June 20, Friday
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It rained again, but only after three long days had passed. During those days, Mai had been relentlesly studying and studying and studying all day and all night for the periodical exams that started on the next Monday. The teachers thought that it was funny to start Hell Week with Chemistry. No laughs had been extracted from the students. Tears, perhaps.
For a student like her, who was in one of the top academic high schools, this shouldn't be hard. Sure, forget that she was still a freshman. Ooh, she's in the honor roll anyway, Mai can do it like the students who were her seniors for one whole year.
Advanced placement my ass, she thought, snorting as she walked silently to the bus stop.
Both of Mai's best friends were among the select few who decided that not giving a damn would be the wisest choice. They were going to have fun at the mall later instead of studying like her. Yes, it was Friday. Yes, she would still have two more days to study. She refused their invite anyway. Nothing shall stand in the way of her pursuit for the scholarship she coveted.
Wouldn't it be fun though? Mai asked herself, sighing as she lifted her gaze to the tattered fabric of her aged umbrella. She kept her hooded gaze on a small hole, thinking of nothing and everything all at once. Fallen beads of rain answered her in return.
Mai was jolted out of her daze when a green bus sporting the number 42 came out from a corner. She closed her umbrella and shook out the droplets as she ran towards the entrance. With her heart pounding against her will, she offered her payment to the bus operator as she debated whether or not to sit in the same seat.
She did, but as the comforting heat of the vehicle warmed her chilled nose, she mentally slapped herself for being silly. She couldn't understand why she was so nervous. The girl grumbled non-excuses to herself as she brought out her Chemistry book, and before long, she was lost to the world, balancing stubborn chemical equations as she tried to ignore the nausea that was slowly creeping to her stomach. A painful bite to the lip was how she warded off the dizziness.
"Keep that up and you will soon find yourself nursing a bloody lip."
Mai jumped, startled by the tackle against her concentration. She released the clamp on her gnarled lower lip and felt sudden rush of a stinging sensation. She brought a hand up to massage away the irritating pain and was rewarded with irritating numbness. Once more, an aggravated blush snaked its way to her cheeks as she looked up to the boy sitting beside her.
His eyes were away, looking at the screen that kept track of the bus' route. He scrutinized it with utmost boredom as the thumb on his left hand simultaneously tapped against his leg with the moderate tempo of a muted song.
She felt the inexplicable heat rushing again, the back of her neck now a sudden victim. She compelled herself to look out the window because the small voice inside the rational part of her brain chastised her, reminding her that it was rude to stare. To distract herself, Mai mentally recited all the elements in the periodic table in proper order.
In the end, she couldn't help herself from sneaking another unnecessary peek. Her faltering surveillance travelled only until the papers on her neighbor's lap. He held the map she saw him with the first time they met, but now it was crumpled, chafed around the edges. There was even a large rip near the middle of it. Haphazardly applied tape was the only reason why both halves of the whole were still together.
Mai's troubled eyebrows slowly crawled towards their middle ground as she pursed her still-numb lips. She wondered why he would do that to the poor map.
Was he frustrated because he couldn't memorize the geography of the country for his Social Studies exam? But he seems to be a smart guy... He even looks like a class president.
Her musings were put to a halt when the third stop in her journey found her as the operator called twice. Again, she excused herself when his long legs were in the way. Exactly one second after she stepped off the bus, a transparent question punched her in the smack middle of her face.
Why wasn't he wearing his school uniform?
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A/N: Thanks again! Always keep in mind that I think you're freaking awesome.