In the bright and early school day, Orion made his way through the hustle and bustle of the crowded hallways, the chatter of students filling the air. With his backpack slung over his shoulder, he pushed past a group of giggling girls who were huddled around a locker, and navigated the congested pathways between classes.
From behind, his best friend, Randall Matthews, clapped him on the shoulders as he came up.
"Heyyy~, resident hero of Mountain High! How's things goin'?" Randall teased Orion as they walked together, his arm around Orion's shoulder. Orion chuckled as he playfully smacked Randall's chest using the back of his hand.
"Get lost, Randy." Orion shoo-ed away, swatting his hands at him.
Randall feigned hurt as he clutched his chest, a smirk on his face.
"Ah, you wound me with your indifference, my friend." He dramatically leaned against a locker, pretending to swoon. Orion swung the locker open, hitting Randall on the face intentionally. He doubled over in pain, clutching his nose.
"Ow! What was that for!?"
"That, was for being an idiot. And a pain in my ass. Whaddya want, Randy?" Orion sighed deeply, feeling a headache coming in with Randall's antics.
Randall took a moment to rub his reddening nose before standing up straight once more. "Ouch, man. You sure know how to greet a buddy." He whined.
"Well, if you didn't insist on annoying me all the time, I wouldn't have to hit you," Orion shot back, his tone sounding both annoyed and exasperated.
"Alright, alright... There's some new girl in school, and she's pretty cute~ not gonna go and talk to her?" Randall teased, encouraging Orion to talk to the new girl.
Orion let out a sigh, rolling his eyes at Randall's relentless teasing. "What, just because she's new, I'm supposed to go and chat her up?" he replied, although he couldn't deny his curiosity.
"Yeaaaah!! That's an alpha move, Stone! You got that hero charisma goin' on, I know you can do this." Randall encouraged him even more to go and talk to her.
Orion shook his head, a mixture of reluctance and curiosity on his face. "You know I'm not exactly the smoothest talker, right? My social skills are pretty much 'awkward silence' and 'mumbled replies,'" he confessed, running a hand through his hair.
"And you were able to snag the hottest date in last year's Homecoming party, remember? You totally got this, bruh!" Randall snickered as he looked over Orion's shoulder. "Uhhh, not to scare you shitless, but I see the girl coming over right now."
Orion's eyes widened at Randall's words, and he turned to look over his shoulder just in time to see the new girl walking towards them. "What? She's coming now?" he panicked, feeling his heart rate quicken.
"Yep. Quick, play it cool! Hunter style!" Randall pushed Orion over too hard, and Orion accidentally bumped into the girl.
"Oof!" Orion accidentally knocks the new girl over, spilling her books everywhere.
Orion's cheeks flared up as he heard Randall's encouraging voice and then found himself knocked into the new girl. Books skittered everywhere, and Orion immediately felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him. "Oh, s-sorry! I didn't mean to—" he began, crouching down to gather her books.
"Oh, gosh! I'm sorry!" The girl joined in, helping him gather her books. Suddenly, they both grab onto a single book by accident. It was a Manga.
As Orion and the new girl reached for the same book, their hands touched, and they both froze. There was a brief moment of awkward silence before they both realized what they were holding.
YOU ARE READING
Destiny's Echo
Bilim KurguOrion Stone, a straight-A's high school student, discovers a legendary belt-like transformation device that possesses the power to defeat the evil forces known as the Dread Reavers, which were rumored to exist 700 years ago in Medieval England. With...
