"Oh yeah!! In your FACE!! We kicked your wimpy butts once again, losers!" I yelled in triumph.
"Mello, would you keep it down please? And what's the number on rule in this gym?" The teacher called out to me.
"You've been teaching here long enough, you should know it." I snapped.
"You should know it too."
"I do." Man, didn't he get it?
"Then say it."
"Why?" That stupid gym teacher was getting on my nerves.
"Because you're not following it."
"Well, I can know a rule and not follow it."
"Mello, just say it." He rubbed his temples. Cool. I was giving him a headache. "How hard is it?"
"Not very." I was beginning to enjoy this game.
"Just say the rule, Mello."
Now he was really ticked. I smirked and shouted, "Hey sissies! You guys didn't have 'good sportsmanship!'" Then, turning back to the teacher, I said, "There, I said it."
"Shorten it to just the one rule, Mello."
"Make me, buttwipe."
And just like that, I was in the principal's office yet again.
What is wrong with the educational system anyway? They let a kid like Near breeze through school like he's the friggin' king or something, and I sit in the office every day because I stand up for myself.
I want to be number one.
Is that so bad?
According to all of my teachers it is.
"What are you doing here, Mihael?" A voice asked. I didn't need to look up to know whom it belonged to. Not only was that the voice that speaks up with the right answer every freaking day in class, it was also the only voice that dared to say my real name aloud.
"What do you think I'm doing here, genius?"
"In trouble again?"
"No duh." I paused. "Wait. Why are you here, Near?"
"Oh! I'm delivering a message from my teacher. And don't be afraid to call me by name. No one outside would know me as Near anyway. Just the kids from…where we come from." Near said, smiling.
"Fine, Nate. I will call you by your name until otherwise instructed. Would you like me to shine your shoes and give you a haircut too?"
"Do you want me to leave you alone?"
"What was your first clue?"
"Alright." He walked away with the stupid papers and handed them to the secretary. He turned and left with a small smile in my direction and a "Bye, Mihael."
When the little twerp was gone, I pulled out a book to read while waiting for the teacher. He would be late again. I knew it.
After 15 minutes of waiting (I was right) and 7 minutes of scolding and arguing, I left the office and went to lunch. I sat in the darkest corner of the cafeteria I could find. I was uncomfortably close to this guy Matt, but he was deeply involved in his Gameboy, so he didn't even notice me.
Matt was smart enough, he was just a slacker. I heard that his family was rolling in cash but his parents were workaholics. He didn't really have much of a life at home, but he was an alright guy once you got used to him. Which, unfortunately, I hadn't done yet. I was kind of busy, to say the least.
You see, when I was twelve years old, my parents died in a fire in their workplace. I lived on the streets for a couple months until L found me. He had offered me sweets (especially chocolate) when I was hungry and gave me a warm bed in a deluxe hotel and a roof over my head. He analyzed me completely before offering me the chance of a lifetime. Wammy's House.
I was uncertain about the offer at first, but he eventually convinced me to at least try it out. (After all, how can you refuse someone who has shown you such generosity?) I went and really loved it. I was the best there. At least until Near showed up. He ruined my winning streak. And when we recently decided to join a couple of other kids in attending a public school along with our training at the orphanage, he topped the class there too. I hated him. And to this day, I still hate him.
Near.
Nate River.
Whatever you want to call him, I hate him.
I was thinking of that brat when the bell rang and signaled the end of lunch. I got up and left, not bothering to clean up the chocolate wrappers behind me.
The rest of the day was a bore. I perfected twelve twenty-paragraph-long essays in five minutes. Nothing special.
At the end of the day, I went to join the other Wammy's house kids in front of the school. We started to the orphanage without a word between us.
If I weren't so zoned out, it would have been quiet enough to hear the beeping of a Gameboy behind us.