Gears of Harmony

Episode 9 - Soothing Breeze

Days passed since then and the day I dreaded the most came sooner than I would like. Yes, Saturday. I dragged my feet to class as I muttered to myself that I don't want to go to the cooking club. As soon as I walked into class, I found Amelia, who from here onwards shall I shorten to Amy, and Callista, who from here onwards shall I shorten to Callie, talking near my desk. They quickly spotted me and waved their hands. Reluctantly, I waved back.

"Morning! Someone's looking a bit glum today," said Amy.

"I'm good, thanks," I said instead, "someone... looks happy today,"

"Yeah, it's Saturday!" she said, her eyes sparkling in excitement, "just an hour of homeroom then we're off to clubs,"

"What extracurricular did you choose again, Amy?" I asked.

"Duh, debate club," she replied and smiled from ear to ear, "I want to be drive change in the future, so I want to learn to speak in front of a crowd and argue well,"

Oh.

"That's... amazing," I said, this time genuinely, "...what about you, Cal? What did you choose?"

"Oh, I took intermediate Japanese," Callie answered, "I want to study and work overseas after finishing school, so I want to learn a new language,"

That's really cool too.

"Say, you wanna eat lunch in the third floor later?" Amy asked, "I wanted to ask Kissa to tutor me,"

"I can't, so... actually I've been asked to tutor some students in our class for chem," Callie said, "I'm gonna work out the schedule later today and start tutoring them next week,"

"Ooohh somebody's super smart here," Amy commented, "look at you, star chem student,"

"That's amazing, Cal," I said.

"Oh, it's nothing really," Callie said, "anyway, I gotta skip today. What about you, Wina?"

"Hmmm to be honest, I kinda want to get some alone time today," I said, "especially since I have the cooking class to... 'look forward to',"

"Things might turn out differently today," Amy said, "Dorothy and Sophie are a bit... stubborn and stuck in their own ways, but they're pretty nice once you get to know them,"

Is that so...? I thought.

I wish I could be someone like Amy who's friends with everyone.

"But I respect it," said Amy, "I understand wanting some alone time as well,"

"So you guys meditate somewhere?" asked Callie and flashed a teasing smile, "ooommm,"

"No," I said and chuckled, "I just eat my lunch somewhere else that's quiet,"

"Just eating and daydreaming in a place all by yourself?" asked Amy.

"Uhh... not exactly by myself... usually there's also a guy there," I said, putting my hand on my chin, "but he's quiet and won't bother me,"

"Who?" asked Amy.

I opened my mouth, but then suddenly I stopped after I realised something. Something crucial.

What's his name? I thought, I don't even know his name even though I saw him a lot...

"I'll find out-" I said, "perhaps,"

As if on cue, the bell suddenly rang. Soon, Mr. Leroy's shiny bald head popped into the classroom and we stood up and greeted him.

~~~

I sighed as I went through my day. Ever since my 'mistake' on the first extracurricular, none of my teammates bothered to trust me with a decent job. No one even bothered to say anything more than necessary to me. They left me out of conversation while they were laughing and joking at something else. Well, Isabella was okay, but everyone else was... well, cold. To be completely fair, I wasn't the only one left out. Xander had it worst - no one trusted him to go near the kitchen so he did nothing the whole day but tasted the food when no one wanted to. But of course, that day, once again, I was stuck washing dishes when the rest of my teammates have gone out.