To The Next Level

Player 4

-Christopher

As soon as Chris entered the first class, he headed straight towards the back. To avoid any necessary attention, Chris would always arrive slightly early so that he could settle in and keep his head down away from prying eyes. The view displayed outside of the windows was enough to keep a guy like him distracted. Some would say it's a girl's thing to stare at nature, but Chris found the surroundings of nature and animals far more comfortable than being with his own species.

The room was silent for a while, and he enjoyed it, but that all went away when the room door opened. Chris didn't mind whoever was at the door at first, obviously knowing it had to be the teacher or another classmate. But when he caught a glance at the plain grey sweater worn by the short girl he met previously, there's no denying his attention was quickly won over.

She walked towards the back with her grey hoodie on her head, and yawned while walking straight past him. It surprised Chris when the girl sat right in front of him. Out of all the seats there were in the classroom, why exactly did she sit so close?

He was just about to tap her and ask, when Chris saw her lay her head down on the desk, not giving a care to the world, even though the morning bell rang, and others started flooding in. Some girls caught a glimpse of him and giggled for reasons unknown. The only thing Chris did know was their excessive giggling in his direction was not going to be of any convenience to him.

"Girls, I think the heavens are answering our prayers today. How did you know he would be in this class, Kylie? Did that fortune teller on your luck at love really say you'd see him often"?

"Of course, why would I lie about that? Isn't the evidence right there that my fortune was true? How else would we have been able to get into the same class as the ice king"? Chris could hear the crazy fantasies of high school girls from his desk, and just knowing that they thought of him outside of school caused Chris to feel a shiver inside. Are there no other guys in their eyes to view, and why does it seem like they're ready to share one guy with the five of them? Yes, that specific group of girls was made up of five participants. No, Chris knew not all girls were the same, but in his school it was common to be around the ones that thought they could get whatever they wanted.

"Look he's looking our way, do you think he can hear us", one of the girls whispered. "No, he's probably staring at how attractive we all are, I wouldn't mind sharing with you all as long as I get the most time with hi-", and that is when Chris stopped listening.

Just as he was about to open his mouth and tell those girls "politely" to close their own, it was as if God sent him a guardian angel. A loud snort came from in front of Chris, followed along with a heavy fit of laughter. The melodious chuckles of the girl in front of him almost caused a grin to appear upon his face. It was as if her mood could brighten everyone around her, the sound of her laughter seemingly contagious.

Once her laughs died down, and she now had the attention of everyone in the room, the girl turned her head to the group of hungry females, and then stated, "Are we in some sort of drought? Your girl's thirst is enough to fill a dam". At that, Chris couldn't help but laugh, knowing exactly what she was referring to. It was subtle and quiet, but Chris had a hard time keeping his stoic expression. The scowl of the other girls was just fuel to the fire, and then their replies almost knocked the boy off of his seat, at least internally.

"Who are you asking us such a dumb question? It's clear you're only saying that so you could get the ice king's attention. You're so desperate you had to pick a fight with us. Sorry, a girl with no sense of style and mediocre looks like you would never be able to grab his attention", the girl who Chris knew as Kylie from their previous conversation countered.

Her cheeks were flushed from embarrassment, and it was clear that her snappy remark was a disguise of her true emotions. The girl in front of Chris, however, only smiled at her before getting up out of her seat and heading towards their direction. Two of the girls in the group scrambled away frantically in search of their seats, while the other three just stood there not saying a word as they watched the girl approach them.

“There there", the girl responded as she patted Kylie on her shoulder. "We all get lonely sometimes, but it's not okay to put something that doesn't belong to you on a leash and speak to them as if they're your property. If you want someone like that, I suggest you get a dog. They are sure to be loyal if you train them well", the girl continued with a suggestive smile.

Chris couldn't help but release a real grin, doing his best to hide it from others by putting his head down. The girl whose name he didn’t know yet, was about to go back to her seat when she turned to look at Kylie and the other girl giving one last remark.

“As for "wanting the Ice King's attention", that's irrelevant. As of today, this ice king of yours is my sworn enemy. The type of attention I want from him is the kind that has his gears grinding. Why you would want a guy that acts as if he owns the world, knocking down whoever he pleases without care is beyond me. You have your tastes, I have mine, but I'd rather have a glass of orange juice then take my chances on "fine wine".

With that said the girl laid her head back down, not lifting it again. Chris was feeling a bit angered at the fact that she insulted him in more ways than one. Angry that her head was down and he couldn't see her face, yet still laughing at the response she gave those girls. To be completely honest, his emotions were going all over the place, and he couldn't say whether he liked it or not.

“Should I open my mouth and make a retort, or be silently grateful that she shut down those girls before I had the chance, making my hands less dirty?”.

Ultimately, Chris was grateful to her, but couldn't help but feel salty towards the fact that she acted as if she knew him. He didn't understand why she had such a problem with him, but Chris took note that she definitely held grudges. It was cute....." wait, what", he thought after finding himself saying the inevitable. No matter what a girl looked like or tried to do to turn him their way, he had never once called a girl cute. It was an odd move on Chris’s part, and he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about it. Chris decided to shake the thought away as the teacher entered the classroom.

For the first time of the day, the room was completely silent, only sounds coming from the teacher upfront. They introduced themselves though he could care less about remembering them. It was not until they announced they were calling roll did his ears perk up. That was Chris’s chance to hear the name of the girl he bumped into earlier. He waited patiently as the teacher went down the list and everyone announced their presence. When his name was called, Chris simply raised his hand, allowing the teacher to see who he was, but not letting others have the chance to keep looking at him. He felt awkward with so many eyes on him at every part of the day, and it was exhausting. Driving away others' attention quickly seemed to be the only option he had.

Finally, the time came and Chris had a concerning amount of excitement. “Aziza Walker", the teacher announced, and the short girl in the grey hoodie lifted her head.

"Aziza", Chris replayed in his head, not denying how great it felt having that name roll off his tongue.

"Aziza", he repeated again, unable to get enough. It felt nostalgic in some way, as if he had always been loving the sound of her name. It was exotic yet innocent enough and definitely gave off a hint of boldness.

Chris couldn't help but look at the girl once more, trying to put the back of her head as a face to the name.

Once he noticed what he was doing, Chris quickly stopped and grumbled to himself. "The hell am I doing", he wondered aloud. The teacher looked towards him, as well as the rest of the class, but he ignored them all. It's weird how such a thing got him to speak out loud now.

"Clearly, I need to get away from this girl as soon as possible", he thought. Chris cleared his throat and then looked towards the board, fully immersing himself in his work. Time faded quickly and Chris found himself exiting the classroom, watching the back of the sassy Aziza Walker fading into the background.