Dull Doll

Chapter 3: Dull Embrace

[Lee]

Omoo~ One more minute and I'm doomed! I ran all the way from the powder room not minding the painful bruises I have all over my body. Thinking about the blue polo guy and the Queen Bitches, I mean, Queen Bees would be of no help at all. I was holding my breath while on my way that it came out a loud gasp the minute I reached the doorway. Holy moly! Everyone's here! This is so not happening.

Seeing Miss Chen stare at me with a blank expression signals I am in deep trouble. I looked around the classroom to ask for help only to find the Bees laughing under their breaths. A glimmer of hope finally shone through after getting a glimpse of Dee at the back waving at me and mouthing something like "Fighting!". On the other hand, Elie just plain snobbed me as if nothing was wrong. She was glaring at someone in front and finally tossed her head back and looked outside while muttering something under her breath which suggests she just might have lost the staredown. That, rarely happens. Hold on, something's a-miss and so I looked back to where Miss Chen was standing. Her chinky eyes were narrowed into slits enough to slice through my soul. Out of fear, I quickly moved my eyes somewhere else and realized all too late that she wasn't alone. Standing there right next to her was the Switch boys.

[Dee]

I pity Lee but she has to pull through this whole ordeal without their help. The day is just starting at Arcana High but this seems to be the most eventful day for her dear friend, so far. She and Elie were just talking about a possible surprise quiz for their Biology class in the next period when Lee came rushing in looking like she's being chased by a million demons. Now, she's running late for the music class since she has to go to the powder room to at least fix herself to look presentable enough. I heaved a deep sigh as I remembered this was not a great time to be tardy since Miss Chen invited the school band to come over. Uh-oh! "Where the heck is Lee?!" Me and Elie blurted out these words at the same time. In the corner of my eyes, I saw our friend running out of nowhere to the doorway of the music room. I bowed my head down and accepted my friend's fate. The people in the room suddenly grew unbearably quiet that I had to look up again just to find my friend in a very awkward situation. She looks really helpless that I can't help but mouth her an encouragement, "Fighting!" when I caught her attention. Ah, how I wish that simple gesture made her feel a little bit better.

Everyone was real busy preparing to impress Miss Chen and the Switch boys today. The girls were trying really hard to get the visitors' attention by trying to act cute and all to no avail. I mean, what's the big deal? It's just the Switch. And clearly, they are not some God-given gift to all the women in the world. Plus, I really don't care about some tryhards and Kpop idol wannabes. That's just annoying.

I was half worried about Lee and half annoyed about the whole Switch thing and was trying to tell Elie about it when I noticed her glaring at someone before she hissed a "F***" and looked outside. We were seated near the windows and Elie's hair moved with the wind. Despite her rough ways and busty structure, she's pretty in her own right. But what was it that made her mad? Of course, she can never be mad at Lee. Hmmm.

My musings were suddenly interrupted by Miss Chen's introduction of the Switch to the class. "Good morning, everyone." Everyone greeted Miss Chen back. She paused for a second and turned to look at Lee. "And good morning, Miss Lee. What are you doing standing there? What, are you a member of the Switch now?". Everyone bursted out laughing and a few even slammed the tables and had high-fives. Wow, classic high school a**holes. "Go and sit down, lady." Poor Lee went on her way to sit down right next to me. I can hear Miss Chen doing the introductions and the loud cheers from the girls are starting to get in my nerves. Meanwhile, I must focus on my poor friend. "Are you alright?" I asked her while grabbing a bottle of water from my Domo bag. "Here," I also grabbed a couple of tissue so she can calm her nerves and compose herself, "take these, too." She seems to have started to calm down after composing herself but she still didn't say anything. Elie wouldn't utter a word, too. She's too busy in her thoughts while looking at outside she didn't even have time to listen to the introductions.