The Manifest // OC Light Novel

Chapter 8 - New Surroundings

- Zenji -

"... This is stupid." I say, standing infront of the classroom door that we would soon be enrolled in, on the other side of which we can clearly hear the teacher addressing the rest of the students about our sudden inclusion in their class.
"Well I don't know about that, maybe it'll be fun?" Seraphina said from behind Zero, peeking around the hall at all the lockers and such.
"I agree with Sera, but at the same time, these uniforms are a little uncomfortable no?" Zero chimed in, her fingers trying to subtly loosen the tie on her uniform.
I looked down at my own uniform, they're rather simple, deep black dress pants, a white collared shirt tucked in, a dark navy blue vest and tie to match it. There was an overcoat as well but I elected to leave that behind for now. As for Sera and Zero's uniforms, they follow the same color palate as my own, but in place of the pants are skirts.
"I can't see this place as fun." I say unimpressed, "Rather dull honestly."
"Yeah well you only ever see the downsides don't you." Sera said, hitting my back.
I turned to disagree when we heard from the other side of the door, "You can come in now!"

Reaching for the handle, I pull the door open and walk through, the others close behind as we step to the front of the class beside the teacher. "Alright you three, introduce yourselves before taking your seats." The teacher said.
I looked over the class, around 23 kids our age sat in their desks staring up at us as they waited, with just this quick glance, I could tell that none of them were anything of a threat. The boys were all stupidly staring at my two companions, and the girls weren't much better.
I looked to the side as Seraphina stepped forward with a smile, "Hi! My name's Seraphina, but just call me Sera cause its easy. Nice to meet you!"
I raised a brow at her enthusiasm before Zero spoke next, "Nice to meet you all. Please just call me Zoe." Sozen decided that entering under the name 'Zero' would probably raise a few eyebrows for these sheltered kids so we ended up spending hours coming up with an alias for her, and of all things ended with ONE less letter in the name.
Realizing it was my turn, I also stepped forwards, "Just call me Zenji." I said simply, no one spoke after our introductions, their eyes still star struck and dazed.
"Thank you guys, please take your seats and I'll start the lesson." The teacher said, gesturing for us to move away from the front.

There were a couple open seats, but none of which were close to each other, forcing the three of us to split up and find one. Sera went to the rightmost seat in the middle, Zero to the front left, and myself to the back left near the windows.
Sitting down, the teacher started drawing on the whiteboard about some lesson, I don't know what about. Not that it matters if I pay attention or not, I already knew anything this school would teach.
I let my attention wane to the outside view, not that there was much of one. The windows simply lead back into the city. A few minutes pass in peace before I feel a tap on my shoulder, looking to the side, I see a young boy with glasses retract his finger from me, his floppy brown hair brushed to either side of his face.
I raise my brow at him as I wait for him to do something, "Hey, Zenji you said? I'm Oliver." He whispered, offering his hand to shake. I look at him for a few moments longer, 'Perhaps this is some kind of a trap he's devised. To get on my goodside and get me to lower my guard... A spy perhaps? What kind of powers are you hiding...' I think to myself as I glare slightly.
He picks his nose as I get a deadpanned expression on my face, '... Never mind.' I think as I reach out and shake his hand silently. "So what's the deal with you three anyways? Never had anyone transfer in the middle of the school year."
"... its complicated." I respond simply as I turn my eyes back out the window.
"Did you get bullied or something and needed to move?"
I sigh at his innocent inquiry, "No not that."
"Oooh, did you get rejected by a girl so badly that you couldn't bear to face the rest of the cla-"
"Look, Oliver, its great you want to start a conversation or something, but I'm not in the mood." I cut him off, and while I felt a bit bad seeing his dejection, I truly wasn't in the mood for conversation.
Turning back in his seat, Oliver remained silent the rest of the class. After a while, the bell rang and our teacher dismissed us to our next class. Standing up, I pulled out a piece of paper that held my time table on it.
'Next up is... Geography? Room 214...' I read to myself before walking out of the classroom and looking around the now bustling hallway for any indication of where room 214 would be.