NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 21: Free lunch!
Math is and always will be a shitty class.
Yes, it's useful in the beginning, but when the additions and subtractions become a jumble of letters and numbers with graphs thrown in, everything goes to hell. It's not that I don't understand it; I do, but I don't see it as useful unless you're some kind of genius who wants to work as an engineer or something similar, so it's of little use to me.
However, I was thankful that this shitty subject was as shitty as I remembered it, and not something new, as due to my paranoid mind, I had thought of the worst case scenario. What if the math was reversed, and subtraction became addition and vice versa? Now that would definitely be something I would categorize as double shit.
But just when I was prepared for the worst, again, my now self-proclaimed wife, Lady Luck, rewarded me with normalcy. For which I was deeply grateful.
And, having forgotten the worst-case scenario, I found myself happily jotting down the problem written on the teacher's magic blackboard in my notebook. It had been a while since I had studied math, but I wasn't as stunted as I thought I was. I could tell it was solved with a graph and linear equations at a glance.
However, it was going to take me a while to figure it out. To my good fortune it was an exercise that could be done at home, otherwise I would be in trouble.
I looked around to see if my knowledge was above or below average. Peyton, to my right, was frowning but furiously writing and erasing from his notebook, so he was at least trying. Kevin was doing the same thing next to him, but at a much slower pace, so I assumed the three of us were on the same level.
On second thought, that was quite depressing. I had more experience than they did, so I would have expected to be at the top of the class, but here I was, average. Much less than one would expect from a transmigrator.
The remote possibility of having a golden finger had long since vanished, if it ever existed at all. However, I avoided falling into the downward spiral of self-justification and blaming external factors, and this time I discovered a simple solution. Be better.
If I wanted to make my family proud, I should strive to be one of the top students. I decided to go for it because I had no other goals other than finding a part-time job at the moment. And I must admit that having a goal made me feel a little childishly motivated. Something I must say hasn't happened in a long time.
Anyway, I decided to keep an eye on the others to get a better idea of my abilities. Some of the girls in the classroom were chatting among themselves, while others were writing in their notebooks. The boys were speaking less, and I noticed that they seemed more focused. However, when I looked in a certain direction, I frowned slightly at one girl; Sage wasn't holding her notebook, but was still reading a book.
Not interested in the class? I didn't particularly care, everyone was free to do what they wanted, but she certainly hadn't given me the impression that she was a lazy person. Maybe I just fell for the stereotypes again?
As I was thinking about that the bell rang, and it was time to switch to another class; geography.
(***)
"Remember to finish pages 45 and 50 of your book by monday. That's all."
The geography teacher, a short, gray-haired woman with glasses, dismissed us with a shrill voice and walked slowly, almost boredly, toward the exit. The bell had already gone off.
I could hear Peyton's tired groan as he leaned back and stretched his arms above his head, his shirt slightly riding up, attracting the attention of some of the girls around us. However, their attention was quickly drawn away when Kevin shot them a menacing glare, warning them not to look at his friend.
Peyton turned to face me, seemingly uninterested in what had enraged the poor precocious girls. "Alex, should we go to the cafeteria?" he asked, smiling.
I considered skipping lunch because I still had research to do, but my stomach growled just as I was about to respond.
Kevin and Peyton shared a chuckle, their hands covering their mouths, as they watched me with amusement. It was clear that they had noticed the rumble of my stomach, and Kevin's eyes sparkled with amusement as he teased me, "I guess that's a yes."
"Yes..." I said, somewhat embarrassed, having a growling stomach was always an embarrassing thing. However, I also remembered something important now on the subject of lunch. "But I didn't bring any money today."
I hadn't even found this guy's wallet.
That sucked, I was really hungry. All this stress burned up all the calories I had in store.
However, Kevin and Peyton looked at me quizzically at my statement. "What do you need money for?" The first asked.
Huh... I couldn't help but think I had made a mistake, but at this point I had no choice but to move on. "To buy lunch?"
Peyton leaned in, his gaze fixed on mine, his breath warm against my cheek. "Are you sure you're better?" he asked, his face concerned. He reached out and touched my brow, checking my temperature. "Did you forget that food is free at school?" he asked, a chuckle in his voice.
"Free?" I asked stupidly.
Kevin nodded. "Yes, Mrs.Lupinus subsidizes most of the human state schools." He turned his gaze to Peyton. "He has a fever?"
Peyton shook his head, finally removing his hand from my forehead. "No." He said.
Before they could draw any more conclusions I explained myself. "Ah, sorry, I was a little distracted, the medicine is still getting to me."
What a shit excuse.
"Really?" They both asked.
"Yes, really." I said, then, looked around, seeing how the room was almost empty. "We'd better get going, it's getting late." And with that, I got up from my seat. Before any of them asked any more questions.
As Kevin and Peyton approached, the sound of their footfall resonated down the corridor, grabbing the attention of every student. They approached me with a provocative half-smile, their confident steps a stark contrast to my own cautious stride. I could feel the weight of everyone's gaze on me as we walked together, both male and female. The boy's gaze were irritated, their postures stiff and unwelcoming, whilst the girl's emotions were full of want, their eyes following our every move.
I found myself surprised when I knew the difference between an annoyed look and a look of desire. I'd never been the target of a desire to stare before, but it was surprisingly easy to recognize. Perhaps the determining factor is that I now have a little more courage to look people in the eye or maybe it's my masculine sense of this world acting up for me.
Anyway, the cafeteria was a familiar area, so turning down the aisles in the direction of it wasn't too difficult, and we arrived quite fast.
The bustle in the cafeteria was to be expected, however, what I didn't expect was the magnificent smell coming from the school kitchen. After walking through the open door, my mouth immediately watered. Is there some kind of food event or something? Why did it smell so good?
Walking there, I turned to the left to see what they were eating; at one table, a small group of friends were laughing and being loud, as most cafeteria meals are, and eating what appeared to be... lasagna?
My mouth was watering, and Peyton chuckled beneath his breath as if he sensed. "Good for you, lasagna Friday." Kevin chuckled in the background as Peyton spoke.
It was good to hear that Lasagna was still my favorite food in this world, but Peyton had mentioned it was free? Was something like that free? It smelled like a restaurant dish, and I could tell the lasagna was delicius from here... and when the person who was blissfully eating his lunch gave me a perplexed and slightly scared expression, I instantly stopped glancing at his food. My god, the hunger was getting to me.
Still, that meal was a stark contrast from the cafeteria food I remembered. My day was getting better and better, I wouldn't be surprised if a suitcase with money showed up in my bed tonight.
"I'll go find a table, I'm not that hungry anyway." Kevin said.
"Okay." Agreed Peyton and with my nod Kevin walked over to the many tables looking for a place to sit.
Peyton just smiled and went to line up to get his food. He didn't understand why Kevin didn't want to eat lasagna, but he wasn't going to judge, it was his loss.
Anyway, I walked over to one of the rows where the food was being served with high anticipation. Peyton was right in front of me.
"I still don't understand how you make it so that every Friday lasagna wins." Peyton said, speaking over his shoulder. "People don't even call it election Friday anymore now they practically call it lasagna Friday” He reported with amusement.
I stepped forward as the line moved and grabbed a plate and tray as I passed the designated spot. "Oh, well, I don't know either." I said, giving a somewhat nervous laugh.
"You've got practically every girl drooling over you, maybe that's why." Peyton said, giving me an amused look.
"Huh.. Well-" I was about to respond when I felt something.
I frowned and looked behind me, and a girl with black hair and a rather... curious face smiled at me with a slight crooked smile. I looked down and exactly what I thought, her hand was on my butt.
Ah, my first harassment at school, good for me.
