Claire Davis. Genius, kinda pretty, introverted, kind. Her life has never been in such rock bottom until he comes along.
Callahan Taylor. Genius, introverted, piano master. His life has never been in such loftiest until she comes along.
One event. O...
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Mr. Hale parks his car as soon as he sees the empty lot.
The parking lots are so full. I guess there will be many people competing. I guess there are many people who love maths after all. Ha! I sense sarcasm.
Mr. Hale kills the engine and pulls out his key from the hall. Callahan and Mr. Hale get off the car first. I have to deal with my things before I get off. I can't let somebody's car turns into such a mess like a wreckage of a ship. Hell. Not my favorite teacher's car.
I get off the car just a few seconds later. Backpack hanging on my shoulder and cellphone on one hand.
As soon as I close the door behind me, the car beeps and we start walking toward the University of Light sign. It's so damn big that I can see it from so far away. It's written in all caps style with a picture of their mascot beside it. Judging fron how it looks, I bet it's been there for ages. At least as old as me. Sixteen. Or less.
Under the sign is the security check post. Callahan and I put our bags on the trail and go through the scanning post one by one. We pick our bags up and follow Mr. Hale who has gone inside by himself, leaving us behind while he should have waited for us. It's what a guardian does after all, right? Keeping us one piece?
The inside of the university area is so big. As soon as we walk through the gates, we are welcomed by canteen that seriously looks more like a food court than a cafeteria. There are many variations of food and drinks. From western food to asian food. Everything's there. Like the whole globe's there. I mean the food.
We walk pass it. But as we pass it, my gaze is still longing there. Oh my god. It's even bigger than a mall's food court!
Finally after a few hundreds meters of walking and taking lift for a few floors, the door of the lift opens. We walk out of it and welcomed by oceans of human beings. The air is so damp and hot. We try to walk through the sea of humans. And when we succeed, we quickly queue to register.
There are many tables and we don't know the difference. So, Mr. Hale just takes a guess and picks one. I have no idea why he chose it. But I guess it's the best guess because when we change lane, the one who stands before us leaves.
Two persons stands behind this table. A girl and a boy. College students, I think. They both are wearing the same T-shirts. White T-shirt with Flames written in blue on the chest part.
"Where are you from?" the girl asks, looking at us.
"Argentum Senior High," Mr. Hale answers automatically and Callahan and I just nod.
"Callahan Andrew Taylor?" the boy asks, holding a black marker on one hand and a piece of paper on the table.
"That's me," Callahan says.
"Please sign here," the girls says, pointing at a space next to the name list on a paper.
Callahan picks up the pen lying beside the paper and signs. He steps aside and waits for the boy to finish writing his nametag.
I step forward, searching for my name. I find it. Right below his name. There.
"Claire Anne Davis?"
"Yup," I nod.
I sign the paper quickly and wait as she writes my name and the school I come from on my nametag. Below, there's some sort of numbers that I don't understand what it is for.
They give us the nametag ages later. Seriously. He can't even spell Callahan right. So it literally takes ages.
Mr. Hale signs the paper and receives his own nametag. It's for workshop, they say.
I take my nametag and put it around my neck as I see Callahan does the same. I don't want to be a clown for wearing it before anyone does.
"How long is it?" Mr. Hale asks.
"An hour," the boys answers.
As we turn, Mr. Hale suggests, "How does waiting in the cafeteria sound?"
"Sounds great," I reply, followed by a nod from Callahan.
We turn right toward the lift. Thank God, it's not as crowded as before. Callahan who reaches the lift first presses the down button. Mr. Hale and I arrive next to him a few seconds later. Sweat starts to run down my face again. Although there are air conditioners, this hall still feels hot. I don't know why. I think it's because there are many people here.
A few seconds later, there's a ding. Another few seconds later, the door slides open. About six people comes out of the lift. They are all wearing different uniforms. Our rivals, I guess.
We enter the lift as soon as it's empty. Mr. Hale presses G button and the door slides close again. There are only three of us and it feels like we're falling. Pardon me, it's not that I've never ridden a lift before. I have actually. A thousand times. But this one feels like we're actually falling. But guess what? I do quick glances at him. Again.
After what feels like an eternity, the door slides open and fresh air get into the lift. We walk out of the lift and the main building. We just walk until we find the cafetaria. There are less people now than before. I guess they've gone to their classes.
The cafetaria are so much bigger up close. It's totally a food court. There are tenants selling food and drinks. Also, there are vending machines for drinks. I glance at the price below the bottle. As soon as I see it, I look away. Geez!
"Anyone's hungry?" Mr. Hale asks.
"Nah, maybe later," Callahan answers. I just nod.
"Okay then," Mr. Hales shrughs. "Just ask me if you guys want to buy something."
We walk around the cafetaria until we find a vacant table made of wood. Mr. Hale pulls a chair backward and sits on it while I round the table and sit across from him. Not really across actually. Callahan pulls a chair right across me backward and sits down after putting his backpack on the chair beside him.
Right. My backpack. I quickly put my backpack on the floor next to me and unzip it to take the textbook out. I open it under the table and read.
"I'm going to take my bag, okay? I'm going to check some test papers," Mr. Hale says suddenly. I look up from my book and stare blankly at him. Why would he ask for permission? "Can I leave both of you alone?" Oh. Nods. With that Mr. Hale stands up and leaves us.
I look back at my textbook. But I can't stop stealing glances at him. He's reading his own textbook seriously. After I examine a bit deeper, some wrinkles appear everytime he finds something... I don't know. New to his genius brain?
I take out my phone out of my backpack pocket and play it under the table. There are messages from my mom reminding me to take a photo as a reminder.
I'll do it later. Sent.
As I swipe up on my screen, I accidentally touch camera icon. I quickly press the lock button on top of my phone. Gosh. I'm dying. I really want to take a candid picture of him—or Mr. Hale—and post it on Instagram.
Life sucks. I can't be a paparazzi with this phone. There will always be a click! sound everytime I take a picture or take a screenshot of something. I know, I know. I've tried to silent the phone by pressing the silent button on my phone side. But there's no use. I've gone to the phone service but they said they couldn't repair it and not willing to change it. So, I end up just stealing glances again at him right now. Life sucks. Again.
So I guess I'll just read my textbook then. Life. Sucks.
