How did you guys find me?
"Hmm?" Zero leaned in. He lazily drummed his fingers with a soft rhythm.
Steven looked back at Zero. He didn't say it out loud. Did he?
Besides them, Mayo sat on the cafeteria bench, her mouth parting open and then closing once more. It was like she had something to say, but it quickly floated away. And hey, her features were easier to remember than before. Perhaps he'd been overthinking it.
The chatter of the lunchroom gradually grew louder and louder as everyone settled in. Several minutes later, the late bell rang and a few stragglers stumbled in. One of them, a boy from their class, plunked himself down next to Steven. His left arm quickly dropped on the table as he brushed his right arm on his neck. Messy and tousled hair... dirty-blonde strands which flew everywhere... and an unfocused gaze that happened to land upon Steven.
Steven greeted him.
"Huh?" The boy yawned, whose head had been slowly descending. "Uh... yeah. You're... Steven. My name's Jackal."
"Just call me Jack." Jack scratched his head and looked ahead, "and you're... Zero?"
He watched Zero, who for his part, was looking out the window.
"Hey..." Steven nudged him, which only got a 'hmm?' from the white-haired boy. Steven reintroduced Jack again, only to get an... 'oh yeah...'
Jack awkwardly smiled.
"And this is Mayo," Steven introduced.
"Her?" Jackal pointed to a random girl.
Steven pointed at her again, but Jackal didn't seem to see anyone.
"Are you sure there's someone there?" the blood-haired boy squinted.
Mayo remained silent. Steven, not keen on sounding like a guy who'd brought his imaginary friend to lunch, decided to drop the matter altogether.
SCREECH. The sound of a microphone piercing the lunchroom chatter yanked everyone's attention to the front. A woman, her brown hair showing hints of silver and kindly aged with a hearty stature, sternly glanced at the room.
"Hello, I am Mrs. Watson." She bellowed into her microphone once everyone settled down. "I am the Head Cafeteria Chef at this school. Since it is the first day for some of you, I will be laying down the ground rules at this cafeteria."
She read out loud four lengthy rules, before pausing to herself. "...and one last thing before I forget... Rule Number 5: Do NOT ask stupid questions. You have your parents for that. Any questions?"
She glared at the students.
The students looked back at her. (They had already forgotten the first five rules.)
"GOOD. Now," Mrs. Watson bellowed, "we'll start serving. Today, freshmen get lunch first."
Steven groaned. He gingerly clutched his stomach at the pleasant smell permeating from the cafeteria kitchen, but all he had to do was wait. He hoped they were at least second or third? Just not seventh... that would mean their table got called last out of all the freshmen.
As if the fates or the kitchen gods had heard his silent plea, they were called seventh.
He hoisted himself up and briskly walked to the front.
LOADING... Cafeteria Food.
Entering the serving room felt like stepping into the Jade Emperor's personal pantry, a spectacle of silver platters performing aerial acrobatics and gold appliances adorned with fluttering wings. The room was draped with beautifully decorated napkins that would have impressed Cai Lun, the inventor of paper.
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Fantasy[??? book - D grade] [Description: A third-rate novel about the slice of life adventures of a boy and his friendly AI assistant. Nothing bad happens.] Recalibrating description... [Description (Revised): A hand-me-down novel about a boy who goes mi...
