5 5. Inferior

After completing all the registration process amd having a tour of the entire school, Luna headed into her room which is on the third floor of the hostel building. As every student here was from an esteemed background, except for those who received scholarships from the rich families, they were all entitled to single rooms in their hostel building. The school didn't mind this demand- their parents were the one paying anyway, and this could uplift the school's elite and prestigious reputation further. They could decorate the room as they like, and they will be living in the same room during their time in Imperial Hibiscus. Before every student got their own room, they were asked on how they would like the color of their room to be, as painting and flooring works would take time and the school very much preferred to mantain the comfort of the students and would not want to disturb their studies.

Luna entered her room. It was quite big, and the walls were painted a dark sapphire blue and hints of silver. The flooring used black and white marble, and the room felt cold as the air conditioner was turned on. She smiled gratefully- Noah must've arranged for it, as she hadn't talked to anyone form the school management about her preferences.

She unpacked speedily before turning on her phone. Looking at its interface for a long while, she tapped an icon and typed in a few keywords. She opened a programme and afyer analysing its content briefly, she deleted the program.

Outside of school hours, students were free to do whatever they wanted, except if there were the presence of any extra-curricular activities that is a must for all students to attend and hone their sportsmanship, leadership and soft skills. Therefore tonight, Luna decided to stay in her room, not wanting to be bothered.

Laying on the bed, she awaited what tomorrow would bring her.

♤

The very next day, Noah arrived and waited at the door of their classroom, the Hydrogen-11 class. Thre are 6 classes in each grade- named according from Hydrogen, which is the first class to Carbon, the sixth class. The most talented and richest students were gathered together in the first class.

There were already students in the class, and a few people who had heard of his transfer yesterday were excitedly chattering about him and awaiting his arrival.

He looked down towards his Audemars Piguet watch and as he lifted his head up, he saw the girl calmly walking towards him followed by a school teacher, presumably the class teacher for Hydrogen-11. The girl was carrying a worn-out bag with an iPad in her hands, which she had just received from the school office yesterday.

The teacher behind her had naturally heard about this student who had managed to become the first ever receiver of the Imperial Hibiscus school board. Among the teachers, her reputation as an ugly, cold and 'mute' girl was already established. As the school allows the student to wear whatever their hearts desire as long as the attire was entirely inappropriate, she was dressed in her trademark style- baseball cap, surgical mask, baggy sweater and faded loose denim jeans that reached her ankle. Her sneakers were black without any additional decorations.

She nodded at Noah before opening the classroom door which were designed European-style. The school building was decorated with the late European concept in mind, giving the modern nobles a sense of imperiality and suiting the gracefulness and elegant vibe they were trained to develop since young.

The teacher put a smile on her face before entering the classroom, trying to cover the disdain she had for this commoner on front of her. She dared not act rude in front of Young Master Noah, but her disdain was oblivious to both sharp observers. Noah furrowed his eyebrows but smoothed it out quickly as he turned towards Luna.

"Now class, I'm sure most of you have heard about this yesterday....." she proceeded with her speech, before saying,

"Now, will the two students please enter the classroom and introduce yourself?"

Both of them entered the classroom. The females' eyes started shining and the boys were all grinning. Three boys at the middle, particularly, were watching Noah with hawk-like eyes, their stuart faces breaking into faint smiles. They met eyes with Noah, prompting a faint smile to emerge in the face of the beautiful boy besides Luna.

It was a sincere one, too.

Luna noticed he always put on a fake smile at their old school, and only in front of her would he present his sincere amd unrestrained smiles. She instantly gauged the identity of the three boys as the other renowned three of the 4 Young Masters of Grozeia.

"I'm Noah Brihms."

There's really a difference between "I'm Noah Brihms." rather than "My name is Noah Brihms.". The first demanded that the listener had knowledge of the speaker, while the second regarded the speaker as someone rather unimportant. In the lives of these nobles, even their speech was controlled and molded to make them hear more dignified and deserving of their status.

"Transferred from Tulips Jones and have attended Imperial Hibiscus before. Besides me is my fellow schoolmate, Miss Luna."

Luna nodded her head. She noticed that a few girls were eyeballing her evilly, almost as if their eyeballs could pop out of its sockets the very next moment.

She sighed inwardly.

A few students whispered,

"Why did she not introduce herself?"

"It's as if she think Master Noah is his butler."

These kinds of whispers gradually traveled to the keen ears of Miss Smiths, the class teacher who was seated behind her desk. She took a deep breath and cleared throat before asking,

"Miss Luna, would you like to introduce yourself?"

Luna kept mum, staring straight ahead to the white wall at the back. She won't need to care about being corteous to people who were impolite and fake, such as this double- faced Miss Smith. Therefore she straight out ignored her, causing the young teacher's face to burn red in shame and anger.

Noah frowned. This teacher was in the office yesterday- and he had already told the teachers about Luna being an abnormally silent teenager. They had received the hint no to bother her- but it seems this teacher was really looking down on Luna.

He smoothed his creased forehead before saying, "Her name is Miss Luna Emerald. Same age as mine, talented and smart. Any other questions?" his authoritative voice implicitly warned the other students that they should not mess with him and the person under his wing- in this case, Luna.

Miss Smiths smirked inwardly, before saying, " Ah, Miss Luna is just... shy. After all, being in an unfamiliar setting would cause discomfort to anyone. Please head over to the empty seat at the back. Student Noah, you may sit with Student Rafael." the class instantly got her hint.

"Unfamiliar seting..."

"So she's just a peasant!"

"How can a low-blood enter the prestigious Imperial Hibiscus? In Hydrogen too!"

"I heard she received some scholarship..."

"Scholarship? She dared to receive a scholarship with that horrendous appearance?"

"Her style... it's- interesting."

"Hey, wait. Her name-"

The last speaker was cut off as Miss Smith rapped her knuckles on her desk. She had purposely let them degrade this newbie for a bit to remind her of her rightful place.

"Miss Luna, Master Noah, these two seats are the only empty seats left, currently. The both of you may sit. We need to get on with our studies. And I hope...you can catch up fast."

Noah was about to retort that he could arrange another seat for Luna as the seats at the back was empty and abandoned. It was clear she was trying to isolate Luna in this way. He then saw Luna moving towards her seat and opened her iPad calmly under the class's mocking gaze. In Imperial Hibiscus they made use of the advancement of the digital era and therefore used digital textbooks and exercise books. Only when the teacher demanded to test their handwriting will they write on paper, using a fountain pen and ink.

Noah went to his seat where he received the warm gazes of his 3 best friends. He smiled but his heart was still left unsettled, as he knew the class were feeling that Luna was unworthy and absulotely inferior to them.

He turned to her, but all he saw were her scrolling down on her iPad emotionlessly. There were no cold or chilly aura that emanated from her which indicated her bad mood, and he was glad.

Nobody saw the hand that was holding the thick and heavy old smartphone hidden under the table with its fingers typing abnormally fast on the interface digital keyboard.

Her expression remained unchanged.

Inferior? Her?

Heh.