3 Holding Hands (1/2)
With a tired sigh, I slumped over my desk and pressed my face against the cold surface. Due to the fact that it was August, the temperature outside was quite high, in the nineties, and I, having just arrived to class after walking from the station to here, was suffering from my perspiration humidifying my body underneath my school uniform, which consisted of a white button up shirt and black slacks. In order to air myself out, I unbuttoned the top four buttons on my shirt and felt the cool air within the air conditioned classroom.
”Ahh.” The cool air was able to alleviate the heat and provide me with a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere.
Because class begins in three minutes, many students had entered the classroom, waiting for the day to begin. While they waited, they chatted with each other; their discussions mostly centered around gossip, after school plans, and television. So basically high school stuff.
”Can you not act so incompetent?” Muria sat down in her desk next to mine. ”It's going to affect other students.”
”Oh.” I yawned, lifted my head off the desk, and leaned back against my chair. I've given up responding to her. I lack the energy to do so...Especially after what I had to go through last night.
”You seem tired,” Muria mockingly. ”Stayed up too late?”
”Yeah,” I yawned and rested my head on my left hand, trying my best to stay upright.
”I don't think it's because you were studying.”
”You got that right.”
My voice reflected my fatigue and my posture demonstrated my drowsiness. Last night, I wasn't able to fall asleep until 3:00 AM. And since I had to get up at 7:30 AM to prepare for school, I only got like 4 hours and thirty minutes of sleep. This is all that stupid APP's fault.
Class began when the bell rang, signifying the start of a long day of school. The teacher entered the room through the sliding door and took role. From there began the long boring lessons on math.
That whole lesson, I wasn't able to take in much information. I was to busy fighting off my drowsiness to care about what formulas and theorems were used. In fact, I might've dozed off for a bit during the lesson, but it wasn't to the point that it would invigorate me. Rather, it gave me a sample of the comforts of sleep and made me yearn for it even more.
Maybe during lunch break I should take a quick nap...
Once the first three periods were over and it was one more hour until lunch, I sat in my seat during the ten minute break period. Other students mobilized and moved over to stand by their friends, chatting it up and causing a loud noise to exist in the class and made it impossible for me to doze off. So, bored and with nothing to do, I took out my phone and clicked on the Socialization APP.
I pulled up the Prize Shop and browsed it for prizes that I could possibly afford. It was a torture to get these 25 SP, so I might as well use them. So what do they have?
There's an option to convert SP to money, and it would appear that 1 SP is equal to 100 Vil, the currency we use in Vilheim. 100 Vil which doesn't seem much, but is a considerable amount of money. For example, commute train tickets are about 10 Vil, so 100 Vil is a decent amount for a high school student. Another example is that the Big Wac, a signature hamburger at the famous fast food chain WcBonalds is about 50 Vil.
In addition to redeeming it for money, items and abilities are also a choice. I clicked on the items section and browsed it, reading the descriptions and prices of each.
--
Cupids Arrow
Price: 1000 SP
Make that special someone fall for you.
--
”What the hell type of items are these?” I looked on in doubt that any of these would work.
Then, I browsed the abilities section, which is similar to the abilities menu in a video game. I could use SP to unlock certain skills and upgrade these skills by spending SP.
--
Math
Unlock Price: 50 SP
The numbers will no longer trouble you again.
--
How the hell is this suppose to work? I just click unlock and I automatically become good at math? Sounds absurd and it kinda is... But...if it's The True God, then I don't know. Besides, I don't even know if he is lying or not about these prizes.
I locked my phone and sighed at the fact that I can't afford any of these prizes other than converting SP to Vil.
I shouldn't just spend all of my SP. What if there comes an assignment that I can't complete? I don't want my SP balance to be negative. I should save them up.
Suddenly, a notification popped up on my phone, and of course, it is that Socialization APP once again. I sighed once again, and read the mission that is assigned to me.
”What is it this time?” I prayed in desperation.
--
Current Objective:
Hold Muria's hand for at least a minute.
Time Limit: 2 hr
Reward: 10 SP
--
You've gotta be kidding me...
My hands trembled in frustration as I read the objective to myself in my mind.
”You've gotta be fucking with me right now!”
Frustration made it so that I cried out to release the built up stress within me. However, this led to a weird gaze from my classmates that is directed at me to appear. I quickly noticed the situation and slumped lower down into my seat in order to eliminate my presence as much as possible so as to stop those piercing eyes from penetrating my soul.
”Should I do this?” I whispered to myself. ”It's only 5 SP so I can take the cut. But...it's not as absurd of a mission as the one last night and who knows when I would need SP...I should at least try.”
I looked over at the desk next to me and discovered that it was empty. I surveyed the classroom in search of Muria, but it would appear that she's not in class at the moment. Each second ticked by that she wasn't present made me more and more anxious since the countdown on my phone never stopped and continued to run.
Break ended when Muria stepped into the classroom, thus taking away my chances. I'll have to wait until lunch break to complete my task. That is my last chance within this time limit. Well...there goes my plans for a nap...
Lunch break finally came as the bell rang and notified all students of the end of the fourth period. People immediately got up from their seats, some moving closer to their friends in order to eat together, and others rushing to the student store to buy some food.
I've packed my own lunch so I wasn't part of the group that rushed to the student store, and I also don't have any friends that I would eat lunch with so I stayed put in my seat. Instead of eating my lunch, I stared at Muria, who unpacked her lunch on her desk.
The portions are quite small. Is she on a diet? She doesn't look overweight... Or is it that she naturally doesn't eat a lot? That's none of my business right now. My objective is to hold her hand for a minute. But how should I do this?