Chapter 8：Playing Games (1/2)

[Music Recommendation: ”Sunny Mornings” by Peter B. Helland (instrumental only)-available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

That answer—”I'll give it a try”—I never knew how it was going to be one of the factors that would change my life in this timeline dramatically.

We talked a bit more after that, just random things. A few moments later, Hora arrived in a rush. I knew it. My text message worried her. Good thing I was with Ken, and she arrived at the classroom while we were laughing at each other. That should erase some of her worries.

Our classmates started to arrive one after another. The girls would let out a squeal once they realized that Ken was sitting in front of me. You could see them summoning all their wits trying to impress him or appeal to him. Some would purposely blink prettily, or flip their hairs. The others showered themselves with perfume, making me sneeze, and my head ache from the smell. I had always been allergic to strong smells, especially the fumes from those fragrances. I couldn't stop sneezing after that so I went out of the classroom. Hora and Ken followed me, much to everyone's dismay. It was their fault to begin with. They could have stared longer at Ken if only they didn't put too much perfume.

”Achooo!” I sneezed so loud it felt like my brain went along with it.

”I told you not to go to our classroom, Ken!” Hora reprimanded him. ”Girls flock at you like hungry hyenas wherever you are!”

”I'm sorry. I didn't notice the time.”

”Don't scold him, Hora. It's my fault. I held him up in a conversation.”

”What? No you didn't,” Ken disagreed with me. ”It was me. I'm the one who-”

”Oh for goodness' sake,” Hora shook her head and rolled her eyes. ”Stop defending each other like some old married couple.”

”No, we're not!” We chorused.

Ouch. He denied it so strongly. Welp, there goes the blush from my face. I felt myself pale up from devastation. Poor me. Be strong there, my heart. Well, I denied it, too, so I'm not really in a position to be hurt.

I looked at Ken, curious about his expression. Was he feeling guilty or sorry? As I peeked, I was surprised to see his face turn red. Why though? Was he embarrassed?

”Whatever, you two. Let's just go back. Morning assembly is starting.”

And so, we did as Hora instructed. Morning assembly took a bit longer than usual because of the principal's speech, making most of the students bored from trying to listen. She talked about informative things though, pity not everyone appreciated it. But what caught my attention more was the conversation of the two girls in front of me.

”Did you see the news yesterday?” one of them said.

”Why would I watch the news?” the other replied in disgust.