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"Consider this a warning," a girl with hair that looked really painful and equally painful-looking heels was saying to her. "I'm sure being a transfer student you didn't know the rules around here, honey, so I'm going to tell you."
Wait, she's talking to me? Or Wei Wei? (Y/n) was confused. She didn't even know this lady. Or maybe she was a student; with all that makeup and nauseating perfume, the (h/c)-haired girl couldn't tell.
The blonde and her cronies had caught the two girls in the locker room just as they were about to leave for their next period class. Even with (Y/n)'s awesome nonexistent rugby skills, she couldn't pass the girls and their deadly barricade of heels.
Heels...She shuddered. Those are torture weapons invented by aliens.
"Tell me what?" The (h/c)-haired girl asked. It only made the girl—McDonald, McMuffin, McSomething—angrier. And anger plus McDonalds equals extra b*tchiness on top of all that salt. Knew I didn't take chemistry for nothing.
"You," she jabbed a perfectly manicured finger towards the girl. "Stay away from Jay. You too, Way squared. Are we clear?"
That made two people who told her to stay away from the blond, but they had differing reasons. One, she gathered, was for self-interest. The other, Jason, was out of concern and resentment. (Y/n) hated those who acted out of self-interest, so she was sure as hell not going to listen to this Barbie doll.
"What did you say...? I couldn't hear you over the nails scratching on the chalkboard."
The platinum blonde frowned. "I don't hear any nails."
"Oh, sorry...was that your voice?"
Wei Wei's hand flew to her mouth as she giggled at the (e/c)-eyed girl's usually bold remark. Mackenzie stared gap-mouthed at the girl until she huffed angrily and spun around, flipping her long ponytail over her shoulder.
"Consider yourselves lucky I'm letting you off easy today," she snapped. "But next time it'll be worse. Way worse. Got it, Corona girl and freak show?"
"I'm a freak show?" (Y/n) looked down at herself. "I'm wearing the standard uniform and everything." She turned towards the taller girl by her side. "Is she calling herself a freak?"
"Freak?" Wei Wei snorted. "More like a f*cking b*tch."
"Excuse me?" Mackenzie turned back with a gasp. "The only b*tch here is you, slit-eyes, with you and your dirty germs. Turn around and get your big nose out of here before things get ugly."
"Ooh, is this a catfight?" (Y/n) whispered. "I'd love to see a catfight. Hold up, lemme call Carrie."
The black-haired girl shrugged off the insult and stepped forward, easily towering over the blonde and her group even in heels. "You really are pretty as a picture, Mackenzie Taylor," she sneered. "I know I'd love to hang you."
The blonde's pale-colored eyes flashed with indignation. "You—"
"I am not as nice as my friend (Y/n) here," Wei Wei interrupted, continuing to go forward with a glare on her face. Mackenzie and her group backed away slowly with their heads still held high. "My family has connections everywhere, Taylor, even with the so-called 'Corona people' mafia. And what about you? Your daddy takes a few bribes here and there, doesn't he? That makes him a typical businessman. Who is he in the face of the Chinese mafia?"
"A-are you threatening me?"
The tall girl smiled sweetly and placed a hand on her hip. "I don't know, am I? Let's make one thing clear, shall we? I like Jay. That's a fact. And I don't give a sh*t about some stupid claim you've made over him. I'm not backing down no matter what you send my way, Taylor. Know Matthews, the politician? He has ties with my old man. F*ck with me and you'll be f*cking with him, future chairman of the UK. Daddy won't like it if you did that, would he?"
(Y/n) wanted to clap for her friend but refrained from doing so. This girl deserves a medal. And McMuffin deserves a trophy for being able to still be standing up.
"Well? Why are you still here?" She made a swiveling motion with her finger. "Turn your fake a** around and get the hell outta here before I go quote-unquote 'Corona banshee' on you."
(Y/n) coughed to mask her snicker at the sight of the group turning pink with anger and scrambling away with model-worthy grace. "Don't think there'll be a next time," Mackenzie shouted angrily. "You won't be able to keep up the attitude for long!"
"Oh, but there won't. Because next time, I'll cut to the chase and end your pathetic life."
The blonde blanched and quickly ducked out the door, followed by her minions who sent a mix of fearful and scathing looks at the two girls. The room was quiet again with their departure, no longer filled with their mocking giggles and clicking of their deadly weapons. Heels, (Y/n) shuddered. Heels.
"Ugh, I hate dealing with Taylor. She always got on my nerves. Ever since we were children she had it out for me." Wei Wei uncrossed her arms and faced the shorter girl. "But whatever, let's get to our next class now, okay?"
"'Kay..."
They left the locker room fortunately without anyone waiting outside to ambush them, and waved goodbye before going their separate ways. (Y/n) went straight to Spring Hall where her English classroom was and went inside with a sigh. She prepared herself for the worst, holding her hands over her ears and keeping her head down.
It was a good thing she did that. The screaming and the excited chatter of the girls as they gathered around the two males nearly blew her off her feet. Mr. Howards looked uncomfortable behind his desk as he tried to get them to settle down.
"Please don't sit on my table—" He tried to say good-naturedly, but the girls either didn't hear him or chose not to.
"Charles said to back off," one girl snapped. "So move aside!"
"Why don't you move aside, b*tch?" Another said. "Why does it have to be me?"
"F*ck off! Y'all crowding him!"
"No, you move first!"
It wasn't much better on Kieran's side, but he was taking it better than the teacher was. He seemed to enjoy the attention as he leaned back lazing in his seat with one arm slung over the back. He smirked as he gazed up at the girls surrounding him, exchanging a few words (Y/n) couldn't hear over the noise.
Was this a classroom or a zoo? And here she thought rich kids were supposed to be "elegant," "poised," and all that jazz. She thought wrong.
The bad thing about the situation, aside from her noise and the fact that she definitely won't be sleeping that period, was that her seat was right next to the male. Which meant she wouldn't be able to sit down until the girls leave. Oh god, the (h/c)-haired girl recoiled. Are they doing their makeup on my table? Please don't, I won't be able to touch it after that. I hate putting things on my skin.
The bell rang, signaling the start of the class. The boys rolled their eyes with some resentment as the girls finally quieted and took their seats. A few stayed, not wanting to leave the side of the white-haired male, but a few words from him whispered into their ears changed that. Not all the girls were acting like hyenas, mind you. It was only a handful of them. But that handful was enough to break a few noise laws.
Was she going to anything about it? Was she going to tell that girl on her table to get off? No. No, she wasn't. That wasn't her job.
(Y/n) irritatedly took an extra seat a few seats away from her own. The awkward thing about taking a random seat was that if the seat's occupant comes back, you're going to have to hightail it outta there before you have to do the strange thing called "socialize."
"Back to your seats, everyone," Mr. Howards cleared his throat. "And by everyone, I mean everyone. Neveah, please."
The redhead rolled her eyes and slid off the table with inhuman grace, throwing Kieran a flirty smile that he returned. (Y/n) stifled the urge to groan as she retook her assigned seat. The scent of expensive floral perfume floated around her. Her nose twitched and she sneezed into her elbow.
"You okay?" Kieran whispered with amusement laced into his voice. She shrugged and accepted the packet of napkins he offered her.
"Definitely," she sneezed again into the napkin. "Allergy season."
"Can't stand perfume?"
"Just some. A little is nice but showering in it?"
"Point taken," he grinned. "How's the project going on your end?"
"I finished the paper," she answered. "All that's left is the acting part. That's due this week, right?"
He nodded. "But it'll be fine, we still have a few days. Meet up after school today to practice?"
"As long as you don't leave me in the living room for hours again."
"I apologized, didn't I? Are you still mad?"
"Being mad is too much work and takes too much energy. Goodnight."
(Y/n) released the breath she was holding and satisfied that the strong aroma of perfume was no longer in the air, plopped her head down into her arms, and promptly fell asleep. It was almost the perfect conditions for a good rest that day; a well-conditioned room, the steady droning of Mr. Howards' pleasant voice, the low hum of conversation in the background, and no annoying poking from the snowman beside her. It would've been even better if her desk was placed far away from the rest of the class and the fragrance wasn't there, but beggars can't be choosers.
Kieran was genuinely surprised by her actions. Did he not pay her enough attention? Did he not act politely enough? What was it he lacked but her friends had that made her choose them over him? He didn't know what to do in a situation where he was the second choice, especially since that hadn't ever happened before.
No—it had. And he didn't like it.
The (h/c)-haired girl woke up with a scowl as she felt something continuously hit her arm. I will rip these expensive a** buttons out of my uniform and shove it into the eyes of whoever's doing that, she promised darkly. She raised her head slightly to glare at the offender.
Unsurprisingly, it was Kieran. He noticed her move and shot her a wide, innocent smile in response. "What?"
She eyed the ball of paper in his hands. He closed his fingers over it and moved it out of view. She sighed and glared pointedly at the little scrunched-up paper balls littering the floor surrounding her. The white-haired male shrugged sheepishly. "I don't know how that happened either. Maybe it was that guy." He nodded his head towards a random male behind them that jolted and shrank down, hiding his face behind his book.
"Let's pretend I believe you," the girl said. "Goodnight." She flopped her head back down and instantly let sleep wash back over her as Kieran watched on with wide eyes.
(Y/n) didn't usually dream when she slept. Sometimes there were colors: red, blue, white, but mostly black. Other times there were faint recollections of the things she did that week or her fantasies of building a pool full of pillows and swimming in it. She didn't know what was different that day that made her dream.
Mr. Howard's steady voice sounded like it was underwater as she slipped under. Her classmate's faces appeared more warped than usual, their eyes growing into large, hollow holes in their skulls. Their bodies began to shift, warp, and distort into strange, terrible shapes that slid up the walls and onto the ceiling. The floor seemed to bend, the room changing into a sphere that tremored and shook around her.
It didn't feel like a dream—it felt too real as she opened her mouth but could not speak. She tried to move her arms from where they laid folded on the table, but they would not listen. She could only watch as those shapes folded in on themselves and crept closer, extending their long, terrible claws towards the girl.
"She's still conscious—"
"403...it's time for your medicine—"
The last thing she saw was a concerned face shouting at her in worry, a pair of golden eyes peeking out from blurred features before everything went dark.
"Koneko-chan...!"
IN:FIRMARY
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When (Y/n) woke up, she was lying down. There was a long, white curtain drawn around the bed, hiding her from sight. Light filtered in slowly through the gap in the fabric and through it, she could hear little bits and snippets of conversation.
"...She's anemic," a woman was saying. "Is she not eating well?"
"I wouldn't know," a male voice answered. "She'll be fine after this?"
"She should be after some rest. Let me check her drip."
They're coming back! By instinct, she shut her eyes and pretended to sleep. The curtain was pulled open and artificial light swept over her face and sheets. It took all of her willpower not to wince from the brightness.
"Shouldn't you be going back now, Kieran?" The woman said with a tinge of fear in her voice as she rearranged the IV drip on its stand.
Kieran? (Y/n) frowned. What's he doing here?
"In a bit. I'll stay a little longer. You can go."
"A-alright." The (h/c)-haired girl sensed the nurse scuttled out of the room and close the door behind her. A few seconds later, the room dimmed to a more comfortable lighting. Uh, what's happening? She could still feel Kieran's presence near her. When is he going to leave? I kinda want to wake up now.
She heard him chuckle. "I can tell you're pretending, koneko-chan. She's gone now."
Her eyes snapped open, going straight towards the male that sat on her bed. His grin widened and he leaned forward on a hand. "So you were pretending."
"Why am I here?" (Y/n) asked, ignoring his teasing tone. "Weren't we in class?" Did I teleport or something?
His expression sobered and he pulled back. "You don't remember?" She shook her head. "You passed out earlier. I brought you to the infirmary. Turns out you're anemic—well, you probably already heard the nurse say that."
"Oh...thank you..." She sat up and swung her legs off the bed.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Kieran quickly stood up and pushed her back down. "You should still be resting. The nurse said you can't be up right now."
"Why not? I feel fine." She swung her arm and pulled the IV out to prove her point. "Okay, ow, that hurts. Do I slap on a band-aid for this?"
"Some spit with do just fine," the male teased. "But in all seriousness, you just passed out, koneko-chan. I knew you were always lethargic, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. Did you not sleep enough yesterday?"
"I'm not sure...I think I got my usual ten?"
"Have you been eating well?"
"Does take out count as eating well?"
Kieran studied her before sighing and sitting back down onto a chair beside the bed. "I'm not a doctor or anything. You'll have to ask Jay for this kind of thing. Anyway, you"—he pointed at her with a stern look—"Are staying in that bed. Letting a sick girl fend for herself is not something I, Kieran Fujikawa will allow."
"Since when were you nice?" (Y/n) raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I thought you wouldn't care."
"Excuse me, but I am a gentleman. Just ask anyone and they'd say the same thing."
"You have a strange definition of a gentleman then," she snorted. "A person who spends time in an empty classroom doing strange and unspeakable things—"
"I thought you said you didn't remember that!"
"—And enjoys making a certain girl named (Y/n) White suffer by forcing her to stay awake. Yes, very gentleman-like."
Kieran laughed awkwardly and cleared his throat. "Okay, aside from all that—you're making me look bad, by the way—don't you agree I'm such a nice person for bringing you all the way here even though you've been so mean to me?"
"You probably dropped me a few times too," she added, undeterred.
"I did not," he protested, gesturing to his torso. "These muscles aren't just for show."
(Y/n) eyed him with a skeptical look. "My guns are bigger than yours."
"You know what else is b—"
"Woah, isn't this pillow just great?" The (h/c)-haired girl coughed loudly over his voice. "It's so soft and everything! What's in here, swan feathers and silk?"
"All the better to h—"
"Isn't that wall so nice? It's so...um, clean! Yeah! It's so smooth and something!" She nodded sagely at the pristine white wall across from her. "Yes, very nice. There aren't any strange bumps that give me anxiety." She immediately regretted saying that. Oh crap, that just reminded me of health class. Ewww. Those pictures were too graphic.
Kieran laughed a little at her remark and shook his head, his bangs falling across his eyes. "This proves my conspiracy theory that rooms like this give people autism—"
"Bro, are you calling me autistic? Apologize to all those kids with autism right now!"
"—Which is exactly why," he raised his voice and held up a hand. "We're going to get outta here."
She stared at him, slowly processing his words. "What?"
"You heard me. We're getting out of here. Hmm, where should we go?" He continued on without her as if forgetting the (h/c)-haired girl was still there in the room with him. "There's a pretty good cafe a few blocks away...but you rejected me to go there last time..."
"Hold up a second, sno—sir." (Y/n) held up her hands. "Where the—what are—what the where now? I don't follow. You're...asking me to ditch school?"
"To put it simply, yeah. I am."
She only had two words for this situation. "Holy tomatoes."
"Even though I have no idea why you're talking about tomatoes right now, it doesn't matter." He flashed her a killer grin and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, I've decided. Let's go to the carnival!"
"Wait...what about me having to rest?!"
CAR:NIVAL
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"So...what are we doing here again?"
After countless roller coaster rides, sticks of pink cotton candy clouds, and numerous amounts of corn dogs and dirty jokes, (Y/n) found herself standing in front of a circus tent with an armful of popcorn she was popping into her mouth like a machine gun. Kieran just grinned and waved a pair of tickets in front of her, his out hand shoved into the pockets of his jeans.
"What else? We're here to have fun." He snatched a handful of the treat from her before she could protest and ate it. "I haven't been to a circus in a while, so this is pretty nice. How about you?"
She looked up with a mouthful of popcorn. "What?" One nearly fell out. She caught it and threw it back into the black hole called her stomach.
"A circus. Have you been to one before?"
"...Maybe? I don't really remember my childhood."
"Oh yeah?" He watched her expression curiously. Her face didn't change. "Then that's even better. It'll be our first." The male winked at her slyly.
She knew a kernel into his face. "What if it sucks?"
"Aww, don't be a party pooper, koneko-chan. If it does I'll just—"
"I swear if you say I'll call their manager and fire them all, I'll shove these up your a**."
"Mhm, kinky. I like it. Although I prefer it in the bedroom—"
"SNO—uh, KIERAN!"
He danced back, laughing, as the (h/c)-haired girl attacked her with a finished cotton candy stick and handfuls of popcorn. "Okay, okay, I'll stop," he caught the popcorn from the air and ate it. "Don't waste food. I'm not buying you anymore."
"I'll stick the cotton candy into your hair—"
"No, please, not the hair or face!" Kieran shielded away from her with a hand placed protectively on his head. "I was going to say we can just leave if the performance isn't good. I'm not like that a**hole, you know. Who'd fire someone for a small thing like that? Besides, I'd never take a girl to a lower quality date."
(Y/n) ignored his flirty wink and reimmersed herself in her popcorn. "If by 'a**hole' you mean Tristan, do realize he's technically my tutor, which means I could've 'accidentally' recorded you say that and send it to him."
"Psh, do you think I'm scared of him? I could crush that prick in two seconds flat—"
"Hello, is this p—uh, Tristan?" She said into her phone. It was kind of hard juggling the device and all the popcorn at once, but she managed. "Did you know that sn—Kieran called you a—"
"Look, it's starting!" Kieran pulled the device out of her grasp and slipped it into his pocket. "Let's go in~"
"Give me my phone back first!" (Y/n) protested as he began pushing her towards the tent entrance. "Hey, don't ignore me! I know you heard me!"
"Doesn't the lady in the ticket booth look pretty hot? She does, doesn't she?"
"First of all, how would I know? Second of all, you don't get to use my card against me! Hey!"
He didn't answer as he wordlessly ushered her along the line despite her protests, humming cheerfully to himself the whole way. (Y/n) had to give him points for not flirting with the ticket lady as he'd implied. They found their seats just behind the front row. Not exactly a place she'd like to be, but it was better than sitting in the first row. But at least it was peaceful before the show started.
Nevermind the whispers and stares they were garnering. The (h/c)-haired girl could see teenage girls elbow each other and whisper excitedly about something. Must be my overwhelming magnificence, she thought dryly. Totally not because I'm sitting next to Mr. England right here.
Either Kieran didn't notice the stares or he didn't care. He discreetly slung an arm around the back of her chair. "Excited?"
"Yeah, when does the food come?"
"You and your stomach," he snickered. "I can't have you going on stage and eating the performers."
"Don't worry, humans taste too stringy to me."
He stared at her. She stared back.
"Ladies...and gentlemen!" A voice suddenly blasted from the speakers. The dim lights flashed on, highlighting a flamboyant woman with a top hat and an overabundance of feathers. The ringmaster, (Y/n) assumed. "Welcome to the Cirque du Soleil. Tonight, we present to you a world of fantastical dreams and marvelous illusions amid song and breathtaking acts. Come and take a step inside, and welcome our performers. Presenting, Alegria!"
The crowd cheered, applause filling up the wide space as the lights darkened and the woman seemed to disappear. A few seconds later, music began to float gently from the speakers as the lights turned a dark blue. Fixated interest and excitement made the audience buzz for a few minutes before settling down.
(Y/n) wasn't sure what a circus was going to be like aside from in the picture books, but this seemed more like a musical than anything. At least it's not a whole bunch of clowns juggling pins, she mused. That would be boring. But then again, boring means I can sleep. So which is better?
The performers burst onto the stage; one started spinning around on a hula hoop while the others began dancing in their strange, colorful costumes. A woman overhead was singing beautifully, her sonorous voice carrying well over the speakers. Even (Y/n), for her penchant not to listen to music, couldn't say the woman's voice was a bother to her rest.
But she still had no idea what was going on. Is this supposed to tell a story or something? She looked around; the audience seemed to know something she didn't as they watched the performers swing across the ceiling on trapezes. If it does, I'm dumb. I don't understand the lyrics, is it Spanish? I'm probably just nitpicking now, but I really don't get it.
She felt a light pressure on her shoulder and someone leaned closer to her ear. It was Kieran, his warm breath tickling her skin as he spoke. "Don't worry about the technicalities," he whispered in a soothing voice. "Lean back and enjoy it. I'm sure you will."
He pulled back and sank into his seat, taking the warmth with him. (Y/n) glanced at his figure. He looked perfectly at home here, even with his claims that he rarely came to a circus. Maybe it was just his genes; imagine being able to fit perfectly in with anything, anyone.
Maybe the world really was a game and (Y/n) just spent all her talent points on laziness and sarcasm instead of socialization and popularity, or something more useful like monetary wealth and social influence.
Because if it was, the (h/c)-haired girl was going to have to make a lot of complaints to the developer.