JEREMIAH

As I made my way to the cafeteria with Marc and Dave, the entire school was still buzzin’ with the gossip about Elle and the new kid. Everywhere we go, we’d hear someone mentionin’ their names and stuff, and some of ‘em are real nasty. I feel really sorry for Elle ‘cause I know that she’s a really sweet girl, but that’s what ya get when ya got a pretty face - people will get jealous at ya and start talking about really uncool shit without thinkin’, and everybody just swallowed those shitty stuffs without a doubt.

When we passed by the center courtyard, we found Rob wanderin’ alone like a headless chicken. When he noticed us, he hastily approached us “Guys, guys! Did you see-”

Dave, who had his toes burnin’ since he saw Elle and the new kid holding hands in the hallway after homeroom, ain’t wastin’ any time - he grabbed Rob by the shoulders and boomed, “WHO THE HELL IS THIS NEW KID?!”

Rob just blanked. Poor him - his ears must be ringin’ right now. We all know what it feels like to have Davell “The Hulk” Hawthorne shoutin’ right in front of your face – it’s like somebody just shoved you face-to-face with a huge-ass boombox with its volume maxed out.

“Whoa! Get a grip, Dave! I’m looking for him-”

“WHO THE HELL IS HE?!” Dave yelled again, shakin’ Rob's body like a caveman tryin’ to drop berries off a bush.

Rob rolled his eyes. “Uhh...the Viscount of Valenfields? And-”

“I KNOW-“

“Geez, mate! Just give Rob some time to catch his breath, will ya?” Marc said, pullin’ off Dave’s hands from Rob’s shoulders. “You’re killing him!”

“Sorry,” Dave mumbled. “But I just wanna know what’s going on between those two!”

“Uh, yeah, I understand that,” Rob said, readjusting his glasses as he spoke. “Honestly speaking, though - I have no idea.”

“Huh?”

“After homeroom, we got separated because he’s taking French Literature while I’m taking History of Religion, so I didn’t get to ask him about that.”

“But are they really dating? Or perhaps, betrothed?” I asked.

Rob instantly cringed. “Bloody hell, Jim! Where the hell did that came from?”

“Well, rumors been flyin’ all over the school since morning like crazy, don’t know which one to believe anymore, yo!” I said. “That’s why we were lookin’ for ya, we wanna know what’s really goin’ on here!”

“I told you, I don’t know!” Rob assured, “But he said that he never had any girlfriends...or boyfriends before, and I don’t think he’s lying.”

The three of us exchanged odd looks. “Yeah, right!” Marc exclaimed. “What’s next? Pigs will start flying in Valenfields tomorrow morning?”

“Well, that’s what he said in front of the class.” Rob shrugged.

Dave twitched one of his eyebrows. “....Why?”

"When he introduced himself in front of the class, Ms. Ferino asked him directly if he was single or not."

The three of us snorted. "Oh, right. Ms. Ferino." Marc giggled.

“Damn, that Lady Succubus aint wastin’ any time, huh?” I added.

“Bollocks! I almost forgot...” Rob muttered “Did any of you see Kei?"

"Kay? You mean Kayla?" Dave asked

"No, Kei! Kay-ee-sheeeeee...row! Ugh, bollocks! His name is a bloody pain in the ass ..." Rob muttered.

The three of us looked towards each other, not even sure what Rob was trying to say. "Who's Kayshayshee-row?" Dave asked.

Rob groaned and slapped his forehead. "The new kid!”

"Oh..." The three of us replied in unison.

"So that was his name! What language is that? Korean?" I asked.

"Japanese, probably” Rob said. “He's the son of Countess Valenfields, remember?”

"Gee, with a super hot mama like that, no wonder he's a such good-lookin’ fella!" Dave exclaimed.

“Aint he a lucky bastard, eh?” Marc added. 

ROBERT

Those three bloody idiots were completely hopeless! Right from the beginning, I knew that there’s no way they could help me look for Kei! Didn’t know why the bloody hell am I still standing here with them while I should be looking for that royal-pain-in-the-ass-Viscount! Bollocks, I should’ve warned Kei earlier that he shouldn’t wander alone in this school - with what happened in the hallway this morning, I'm pretty sure that all the boys in Sterling have put a high bounty for Lord Valenfields’ head.

"Guys, I’m not joking!” I snapped. “Did you guys see him?”

Marc shrugged “Haven't seen him, mate. Last time I saw him was after homeroom."

"We kinda hoped to see the new kid walking along with you," Jim added

"That was also my plan!" I said, "I wanted to take him to the Dungeon, introduce him to you guys. I asked Elle where he was, but she said that they attended different classes after French Literature! Bollocks, I really, really don't want him to get in trouble on his first day...”

“Uh...okay. I get it. ...But why the sudden over-concern?" Jim asked

"Yeah, you usually don't give a shit about new students...this aint like you, mate!” Marc added.

I blanked. Did I?

Just when I opened my mouth again to speak, the courtyard suddenly became overcrowded with people stampeding towards the same direction - the cafeteria.

“...What the heck?!” Marc spat.

“Are they giving out free food?” Dave wondered.

The three of us stared at Dave questioningly until he mumbled “What?”

Amongst the crowd, I noticed Martin, one of my classmates. I hollered at him and asked what’s going on.

“Haven’t you heard? The new kid is in trouble!”

I twitched one of my eyebrows. “With who?”

“I don’t know, but I think it’s the groupies!”

Without further ado, I quickly dashed towards the cafeteria along with the others.

Sterling’s cafeteria might be spacious, but it wasn’t difficult to find where Kei could be - the whole place was deserted except one particular part in the Asian Foods section where he had probably looked for Japanese food. Even though I couldn’t see a thing beyond the insane crowd of people, I could hear those bloody idiots loud and clear - they seemed to be really pissed. Bollocks. I was too late! I need to go to the center and help Kei, but no one wanted to move. So when I saw Jim, Marc, and Dave arriving at the cafeteria, I know that I have no other choice...

“Marc! Dave! Lead the way and cut through the crowd! Get us in the center!”

Dave blinked. “Huh? But-“

“Do it and I’ll treat you guys some cheese burritos after this!”

A few seconds later, the two human bulldozers had already pushed through the crowd with brutal forces and cleared the path for me, Jim, and Martin. The others who got pushed off were booing and whining towards us, but I don’t care; nobody listened when I asked nicely, so I borrowed one of the school’s hockey team power forward and one of the most brutal offensive tackle in the school’s American Football club’s to make my way through.

When the five of us finally made it through the crowd, we saw six gigantic guys circling around the table where Kei was busy munching a bowl of sushi and rice, and didn’t seem to care about what was going on. I felt that my concern was a bloody waste, until I realized that the six guys were staring at him intensely with their fists clenched, ready to blow his head off any time.

And yes, we do recognize those six bloody idiots; they’d call themselves The Guardians of the Sterling Angels - which is bloody cringeworthy. They’re nobody but hardcore fans of Brielle and Maurelle - the desperate kind, to be exact. Most of these idiots came from families with odd and questionable backgrounds, and yet they were somewhat related to the royal family or someone who has political leverage towards the country, and that’s the only probable reason why bloody idiots like them managed to be enrolled in Sterling. They would always create some ruckus in the school from time to time, but always able to get away from being expelled.

Just as Kei was about to reach out for the bowl of soup on his table, one of the guys slammed on the table so hard that the soup fell off the table and fell on the floor, creating a puddle of brown liquid with pieces of tofu and seaweed. Kei just stared at the puddle on the floor, then turned his eyes towards the guy who dropped his hand at the table. I couldn’t see a single trace of fear or anger on Kei’s eyes, but the big guy trembled like a cattle in a slaughterhouse.

“Why did you throw throw my food to the floor?” Kei asked.

“C-Cause ya aint listenin’ to me!” the guy yelled. The way he tried to hide his fear reminded me of my cousin’s chihuahua during a thunderstorm.

“We asked you nicely and you refused to answer, that’s why!” another guy added.

Kei twitched one of his eyebrows. “Nicely?” he quibbled, “You didn’t ask nicely, you were demanding me to answer; which I consider as intimidation.”

“Well, quit yappin’ and start talkin’, then! Aint gonna let you leave ‘till we have clear answers!”

“Which is, none of your business.” Kei replied, sighing. “You know, you could have done something else to intimidate me without wasting any food. Did you know that millions of people die in poor countries each year because of hunger?”

The biggest guy in the group finally stepped forward and grabbed Kei by his collar. By this time, the crowd started to panic. “Alright, pretty boy…we’re going to ask you once again, and I don’t care if you wanna call this intimidation or demand; WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU TO MAURELLE WHITTMAN?”

Everybody gasped and winced, afraid that Kei would got hurt. But Kei remained calm - he curved a thin smile on his lips and said, “Again, let me repeat my answer; it’s none of your business.”

Kei then reached towards his own collar and grabbed the big guy by the wrist, then slowly removed them off his collar. When the guy had completely lose his grip from Kei’s shirt, he quickly jerked away as he stepped behind his friends, wincing and rubbing his hands briskly as he stared at Kei nervously.

The expressionless face that Kei pulled throughout the process made me almost believe that he had untangled himself effortlessly until I remembered that the guy who grabbed him was the son of a Russian pro wrestler.

Realizing that that none of their tyrant moves affected the poker-faced Kei, the gang of bullies were fuming. By this time, people began to step back - some even choose to run away from the scene. Kei still remained calm as ever, as he returned back to his chair to continue his meal. But before he managed to grab the chair, one of the guys kicked it away.

Sighing, he then reached out for his bowl. But another guy pushed it to the floor.

And then, when he reached out for the bottle of Gatorade that’s been sitting on the table, the guy who had grabbed his collar earlier snatched it off his hands and threw it to the crowd - bloody hell! It almost stained my new uniform!

Kei looked around at the mess and sighed. “You know, I don’t want to make any trouble, because this is my first day of school-”

“Yeah! You don’t wanna get suspended or expelled on your first day, right?” one of the guys barked.

“Or moved away to another class!” another guy added, “I bet your mommy and daddy was so proud when Sterling placed you in Prodigium right away! Imagine how humiliated would they be when they heard that you’ve been downgraded just a few hours after you started school!”

The gang started to laugh, even though nobody thinks it’s funny. I wonder why did the school still keep these bloody idiots around anyway?

Well, enough sightseeing - I’ll have to do something!

“Rob, don’t.”

I was ready to step forward and get into action, but Marc suddenly grabbed one of my shoulders and held me back. Furious, I turned back to him. “Marc, I’ll be fine! He needs help!”

But Marc still wouldn’t let me go. “Mate, does he look like he needs help?”

When I turned my eyes towards Kei again, I was grateful that Marc held me back. I wasn’t even sure if I was looking at the same Kei Bellrose who came to my class this morning - his eyes, that once reminded me of the warm and sunny seas in tropical beaches, were now giving me chills that reminded me what it felt like to fall into an icy lake during a snowy day; it's like you just plunged into a pool of frozen glass shards.

“W-what?” one of the bullies stuttered. “Whatcha gonna do, huh? B-beat me? C-come on! Do it! I-I bet a p-pretty boy like ya couldn’t even pack a p-punch!”

And then, the next few seconds felt unreal; it was like watching a movie scene.

Kei took a few steps back and slammed the table with his right hand, making a loud noise that startled the whole cafeteria. The wooden table then slowly cracked into two, and the pieces fell on the floor with a loud thump.

“Holy shit, mate…” Marc murmured.

Shocked would be an understatement for all of us. Even the six brutes looked paler than Valenfields on a heavy snow day.

“Who’s next?” he asked, only to be replied with silence.

And just a few seconds after that, the crowd on the opposite side began to disperse and the two headmasters walked into the scene - along with a few school guards following them. About time, gentlemen!

The moment they saw the mess, the headmasters gasped in disbelief. “Christ! What happened here?” Mr. Smith exclaimed.

Nobody dared to answer. All eyes instantly turned towards Kei, who stood right next to the broken table, wiping off wood crumbs from his hands.

“Uh-oh,” Jim mumbled. “This ain’t lookin’ good at all, man.”