"The first class got canceled," a shrill voice echoed inside the restroom, "it's the first time that it happened. Maybe they're about to remove the ranking system?" An airy voice said with a serious note, "Remove the ranking system? Fat chance, Melody. More like, they're deciding whether to reduce the merit giving standards. I can only drop out of school if that happened. No need to torture myself with this." "As if!" This time, Jana pictured a chubby girl with an angry expression. "There's no way I'll quit just because of those petty reasons. So what? We can only strive harder! If you're planning to quit with this little pressure, then don't study at all! You're already lazy on studying. What more if we'll graduate and work somewhere?" "Ugh…" Melody groaned. "I hate that she's right, Tasha." "Sarah, I was just mouthing off, okay? I'm not planning to quit. It's the last year, I can handle carrying more loads of panic attacks and pretending to be good." "Nasty." Melody humped.
"You're pouting," Austin commented as he sat down in front of Jana, "Myr, stop jutting your bottom lip out like it is a sad night. You are going go hex our homeworks." 'A handsome lad who still believes in bad luck and voodoo stuff.' Jana smiled. She grasped a pen and wrote something on the notebook. 'Because why not? He has to be cute. He's very different from Giovanni.' "Now that's a creepy smile!" he gasped. "Stop it!" "Stop your theatrical acts." Jana lowered her head to look on her notes. She can't understand any of it. Time has jumped so much that she couldn't comprehend the progress of the lessons. Especially if it's science and math. "Oh, God, so what if the ocean's now ten percent explored? I don't understand this. I'm not a mermaid." Austin ignored her rant. He fiddled with the cover of his book. Jana didn't see him read seriously. It was possibly because he's already done with all these. He just wanted to accompany her. "You're easily annoyed. Have you had dinner yet
Jana finally saw the female protagonist's face. She held back the gasp of amazement trying to wiggle out of her throat. Hyacinth Johnson is a picture of a princess. She's tall and petite. A slender ray of sunshine walking gracefully on earth. The only thing that betrayed her on that moment was the smirk on her precious face. She's in a frenzied state while fiddling the cam recorder on her hand. She didn't even noticed Jana and Austin watching her. "This is not something that a friend would do." Jana whispered to Austin. "This is just so…" "I know Spencer. He's a one hit wonder guy, and that Tasha's smile wasn't innocent too. Myr, what they are planning to do is something against the school. Maybe what that Hyacinth is trying to do was to stop them." Jana was incredulous of his reasoning. She turned to him to flick his ears. "Are you that dumb? Instead of warning Spencer and Tasha to stop, you wanted to invalidate all of their hard work in this school and just have them expelled
“Then, what should I do?” Spencer laid his hopeful eyes to Jana. His lips was still moist because of his kiss with Tasha. It freaked Jana out. “Myriad, please.” Austin's steady gaze promted Jana to say, “Stop her. We must destroy her camera.” Jana hoped to erase her answer to Spencer that night. Still, she endured the burden of saving another person other than herself. Now she has to think for Spencer and Tasha too. "I didn't know you can think that way," Austin lead the way outside the girls' dorm. Spencer had run back to his dorm with a promise to help tomorrow morning. Jana thought he needed a time to think of a way himself. Spencer ranked 10th amongst all the fourth year students. He's not stupid. Jana will help anyone who plans to bring Hyacinth down. "You… I don't know if you're still the Myriad that I know." "Now that I decided to be open and be myself, you want to accuse me of being fake? Or possessed?" Austin rolled his eyes and hit her shoulder playfully. "I don't m
Spencer and Austin huddled over Jana after the first class ended. Jana resolutely walked out of the room and called them to talk in a secure place. She picked the locker area. "Okay, we have a few minutes," she said without preamble, "The only way to make her shut up is to expell her." "Myriad!" Austin exclaimed, "That's too much!" Jana held one palm up. "Hear me out, Austin Dale." "What happened?" Spencer shuffled his feet and swallowed. "Did she do something this morning? You were late. That's .12 off of your merit points." "That's why I told you the only way to stop her schemes is to have her expelled." Jana shook her head. She looked down and said, "This morning I wake up fine. Like the usual. The only peculiar thing that happened is that, I saw her at the ground floor with reddened ankles. She asked me for help. She acted as though she didn't know me and that she badly wants to meet Austin. She asked me to go fetch her at lunch because she's my 'responsibility'. Austin,
Jana forced herself to stop smiling. She brusquely laid the tray on the table. Some of her bland soup splashed on Hyacinth's long sleeves. Jana peered on her reaction. The woman's eyes twitched but she pouted to Austin with a pleading gaze in lieu. "My God! The line was so long I almost cramped my legs while waiting." Jana exaggerated wiping her non-existent sweat. "Hey, Austin. I'm so sorry but this pork chop… I put a lot of peppers on it." "What?" Hyacinth knowingly shook her head disapprovingly. "You know Austin doesn't like that in his food! It's spicy! Are you really his friend? Myriad, come on!" Austin's brow creased. "No! I like my pork chops with peppers especially in winter. Please stop saying those things to Myriad. She know me, okay?" Jana feigned disappointment. "What are you talking about, Hyacinth? I was sorry because I didn't bought his favorite drink with this dish." "Oh…" Hyacinth's face reddened in shame. Jana enjoyed her flustered appearance. "Then I…
She was played. Jana didn't even notice it. While she was busy feeling happy over Hyacinth's petty act, she didn't see how the protagonist deflected her from her original plan. Stop Natasha, Melody and Sarah from being expelled. Jana now knew who's the co-player inside this instance. It's the protagonist herself. Jana stood and padded her way out of the club room they rented. "I'm sorry. I have to go elsewhere. Do your bath now, Austin. For pete's sake, you stink!" "I stink?" Austin grumbled, "You're looking at me like I'm a walking pizza earlier!" She pretended as if she couldn't hear him. In fact, she had long lost her sense of shame. Embarrassment won't let her live long and survive here. She would rather act frivolous than die doing nothing. Hyacinth manage to astound her in just one move. It's not too much to assume that the woman already knew her role. Hyacinth will dimiss her soon. She can't let her have her own way. Jana can't do anything during night time. Bu
"I didn't know what you'd like to eat so... I picked these." Hyacinth smiled so sweetly. Jana was sickened to the stomach just by seeing her lame actions. "I'm sorry but... I recalled you chose this salad the first time we ate together. See? I remembered!" 'No, you didn't. You didn't remember anything.' Jana couldn't open her mouth and say she couldn't eat a plate with all greens and no meat. This is plain torture to her palate. Hyacinth's overly dramatic voice has attracted other students' attention. If Jana refused to eat this, Hyacinth may act all sad and even voice out her disappointment in her shrill voice. Then, in the end, she will be rumoured as a snub. So Jana, swallowing her pride and the task to eat grass for dinner, chose to nod graciously. "You got it right. Thank you. The drink is fine too." Hyacinth didn't hide her smirk. Jana lowered her head and pretended to not see anything. She mustered a lot of courage to take a piece of leaf and put it directly in her mouth