Chapter 4: New Boy

*Souta*

"Sou, wake up. School will start in fifteen minutes," my ma said out as she knocked on the door.

I rubbed my eyes as I turned to my left to see if the amethyst-eyed boy was still there. He was gone.

Was meeting him only part of a dream? Perhaps I had fallen asleep while reading my books.

I stood up and walked over to the door as I ruffled my rust-colored hair.

"Sou, you aren't in your uniform yet?" Ma asked as she entered. She put her hands on her hips and shook her head.

A pink-haired girl poked her head in and snickered. "Sou is never ready," the girl taunted.

I stuck my tongue out at her. "Shut up, Ava!" Gods, was she nosey!

Ava simply grinned. Oh, how that girl enjoyed getting under my skin. I swore to make her pay tenfold one day, and it was a promise I intended to keep!

"Come, the others are waiting for us," Ava said, running in and grabbing a hold of my hand.

My face felt warm for some unknown reason. "Wait, I got to change first!"

She sighed, letting go of me and walking over to the door. "Why am I the one dragging you?," she said, turning over to shoot me one of her signature glares. "That's usually your role."

I shut the door in her face without uttering another word. "How annoying," I finally said. I rapidly took off my shirt and reached into my dresser for a white shirt and my school blazer.

"You little..." Ava called out, barging back in.

I threw my dirty shirt at her. "I'm changing. Where are your manners?"

She turned away and ran for the door as her face flushed deep pink like her eyes. "Uh, sorry."

I sighed. "Doesn't she have a girlfriend?" I snickered. Maybe I should've told Sayuri about this little incident. That would've made her regret her actions.

I unzipped my beige pants and changed into a midnight-black pair. Come to think about it, it was a good thing that I had only taken off my shirt. Having her see me in my underwear would've been mortifying.

Buttoning up my shirt and putting on my blazer, I made my way to the hall where Ava was waiting like a girl who had just been grounded.

"Done, let's go!" I yelled, running ahead of her. I ran out of the house and was instantly hit by the crisp morning air. I stopped to take a deep breath and felt energy flowing throughout my body. "Time to start the day!"

I rushed on ahead.

"You idiot, wait up for me!" Ava screamed as she nearly caught up. She sprinted out of the door but by the time she did I was already several meters ahead of her.

I grinned as I kicked up a dust storm (our town had very few paved roads, there were actually more cobblestone roads than paved roads) behind me. "Hurry up slowpoke!"

"Grr, you little kid!" she screamed, sprinting forward as fast as she could.

She was out of breath by the time we reached the school.

"You should get out some more," I commented, grinning. "Some exercise would do you some good."

Her pink eyes narrowed. "You little twerp. Are you calling me fat?"

I shook my head. "No. I was talking about training your stamina. You run out of energy far too quickly."

She puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms in front of her flat chest. "You..." Her eyes darted toward her chest. "Wait, what are you staring at?"

I laughed. "Nothing at all, there's nothing to look at." I shrugged and I ran ahead of her. "Even if there were, I wouldn't be interested."

She pushed me to the side of the road. "You're the worst, Sou." Suddenly she had the extra stamina to sprint away.

I scratched my head. That girl was going to be the death of me at the rate she was going.

"Sehun," Ava called out, waving both her hands in the air.

I quickly stood up and dusted off my black pants before making my way past the rusty school gate.

Waiting for us on the other side of the gate was a raven-black haired boy with porcelain skin. However, his most beautiful feature wasn't his hair or his skin but his eyes. They were green like emeralds with little specks of red, yellow, and blue around the pupil.

Sehun smiled at her. "You seem to be doing well."

She returned the smile, a flirty one at that.

I stepped in between the two. "Come," I said, grabbing Ava's hand.

The shine in Sehun's eyes vanished as he stayed behind. I looked at my hand and let go of Ava. People would start to think that she's cheating on Sayuri with me if they saw us like that.

"Your jealousy is obvious," Ava stated as we walked to class ahead of Sehun.

I pouted as I narrowed my eyes. "You were getting too close to him for a girl with a girlfriend."

She laughed. "Well, you should claim him."

My ears perked up. "How?"

She pushed me against the wall and leaned in close, close enough that we were almost kissing. She backed away, laughing at my slightly red face. "Like that..." she said, touching her glossy lips. "But even closer." She nudged me forward. "Now wipe that look off your face."

I ran on ahead and stuck out my tongue at her. "You didn't even excite me!"

"Yeah, yeah. Keep telling yourself that," she yelled.

Honestly, I never felt any strong sexual attraction to girls, but that near kiss... I closed my eyes as the image of kissing her popped into my head. 'Oh gods, please don't let Ava be the exception!'

"Why you," Sehun yelled, running toward us. "How dare you leave me behind?"

I stopped running and turned around but Sehun continued until we were both on the ground.

I grimaced as a quick but sharp pain ran through my head.

Sehun rubbed his head with one hand while supporting his body with the other. "Is your head made out of diamond or something?"

"That's my line," I snapped, rubbing my forehead. My face turned bright red as I noticed that our lips were only a couple inches apart.

Sehun stood up and smiled as he offered me both hands.

I took them both and suddenly the room felt two degrees warmer.

"T-thanks," I said. Maybe, getting hit in the head was worth something.

"You alright?" Ava asked, touching Sehun's shoulder. "That looked painful."

"He's fine," I said, narrowing my eyes at her. "If any of us got hurt, it would be me. Plus you shouldn't worry too much about him."

"Ava!" A girl hugged Ava tightly from behind and gave her a light kiss on the cheek. "I've been waiting for you!"

I walked past them and into the classroom. Thankfully there were still three minutes until class time.

"So, how was your break?" Sehun asked as he took the seat to the left of mine. He had gone back to the city over the summer. I didn't know as to why he was going to school here in such a small town but I didn't mind if it meant getting to be with him.

"It was work and more work," I answered, putting my head down on the desk. My hands still ached from tilling the land all day long. "You know, I really missed you."

Sehun's face turned light pink. He let out a cute chuckle. "I missed you too. Same with Ava. Oh and Sayuri too."

I pouted. Why did he have to ruin it by mentioning the others? Especially Ava...

The two girls walked back into the room after their short make-out session as if they had been summoned.

Ava took the seat to the left of Sehun while Sayuri took the one to the left of her.

"Hey, hey," Sayuri said, waving at us. "Did you two also not hear the news?"

Sehun snickered as he rested his head on his hands. "I've been gone from this town up until today. Tell me, what's going on?"

"We have a new student!"

Ava grumbled as she took out her binder. "You seem awfully excited for this, Sayu."

Sayu nudged her. "You aren't? This is the first time that someone from outside of the village has come here since Sehun."

New student? 'Could it be him?' My face turns red as I recall last night. I shook my head. 'Sou, stop thinking about that rude guy. Besides, you got Sehun already.'

I ruffled my hair as I tried to get those amethyst eyes out of my head. 'Don't become a freaking two-timer like Ava.'

"Hello class," Mr. Arata said. "We got a new student. I ask that you treat him nicely. Please come inside."

My heart raced faster in anticipation as did Sayuri's and those of a few other students. 'Is it him?'

A boy peeked through the door before slowly walking in. He gave the class a shy smile and a wave. "Nice to meet you. I'm..."