Where He Stands

Chapter Four: The Library Surprise

It was lunch and I was eating with Oliver, Chris and Luke. It was still my first day so I understood why the others kept looking at my direction. I just hope that as time pass, they would stop because it's getting really uncomfortable and weird. 

The food in Raven Academy actually tasted good. I'm having shrimps and oysters right now, and Chris told me that every Monday was Seafood Day. I think I'm going to love this school. I was on my second serving of oysters when I suddenly saw Jane sitting down on the farthest table in the right without anyone with her. I frowned and stood up from my seat.

"Hey, where are you going?" Luke asked, his mouth still full.

"Uh, I just have to talk to someone..." I said.

Oliver, being a smart boy, looked at the direction where I was looking and turned back at me. He gave me a warning look. "I know what you're thinking and I forbid you to do that."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "And when have you decided to forbid me about stuff?"

"Since my father appointed you as my bodyguard," he said, "and you agreed, then that makes me immediately your boss. And you're going to follow whatever I say."

"See if I care," I said, and stuck out my tongue at him childishly. Somewhere three tables away, I heard a girl gasp.

Despite Oliver's warnings, I walked over to Jane, who was eating her fish fillet quietly. While eating, she was scribbling something in her notebook. I sat down beside her and squinted so I could see what she was drawing. Oh, I should have guessed. It was a constellation that I didn't know.

"What's that?" I suddenly asked.

Jane jumped, startled with my presence. She looked up and saw me. Then she sighed in relief. "I thought you're one of the bullies. It's just you," she said with a tiny smile. "This is a Chamaeleon. It's a constellation, obviously. Why would I draw it if it wasn't? This is visible between the latitudes 0 and -90 degrees. If you really want to see it, then you should look at the sky in April about nine PM."

"Do you memorize all this stuff?" I asked, puzzled. She really was a smart girl. Much smarter than I am, probably. Then again, this was a private school. Everybody's smart.

She shrugged. "I had a lot of time to spare memorizing. Chamaeleon was named by Johann Bayer. Don't you know that?"

I shook my head. "No. Actually, I do not know a thing about constellations except that they are stars and those stars are forming... um, shapes."

"Well, I wouldn't have expected you to know," she said, but she didn't mean it in a bad way. "So what are you doing here?"

"Do you want to eat lunch with me and my friends? It seems you're a little bit lonely here," I said with a helpful smile.

She suddenly looked nervous and she began twirling her hair with her index finger. "Um... I'm not sure about that. I've been eating alone since fifth grade. I'm used to it. You should go back to your friends."

"But... I can't stand that you're alone here. 'No man is an island.' Don't you know that saying?"

"I guess."

"Oliver, Chris and Luke are really good people. They're nice to me. Why would they not be nice to you?"

"Chris? As in Chris Dearman?" she shyly asked and if I was not mistaken, I could see a faint blush on her cheeks. 

This was the second time that she mentioned Chris's name. "Do you like him?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.

Her blush went darker and she shook her head firmly. "N-no! It's just... He's really... And even if I do like him, he wouldn't like me! How could a guy like him like someone as nerdy as me?"