CHAPTER 6 – FRIENDS

Aisha's eyes blinked open to an overwhelming coolness. The sun didn't sting her eyes any longer thanks to the curtains and the gray clouds that shielded its glow. She pulled herself up and stretched, letting out a huge, ungraceful yawn. Suddenly, she heard a small "thump" coming from her window. Thinking it was just some sort of twig that flew against the glass, she ignored it. But that lasted shortly, as another thump, much heavier than the previous one, followed.

"The heck," she mumbled.

She crawled across her miniscule bed and peered outside the window. It was Elsword – in a freaking school uniform. Aisha wiped her face with her bare hands and groaned in frustration. "What does he want with me now?" And then she remembered – uniform, 7 in the morning… School starts in freaking 45 minutes!

Aisha opened her bedroom window. "I'll be there in a sec!"

She checked her alarm. Holy shit, she hadn't adjusted it yet. It was still set to wake her up at 7:30! With only less than 45 minutes at her disposal, she knew she was going to be late. She takes a freaking long time to dress herself and look… well, decent!

She hurried to the shower room and bathed as fast as she could. She just popped on the shampoo and conditioner, squeezed out some liquid soap and scrubbed herself off in as little time as she could. As for the uniforms – they're all unwashed. She'd have to live with walking to school in those for an entire week. Heading to Velder at a very late time was such a bad idea.

She put the clothes on and sprayed the same old cotton candy perfume. She sat herself and brought out hair ties and began yanking out her strands in an attempt to move quickly.

"Aisha!" Elsword called out from below. "We're gonna be late!"

Aisha sauntered to the window and opened it, "I'm hurrying! Shut up!"

She did her hair into pigtails and observed if there was anything missing in the uniform. She smiled at herself and grabbed a small back containing everything she might need. Clutching her ID lace and the house keys, she hurried down the stairs. When she opened the door, Elsword gave her a rather impatient look.

"I didn't ask you to take me to school," Aisha stated.

"Good morning to you too," Elsword replied. "What took you so long?"

"In case you're forgetting, I still have to take a bath and look presentable El-diot," Aisha snapped back.

"Okay, sheesh. You don't have to be your usual self at a time like this," Elsword said. He then pointed to the car parked in Rena's driveway. "Get in the car."

"You have a car?" Aisha was rather dumbfounded.

"Sure I do. What'd you expect?"

"Hmm… I wasn't expecting you to have one. Aren't you supposed to drive your girlfriend to school this morning?"

"She has one of those guys that could drive her or something."

"A chauffeur? Seriously?" How rich is she?!

"Yeah, that's the fancy word for it. Her family owns this huge company and they want her barricaded – most of the time. It's annoying," Elsword said. "Now come on, we have to get going."

"School's pretty close you know."

"We barely have 5 minutes to get there thanks to you. Let's go."

Velder high was large, but it was scarcely populated. That was because it's a known fact that you either have to be rich or incredibly intelligent to get in. After all, you have everything laid out for you if you study here. The teachers are great, the food is great, the environment, the facilities – they're all great. The only thing that's not as great is the tuition fee but from the perspective of the students, it's reasonable.

Elsword and Aisha flashed their IDs for the security guard to inspect before proceeding further into the school grounds. Every so often, girls and boys would wave at Elsword's car.

"You're pretty popular around here," Aisha stated.

"Surprised?"

"Eh… I kind of knew… You're good-looking after all."

Elsword laughed before going back to scanning his surroundings for a parking space. "You really think so?"

"Yeah… Just don't let that get to your head," Aisha said, folding her arms. "What's your first class?"

"Ditching."

In response to this, the girl dealt a swift smack to the back of her friend's head.

"Ouch."

"You deserved that," Aisha said. "Seriously, what's your first class?"

Elsword rubbed the back of his head and looked around, hoping that nobody saw what Aisha just did. Reputation was valuable after all – nothing's more embarrassing than getting hit by a complete nerd.

"It's math… Algebra or something… I don't know. Are you scared that I'm going to be your classmate?"

"I'm a graduating senior, doofus. We're not going to see each other much around here."

"Sad. I hope you don't have a hard time making friends with that attitude of yours."

"Oh, trust me good sir. I'm going to do just fine on my own."

"Really…? 'Cause if you need friends, I know a bunch of people you could talk to—"

Elsword suddenly stopped walking and stared at the path ahead. There was a girl leaning against the wall – her hair was dyed pink and done up into two neat pigtails. Her uniform was fitted and unbuttoned all the way below the collar, revealing the padded bra below. Weren't students like her supposed to get kicked out first thing?

"Sheesh." Aisha said, out loud. "Don't tell me she's your girlfriend."

"Actually," Elsword looked over at Aisha. "She is…"

As if on cue, the girl started strutting towards them. The hems of her skirt bellowed beneath her, revealing more of her voluptuous thighs. Aisha, being the judgmental little girl that she was, thought she looked like a hooker in a school uniform. Be that as it may, there was something about her that spelled out the "danger" in dangerous.

"What took you so long?" The girl cooed, her eyes throwing malicious glances towards Aisha. "And who's the girl?"

"She's a friend of mine," Elsword said. "Her name's Aisha."

The girl wrapped an arm around Elsword's, making sure she hugged his bicep nicely. "Huh… I don't like the way she's staring at me."

"She's a senior… "

"Oh…" Elsword's girlfriend looked Aisha up to down. "Hello, senior."

What a bitch. Aisha thought. "Hi… "

"I'm Karis, by the way." Karis extended her other hand towards Aisha. "Don't worry, I don't bite."

Aisha took her hand and shook it. She could feel the girl's lengthy fingernails against the palm of her hands.

"We're going to be great friends," Karis stated. Aisha could feel absolutely no sincerity in her voice. She turned towards Elsword. "Come on now… We're already late. Best we all attend our classes." She tilted her head to the side to give Aisha one last look. "And it was nice meeting you, senior."

"You sure you're going to be fine?" Elsword asked.

"Yes… Now go on. I don't want to be tardier than I already am." Aisha could feel her face fuming. There was definitely passive-aggressive tone whenever Karis spoke. What did she do to the girl aside from mentally judge her? It's not as if bitches could read minds… unless they're fucking psychic. Not wanting to stand at the entrance any longer, Aisha waved at Elsword's back and left posthaste. She was late, her day was ruined and she just met her worst enemy.

Lunch time - and Aisha's bad day could only proceed to get even worse. The cafeteria wasn't full, but people were sitting in groups and she'd rather not sit alone. It would make her look uncool or unfriendly – whatever term she didn't want to be described as. She held her tray away from her uniform as she walked away from the lunch lady. Looking around, she found a lone girl in the middle of a sea of peers. Not wanting to waste time, she walked towards her new target.

"Hi… Mind if I sit here?" She asked.

The girl looked up at her. "Yeah… Sure…" Then she began to shift to the side.

"Oh no… If it's going to be awkward for you I could just sit on the other bench." Aisha stated.

"It's okay," the girl stated, bluntly. "I don't want to be alone here."

Aisha cleared her throat and sat herself on the empty space beside the girl. "My name's Aisha, by the way. New student…"

"I see," The girl said. Her voice was quiet and pretty… emotionless. How weird.

Aisha began by munching on the garlic bread she had on her tray. It was ridiculously good – you'd think they'd never serve something like that in a cafeteria. Also, if she didn't start doing anything, it's only going to get more awkward for her.

"My name's Eve."

Aisha looked to the side. "11th Grade?"

"12th, actually… We were in the same class earlier." Eve stated.

"Oh." Aisha frowned, embarrassed that she was talking to someone she hardly even noticed earlier. But that was understandable – maybe both of them were too focused on not talking to anyone else.

"I was kind of surprised when you walked in. We're in the same grade but I doubt I've ever seen you around here." Eve continued speaking in a poker-faced expression, but her voice always came out soft and timid.

"I just got into the scholarship program," Aisha stated.

"Oh… that's probably the reason why we're having this conversation," Eve stated. "Not many people talk to scholars here."

Aisha finished a slice of the garlic bread and began sipping on her orange juice. When she was done, she re-instigated the discussion, "What are the people like over here?"

Eve looked down. "They're… stupid."

"Uh-huh…" I couldn't help but agree more.

"Some of them are nice, but most of them are arrogant, spiteful beings that rely on their parents' money to survive."

"Do you have any friends here?"

Eve shook her head.

"Why not?" Aisha asked.

"I don't want to make friends with stupid people."

Aisha was taken aback by the sudden jab – not that she was affected by it. She was very much aware of her own capabilities. But Eve was different – she was cute and confident. She didn't speak a lot but her choice of words belonged to someone who had the potential to become the next "queen bee". That bitch Karis had better not mess with her.

"So… could I be friends with you?" Aisha stated, mentally crossing her fingers.

"Aisha, you're not like the others. I would love to be friends with you." Eve said, looking at Aisha with the slightest hint of a smile on her face.

Aisha returned the smile with an even bigger one of her own. She was so happy, she could pump a fist in the air and yell, "Take that El-dork!" But apparently, she'd have to wait until she could rub it into the redhead's face that she had made a friend that day.

That afternoon, after school, Aisha and Eve waved goodbye to each other. They had promised to have study sessions at Aisha's place during weekends. Something about it made Aisha even more excited. Maybe she'd introduce her to Rena and they'd all have dinner together.

As Aisha waited to board the bus bound for another side of town, another guy had joined her underneath the waiting shed. He was wearing the signature Velder High uniform. Aisha sighed and shifted away. Unfortunately, he probably noticed this.

"Sorry if I'm making you feel uncomfortable," he said.

"Sorry if I offended you," Aisha stated back.

"The guy looked at her. "Nah… I'm not offended in the slightest. You're a senior right? I saw you with Eve earlier."

"You know Eve?"

"I barely talk to her, but yes, I know her. She scares me."

Aisha let out a short giggle. "She's nice if you speak to her."

She turned her head so that she could get an even better look at the guy. He was certainly shorter in stature than most boys. Above that, he had such a kind face – he almost looked like a girl. His blond hair spiked in all kinds of directions. And his eyes – they were bluer than any ocean. Aisha's breath hitched.

"I think I've seen you before," the guy said. "At Grail's…"

Aisha blushed and looked away. "Yeah I work part-time as a waitress. On weekends, I wear a stupid dress."

The guy laughed. "I knew I recognized you. I'm Chung, by the way. Chung Seiker."

"Nice to meet you," Aisha smiled nervously. "I'm Aisha."

"What's it like working for Ara Haan?"

"You know my boss?"

"I've been friends with her for a while…"

Aisha's eyes darted to the roof of the waiting shed. "Well for the most part, she seems nice and smart. She's tall… attractive… She's busy with all kinds of things."

Chung sighed. "That's Ara for you… always busy. No thanks to her idiot of a brother."

"Uhm… I don't think it's okay for you to be telling me this. We've just met. And she's still my boss after all."

Chung smiled again. "I trust that you're not the kind of person who spills secrets. Also, I've wanted to tell someone about this for a long time now."

Aisha opened her mouth to say something but she was cut off by the horn of a bus.

"We should continue this conversation in the bus," Chung stated. "But before we get on, I have to reveal my biggest secret to you. Never mind the fact that we've just met. I need to say it."

The bus screeched to a stop next to the waiting shed and the door hissed open. Meanwhile, Chung leaned closer to Aisha and whispered in her ear. "I'm in love with Ara Haan."

There you have it guys – chapter 6! I'm sorry if you don't ship Chung x Ara No flaming please T.T Also, yes Elsword's girlfriend is Karis. I was considering Eve since she's been a popular rival in the community but I'd hate for her to be the bad guy…

Thanks for the support again! Love, Dianthus Nera.