Stars' Song: Clef

Chapter 19 : The Conductor

19-1

It's intriguing how the only time a classroom is utterly quiet is when either no one is in it, the teacher is angry, or it's exam days. Yet, a single chime of a bell can obliterate such heavy silence. The ringing's purpose was much more meaningful than you'd think, especially today, when it was the last day of examination.

"Ahh~! It's over!" Ronin was the first to make noise. I'm sure he was the one at the roughest end of the stick, being the one who's... intellectually deficient amongst us. Add the torment he endured to go for a long time without speaking. His weary celebration was the prerequisite for the whole class to recognize the end of the first quarterly exams.

"Remorca, keep quiet! Everyone, settle down! Pass the papers quietly!" Mrs. Tina, our class adviser, exclaimed.

During the exams, the students are seated in alphabetical order. The distance of the chairs was reasonable, leaving an adequate space between the seats, column-wise and row-wise. Thus, June was isolated from us, seeing as his surname, Meneses, starts with a letter far away from ours.

Keith Quintos and Ronin Remorca. Accordingly, Keith was in front of Ronin. These two are destined to be together.

Having my last name start with a 'z', I was the last boy in our section. However, no matter how far June and I were, we would always hear Keith and Ronin's voices, even if you sat us outside the classroom.

"Man, it sure was something," Keith bleated.

"That's all you had to say?" Ronin replied. The three of us were in one column, so my papers would eventually reach the two. As I predicted, Ronin began to flip through the sheets, likely rummaging for my name.

"Hey, let me see Cyril's."

"Wait, I'm trying to find it."

"Quintos! Remorca! Pass the papers!" Mrs. Tina smacked the table.

"Yep! Here you go!" Ronin shoved the stack to Keith's chest, crumpling them. I felt my eye twitch.

My intent to doze off was hindered by a tap on my back. "C-Cyril...! I'm sorry! Is it okay for my papers to catch up?"

Oh, that's right. How big is the likelihood for a class to not consist of girls who had their surnames start with a, b, or c? In our section, the girls begin with the letter D, and girl number one was none other than Amber De Fe.

"A-actually... I'll just pass it myself-!"

I offered my hand. "What do you mean 'is it okay'? Of course, you need to hand it. Give it here."

"Right... thank you." Girl number one conveyed her gratitude through a slight bow.

After handing the papers to the person in front of me, Amber stood at the edge of her seat, guaranteeing the package would reach its destination. If she was going to be so worried, she shouldn't have passed it late.

Hence, I laid my head on my armchair. I have a short amount of time to rest, as Mrs. Tina had to arrange test papers and deliver them to the respective subject departments. When my vision was enveloped in darkness, Keith and Ronin's ramblings were twice as clear, annoyingly.

"Yeah, that's me!" Judging from the enthusiasm of the cadence, this one was Ronin.

"Why are you proud?" Considering how Keith always looks down on Ronin, Keith said this. "Like you've done anything to develop the relationship."

"Hey, shut up. Don't talk about that."

"Oh, I see! So, you two really are going out!" What in the world? Who are they talking to? I don't recognize his voice at all. Wait, did he just say Keith and Ronin are going out? What is happening? Disturbed by the gossip, I raised my chin.