Chapitre 3: A Tiffin Break
T-1 Days to Incident
#Tiffin break
Tiffin break. It wasn't your normal tiffin break. It was a tiffin break at Ogologs High, one of the most famous high schools in Acheng, the part of Ayodale where the palace of Prince El Bongani, the younger brother of the present King of Nordurljos Kingdom, El Bakko, was. Perhaps that was the reason? Or was it because the Ascension Foundation was behind the management of the school? On the outside, the school was like a shining star to those who couldn't get into the ultra-high-tech classrooms with the super-rich facilities of the institution.
But that didn't matter right now.
Thomas Baker, also known as Tom, was late. That's what mattered in this moment of great crisis! He was late for the famous apple-flavored pudding and the dark chocolate bread, the most wanted items by the whole student body.
The pudding was a viciously tasty apple-flavored item. The thick, spongy, and soft texture reminded male teenagers, nearing hot-blooded adulthood, of the beautiful buxom models in fashion magazines. The taste of apples mixed with other unknown magical ingredients made it the most wanted snack. However, this pudding wasn't the only thing the students desired. The next item on their demand list was the dark chocolate bread—the only item that complimented the pudding to perfection. If you couldn't eat them together, you would simply miss the taste of heaven on earth!
However, there was one problem. The competition for these two special items was fierce. And to win the battle, you had to be either the fastest parkour athlete who could exit through the classroom windows, scale the wall, and take the shortest route to the canteen, or a titan who could just flip other competitors like pieces of paper. But Tom was neither. The long queue that extended even outside the canteen made him fidgety and anxious. Repeatedly looking at his watch wouldn't get him those items now. He was the last person, pathetically standing at the back.
The crowd of competing students thinned out eventually, as did the supply of those prized items. Tom was standing in front of the empty counter with a worried face.
"Ma'am! Apple pudding and dark chocolate bread, please!" He put a bill on the counter. "I will take all I can buy with this, please."
The woman standing behind the counter looked at the delicate pallor of Tom's face. Due to some reasons unknown to her, the pretty boy was sweating; his countenance looked even paler. "Boy! You are too late! There's none left for you to buy!"
"But I must buy at least four sets of those two!" He worriedly looked around. He shivered at the thought of the consequences of his failure. "You sure, ma'am! You don't even have at least one?" The worry and anxiety were oozing out of his existence.
"Boy! I'm sorry, we ran out!" The woman wanted to help, seeing how Tom was shaking in fear, like a fawn under the paws of a gigantic lion as it licked its soon-to-be meal. "You can ask around. I've seen many buying double sets of those."
"Who would..." Tom looked around the canteen. "Give me?" His eyes got stuck on a peculiar sight of overindulgence. A cute-looking girl was sitting at a table inside the cafeteria. An awkward shyness seeped from the very essence of her mind and body into the atmosphere. She was uncomfortable and surrounded by some titanic boys. Their selfishness didn't allow them to notice the faint irritation on the girl's face, and her timid nature prevented her from showing it.
Tom wasn't looking at the girl, though. His eyes were fixated on the pile of the prized items of the day—the apple pudding and dark chocolate bread. The pile looked like an alluring mountain of booty. His body automatically moved in that direction. When he came to his senses, he was already inside the den of the lions, the boys. Right in front of him was what he needed the most—the pudding and the bread. The girl wasn't even in his rudder.
"May I buy a few of these?" Tom asked humbly.
The girl jolted back from her thought. "Sorry!" She wasn't quite paying attention to her surroundings. She was feeling rather awkward with all the attention from those 3XL boys. One of them stood up from his chair.
"I need to teach this frail-looking punk..."
But his mind was saying something else. “What beautiful Black hair, hazel eyes, and long, dark eyebrows and lashes! What a cute-looking boy! Shit! What the fuck am I thinking?”
"...a lesson or two."
The inner short monologue continued, “For your brave move on our Queen.”
"Audacious punk! You tired of living?" He was more embarrassed than angry about his inner thoughts. “How the fuck? Am I being seduced by this boy's face? Shit!” His threat lacked the demeanor he intended.
The girl quickly defused the situation: "How can I eat all these? I'm not hungry. It's okay!" She looked at Tom, grabbed a handful of the items, and offered him, "You don't have to pay. These would have gone bad anyway!" She looked at the boys. "He can take some. I can't eat all of these alone. You guys are okay with it, right?" Those 3XLs looked at each other and replied, "If you say so!" They reluctantly let Tom grab what he needed. Tom gratefully nodded to the girl, "Thank you!" and bowed respectfully to the titans. Then, like a wind, he vanished.
Tom was almost near his classroom when he remembered. “I don't even know her name, my Savior! How pathetic, Thomas!”
In the canteen, Cacey Summers was sitting with a façade of casual nonchalance. Actually, she was very nervous. Those boys made her so. She hated those gifts from her guts, but a timid girl like her wouldn't dare refuse when those 3XL boys offered. She felt relieved by the intervention of the unknown boy a few minutes ago.
“What was his name? Which class?” She thought to herself. She forgot to look at his name tag. He struck as a boy in the same situation as her—unwanted and horrible. "Guys! Thank you for your gifts! I need to go to the classroom now!" It sounded like borderline ‘begging for permission to leave your horrid presence’ but the boys were happy.
"Yes, let's go together! We will carry those for you." They took care of the gifts for her as they all left their seats.
Cacey sighed and thought, “These knuckleheads can't even read the room! I want you gone from my sight!” But she wouldn't dare voice her thoughts.
Those boys stuck themselves to Cacey, like chewed-up gum, on their own accord. She wanted none of these. A peaceful and quiet school year was what she wanted. If it weren't for the entity sitting in the heavens, she might not have even succeeded. But God had to bless her with all the beauty and allure of a woman a man could ever desire. The face, eyes, nose, shape, hair, skin tone—everything about Cacey made the boys crazy about her.
“Only if you had given more attention to courage, I wouldn't have to face this problem.” She complained to God in her mind. She was timorous. Everything scared her. But that wasn't the problem. Her having this scaredy-cat attitude was also an attraction to the boys. This attitude of hers made her appear even more coy and invoked the undesired protection of her fan club—those titans.
Cacey was thinking about the boy on her way to her classroom. “He was kinda cute.” A faint smile appeared on her face, hidden away from those boys.
“How tall was he? Five-eight, maybe?” She was deep in her thoughts as she ascended the stairs slowly. Those titans escorted her like a celebrity.
“But he looked underweight! What's up with that?” She surreptitiously glanced sideways. “These irritating boys! Give me my private space back!” Her inner voice shouted, but her lips remained sealed.
“But that face of his..." Cacey faintly smiled again. “His underweight makes him look like a flower boy! How handsome! Why was he anxious, though? As if he were hounded by a thug or something!” She quickly looked around and stole a sigh away from those boys. “Who am I judging?” She thought to herself.
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone