The Dangers Of Falling

Chapter 4 (part 2)

Sea's POV

I thank the principal, I see the guy pick his bag up and I walk right out. I know he's a new guy and I should be kind but someone has to give him a taste of what he's gonna go through.

I start walking down the pitch quiet hall and I don't hear him behind me. Oh well, maybe he doesn't want a tour of our school, I don't blame him, students don't usually want a tour of their school. I mean, no cruel soul wants to see hell, where they know they're gonna end up, even if they say they'll go to heaven. I just make my way back to the assembly hall alone.

"So, Hey!"

What the- My heart almost started back up from the shock. I turn to see the new guy behind me giving me a toothy smile, one eyebrow raised. He was walking behind me the whole time?! Damn, talk about quiet.

Once I recover back to myself, I realize this is the first time I've actually seen his face. He had clear grey eyes, sharp as crystals that could cut you with a single touch. His dirty blond hair, which I now see is naturally colored that way, is kinda short, not cropped but neither long - Appropriate to the length the school rules require - and neatly combed into a quiff. White teeth, pink lips, his uniform perfectly ironed without a single crinkle.

Perfect.

I feel something in the pit of my stomach. It's turning, begging me to find something that makes him not perfect. I feel physically pained to see this guy, who is put together without a single visible flaw, it's not usual. Everyone, every single person has a flaw, they must. Or they're not human. And that pains me. I'm not used to it. What I'm used to is looking at people, seeing the worst in them, finding something that makes them not 100%, to make them stop, even if it's at 99.

My eyes started darting around everywhere, looking at him, trying to find something wrong with him.

"What's wrong?"

Perfect voice, smooth as it rolls off his tongue, perfect accent, a mix of the easy-going American with a hint of British class.

"Are you alright?"

Perfect manners, kind.

I nod, still panicked.

Perfect posture.

And then my eyes go to his bag, strung on one shoulder and his hand holding the strap. I look at his wrist. He has a watch on.

Not perfect.

"Watches aren't allowed in school," I said in a monotone.

"Oh, I didn't know, sorry." He gave me a cute frown and took his watch off and put it back in his bag.

Perfect.

Again.

I guess I'll have to deal with it. I'm always the one.

I discretely sigh and try to calm myself down.

I ball my hands into fists to stop them from shaking

I will the smile back on my face. It comes back. No questions asked. No feelings felt.

I quiet my raging thoughts.

I try to force my tiny voice out.

"Hey, sorry about that."

He smiles at that.

Perfect.

Stop it.

I blink, my smile wavering for a fraction of a second, it's barely noticeable. Well done.

"My name's Searena, spelled with an 's-e-a' instead of 's-i'. But no-one bothers to get that right." He lets out a small laugh.

Perfect laugh.

"You can call me Sea."

"I think it's cool, I'm Cal, new guy," he said, pointing both fingers to himself. He's clearly trying to be funny. Oh god.

Wait.

"Wasn't your name Daniel, like 5 minutes ago?" I ask. I really could care less, it's not like I'm gonna speak to him again after this, but softening up a little would at least make me not seem heartless, even if it's just pretending to care.

"Well yeah, that's my first name, but my middle name is Calibur so everyone just calls me Cal. So, you gonna show me around or what?"

It doesn't seem like I have much of a choice. I just nod and continue walking. He follows.

I just show him all the classes we will go to for 10th grade. I honestly don't even know why we're doing this, when we change classes, everyone moves as a group, so the people you have homeroom with are the ones you're pretty much stuck with for all the other classes. In the end, I bring him to social science room 2, our homeroom. No one is here. It feels so peaceful. It feels so good.

"Looks like everyone left for the second period." Cal speaks after staying quiet the 'tour'. I didn't speak either; I did only to tell him the name of each class we were at and the name of the teacher who was gonna be taking it.

"Actually, they'll be coming from assembly any minute now; you should really find a seat." I finished, walking back to my seat, happy to at least have a minute to myself.

"Wait, so you gave me a whole tour of all our classes and they're still in assembly?" He asked, quite amused.

"Yeah, 45 minutes. It's excruciating..." I said.

"Well, any suggestions for survival?" He asked, trying to make conversation. I just wanna stay by myself, can't he see that? I don't know what it is with me today, or why I seem to hate him so much, but something about him, just his aura, it gives me a weird feeling.

"Don't get to close, don't feed them, and don't associate with them," I tell him. I swear, I live and breathe sarcasm.

"Sounds like something you'd read on a rule board in the zoo" he laughs.

Perfect laugh.

Breathe.

"Yeah, but our class is much more like a jungle," I say, and immediately, as if on cue, I hear a roar of voices. Here we go again.

"Whoa! Sounds like something bad happened." He looks genuinely scared, as he goes towards the door. I turn towards him and say.

"Yeah, our class happened." He turns back to me in confusion. I just give him a two-fingered salute and go back to my seat at the back corner of the class. Well, there go my five seconds of freedom.

Cal chooses the seat in the dead middle of the class. Bad choice. I wanna laugh so badly but I also kinda feel sorry for him. The door bursts open just as I close myself off. Chaos fills up around me like Christmas shoppers during black Friday sale. As for Cal, he looks miserable, everyone who sees him just points and laughs at him. Been there done that.

The teacher comes in and after a futile attempt at getting everyone to quiet down, just starts speaking, not even caring of who is listening and who isn't, even he's used to the noise.

I've just taken out my notebook to start doodling at least to pass the time, while Anya, our class's 'perfect girl' asks permission to come in, and turns and looks like she's telling someone something.

Really, why am I even interested in what she does.

I'm about to go back to doodling while my question answers itself. And...

In walks Mr. 'I hate everything'.

His eyes go to Cal and his already set scowl deepens. He makes his way to the very back in the middle row, ignoring everyone and everything.

Oh well. What do I care? I know that this won't affect me just like nothing ever does. And anyway, I have my own world to worry about. Oblivion.