The Technique

Chapter 2: Overthinker

I stopped up last night thinking about the mysterious guy. His eyes, when he looked at me yesterday, I knew there was something in it.

I was an overthinker, admittedly. When my mind played around some ideas, it would haunt me to my nightmares. It won't let me sleep peacefully at night. In worse cases, the idea won't escape for weeks, months, or even years.

When Kylie told me he had no friends, I knew he was. The way he looked uncomfortable around people and the way his gaze felt like he was up to something told me everything. I knew I shouldn't think like this. I shouldn't judge someone I didn't know too quickly. But who never judged even once in their whole life? If he aced every examination, how could he do it? He had no friends. Where could he find inspiration? What made him motivated? Lots of questions were running through my head, and nothing could stop it. I got used to this, and I thought I was going to live out like this forever.

Mom's condition was trying to slip into my head, too. If I ranked first over the whole freshmen, our family would be completed again. It made my heart jump in happiness whenever I thought of it, but at this moment, it was palpitating, knowing I'd have to compete against that Greg guy.

I got up and looked at my groggy face in the mirror. I was all shagged out. I got those black circles under my eyes. I smirked at myself. I was used to this look anyway. I loved staying late at night, thinking of different things. It was just this night was a little bit different.

The sun was starting to rise. The first day of school shouldn't be like this. I should've tidied up and taken a better amount of sleeping time. I couldn't afford to go to the class, looking so exhausted. I turned the lights on and made myself pretty good. I wore my favorite dark green hoodie and a pair of black pants. I was always comfortable whenever I wore this hoodie. I felt like I was hidden in a way. I picked up my bag and put it around my arm. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door. It was still quiet along the hallway. It was desolated. The other students were probably getting ready or got off already. The tranquility stopped by the sound of a doorknob.

Greg's door yanked open in front of me. He closed the door when he finally came out and checked if it was already locked. His hood was on. Unlike yesterday, he seemed relaxed now. His hands weren't shaking anymore.

I was flustered when his eyes pointed at me. That made me realize I was staring at him awkwardly.

"Yes?" his gruffed voice spoke.

I stopped breathing for a moment before I replied, "Ah, hey." I tried making eye contact with him. When he noticed I wasn't up for something, he started walking down the hallway. I followed him silently. "By the way, last night, why were you..." I trailed off when I realized he was walking faster. I didn't want him to think I was a dark stalker. But what was I doing exactly? I should be walking down the opposite direction to wait for Kylie and Mike.

There were still no noises around, only our footsteps. I kept walking after him when he stopped and turned around before going down the stairs. "What in the hell are you doing, dude?" he asked.

I knew he was trying to stop himself from punching me. I shook my head. "No. Nothing. I'm not doing... anything."

"You're following me!" His voice filled the entire floor up.

I caught his right-hand curling into a ball. I heaved a deep breath and tried to stay away from his scary look. This dude was so different from all the people I'd met. And maybe that was the reason he had no friends. "I'm honestly not. It just happened we're walking in the same direction."

He stepped a single toward me. He was getting his dander up. "Well, if I caught you..." He pointed his finger downstairs. "You'll fly there in a millisecond. I'll break your skull into pieces." He smirked before finally going on walking.