Not Your Usual Highschool Life

Chapter 9 "Small Steps"

Sorry for the wait bros, mid-tests happened. Well, i guess you can't avoid that as a highschool student xD, here's chapter 9!

Joey's POV

"The following students whose names are spoken, please come to the teachers' office after school is done. Stefi Felicia...... Thomas Lambert."

"Yo, it's the English competition thing again, isn't it?" I asked Tom

"Probably." He responded with a super simple sentence.

"What's up with it? When is it gonna be held anyway?" I asked him again.

"Nothing, probably just another weird meeting. And it's this Saturday." He replied to me.

"Whaaaaat!? This Saturday? Aren't you feeling nervous about it?" I'm surprised that he doesn't look too bothered by the fact that the competition is just 2 days away.

"English has always been my superiority." He said with a cold tone.

"It's good to feel confident about it, but a little nervous feeling should be alright. It makes you more cautious when you are gonna pick an answer, bro." I said to him.

"Can't be bothered. And since when you are my bro? If anything, you should call me your master." He spoke to me with his usual cold tone.

"Like hell i would do that!" I shouted at him.

"Can't take a tiny bit of sarcasm? How pathetic." He said to me while giving me a cold-looking smile.

"Ha... ha... great banter mate." I spoke to him while making up some Australian accent.

"You watch too much OooTube." He said to me with again, his usual cold tone.

"No i don't!"

DING DONG DING DONG

FINALLY! The 'Go Home' bell has rang! I can finally play video games for the rest of the day because there aren't any studies tomorrow.

"Hey, want me to wait for you?" I asked Tom if he wants me to accompany him.

"I'll be fine." He replied.

"Okay! I'll see you tomorrow then. See ya!" I shouted at him while moving my hands in the air making the 'good bye' gesture.

"Yea. See ya." He went straight towards the teachers' room.

So i went home, dropped my bag on my bed, changed clothes, sat down on my desk chair, wore my gaming headsets, and started playing video games for almost 8 hours. It's almost midnight and then suddenly my phone vibrated. Someone was calling me, and i was shocked when i looked at who called. It was Stefi. Why would she call me at this time?

"Yo, sup?" I picked up the call and gave her my usual greeting whenever a school friend calls me.

"It's about Thomas, listen." She said to me.

"Am listening."

"How long has it been since when he was released from the hospital?"

"About 8 months or so, why?"

"Don't worry about that. What did he first say to you when you met him?"

"Hmm....... like he was asking me about who i was, you know... the amnesia stuff."

"Not that, what did he say to you when you re-introduced yourself in front of him?"

"Hm...... As far as i remember, he just nodded and didn't say a thing."

"Really?" She asked me.

"Yeah..."

"It's just a thought i had in mind earlier today, do you think an amnesia can change a person to a complete opposite of what he was before?" She asked me.

"I don't know, maybe. I mean like, an amnesia is a condition where a person loses all his memories right? Maybe losing a personality is a thing as well." I spoke to her.

"Ok." *peep* She hung up the call.

What was that all about? I'm just gonna go to sleep. But to think about it, her relationship with Tom before the incident was pretty intense. Not even close to a one-sided relationship. Dang i wish i was as lucky as he was. Getting all the attention and stuff. Maybe if I convince him to become his old-charismatic self, he might turn back to his old-self. Maybe it's attention that he needs. Now that i mentioned that, Tom has barely any friends now. He always gets the corner-back seat and stay there all by himself. He used to sit in the front of the class and talk to everyone in his class. Does Tom really have no friends? Am i the only friend he has now? He barely gets noticed by people around him beside the fact that now he's gonna compete in an English competition. What can I do to get him to his old-self?

*The next day*

DING DONG DING DONG

"Dude, tomorrow's the day." I asked Tom.

"I know." He responded with a straight face.

"Are you ready? You don't look nervous at all to me."

"Obviously." Again, another simple answer.

"Well, good luck." I spoke to him.

"Don't really need it, but thanks." He gave me a small smile while saying that. A smile I haven't seen in ages.

"Seriously dude, if you smile like that all the time, specially in front of girls, literally every girl in the school is gonna have a crush on you." I spoke to him.

"Are you saying that you like my smile? You're not gay are you?"

"Of course not! I like girls!"

"Really? You sound like you hesitated to answer that question..... Don't tell me you've kept your feelings for me this whole time?" He sarcastically asked me a stupid question.

"Now you're the one who's being gay." I spoke to him.

"Hahahaha..." He laughed. For the first time in ages, he finally let out a genuine laugh. Maybe this is a small step for us to get Tom to his old self.

"You better win the competition bro, if you don't, I won't label you as the Human of languages anymore." I spoke to him.

"Human.... of languages?"

"Yeah, since you can speak 4 languages."

"Oh yeah... but when did you even come up with that name?" He asked me.

"Just now." I spoke to him while laughing.

"Figured that."

"By the way, you want to play Phone of Duty tonight? Seems like there's an event today." I asked him.

"Was already planning to do it." He replied to me.

"Ok, just let me know when you log on okay?"

"What ever. I don't need your help to win an event like that."

"Says the guy who can't even do a quick-scope." I spoke to him sarcastically.

"Shut up."