Chapter 2 - Getting to Know Each Other

N A O M I

"Where are the other two?" Alexa asked Julia, putting down her bags to the floor. She sported a white long-sleeved polo, tucked in a bloody red skirt, and dark red boots.

"Still paying," Julia answered while playing games on her phone. She is wearing a plain white shirt under a gray jacket, paired with denim pants, and gray sneakers.

"Sorry, the line was too long," Thea said the moment she arrived. Her perfectly shaped body was covered with a fitted pastel pink top, paired with denim shorts and pastel pink boots.

"Where is Nike?" I asked, noticing she was alone. Did that girl get lost?

"Ah, she was talking with a friend," Thea answered. Hayst, as always, that girl is really talkative. I wonder, which friend was it?

Observing the crowd around the mall, I noticed two strangers walking towards our direction. One of them looks really shy, while the other one is the opposite.

"Hi? I just wanna ask if you saw my friends. A cold guy, a playboy, and a gentleman," The opposite one asked.

"Oh, those jerks?" I stated with a smirk. Are they part of a group? Maybe they are called, "The Pitiful Group."

"Who are you calling jerk?!" The rude boy asked. He arrived with the other two boys from earlier, and the girl we were waiting for, Nike.

"It's true though, tsk," Clicked my tongue, then rolled my eyes at him. I'm just stating the truth.

Hey, calm down," Nike said as he made small calming gestures in front of me. How cute, but it won't work, little Nike. She is wearing a maroon shirt with a cute print under a denim short jumper, paired with maroon sneakers.

"Why are you even with these jerks, Nike?" I asked Nike, who is avoiding my gaze. Am I that scary for you?

"I'm sorry," is all she can say. So, I'm scary, huh.

"Let's go to Starbucks, stop testing my patience," I said and walked away. They followed, so did the boys. I never invited them, why are they following?

Entering Starbucks, the familiar warm interior, and the strong smell of coffee, greeted me. Choosing a table by the window, I sat there and the others followed. Alexa seated on my right, and Julia on my left.

"Any frappe and cheesecake." Leaving my card on the table, and opening my phone to calm my temper. Hearing a sudden thug beside me, made me avert my gaze towards the source, only to find bad luck.

"Move," I ordered, making my voice as cold as possible. They moved their table right beside ours, what the hell?

"Just let them be. Maybe they just want to be friends?" Nike said, and I gave her a glare. They might be her friends, but they are strangers to me.

"Let them be, just for today, please?" Julia said while clinging on my arm. I heaved out a heavy sigh and nodded. Seriously, just because they look hot doesn't mean you will let them be, Julia.

"My treat?" The playboy said, with a smile. He is wearing a blue polo shirt, under a gray coat.

"My treat, you guys order," I insisted, my attention on my phone.

"Let me--" he stopped mid-sentence when I gave him a glare. You want to be with me, then you must obey me.

"I'll go order with Thea and Julia," Nike said, then pulled the two to the counter. The moment they left, the atmosphere was covered in awkward silence. Really awkward. I just ranted out on Twitter, in the hope to soothe my temper.

"Alexa, I'll go back to national, I forgot something. Is it fine?" I lied, and I hope she would believe it. I can't take it anymore, the feeling that they are watching my every move, is so uncomfortable!

"You? Forgot to buy something? Who would believe that? Every time you visit national, you tour the whole store, and you will stay in a teen or fiction section, then you will pay. You won't waste your time only to forget something, am I right?" Alexa sarcastically answered, with a smirk.

"How annoying," I said in an irritated tone, the boys then started laughing. Jerks. They stopped when I gave them the sharpest glare I ever gave them this day. How annoying.

The girls arrived and distributed the drinks and sweets. "My card?" I asked after they finished the distribution, but no card appeared.

"Why would I give it back?" Nike said, with a smile. This girl...

"Nike." My voice was colder than earlier. I'm near my limit already. Nike then immediately gave me my card back.

Taking a slice of cheesecake, and biting it, my mood improved rapidly. It's really delicious! I eat this almost every day, but I can never get enough of it. Out of pleasure, I cupped my cheeks and smiled like a child.

"Cute." The rude man whispered, he is seated right beside me. How weird.

"We haven't formally introduced ourselves. I'm Elijah Dias," The playboy said. His name suits his attitude.

"Ares Inverno," The rude guy said, but he is actually cold though. I'm loving that voice-- wait, what the hell am I thinking? I must be going insane. He also looks hot in his plain white shirt-- I'm really going insane.

"Kyosuke Shinshi, nice to meet you," The gentleman said, with a smile. He is wearing a yellow hoodie.

"I'm Chase Won, single and ready to mingle." Really shameless. He sported a brown jacket on top of a shirt with a darker shade of brown.

"Apollo Amano, hope we can be friends," The shy one? Or he prefers to be silent? Never mind, he is a nerd but is kinda cute. Wearing a white polo that compliments his looks.

"I'm Thea Risou, on my left is Nike Akabane, and on my right is Julia Misawa," Thea said, introducing them. Why only them? How unfair.

"Alexa Davis, nice to meet you," Alexa said, politely. Whoa, what's with this girl? And now they are all looking at me.

For them to stop looking at me, I finally spoke. "Naomi Shiba," I shortly said and took a small bite from my cheesecake. The cafe is getting crowded, and the chattering is getting louder.

"Should we get to know each other? Think of something you want to ask each one of us. One question per person, then everyone has to answer. Good?" Chase suggested. They all agreed while I don't give a damn.

"I'll ask you first! Uhm, what's the color of your underwear?" I glared at him, and he just chuckled. This pervert.

"I'm just joking, here is my real question. What's your college major?" he asked.

"We all took med," Alexa answered.

"Us too! I hope we're classmates!" Elijah exclaimed, almost jumping from his seat. Why is he so happy about it? How childish.

"My turn to ask! Why did you choose to transfer to our university?" Julia asked.

"How did you know?" Elijah asked, a little shocked. That's common sense, little boy.

"Majority of the students here are from our university. It will take you hours to go to other malls." Julia explained. Don't tell me, they didn't research this island and everything in it? If they seriously didn't, they went to hell because of their stupidity.

"What if it was just close to our house?" Ares asked, smirking as if he won a game. Don't be so sure, mister cold.

"This place is like a cage for the rich. To enter this place, you need to be rich or a scholar of the university or academy. Remington University has two kinds of students, the rich and the scholars. And everyone inside this island goes to the university or the academy," I explained while playing on my phone. "Welcome to the cage," I added with a smirk.

"Weird..who owns that university?" Elijah asked. Judging too fast, we would never be friends then.

"My uncle. Do you have a problem?" I answered, and he just shuts his mouth.

"We transferred here because we heard the university here is really good. We are all from rich families, so our parents forced us." Kyosuke answered. The typical reason.

"My turn to ask. Is that your natural eye color?" Kyousuke asked, scanning each of our eyes.

Hayst, this is what I really hate. Our eye color is quite unique. My eyes are violet, red for Alexa, green for Julia, yellow for Nike, and pink for Thea.

"It's our natural eye color. How about you?" Thea answered. Their eyes are also quite unique. Blue for Ares, orange for Kyosuke, yellow for Elijah, gray for Apollo, and light brown for Chase.

"It's also natural," Chase answered. He seemed uncomfortable about the question, so why ask us? Idiot.

"How about your hair, Naomi?" Chase asked. I didn't notice that he is behind me.

"It's natural. Don't you dare touch it," I coldly stated, when he was about to touch my hair. Is this guy uneducated or something? He forgot proper manners.

"Sorry," he said, then went back to his seat. Seriously annoying.

"What kind of university is Remington university?" Apollo asked. What a broad question.

"It is one of the best schools in the world. Only the powerful and intelligent people can enter this island. We have complete facilities and high-quality materials. Every teacher here is a genius. There are also fewer rules here, unlike the other schools. The students also have more power," Thea explained.

"Then what about the rankings?" Chase asked again, he really loves asking questions. A good question that I hated it.

"There are different ranking categories. For example, top beauties or top geniuses. If I am right, there are more than twenty categories. Every student who reaches the top five has the power to make the lower students be their slaves. As long as the student has lower rankings than you, you can do anything," Julia explained.

"Slaves? Seriously? Who the fuck made that system?" Ares asked he is clearly irritated. I'm out of here.

"I need to buy something," I said as I stood up. That system shouldn't have been implemented if only I arrived earlier. If only, I did better. If only... I could only list a bunch of if and regret, but nothing can be done.

"What are you going to buy?" Julia asked, stopping me. This girl is really insensitive.

"We have a party after the event, I need new clothes," I reasoned out. I need to avoid this topic for my poor overthinking mind.

"We'll go with you. We also need to check for some new clothes," They also stood up, and ate all of the cakes left and took their drinks.

"Can we also come?" Kyousuke asked. Do you seriously think I would let you after you made me feel uncomfortable? You wish.

"No need," I said shortly, then left Starbucks at a fast pace.

We bought some semi-formal dress and went back to our dorm. Hayst, I'm so tired. I hope I won't see those jerks tomorrow...