Chapter 7: Ess: Good Enough or Not? by warelander

F1 - Hallways

Not long after the new school year had started, both students and staff alike had quickly found themselves back in their usual patterns again. The more one would expect things to change, the more they seemed to stay the same.

So far, that certainly to be the case for Ess Tetra. Then again, she kinda figured as much. If it wasn't for the new stuff she had to learn the year so far would have felt like a repeat to her, especially regarding her classmates.

Raina was still hard to pin down, as much as gossiping with her was alright, she always at the edge of doing something to get under Ess' skin. Her being the younger sister of a certain pink snob didn't help.

Amitie was still the same goody-two-shoes as last year. Tolerable in Ess' mind compared to others, but way too clingy.

Harpy was still sure to be the one responsible for the loss of hearing for everyone in class.

Ally was the same love-obsessed cupid as last year, while her sister Rafisol stayed introverted in her own corner of the class.

Draco and Penglai were still Grade A ditzes,

Ringo was still a dork, while Maguro remained the most popular sophomore student in school, in large part thanks to his absurdly gorgeous, yet perpetually hidden face.

The unliving car crash Mummy remains friendly enough but is the Fielding sisters' stooge.

Suketoudara, the fish with human limbs remains hard to look at except when killing it on the dance floor. And the meek Serilly gets to live out many non-dagonian girls' dreams by effectively being a mermaid.

Tee, still as average and vanilla as Ess always saw him as.

And lastly, Jaan remained someone not to be trusted in Ess' eyes. The year so far had been oddly prank-free, but the popular green-haired girl was not about to trust the half-genie.

None of this was truly of importance to Ess though, what mattered most was to get a certain older boy to notice her. That would be a step in the right direction of someone taking note of her in the way she wanted.

''Come on! How long does it take to catch this guy alone?'' The girl muttered to herself impatiently, still trying to stay behind a locker to keep herself from view.

It felt like forever since she had been trying to go up to Sig on his own. Multiple breaks across the day wasted because the boy would just keep surround himself with Lagnus, Marvett, or Jaan depending on the time of day, giving Ess little time to approach.

Sure, she could just go up and ask him to go with her into a quiet corner, but why would she? The boy had to learn that he would need to earn that kind of effort from a Tetra!

At last, the boy was on his own, at the water fountain in the middle of the hall and the break still lasted long enough to actually have a conversation of note. Ess knew she had no time to waste, as she rose from her hiding space to approach the boy she had been eyeing since last year.

The determination was strong, yet, somehow the girl couldn't help but feel as if every step had become heavier than the last and that somehow, the hall seemed to stretch for longer than it should. Her stomach acting up didn't help either, none of this was new for Ess though and she knew she had to brave those feelings if she wanted to get anywhere.

''Ugh. I don't feel good, but I gotta do this!'' She mused to herself, as the distance between her and Sig closed in more and more.

Sig took no note of any of this, taking a last sip of water completely ignorant to his surroundings, at least until he finally stepped away from the water fountain, noticing that someone seemed to be looking at him.

Indeed, one look to his left confirmed these suspicions, as he took note of Ess, giving him a look as if she wanted to tell him something. Luckily for the girl, she was able to suppress the urge to shake her legs to create the illusion that she wasn't at constant risk of losing her composure at any moment.

While looking at the younger student, Sig couldn't read what she may have been trying to tell him, though given where he was standing he figured what may have been it.

''Oh.'' The boy exclaimed in a subdued tone, stepping further away from the water fountain, as far as he knew he was just in the way.

''Sorry about that.'' He said before turning around, ready to leave the scene, which was enough to snap Ess out of what felt like an outright trance. After so long she wasn't going to blow it by not managing to open her mouth when it mattered. Swiftly, she rushed to Sig's side, still trying to not make her motivations obvious to him.

''No, no. I just...uhm, wanted to ask how the year has been to you so far.''

''Ah. Same as last year. Nothing special, just how it is.'' Sig answered honestly, pretty much what Ess wanted to hear, surely her motivation would inspire awe from someone who had so little.

''Well, I have been doing wonderful so far! The cheerleading squad is on fire recently and I found myself a trio of admirers among the new kids.'' Ess proclaimed with a fair amount of bravado, visibly proud of herself and growing more comfortable than before.

''That's good to hear.'' Sig answered, with a clear air of sincerity, even offering a casual smile. One that threatened to make Ess' face burn up in the brightest shade of red known to mankind.

'I have him hooked!' The young alpha thought to herself excitedly. He was listening, she had to go further, not stall any second,

''Of course!'' She said, even more boisterous than before. ''I'm a Tetra after all, big shoes to fill. We are on totally different levels I'm afraid. This kind of chit-chat will be an exception, so cherish it.''

Confidently, Ess struck a pose, hands on her hip, one leg up and her eyes closed. As far she was concerned she had to send a message to Sig that she was a girl to be earned. Unbeknownst to her though, Sig merely gave her a blank expression, followed by a mild shrug.

''Okay. Good luck.'' Was all she heard, followed by a series of footsteps and indeed, as she opened her eyes to see Sig leave.

''Wha...uhm..no...ehh-'' reduced to mere mumbling as her ego deflated yet again, Ess failed to get Sig's attention before he made his turn to leave the hall.

Now she stood there on her own, just wanting to kick herself for letting this opportunity go to waste, all that wait and it amounted to so little.

''That went well.''

Startled by the sudden comment Ess turned her attention to her back and as if to taunt her, it just had to be Raina who seemingly caught wind of the whole disaster.

''What do you want?'' Ess pouted, not in the mood for any teasing or arguing.

''Just saw what happened.'' The infamous snitch retorted. ''I care less about this than you think.''

Ess merely huffed, crossing her arms and making her way to leave the hall herself. The whole thing was a bust anyway, she didn't need to put up with her frenemy as well on top of that.

''I have to say though, you sure rely on your family image to boost yourself.''

That comment froze Ess in her place. Not sure whether to be insulted or just plain alerted to what she may have been trying to pull, the green-haired alpha turned to face Raina directly.

''What are you trying to imply?''

''You only talk about being a Tetra. How about you actually do something yourself instead of riding on your parents' fame.'' Was all Raina said as she walked past Ess, not even giving her another look while leaving.

Ess on her part was frozen in place, contemplating what she had just heard.

A part of her wanted to go after Raina and give her a piece of her mind for saying such a thing. The other part of her thought, couldn't stop thinking about it, as the pink-haired girl's accusation kept echoing in her mind, drowning out any other thoughts in her head or noise around her…

Authors' Notes:

WARE: All of Ess' boasting over her family name was very much building up to this. Things are picking up for Ess's story now and I am looking forward to get into the real meat of it.