr. Collin who had a very great talent in sleeping through even dooms day. His was sitting straight in the chair with his eyes shut and mouth open. If they couldn't hear his slight snores, they would consider him dead.
The sight probably amused her because she grinned, this time it was all natural.
They all looked at her curiously. His friends were already a little confused on how to approach her and now they looked even more disoriented.
"He a tight sleeper?" she asked while leaning comfortably on her seat
"Yeah he sleeps like the dead." Andy replied leaning forward.
Her grin changed into a smirk. She pulled up her backpack and slowly shuffled around it. After few seconds, she pulled out a bright pink pouch which looked like a makeup bag he had seen his mum and other few girls have around.
His eyebrows raised in surprise, he really doubted if it belonged to her.
She opened it and her eyes were trained on the things inside. Matt elbowed him to ask with his expressions what exactly was going on but Daniel was the last person to have any idea at all.
She slowly got up from her seat and almost danced towards the sleeping Mr. Collins. Her movement was almost too graceful for him to believe it was the same person he had encountered the last two times. Almost like the whole identity have changed.
She blocked their view with her profile as she leaned forward from the other side of the teachers desk and got busy doing something to the poor man. They all had a slight idea at what she was doing so none of them tried to muddle in between. After around 15 minutes, she removed herself from their view and displayed her masterpiece.
After a few seconds of silence, it was Andy who broke into the creepiest way of laughing, Daniel had ever heard. Soon Matt and James followed. He himself couldn't help but cough a laugh.
Mr. Collins had been beautifully turned into Mrs. Collins.
There were those extra hair on his eyelashes. His lips were bright orange and his eyebrows were darker then night. There was bright red color on his cheeks and some weird shade of green over his eyelids. She had also drawn a very ugly mole on his chin. Though everything was done quiet well, somehow the colors together looked ugly and almost ghostly.
"Lesson number one of embarrassing someone! Always laugh later and take picture first." she hissed at them which made them come out of their surprise and amusement.
She didn't had to speck twice, James and Andy almost immediately pulled out their cellphones to take pictures. Matt just shook his head while smiling but did nothing which was expected of him. Daniel knew he wasn't much of a social media frantic.
While he himself also did nothing but sat their, staring at his other two friends who had gone crazy.
"Mr. Collins, I'll make you as popular as you wished you were in high school." James said while grinning furiously at his screen where he was typing like madman.
"Now, my good men, my job here is done so I am going home." Ace said and he sighed internally in relief and confusion.
It was better if they don't associate ever again.
"It's late, you have a ride?" Andy asked.
"Yeah, sure." She carelessly replied like she didn't care enough to talk anymore.
After throwing on her backpack, she was almost out the door when James called her out to remind her she forgot her makeup pouch.
"It's not like it was mine. I found it in lost and found bin." her words were almost dragged like she was too tired to talk. Her personality had once again taken a very different turn.
How many people lived inside that small body, he couldn't help but wonder but also immediately stopped himself.
The second she was out the door, James and Andy started talking very loudly.
"She is kinda cool." Andy said while grinning his creepy grin.
"Yeah and kinda scary!" James said and Daniel was a little grateful that he wasn't the only one who felt this way.
"I still think I am a little in love." Andy ignored James and stated. None of his friends took him seriously though. Andy was the kind of guy who would fall in love with anyone who showed him a little kindness. Though Ace hadn't shown any such thing, this was still not something they would take seriously. James true loves come and go within hours sometimes, none of them wanted to be involved in his failed attempt to convince everyone that it was real this time.
Matt laughed but otherwise stayed silent. He was never much of a talker or even someone who ever stated what he thought so carelessly. Instead he was overly secretive. In middle school, when he got his first girlfriend, they found out after an year about her existence. She was two years their senior and they were still together. They had met her a few times but nothing enough for them to have an impression of her. She was already attending university in New York.
Daniel himself didn't know what to think. If ignoring the last two years of his life, he was a very normal 18 year old. He never felt he was overly strong or special. Ace Adams made him overwhelmed with discomfort and fear. At least this was what he recognized it as. She was very different from what he was used too and sometimes she reminded him of someone who he was very familiar with. Someone he never wanted to meet again.
The next day arrived faster then he wanted it to. He had a very uncomfortable night. It was sleepless and restless at the same time. Closing his eyes made not much difference then keeping them close. And when he did sleep, he felt like someone was watching him, monitoring his every move.
He arrived in class on time though, with weary eyes- he looked like he obviously hadn't slept at all. He attended the homeroom without any of his friends so he made a pillow out of his bag and laid his head over it to rest his eyes. He only sat straight when the teacher arrived.
As she finish taking attendance, the door burst open with a bang. Daniel felt a strong sense of déjà vu and prayed that it was just a wrong feeling but unfortunately he wasn't that lucky. She walked in proudly, arrogantly like she owned the world and then suddenly slipped over nothing and feel on her face.
Daniel blinked in surprise along with others in surprise. Nobody said anything for few seconds till many broke into laughter. He himself felt his lips twitch before he stopped himself.
Ace Adams on the other hand easily picked herself up like she had done this a million times before and after giving a sheepish grin, brushed herself. The grin was as easy as breeze. Almost an long used reflex to mistakes.
Daniel was more confused towards this another new person in front of him. He no longer know what to think and how to collect these thought and confusion.
"Miss Adams! Wha-------" Mrs. Linton wasn't able to continue because the next thing he knew the principle voice was announcing something.
"Miss Ace Adams, Mr. Daniel Andrew, Mr. Andy Jacob, Mr. James Harvey and Mr. Matt Hayden. Report to my office right away!"
The voice was furious, loud and a little expected for Daniel. After all, it wasn't the first time he was called over from the loud speakers.
Ace had also stopped her actions and stared at the small speaker where the voice was coming from with a very indifferent expressions. But suddenly she turned to look him right in the eye which made him hold his breath and her expressions changed. A wolfish grin took over as she said, "Let's go, Mr. Daniel Andrew. Don't want to be late, do we?"
He felt a slight shake in his hand at her change of assertion.
Daniel had a feeling that he should have kicked James yesterday while there was still a chance to stay away from Ace Adams.