The Devil From The Machine: The Girl From Another World

A Maiden's Heart

Thank you Rainer@SecondPlaceUnited for editing the chapter and turn it from an unreadable mess it was before into a proper chapter. You all can check him out here https://www.wattpad.com/user/SecondPlaceUnited 

Once the headmaster left, the atmosphere changed as the students' chatter became louder. The chestnut haired boy who supposed to be my escort glanced at me and whispered something to the boy next to him – my appointed escort. Chestnut boy stood up, finished his drink and left the table hurriedly, running past me towards a stone wall behind me. As expected of a magical school, the bottom middle part of the wall retracted itself upwards, revealing a dimly lit hallway beyond it. The stone door reminded me of the magical cave from the story of "Ali Baba and The Forty Beasts". As Chestnut boy left, my escort approached me, carrying his untouched plate of food. It seemed as though he was so afraid of someone was going to steal it from him that he decided that we would bring it along with him.

He seemed to want to say something but stayed silent, letting the situation become more and more awkward till it became a bit unbearable to me. Even though he was supposed to be my guide, I guessed it was up to me to break the ice. I wanted to ask more about the school but I knew I should be courteous and ask him a bit about himself first. It was the polite thing to do, after all.

"I'm sure you already know, but I'm Natasha Andersen." I said, flashing a friendly smile. "What's your name?" I asked.

"Alvie." He answered. "Alvie Evans." He looked around, not paying much attention to me.

"Ah I see." I replied. The only thing I got from our brief interaction was his name and that wasn't much to go on with. It was likely that he wasn't very talkative or that he resented me and was really against being my escort. If the former was the case, it wouldn't be that hard for me to get the conversation rolling, but if it was the latter, it would be really uncomfortable for both of us. Even if he was, I couldn't really blame him, he was involuntarily doing this. I should try talking to him more to know for sure how he felt about being my escort.

"So, what's it like studying here?" I tried, hoping another generic question would get more out of him

"It's alright." He answered, still not paying much attention to me. From his lackluster responses, I guessed he must really dislike me and was trying to pretend that he cared. His acting really left much to be desired.

"Um, Alvie. If you don't want to be my escort, I can find someone else as a replacement. You don't really need to force yourself to do it." I said, half hoping he'd agree.

He seemed slightly perplexed by my suggestion.

"No," He said. "I don't really mind being your escort. I don't know why you would think otherwise." He paused and thought for a second before continuing, "The principal recommended me, so it's my pleasure to help you. Besides, I've got nothing better to do since classes are cancelled for the rest of the day. And anyway, even if you wanted to switch guide, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone else who will want to escort you."

He didn't hate me, huh? It looked like I'd misjudged him after all. I supposed he must have been a quiet and reserved fish that was taken out of his water into the position of an escort. If that was the case, what was the headmaster thinking? Why would he choose someone as introverted as Alvie as a tour guide? It was almost like he chose arbitar... Wait; knowing him, he might have really done that. I wouldn't be shocked even if he did.

I wanted to ask him why he thought the others wouldn't want to escort me, but he spoke up before I got the chance and offered me the plate of food he was holding. I appreciated the gesture, although it struck me as a bit odd for him to suddenly be that courteous. But as eager as I was to try out this surprisingly normal looking otherworld food, I was already extremely full. I had already eaten a ton of bacons from a fast food restaurant for breakfast when I was with the headmaster.