A LEAP OF FAITH

Chapter 2: Give me time to think about all of this.

Mugi walked into the bustling school of children. The meeting the day before was completely unnecessary. Sharlet's idea was nonsensical, Mugi thought. He walked down to his locker and input his code.

Kiren and his friends were across the hall, getting ready to start trouble.

"Kiren, I dare you to hit up that kid over there." His friend snickered.

"Who, Mugi?" Kiren raised a brow.

"Whatever his name is, just go do it! It'll be funny." She glanced over at the other boy who stood next to her. He nodded in agreement, grinning.

Kiren smiled, "If you say so. Bet I can get his number." He put his hands on his hips proudly.

"I bet you twenty dollars that you can't!" The boy laughed heartily.

"Deal." Kiren walked over to Mugi's locker.

He slammed his hands above him, making him flinch. Mugi turned around and looked up at him, his cheeks turning a bright shade of red.

"What do you want, Kiren?" He asked, surprised by his actions.

"Hey, Mugi. Can I get your number?" Kiren flashed a smug smile.

"What the hell are you on?" He hissed, clenching his teeth. He always tried to stay out of the spotlight, but Kiren was drawing a lot of attention to the two of them. It was a win-lose situation.

"Nothing, just thought you looked extra cute today." He stared at Mugi up and down.

Mugi pressed his back up against the cold locker.

"Get lost, Kiren," he said sternly.

"How can I get lost when I'm already lost in your eyes? Er- wait, I mean-" Kiren stammered. A few gasps could be heard from around them. "You see, I meant-"

Mugi gripped the wooden wand that he held in his hands. He whispered a spell under his breath. Vines came up from the ground and wrapped around Kiren's legs, making him fall to the floor.

"Prick," Mugi mumbled and undid the spell, freeing Kiren. He stomped away to his class, leaving the shocked spectators alone.

"That went well." Kiren's friends walked up to him. He flashed an awkward smile, "I'll give you the twenty later, Nathaniel." He stood up, glancing around.

"Guess I can say I told you so." Nathaniel chuckled under his breath.

"Yeah, I guess." The three of them began walking to their designated class.

Mugi was practically fuming. First, he draws attention to me, then he cracks a joke about my stupid eyes, Mugi thought. He gripped his pencil tightly; it was a surprise that it didn't break.

Sugar leaned over to him, "You look more mad than usual," she whispered.

Mugi glared at her, but she didn't notice. "I'm fine, Sugar. Mind your business," he murmured before looking down at his paper.

The teacher walked into the classroom and didn't waste any time before she started to teach.

The class periods went by before it was time for lunch. Mugi stood up from his desk, sliding his notebooks off of it.

"Hello, Mugi!" A familiar voice said from behind him. Why was Malcolm talking to him? He almost never did.

"Hello, Malcolm." Mugi glanced over at him.

"I thought you looked lonely, so I decided to talk to you!" He smiled warmly before walking beside him.

Mugi appreciated the action, so he didn't respond with something rude. He couldn't be cold to someone like Malcolm.