Chapter 1

It was 9 AM in the morning. The corridors of Granite Bay High School was crowded with students going to their first class of the day. Among them, there was Nami, a girl wearing a blue jeans accompanied by a brown cardigan and white shirt. Her ginger hair was cut shoulder length.

Like a slippery eel, Nami made her way through the crowd while avoiding any form of contact with the other students. Not everyone in the school was evil or mean toward her and her friends, but it was better to just stay away from everyone and not risking it. She shifted her body around numerous time to fit into the empty space between students. When she finally arrived in front of her class, she let out a sigh of relief. She managed to start her day peacefully without having some student picking on her.

Nami walked into the class and saw her friends already sitting in the corner. However, not all of them were there. As she walked toward the group, she noticed that James was missing.

"Morning," Nami said as she sat down in her chair, putting her backpack on the small wooden platform under her chair.

"Morning. Nami, did you see James on your way here?" Lucius, who was sitting to her left, asked. He was wearing a red sport jacket with white shirt underneath. His short blonde hair was a mess, which was nothing new considering he said himself he rarely comb his hair.

"No, why?" Nami asked back as she turned to face Lucas, who had his eyebrows furrowed

"He said he was going to come early today to help me study. But I haven't seen him at all," Lucius explained as he leaned back onto his chair.

"Maybe he is stuck in traffic?" Kiara, who sat behind Nami commented without lifting her eyes from her phone. Her fingers jumped around on its surface, undoubtedly playing a game. Her long brunette hair was tied into a ponytail and she was wearing a shirt with a picture of a game character and some quote, accompanied by a long blue pants.

"Doubt it. He would message me if something like that happen."

"Well... Let's just hope he is safe..." Nami said with a shrug. Its not uncommon for one of them to late for class. They just assumed someone got hold of them and hope for the best. Usually they would appear before class started.

"He will be fine," Liam, who sat in front of Nami, suddenly commented. He was wearing a black jacket that went all the way up to his chin and to the tip of his fingers with long black pants. Like Lucius, his short black hair was a mess and his eyes underneath his glasses seemed to focus on the paper before him. His hand didn't stop writing on the paper as he said it.

Lucas finally relent and sat back down, still furrowing his eyebrows. Not long after, the school bell rang, and students started pouring into the class. Lucius started tapping onto his table with his fingers, watching closely all of the students walking in. Yet even after the teacher closed the door, there was still no sign of James. Lucius stood up from his chair and was about to rush out but Nami held his hand. Lucius turned his head toward her.

"You will get into trouble if you leave now," Nami warned him with a low voice.

Lucius leaned in toward Nami and whispered back, "But what if something bad happen to him? What if that Hank guy drag him off again?"

"Is there a problem, Lucius?"

Nami could feel her heart skipped a beat and froze in place when she heard the teacher's voice calling Lucas's name. Lucius, on the other hand, seemed unfazed and immediately straightened up his body. There was a brief silence before Lucius finally answered, "No sir. I was just straightening my leg."

"Then sit down. We are going to start class," the teacher said, a bit annoyed that his teaching was interrupted.

Lucius sat back down and the class started. 15 minutes passed by. Nami glanced at Lucius and found him now tapping his foot to the floor repeatedly. His eyes seemed to focus on the door instead of the teacher, hoping for James to walk in sooner or later. Until finally, he couldn't hold it in anymore. He was about to stand up again when the door suddenly opened.

A black student walked in. His black hair was in the style of buzz cut. His green buttoned shirt was soaked completely, while his long blue pants was only partly wet.

It was James. Nami and the others were horrified at the sight, while the other students laughed. The teacher stopped writing on the whiteboard and turned his attention to James. With an eyebrow raised, he patiently waited for James to explain himself.

"Sorry sir, I had a stomach problem earlier," James said shamefully while looking down.

"I can see that... Go sit down," the teacher dismissed him and continued writing, ignoring the fact his shirt was soaked to the brim.

"What the hell happened to you?" Lucius whispered to James as soon as he sat down behind him.

"The usual, you know how it is," James answered while putting down his backpack and pulling out his books.

"So its Hank... One of these days, I will bury my fist into that guy's smug face," Lucius said.

"You kept saying that, but none of us are going to do anything," Liam said.

"Shh, all of you! We can talk about this later!" Nami hussed them. The teacher already threw a glance at them a couple of times, and she was worried they would get into trouble. Luckily, the others stopped talking and they safely finished the first period.

It was finally break time. Everyone kept their question back and instead talked about some other casual stuff. In the cafeteria, the group sat down with their food in the corner. Away from prying eyes and ears of the other students. They could finally talk freely.

"So what did Hank do to you this time?" Lucius immediately asked.

"Well, I wasn't lying. My stomach hurt so I was in the toilet. Hank must have saw me go in. But I didn't pay much attention to it and went on with my business. The next thing I know, a bucket of water was splashed onto me," James explained before shoving food into his mouth.

"It is unfortunate, but there is nothing we could do, unless we want to get expelled," Liam said.

"Can't argue with that," Kiara said right after Liam.

"I know that... But goddamn it pisses me off," Lucius gritted his teeth, barely holding back his anger. It took all of his power will to not slam their desk with his fist. It was the first time for Nami to see him this angry. While it wasn't something new, it felt to her like Lucius was starting to reach his break point.

As for Nami herself, she was just numb of it all. Not only of how they were treated in the school, but also of her parents' words. She barely got sleep the night before thanks to her parents. They quote-on-quote gave her advice for hours on end. Of course, the whole thing went by faster since Nami just shut her brain off.

"Now, now. You said you and James was going to study for today's test," Nami reminded the two, hoping it would calm Lucius down. Thankfully, it did.

"A-Ah, yeah! That's right. We should finish our meal and return to class ASAP!" Lucius said.

"Luke, calm down. We still have a lot of time," James said.

"... Please do what James says. You look disgusting eating like that," Kiara commented after throwing a glance at James.

Liam leaned in and whispered to Nami, "Nice save."

"Thanks," she whispered back.

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