Right as I said that, someone jumped out of the canal behind us with a loud, high-pitched shout.

He landed on the shore, right next to us, and splashed us all.

It was obviously Taz.

Ragged-breathing, pale, wide-eyed, he pointed a finger at Jia.

≪ There you are! ≫

Jia blinked, deadpan, then pointed at Taz while raising an eyebrow at me.

≪ There he is ≫

≪ I said it first! I won! ≫ Taz exclaimed, spreading his legs and lifting his arms up in the air, euphoric.

He began walking sideways, back and forth, like a crab.

≪ What’s he doing, a victory dance? ≫ I whispered at Jia, frowning a little.

Jia shrugged.

≪ No idea ≫

Marta was fuming.

A single vein popped up right at the center of her forehead, but the rest of her expression remained perfectly calm – and, somehow, that made her much more scarier.

Mark and I shuddered.

≪ Who’s this idiot? Is he a friend of yours? ≫ she said, cold.

We both immediately quickly shook our heads, scared.

≪ N- not at all! ≫

≪ I hate getting soaked… ≫ Marta murmured in a low, terrifying tone, right as a drop of water – that Taz had splashed on her – fell from the side of her head.

≪ I’ve been avoiding getting inside the Pond all morning, and now… ≫

She began creating an En sphere between her hands, much more darker and ominous than the previous ones.

≪ Should I just scare him away, or should I actually- ≫

Mark and I, extremely worried, grabbed one of her arms each and shoved it down.

≪ You shouldn’t do anything! ≫

Marta gave us the deadliest of stares.

In the meantime, Taz was still bragging to Jia, who looked like she was barely listening to him. unbothered.

≪ I won! I won! ≫

Jia crossed her arms.

≪ Whatever ≫

≪ Haha! ≫

Taz pointed a smug finger at her, and then he did like a weird pose – like squatting down and then pointing to the sky.

≪ And I also won the race! ≫

This one, clearly, Jia didn’t like.

Her eyes widened, angry, and she snapped her head towards him.

≪ No you didn’t! ≫

≪ I did! ≫ Taz roared, boastful.

≪ At least I got here swimming! I don’t see you swimming, do I? ≫

Jia blinked twice, speechless and confused.

≪ W- wha- ≫

She jumped to her feet, furious.

≪ O- of course I’m not swimming, it’s because I already got here! I won the race swimming, and then I got out of the water! ≫

Taz scoffed, then rolled his eyes and nodded at Jia, smiling condescendingly.

≪ Sure, you tell yourself that ≫

Jia stiffened up like a piece of wood, clenching her fists.

She turned completely red, and smoke started leaking from her ears like a teapot.

She angrily turned towards us, and pointed a finger at Taz.

≪ Are you guys hearing this!!! ≫

Mark and I chuckled.

Marta, instead, frowning slightly, was staring at Taz like she was looking at a wild animal on Andromeda.

The boy, arms crossed, was still looking down at us smugly.

Marta shook her head a little.

≪ I think he really believes what he’s saying… ≫ she murmured, stunned, pushing back her glasses.

Taz shrugged.

≪ No need to be sore losers… a race is a race, and there’s a winner and a loser… you should be proud that I even considered you worthy enough of a fight with the Great Taz! ≫ he roared, flexing his arm muscles.

≪ I’m gonna beat this idiot up! ≫ Jia exclaimed furiously, but Mark and I grabbed her by the ankles just in time before she could launch herself towards Taz – who, chuckling, hopped away like a frog.

≪ Don’t mind him, don’t mind him! ≫ we said together, worried that the situation could escalate into a fight.

≪ Right, right… ≫ Marta nodded, serious.

≪ We should probably just feel sorry for him… ≫

Perfectly cold, glancing dangerously at Taz, the girl cracked her fingers.

Mark and I both had a shiver.

I feel like…

The look that Mark gave me finished for me.

… Marta considers humans just an annoying and unworthy-of-consideration animal species among the others…

≪ S- so, do you really go swimming in the canals every morning? ≫ I awkwardly asked Jia in hopes of getting everyone away from their murderous intents.

Jia sighed, then she fixed her hair and sat back down with us.

≪ Yeah, I do… ≫ she said in a low, tired tone.

Phewww…

I glared at Taz – who, totally unaware of us, had started throwing flat rocks across the canal.

You should thank me that I’m saving your life…

Jia frowned and then she kinda waved her hands in the air, annoyed.

≪ I don’t like to just stay there in the water doing nothing like a plant all morning or play around like a little kid. I don’t get all this En bs anyway, so I prefer to stay active. Usually I go for a swim, or I stretch or exercise away from here, on a nice little clearing I found there ≫ she said, pointing somewhere behind the trees.

Oh, so that’s why…

That was probably the reason why, I only realized then, I had actually never noticed Jia at the Pond before, and she was very noticeable normally – because she was so pretty.

I looked at her with admiration.

Since everyone does what they want at the Carpa Pond, many, just like her, can’t be bothered to stay in the water – though, most just do nothing all morning, sitting on the shore or on the grass and chatting, sleeping, relaxing, playing sports for fun and things like that.

To do something actually useful or tiring like exercising was pretty remarkable.

Also, Jia looked pretty fit, and I know here at the Academy she plays volleyball.

≪ Isn’t it dangerous to go too far? ≫ Mark asked.

We ain’t really allowed to go away from the Pond, but Benny, our teacher responsible, doesn’t care, and doesn’t watch us at all.

Jia shook her head, and shrugged.

≪ I never met anyone, or anything ≫

She glanced around.

≪ Though, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten this far. Usually I just go back and forth, because it’s not like I love being here alone anyway. But, today, that idiot challenged me to a race, so I went a little bit farther down. And I beat him, as you guys saw! ≫ she exclaimed, already fuming again.

Us three giggled.

≪ We saw it, we saw it! ≫

Taz, up on a big boulder, was now throwing rocks across the canal trying to hit a Sesamir tree – a small tree, more like a shrub, with a thin trunk covered almost completely by light green / almost pinkish leaves that are perfectly square and look like a bunch of sticky notes glued on the tree, instead of the actual tree itself.

When he finally hit it, and we all made an irritated face, he yelled and cheered loudly, again flexing his muscles, then jumped down.