Chapter Text
“What did you say your name was?” Pomni asked the nervous girl beside her.
“My name is Gangle…” the girl replied in a dry tone, as if she didn’t want to talk. This annoyed Pomni. She would have to be with these people for a month, and probably for many hours, without acting this way. They had to get to know each other somehow, but if these people weren’t cooperative, she wouldn’t have enough patience to endure a few more hours.
Ragatha noticed Pomni was very serious after that answer. She seemed angry. She had seen Pomni before; she always had a serious expression on her face, almost angry. She didn’t want to have a bad time. After all, this was to meet new people. Professor Abel had said that during the first two classes of the project, the students would have to get to know each other. Ragatha looked around, and most of the teams were following the instructions to get to know each other, while she and her team were completely silent. Somehow, not having the full team made communication difficult, or at least that's what Ragatha thought. Or maybe they just didn't like her. She already knew Gangle, but she was too serious at that moment. Had she done something wrong? She didn't want to overthink the situation; she would just give her space and talk to her later.
"So, Pomni, right?" She paused. "When did you arrive at this school?" This was getting very awkward, Ragatha thought, but she wanted to get to know the girl beside her.
"I'm kind of new here. I arrived a month ago. Why do you ask?" That was true; she had transferred to this school not too long ago, but she didn't have the interest or the need to meet anyone at that moment. After all, she was someone who greatly enjoyed being able to be calm with her thoughts. It wasn't as if she didn't want company; she just wanted to enjoy her peace.
"I was just curious. I've never seen you around here before." She laughed nervously. That was a complete lie. Raghata had been drawn to Pomni's personality; she seemed, at the very least, striking. She really stood out from the crowd. Although, well, everyone at that school had their own quirks, but for some reason, Raghata felt Pomni was someone she'd like to interact with more. Perhaps it was because it had been ages since a single new student had arrived.
Pomni had stopped paying attention to the girl next to her, who was just drawing, oblivious to the conversation. So she simply looked at Ragatha, waiting for her to tell her how she'd come to that school.
"Oh!" She paused. "No, I've always been here, well, almost. I transferred to this school when I was twelve... What I just said doesn't make sense." Ragatha was quite nervous. She loved interacting with others; it was something that helped distract her, but it had been a long time since she'd interacted with another person, or at least, with someone who actually paid attention to her.
Pomni laughed. “Yes, I understood what you meant.” From Ragatha’s perspective, Pomni now seemed more relaxed than she had a few minutes ago. “So, Ragatha, why did you sign up for this class? As far as I know, this class was only created a few weeks ago.” Now Pomni was completely engrossed in talking to the redhead.
“Intellectual and Social Development? I signed up out of curiosity. I would like a more detailed explanation, but I was simply curious about this class.”
They both laughed together. Ragatha looked at Pomni, hoping she would also tell her why she had signed up. “I signed up because I heard that getting good grades here is very easy. And thinking about it, it seemed to be true. You would only have to do a group project for a month and maybe a few other things. It all sounded like getting good grades without any effort.”
They both remained silent, looking at each other with friendly smiles. Pomni looked away from Ragatha and stared at the girl beside her, who was still sketching in her notebook, oblivious to the conversation unfolding before her. "She was quite rude," Pomni thought, but she had to try again. Maybe she was just having a bad day.
Ragatha realized what Pomni was trying to do, and without noticing, they both stared at the girl silently sketching, who was becoming increasingly nervous under their gazes. Ragatha was about to speak, but a thought distracted her: she really wanted to be friends with Pomni. Interacting with her had been much more enjoyable than with other people in a long time. This would be a chance to make a real friend.
Meanwhile, Gangle was feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the situation; she noticed her heart was beating faster because she wasn't used to being the center of attention.
Pomni noticed Gangle was lost in thought and quickly said, "Gangle, what about you?" Pomni thought Gangle might be nervous from being silently observed for so long. When she spoke, her tone was neutral, perhaps a little friendly, but not overly so.
The girl looked up from her drawings and blushed. "Well, I... I signed up for this class to meet new people," she said shyly. "I get really nervous around other people, that's the only reason I signed up."
Now Pomni felt guilty for having thought the wrong thing, even though it was ironic, since she had been the one to speak first, trying to start a conversation, and Gangle had simply responded with too much distance, as if she didn't want to talk. "I... I'm sorry for answering like that earlier, it's just that I feel uncomfortable talking to new people," she said, looking at Pomni, since Gangle had noticed how abrupt she had been in answering a question meant to encourage social interaction. "It's like she read my mind," thought Pomni, who was now smiling at the nervous girl.
“I didn’t know you drew, Gangle,” Ragatha said.
“Did you already know each other?” Pomni asked.
“Yes, we already knew each other,” Gangle replied cheerfully, as Ragatha nodded. Pomni found it curious; neither of them had given any indication that they knew each other. Perhaps they weren’t very close, or maybe that was just how their friendship was, Pomni thought.
“Does anyone know what this class would be like if we weren’t doing this activity? I mean, the whole school is doing it, so what would we be doing right now if it weren’t for this activity? This class was supposed to be about other things; if it weren’t for that boy, we’d be in a different situation. Do you understand my question?”
In a way, she was right. The entire school was participating in a similar activity about relationships and friendship, but those enrolled in “intellectual and social development” were going to delve deeper into the topic, expanding it into a project, because, after all, this theme of relationships and friendship was similar to what the class would primarily cover in the first place.
“As far as I know, if the situation with the boy who transferred to another school because of bullying hadn’t happened, we’d still be getting to know each other as students, just like now, and we’d be studying philosophy and… That’s all I know, that’s what I think, I’m not sure.”
“How do you know? Nobody knew what was going to happen in this class,” Gangle said. “Well, I just guessed,” she replied, laughing nervously.
Pomni sensed that the conversation wasn’t going anywhere, so she simply asked, “How did you two meet?” Ragatha’s laughter stopped at that moment, and Gangle’s expression shifted to a forced smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
Pomni thought she had asked the wrong question.
Gangle spoke: “Ragatha and I… We met when…” She was interrupted.
“Good morning, Professor Abel!” said someone who abruptly opened the door. He entered with a mocking smile, with a confident and carefree posture, as if the room belonged to him. He didn't look at anyone, although everyone in the classroom fell silent and stared expectantly at his noisy entrance. The boy went straight to Professor Abel's desk and, as if no one had noticed his nonchalant entrance, his attitude changed completely.
“Mr. Abel, I'm so sorry I'm late today, it was never my intention,” he said in a sarcastic and mocking tone. “What happened was that I was in the nurse's office because…”
“Jax, not only are you late to my class, but you're also laughing at the situation,” his tone was so serious that a chill ran down everyone's spine.
“I’ve had a lot of trouble with you and your behavior. If you keep this up, I’ll make sure you’re expelled. And if necessary, I’ll talk to your parents about the conversation we had the other day. You’ve been warned.”
Everyone in the room could feel the tension in the air. Slowly, everyone started talking again. Pomni wanted to continue her conversation with Gangle, so she glanced at the girls and noticed they were both staring at the boy. Gangle was watching him with a serious expression, a small twitch forming in his eye. The cozy atmosphere they had shared moments before had completely vanished. And Ragatha? Ragatha was looking at him with a serious and defensive expression.
“So what are we supposed to do?” she asked the teacher with an air of superiority, as if the previous humiliation hadn’t affected her at all. Mr. Abel seemed even more annoyed.
“Who is he?” This question snapped everyone out of their thoughts.
"It's Jax, he's a friend of ours," Ragatha replied as Gangle slowly sat down. "How strange," Pomni thought. They both acted oddly around him, but they were friends with him?
"Gangle, are you okay?" Pomni saw Gangle revert to the demeanor she'd had when she first sat down with her. She was serious, but nervous, and she also seemed tired.
Before anyone could answer, he arrived.
"Are you talking to Gangle? Of course she's fine," he said, smiling as he put his arm around her shoulder. "She's happy I'm here; she loves being with me."
The silence lasted a few seconds before the boy spoke again. "Well, let's get to know each other better, or get to know each other more. I already know you two very well," he said teasingly. "Not you, clown," he laughed mockingly. Pomni simply observed everything before saying anything.
"Why are you so late? What happened to you?" “Why didn’t she come?” Gangle asked, breaking the silence.
“She just didn’t want to come,” he said, roughly shaking Gangle’s shoulder, who was complaining about the boy’s action.
“Jax, that’s enough!” Ragatha exclaimed, raising his voice and unconsciously slamming his fist on the table.
“What’s wrong with you, Raggy?” he replied playfully. “You know perfectly well what’s going on. Stop bothering her. You’re invading her space,” he said, his tone softening but still sounding authoritative.
Jax stopped shaking Gangle.
"She loves how I treat her, I don't know why you're saying that." His tone was still sarcastic.
"Don't you ever get tired of acting like a little kid?"
Pomni was there, simply watching the little argument between Ragata and Jax. She observed how the atmosphere changed in an instant. Pomni had grown tired of being there, and unconsciously said, "How do I get out of here?"