Affinity Romance

001: A Late Morning

“Kaye hurry up!” 

“I’m running as fast as I can!” She can’t blame me for having this cursed legs. 

This is becoming a common routine, both my best friend and I running for the classroom. Fae's five steps ahead of me, constantly glancing over her shoulder to check If I’m still there. 

The rules don’t allow anyone running down the hall but desperate time calls for desperate measures. We pass the janitor, who pretends like he didn’t just see two students ignoring the school protocols. 

On the bright side, I’m getting my daily dose of exercise. Fae makes it to the door first and pushes it open. I pop up next to her panting, apologizing to the teacher. 

“Sorry we’re late, Ma’am.” 

“So pleasant for you to join us. Care to explain why you’re ten minutes late for my subject?” 

I scratch the back of my neck, exchanging glances with Fae. She nudges me on the elbow, indicating that I speak for our stead. 

“The um.. The traffic was- uh.. bad.” At the end of my weak statement, Fae smack a hand on her face. 

Not my fault I’ve ran out of excuses. 

The teacher just points at our seats and returns to the board. “Take your seats now. As I was saying. Today we’ll be discussing about evolution.” 

I let out a sigh of relief. We’re not in trouble. I drop my bag to the side, grabbing the edge of the chair.

“We really should fix our sleep schedule.” Fae mumbles as we take our seats, pulling her long wavy hair back. 

“Blame summer vacation.” 

“Still. If we keep this up, I don’t think we’ll pass this class.” 

“Mrs Jonson’s like the sweetest teacher we know. When’s the last time you’ve seen her raise her voice at a student or give out detention?” 

Fae gives me a mischievous stare. “You keep taking advantage of her good nature karma’s bound to bite back you know.”

I let out a laugh, zero enthusiasm. “Karma can come at me any time. I’m not scared.” 

“Girls.” The mellow voice of Mrs Jonson cuts in on us. “I don’t want to interrupt whatever conversation you’re having but do try to keep your voice into a minimum while I’m teaching.” 

I shoot Mrs Jonson an awkward smile, nodding. “Sorry. We’ll do that.”

Mrs Jonson goes back to teaching like nothing happened, explaining how human beings were actually apes a million years ago. 

I turn to Fae, raising my eyebrows as if to prove a point. “See what I mean? She’s too nice for her own good.” 

“And you’re obviously taking advantage of it.” 

I open my mouth only to close it again. “I guess you’re right.” 

Fae chuckles beside me. “I’m always right.” 

Her statement’s followed by the door opening once again, revealing a face we’ve never seen before. Dark black hair, ruffled and hovering their eyes. For the slightest second, something from his ears reflects off the sun and hits my eyes. 

Uh?

Piercings.

Do they even allow that?

Mrs Jonson pauses to acknowledge the new comer approaching her. There he hands her a piece of paper and the woman scans through whatever’s written there. 

“Okay class.” She turns to the crowd. “As you can see, we have an exchange student today. What did you say your name was?” 

“Cai Reagan.” 

Goosebumps. 

His voice’s mellow and deep. Like the ocean. Something about his whole being screams mysterious. It seems like the more I stare, the more it feels like I’ve seen him somewhere. 

I just can’t seem to figure out when or where exactly.

The second we hear the name, whispers and chatters begin filling the room. 

I turn to Fae and blink my eyes when I see the surprised expression she has on. I lean closer to her, nudging my chin in indication of the new student. “You know him or something?” 

As If my words alone were shocking enough, Fae nearly snaps her neck from how fast she turns my way. “What? Who doesn’t?” 

Okay?

Am I missing something here?

Noticing my confusion, Fae goes on. “He’s like the most unwanted student everywhere. There’s been rumors in the past claiming he gives teachers a hard time and that he even started a riot outside of his school. The only reason why they keep accepting him is because his parent’s are filthy rich. Like- mega, ultra rich. But he still gets expelled.” 

I lift an eyebrow of a doubt. “And you know all this, how?” 

“Where have you been living all this time, Kaye? Under a rock?” 

“Maybe.” 

“Settle down everyone. Cai, take any vacant seat.”

Nodding, he strides to the empty desk beside Fae and I. 

“He’s really good looking.” My best friend murmurs as she begins to gently tap her pen against her notebook. She only does that when she’s distracted. Cai sets his bag aside, takes his book out and then leans back on the chair. The whole room’s now talking about how cool, and attractive he looks. They’re also complimenting his voice and style in whispers. But should they even be considered whispers if we can hear them?

Now that he’s this close, the silver chains dangling from his ears are clearer than ever. He has a lot. And meaningless to say, they look good on him. 

“I think I’ve seen him before.” I narrow my eyes a bit, trying hard to remember. Fuzzy pictures show up in my head but it’s weird how they all thin back to when I was in middle school. Could I have known him there? Honestly, I don’t think so. I was quite a chatter box in the past and basically had everyone crowding me. As I like to call it: I was the life of the party. 

“Really? Where?”

“I’m not sure.” 

“It’s probably someone who just looks like him.” Fae states and I tighten my lip for a moment, pondering. 

“Maybe you’re right.”