1 Alarming Responses

Backstreet is no good for keeping out unnecessary attention out of her mind.

Veena pressed her headphones into her ears as more and more students entered the classroom and the louder they are, the silence drowns in.

Even maximum volume isn't helping at all.

All she could do is change the music into something else but in her playlist, everything else seems to be mild enough to lift herself out of the noise the classroom makes.

Suddenly, a hand appeared on her desk.

Startled, she removed her headphones. She looked up and saw her closest friend, Layzelle. Veena smiles the moment she sees her.

"Zelle, are you trying to scare me to death?" Veena asked.

"Hey, we haven't seen each other for 2 months! I missed you!" Layzelle hugged her.

"It can't be helped right? I cannot go outside. You know how I am."

"Right, a closet person cannot go out and bath under the sunlight," Layzelle said with a mocking tone. "Oh well! I'm glad we're in the same class."

"Same here," Veena said.

"Anyways, have you heard of the news?" Layzelle asked making Veena drown in curiosity.

"News?" Veena's brow arched.

"Yup! The campus icon is in our class this year!" Layzelle said with much anticipation but Veena does not seem to be that interested.

"I see..."

"What? Doesn't it catch your interest?" Layzelle asked and realized something. "Oh! Right. You have been classmates with him for 3 years and now 4! Wow, girl! You've got to be so lucky! And even way back befo—" But Veena thought otherwise.

"What are you talking about, Zelle? This is the first time I'll get to see him. And way back what?" Veena said.

Layzelle awkwardly sat down at the seat beside her leaving another empty seat on Veena's right.

"Uhm... Talk to me later. Okay?" Layzelle bowed her head down into her desk and took a nap.

Veena can't help but smile at the sight of her friend. Layzelle had always been a sleepy person.

Teachers would often scold her for sleeping in class. Yet, she is always an honor student. Talk about a complete genius.

But still, she can't help but be bothered by what Layzelle had said.

"Veena!" Even with her headphones on, she could hear Kiera's high pitched voice.

She tried to ignore it as much as she could. Not to be rude and snobbish but just so she couldn't be involved in any of Kiera's reckless actions.

"We should make her join us," Veena heard Kiera. It seems like she would be invited to go with a bunch of girly-girls in their class.

Not that she minds but she does mind.

There's a little amount of chance that Kiera will just walk away and move on to talking with another person and the rest of the percentage of the chance is to just lie your head down...

Which Veena had momentarily forgotten..

"How are you doing, Veena?" Someone jumped to her and hugged her tightly from the back.

"I'm fine, Kiera," Veena pushed herself out of Kiera's arms and stood up from her seat.

She looked around and sighed in relief to see that nobody's attention has been caught.

"What is it?" Veena asked Kiera while removing her headphones.

"Let's go to the shopping district later!" Kiera said with such anticipation.

Veena looked at Kiera from head to toe. Other than Layzelle, there's Kiera. Kiera, the complete girl.

And by complete, there are the silver dangles and colorful bracelets and long necklaces.

Kiera is shorter than Veena but her height does not deduct her appearance points.

It all the more contributes to making her into a cute doll with a cute size.

Veena had known Kiera because of some chance encounter a month ago. They had been friends but not really close she would guess.

Often, Kiera will drag her out of her chamber and bring her out in the world, which a closet person she is, would never like.

Once, Kiera even brought Veena into a famous amusement park. Veena didn't really care about the rides at first.

She cared about the blast of sunlight that will touch her skin and burn it out to a toast. At the end of the day, Veena quite enjoyed it.

So Veena carefully thought about it. Shopping? On the first day of school? She hasn't been out for quite a month now, and maybe she could try, with a friend? With Kiera.

Not bad.

"Sure," Veena replied and went back on pressing her headphones into her ears.

Just as the music has ended, Veena then noticed that the clamorous classroom just a few moments ago went downhill.

She looked from her left to her right and everybody seemed to be looking at one direction.

Out of her curiosity, she turned her back into the front door's direction. There stood the campus icon for over 3 straight years they say.

He was in a simple and neat outfit but the glow he's emitting makes it impossible to take someone's eyes off him.

Even Veena can't help but recognize his sheen appearance.

The classroom began getting noisy once again. Girls and boys started approaching the person in front.

"Hi, Eliezer!" Someone greeted him. Then others did the same thing. So much for being an icon.

Veena knew that this person is a famous figure. Gossips about him are all over the school grounds. Flying on and off.

They hadn't been classmates as far as she can remember that is why she is disturbed about Layzelle's statements moments ago.

They are neighbors. Door to door neighbors. Her parents' sentiments about Eliezer also make her wonder about who he is.

But if she tried so hard thinking of something about him, her head would badly ache. Thus she tried not to mind it.

Veena didn't really approach him, it was the opposite.

Eliezer would always be the first one to reach her and she would always wonder why would he do that if she does nothing but only ignores him.

She sat down and cranked up the volume of the song she's on.

Veena also brought out her sketch pad and draw something random.

She tried so hard to ignore other people's presence. She's not a loner nor an introvert.

It's just that she does not want to make unnecessary interactions.

Her classmates are terribly crazy and not to mention boisterous. Another crazy thing is the person standing in front of her.

Veena looked up to the 170 cm tall boy in front of him with a certain degree of wonder. A knickknack for why he is standing in front of her now.

Veena looked across his side and saw people who are looking at them.

This guy seems to be reaping unwanted attention for her.

And that's all she could not wish for.

She looked up to him again and saw him mouthing something so Veena removed her headphones.

"What?" She tried not to sound irked but it leaks spontaneously.

"Is there someone seating beside you?" Eliezer asked and flashed a smile.

Perhaps if Veena is one of Eliezer's die-hard fan, she would definitely collapse, but oh well, she's not.

"No one," Veena answered and went on with listening to music again. She sketched again.

On her side, she can feel Eliezer putting his bag down and sitting beside her.

While on the other side, she can feel several eyes watching her making Veena feel uncomfortable enough to sit with Eliezer.

"Heh~That's quite a cute little cat, isn't it?" Veena was startled as she noticed Eliezer looking at her sketch.

"Is that Fur?" His face was only a few inches away from her. She frowned at him for invading her personal space.

And how come he knew the name of her cat?

But Eliezer only sweetly smiled at her making her frown disappear.

Is her heart melting with his smile? No, it must have been her imagination.

There's no reason for Veena's heart to melt at the sight of Eliezer's smile.

"Will you please move away from me a little?" She looked away and tried not to be rude as much as possible.

"Right. Sorry," Eliezer seemed dumbfounded with what Veena had said.

"But all these years, you're still a good artist, aren't you?" Eliezer said. Is that sadness in his tone that she heard?

Veena was stopped by what he said. She? A good artist? Still? For a few moments, she tried to remember if she had ever let Eliezer get a glimpse of one of her works.

Veena was bewildered. Does he know her? Does she know him? How much does he know about her when she doesn't even let anyone in except Layzelle?

Because never did she let someone see her works as much as she can remember..

Veena's head started to ache.

She dropped her pencil and held her head that is currently suffering from extreme pain.

She felt like she is forgetting something incredibly important.

She gulped. It seems like thinking about this guy is overall bad for her health.

"Veena?" She heard Eliezer calling out to her. "Are you feeling okay?" She sensed a hint of concern from Eliezer's voice.

Veena looked at him with a plea for help.

She left out a tear and before she could even notice she blanked out when all she could hear was Eliezer's voice calling out to her name.