Against the Odds: When the Quality is Bad But I Am

II

The teacher still hadn't shown up, and it was already a couple of minutes into class. This wasn't something new. It was a hindrance to him, to say the least. He couldn't say the same about his classmates, though. They enjoyed the teachers being late because it meant they would have less time actually to do classwork. Sometimes, being late meant that they wouldn't assign anything at all. It just depended on the teacher's mood.

It bothered Devon, though; they were cutting into his time, and if they wanted to be so inattentive about their time, they might as well go home. As much as Devon wanted to shame them, he obviously had days where he felt the same way. He wasn't one to be particularly lazy, but some days, he felt irregularly tired and out of it. When it was one of those days, he was all the more moody. Devon mainly kept to himself when he felt like that, but sometimes he wished everyone could read his mind to know what he felt like and to know when to fuck off.

Devon had a rocky start to his day. That was for sure, but it seemed like someone's presence made it engrossing for a change. If you couldn't tell, he was interested in this new student. Devon wondered if they were in the same grade. He looked like he was the same age as Devon, but he couldn't really specify, being that every high school student, except for seniors and freshmen, looked the same. This being said, Devon could honestly, no like, really care less about his age. When Devon was dead set on getting something, he would do it. That wasn't the case for most things, but it was different now. He was fiending to be this guy's friend, even if that meant he was a senior in college, though it was evident he wasn't that old.

Before he knew it, the social studies teacher strolled through the door as if he wasn't. Devon rolled back his hoodie's sleeve to check the time.

As if he wasn't six minutes late.

Whatever

He was here now, and that was good enough. It wasn't like Devon would pester the teacher about his late arrival. The teacher was about halfway to his desk before another figure came through the door.
Devon felt his eyes widen. There was no way he had this good of luck.

It was Devon's new friend even though the so-called "friend" didn't know it yet. Devon leaned back in his chair, examining the latter. The teacher nodded, motioning for the boy to say something. Their wordless communication was probably discussed before coming into the classroom. It made sense why the teacher was so late now. The boy turned to face the front. The side of his face that was once pink from the punch the "gangster" threw had now turned a shade of magenta. It wasn't swollen, maybe a little bump, but nothing that noticeable. Even so, it looked like it hurt. Devon could've handled it, something he couldn't say the same about everyone else in the classroom. He wasn't the type to get into reckless fights anyway. Nonetheless, it looked like it hurt. Devon inferred he had a high pain tolerance or something along those lines.

The boy fidgeted in his place. It wasn't an awkward or embarrassed type of fidget. It was more like he was trying to find the right words to introduce himself. And look, he figured something out because he started to open his mouth. Devon subconsciously braced himself. It was a weird feeling, being that there was no threat at all.

"Hey. My name is Sae Andrade. Just call me Sae, though."

Wow

Devon would've never thought his voice would be as deep and husky as it was. It stirred something in his stomach, and Devon wasn't sure if he liked it or was just sick.

When new students introduce themselves, it's typical for them to say something along the lines of, "I hope we can all get along and become friends," but Sae said nothing of the sort. In fact, his introduction was brief. Even so, it was apparent that he was confident. He just had this aura about him that made Devon so sure of that. Also, his tone was laced with something akin to frustration, almost like he didn't want to be in school and that everything he was doing was a big hindrance. As much as the boy fascinated him, this made him feel kind of disheartened. Devon was briskly waiting to meet him, and the same couldn't be said about Sae, even though Devon was fully aware Sae wasn't speaking to him exclusively.