Chapter 19: A Group
Today is Tuesday.
I think so.
I'm losing my sense of time as nothing eventful happens here.
...
I'll go for June.
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Should I really keep on pursuing this thing?
Aira questioning my morals kinda puts me down.
It gives me a reason to doubt myself.
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Should I?
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I think so.
If I stop myself because of the things I heard from Aira, my actions of running away and getting mad will be all for nothing.
It's like admitting defeat.
And I don't want that.
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June is cool. I'd probably like her too.
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I use up half of an hour to observe June and what she does.
I stopped because I realized it's creepy to do so.
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Two hours pass.
An hour more, and it'll be 5 in the afternoon.
I normally go home by that time.
I set an alarm for that.
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Moments pass, and June sits down beside me.
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Ah, the opportunity shows itself to me. What a rare sight.
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"So, how's your day?" June asks.
"You mean how my morning was? Terrible. What makes you ask?"
"I haven't talked in 3 hours or so. I have to refresh myself by chatting."
"I didn't expect you to gain energy by having people beside you."
"I don't always enjoy having many people with me. I get tired too, y'know?"
"You worked on props for 3 hours straight."
"I didn't talk to people though."
"Will there be any difference if you talked while working?"
"My work will be slower, and I'll probably get tired."
"How long can you talk in conversations?"
"I'm not sure, but maybe just half an hour."
"That's pretty short. How is it that you still have friends up to this point?"
"You're talking to me, right?"
"That makes sense. I did not get a single information from that."
"Cool." June sits lazily, dropping her arms and legs into comfortable positions for herself.
...
Her back isn't even touching the chair anymore. It was her head that was on the backrest.
I doubt that it's even comfortable.
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"..Cool." I reply, observing her sitting stance.
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Wait.
"Wait, did you just get tired of talking? Isn't it supposed to be 30 minutes?"
"I'm just tired of talking to you. I doesn't have to be half an hour for that."
"Well that's just rude."
"Sorry about that. It isn't really about you, it's more like I get tired fast with new people."
"That's weird."
"Also, you're that type of person who I would be fine being with even if we're not talking. That's also most of my friends, so I probably just picked up the habit of being tired while talking." June closes her eyes.
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"Are you sleeping?" I observe her.
No response.
I take a long look at her, "Oh, you are. Amazing."
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I will now go back to silent mode.
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June is like a mix of Aira and Shaina.
I could think that, but it's more like she's more like a wholesome version of them.
She can be a hype and tired person at the same time.
She can be rude, but it's mostly due to her tiredness.
Interesting.
...
Minutes pass.
I take a look at her.
...
She doesn't have the aura of attractiveness that Shaina has, or the bubbly energy on Aira's face.
But she has this comfortable air around her.
And her appearance reflects that.
Shaina has the face of elegance matching with her glasses and short, straightened hair.
Aira has the aura of happiness along with her curvy long hair and bright smile.
June has none of those.
She has a barely combed straight hair and eyes of extreme exhaustion.
Her aura of "chillness" radiates inside the entire classroom.
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And I find it awesome.
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Ten minutes pass.
After sleeping soundly, June immediately gets up and heads to the props team.
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She didn't even stretch or anything normal people do when waking up.
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I haven't left this chair for about 4 hours now.
I gotta do something.
But I feel lazy today.
I don't even want to do anything today other than just playing games on my phone.
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Oh right.
I aim for June right now.
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I get up, and head to the props team.
"Hey, is there anything I can do to help?" I asked.
"Oh" June said without emotion, "you're actually helping."
"Hey, I brought over these materials to you. That's already a form of help."
"Yeah. You're right. Grab some cutting tools on my table and cut squares of different colors." June firmly commands.
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So that went on without conflict.
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And thus, I shall make her like me!
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Ahh..
A fresh start on this mission.
I cut things, I help other paste them, and I laugh with their jokes.
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No wonder the classroom is noisy.
It's not only the jocks and girl groups that are noisy, majority of the noise also comes from these diligent, smart, honored students.
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Well, we are at Section 2-C, so I couldn't say they're that smart.
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It feels nice.
They seem to be the diligent student group, so I'm a bit surprised they can make me laugh.
I wasn't just laughing at the jokes, they included me with them.
They weren't even clever jokes. They're just make fun of the other person who's sometimes me, corny jokes, and even bad puns.
But somehow, it's making me laugh.
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I wonder about that.
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5 o'clock arrived, and students started leaving.
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Well, almost all of them left hours ago already.
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My alarm buzzed.
Do I want to go home?
The props are about to be finished, but it still might take half an hour for it to be done.
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I have a goal here.
I can sacrifice my daily schedule for this.
And seeing how things are going now, I should definitely stay here.
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I dismiss the alarm, and continue working.
June leaves the group, returning to her seat to rest.
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"June often leaves and takes breaks. Is she really that tired?" I ask.
"Yeah. She always stays up all night and gets her needed sleep at school. It's fine though, she has the most contributions even if she takes breaks every 10 minutes or so." A guy with a glasses tell me.
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It was Carlo. Carlo Atelion.
Glasses, straight and black hair looking like a bowl, and an innocent face.
I remember that.
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"Oh right, June told me you're a part of the basketball team. Shouldn't you be practicing at this time?" (Josh)
"Yeah, but I just wanted to help her out. The new members are the ones who are being focused on practices right now, so I won't be required to be there." (Carlo)
"Don't you think that's bad etiquette for an athlete?"
"But the coach did say that us, the starters, should take a rest for today if we want to. We have a game at Friday, so the heavy practicing would be tomorrow and at Thursday."
"Cool. You've been a member of the team for two years, right?"
"Yeah! It's been fun."
"So, how's Bryan?"
"Oh, we haven't talked much either. But I guess he's been working out as I've heard from June."
"Is anyone here certain that's he's been to the gym though?"
"Nope. The rumors just came from the girls two years ago. Specifically the popular group."
"June says it's been two years since Bryan began. Did she get the news from them too?"
"Yeah. She's a part of that group. Well, she's a part of almost all groups here. But her close friends are mostly from the "popular girls" group."
"So a lazy blob of brain matter does fit into a group of beauty queens, huh?"
"Heh. I'm more surprised that you seem uninformed about all this."
"I haven't been in touch with the classroom events for two years. I dealt with other things at that time."
"Yeah? Yeah you did. Bryan kept asking me about you during that time too."
"That's interesting. He always seemed like the one who didn't care. So that's surprising to know."
"Heh. We stopped getting in touch during that time too. I wonder what happened."
"Hm. I wonder indeed." I chuckle.
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I'm slowly feeling a bit uncomfortable as we continue working.
Maybe because I'm now conscious of the people here.
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Yeah, I can't take it. I have to leave.
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I say goodbye to the props group and to June.
Exiting the building, I take a glance at the school gymnasium.
I can still hear athletes practicing.
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Shaina's training really hard for this, huh.
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Walking towards my house, I stop by a grocery store to buy food.
I bought cup noodles.
I feel lazy tonight.
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I arrive home.
I open my phone.
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Hm.
Should I chat Shaina?
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Wait, no. I just lost to her and I'm currently going for June.
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Maybe I'll chat with June then.
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I looked for her account, and sent a friend request.
A few minutes after, I receive a notification.
She accepted my request.
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Well that was fast.
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--Yo, are there more stuff for me to do tomorrow?-- I messaged June.
--Hey! It looks like I'm the first person you sent a friend request with your account. I'm honored!-- (June)
--Haha, I decided to start chatting people. So, will there be more work for me?-- (Josh)
--I'm not sure. Maybe, because I heard more ideas from the props group.-- (June)
--Well that's unfortunate.-- (Josh)
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Silence.
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--Well, it's for the classroom anyways so I think it's fine.-- I add on, in fear of making June angry.
--Heh. Don't worry, the travel expenses will be covered by the class funds.-- (June)
--Yeah, but my tiredness can't be bought by that.-- (Josh)
--Sure, but it can buy you food. The food stalls are at school already because of an event by the elementary department.-- (June)
--Is the food good?-- (Josh)
--IT'S REALLY GOOD. The crepes especially!-- (June)
--Let's go get those tomorrow then.-- (Josh)
--Really?-- (June)
-Yeah. How about lunchtime? Is that good?-- (Josh)
--Sure! I'll look forward to that!-- (June)
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Our conversation continued, branching to different types of topics.
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--You somehow seem more expressive through internet messaging.-- (Josh)
--It's easier to respond, and it doesn't take much effort to show emotion here.-- (June)
--Sure, but doesn't that feel like your emotions aren't genuine?-- (Josh)
--It may come off as that, but it's genuine for me. I try to put my real emotions into typing.-- (June)
--Understandable. In my case, it don't try to so it comes out as if I'm just bored and simply answering back to things.--
--I can see that. It doesn't feel genuine when it doesn't come from your own voice.--
--But then, talking personally only makes slight differences. I don't project much emotion in real life either.--
--And that doesn't bother me. You're fine that way.--
--We haven't even been in touch for more than a day. You can't be seriously saying that.--
--True, but I definitely enjoy talking to you anyways.--
--Interesting. I doubt you'll still say that after we get to know each other more.--
--Haha, I try not to make enemies. So don't expect any ill words and actions from me.--
--Well, I'll be resting. Thanks for the talk.--
--Alright, have a nice night!--
...
Somehow, that went smoothly.
It's like I just made so much progress just from that talk.
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I JUST ASKED JUNE OUT TO EAT NORMALLY.
Also, everything felt natural. I didn't have to put a fake attitude for that.
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Or maybe I'm getting used to this nicer attitude.
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I don't know.
But it felt natural. As if I was just talking to a best friend.
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Anyways, I made so much progress!
My goal to pursue June seems to show great promise.
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I felt like that conversation was a genuine fun and mundane conversation between friends.
I also felt really comfortable with the props team earlier.
And I got a bit in touch with Carlo once more. The memories gave me nostalgia.
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This was a rough day.
My beliefs were punched in the gut, my goals were stepped on the dirt two times, but I felt a bit of joy after.
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I would still like to hang out with Shaina. I didn't feel any ill intent towards her.
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But of course, it still hurts.
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Although, after all those events,
I feel relieved.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone