Three Misfits and a Dream

Chapter 1

The words "I hate you!" were strung across the school hallways followed by an audible slap. A girl stomps off, arms folded with tears rolling down her cheeks. Jun sinks into the wall behind him and holds his tender cheek. He stands in the sunlit hallway, the light barely reaching above his shins. His clean, fair skin, supported with a blushing red handprint. He runs his pretty fingers through his unruly hair and sighs. The air smelled freshly baked. His eyes were filled with boredom. Picking up his bag, he walked over to the outer hall, and blew his bright pink bubble gum. It popped in sync to his footstep. Other than the stinging pain on his face, he walked unfazed to his classroom, picking up pace once the morning bell rang. He walked in casually while the teacher was taking attendance.

"... Jun Hekai? Are you here?"

"...Here." Jun ignored the stares from his peers and sat down at his desk, next to his closest guy friend, Yuji. Yuji is Asian, despite being pretty tall at 6"2, much taller than Jun who is 5"9. He has black eyes, accompanied with similar coloured hair. He sits with terrible posture, and always has a cheerful smile plastered on his face. He peeked over and whispered into Jun's ear.

"Which girl is it this time?" He asks.

"What do you mean?" Jun retorts back, rolling his eyes.

"What I mean is," Yuji pinches Jun's freshly slapped cheek. "This."

In reflex, he slapped slaps Yuji's hand away in pain. "Nunya business. Pay attention, the teacher's calling for you."

"Here!," Yuji instinctively shouted, however his name was already called ages ago. The teacher stared at him for a bit, and resumed marking the roll while the whole class giggled. Blushing, Yuji shoved his face into his arms and laid on his desk. Jun smirked while leaning back, forcing his laptop open lazily. He continued feeling the slap's anger on his cheek as its aggressive redness simmered down. The stares of his classmates didn't die down however, as he quickly saw the air in the room turn into sour disgust. It's as if the air said, 'He just got a new girlfriend, and the first thing he does is cheat? He's the absolute worst. He does this every week, he isn't a player for no reason.' The teacher's words became irrelevant, becoming static.

Deep down, he became accustomed to this worrisome routine. Getting a girlfriend, dumping them, getting a new one, it was second nature to always have a new partner every week. To him, the word 'girlfriend' lost all meaning. Jun facepalms in frustration. Thinking so hard about such an irrelevant issue only gave him a headache after all. A notification popped up on one of his tabs. A message from Nali, a girl that hangs out with Jun and Yuji. Together at school, they form the famed, or infamous 3 stooges. They're called that because at first glance you wouldn't guess they were friends at all. A ragtag group with completely different personalities. But that's something you would call an anti-tandem.

The message reads "There's a girl crying in my class. You?"

Wrinkling his nose, he squinted at the question, not sure unsure what the "You?" in this context meant. After a few seconds of hesitation, he typed:

"What."

"Did you make her cry?*" She replies, correcting herself.

"Yeah, what about it?" He said, already in a sour mood. 'Why does everyone have to talk about it? It's really not a big deal. Just shut up.'

"Nothing. Just figured it was you :P" She replies. "Anyway wanna hang at the arcade after school?"

"Sure, I'll ask Yuji too." said Jun.

"Also, heard there's a new transfer student coming to school tomorrow." Nali said, which piqued Jun's interest.

"So?" Jun says.

"It's a girl. AND legends say she's smokin' hot :P Perfect for you, but not if I get her first."

Jun left her on seen, elated with the news. The rumours about Jun's personality would probably get to her first, but that's no matter for Jun. He laid back in his chair, switching back to the work he's meant to do. He zoned out, in an attempt to wait for the end of school.

---

BRING! The end of school bell rang, before Jun even knew it. After making several daydreaming scenarios, the end of school came faster than expected. He picked up his stuff and walked out, ignoring the pleas of his teacher to come back. Jun walks past a group of girls, while they all stare at him with admiration or disgust. He looks away unbothered, and blows his faded pink bubble gum. Yuji quickly follows behind him, bag in hand.

"C'mon why'd you just ditch me like that?" Yuji said flustered.

"You took too long, plus you were sleeping. I thought you told me not to wake you up when you're passed out?" Jun shoots.

"...Fair." Yuji said, after a bit of silenced thought. "Oh yeah, Nali said we're gonna hit the arcade right?" Yuji's usual bright smile shines more than the sun.

"Yeah." Jun completely forgot to ask him, but fortunately Nali was more prepared than Jun. They walk to Nali's classroom, which was being chewed out by their crabby teacher. His war cries can be heard from a mile away.

"Pfft, I guess Nali's in trouble again. Last time this happened we had to wait an hour for her." Yuji sighed nostalgically.

"She did promise us that if it happened one more time, she'd pay us dinner." The thought of not spending his precious money shone in his head, since he always paid for the food anyway.

Suddenly a loud booming voice came from the classroom.

"GET BACK HERE YOU TROUBLEMAKER!" The door flings open in cue, and Nali explodes into the hallways. She's 5"6 and white, with many piercings along her ears. She wears the male school uniform because in her words, "The male uniform is more appealing anyway." She's also accompanied by platforms, which boost her height to 5"9, the same height as Jun. A mischievous smile boomed across her face.

"RUN FOR IT! TEACH IS COMING YOUR WAY!" Nali shouts. Jun and Yuji looked at each other in confusion, but a split second later they chased after Nali.

"COME BACK YOU RASCALS!" The teacher's voice appeared behind them, prompting the 3 stooges to speed up. In no time, they zoom past the school gates to the bus stop. Panting, Nali collapses with her arm over her face, while Jun and Yuji slack over their knees.

"WHEW! Almost broke a sweat there!" Nali said sarcastically while giggling.

"This... Is... Your... Fault..." Jun said while panting in between his words.

"Fine, fine, I'll pay for food as promised, but i only have so much money, so don't buy too much," Nali said worryingly.

The bus hauled abruptly at the sign. All three jump into the bus, letting off a sigh of slight relief as it started driving away. They took their seats in the far back of the bus as they ease back into the plastic chair covered in cheaply made carpet held together by industrial glue.

"I swear I saw that crabby teacher run for us." Nali says laughing.

"No way, the bus stop's too far for that old man. He'll keel over and die." Jun says back.

"Fair, he'd probably combust or something haha!" 

"Mm." Jun agrees. Just as he was about to relax on his outer seat, Nali man-spread her legs as far as humanly possible, trying to get Jun pushed off the edge of the seat.

"... Dickhead." Jun tusks.

"Hey, I'm paying for your food. Be nice." Nali says sarcastically.

"Guys, we're almost at the arcade, just sit still." Yuji says while shaking his head. Nali stops and sits normally. She only listens to Yuji, probably because he reminded her of her older brother that had sadly passed when she was younger. Jun sighs and closes his eyes, letting his head rest on the top of the seat. Nali follows suit, and in a few minutes, she's on Jun's shoulder.