Gaby was having such a strange week.

At first, it seemed like the school year was going to be just like all others. Everyone looking at her and deciding that they couldn't stand her presence even though more than half of her class barely exchanged more than two words with her.

Of course, this was nothing new.

Ever since she managed to master her talent, other kids would keep treating her like a show-off who thought she was better than the rest of them, even if Gaby herself never did anything to indicate she felt that way.

All she ever wanted was to polish her abilities, and she had a good reason for that. But of course, nobody ever asked her what it was.

They just assumed she was born good at it without thinking about how much hard work she put in to develop her power to this extent.

"You're a natural, Gaby!"

"It's amazing how good you are at this kind of thing!! Your parents must have been very strong!"

"I wish I had a talent that good! Mine sucks a lot! You're so lucky!"

This is what she would usually hear.

She was lucky, she had a good talent, she must have had good parents, she was just great at it.

Nobody ever looked at her. Nobody ever considered the amount of effort she went through to reach this level of skill.

If people ever tried to talk to her, it was either to remind her of how much she was lucky to have that power, or to complain about something she did not do.

"You're only number one because of your power!! Don't get too ahead of yourself!"

"Hey, Gaby, there is this really annoying kid that has been bothering me for a while now, wanna scare him off for me?"

"You wanna hang out with us? We can use your talent to play a prank on some of the teachers!"

"Sorry... I'm afraid of getting too close to you and getting shocked... I rather be by myself..."

The words of the other children only reminded that nobody was looking at her, they were only looking at what she had.

None asked what she felt, what she wanted, what she was thinking. They would just show up, shove the way they viewed her on her face, and then leave when she didn't react as they expected.

It reached a point where Gaby had just given up. If everyone wanted to treat her like a jerk, then why not act like a jerk?

After a certain point, Gaby just stopped caring about what others thought, since none of them ever cared about what she thought as well.

She would ignore people, act rude towards them, insult them to their face, and should they pick a fight for one reason or another, zap them with the talent that had now pretty much become her entire image.

A girl with an intense glare covered in lightning, as if to tell everyone around her to stay away if they didn't want to get hurt.

That is... Until someone who didn't seem to care about getting hurt appeared.

"Uuhhh... Hello...?" the boy spoke. He was a newcomer in the school, a strange lad with red hair, a bright face, and carrying some unknown creature with him.

"You're in my seat!"

That was how their first interaction took place.

Gaby almost contemplated the idea of trying to be nice to someone for once, but she knew it would be only a matter of time before he found out about what kind of person she was and decided to abandon her as well.

But strangely enough, the boy just kept coming back to her.

Even though she tried to push him away, not too long after that, he appeared one more time, this time seeking help from her.

"Can you do me a little favor?"

"What?" Gaby replied, ready to hear another person going on and on about her stupid talent and also ready to tell him to get lost.

"Can you let me copy your notes after class?"

"Why would I waste my time doing that?" Gaby responded with an infuriated tone, even though the lad did nothing to upset her.

She was so ready to pick a fight with someone that she already had put herself in a battle mode, to a point that it was only much later after turning him down that she realized that the kid was asking for something from her, and not just looking at her talent.

She almost felt bad for him, wondering if she had just missed the chance to make a real friend for the first time in years.

But her feelings soon changed once she saw the kid walking out of the class surrounded by a group of boys.

Jealousy took over her. It was his first day at school and he already had more friends than her. Her guilt and regret quickly disappeared and instead were replaced by bitterness.

In the end, she was just destined to stay alone as she assumed.

Or so she believed, until the boy showed up again, this time with an intense glare on his face.

"I want my seat back!"

Just seeing his face managed to set her off. She assumed that after making new friends he was now feeling a little braver and wanted to join the rest of the kids that had a problem with her for no reason, "Good for you! Now tell that to someone who cares!"

Gaby and the kid were finally in the same place as the rest of the class. She knew it was only a matter of time, but even for her, that was faster than expected.

The red-haired boy, who for some reason would often mumble strange things to himself out of nowhere, finally declared that he did not want to be on her side as well by challenging her to a duel during the combat lesson.

His reasoning? Apparently, Gaby was a bully that needed to be taught a lesson.

Hearing that logic almost made her burst into laughter. She was the one being rejected by the class and yet she was the bad guy? The last thing she needed was some random kid she never met before coming to her face and spouting nonsense as if he knew anything.

Naturally, Gaby took this chance to completely trash him during combat, but she still felt like he believed in his ideology.

Something about how he acted, how he spoke, how he treated her, it wasn't like the others.

He wasn't being petty or jealous, he was honestly acting as if she was the one in the wrong, unlike the others who knew they were in the wrong but blamed her anyway.

For some reason, that was even more hurtful. To meet someone who really felt she deserved to be punished.

Gaby never cared about the other kids, but she could not bear to let this one think like this as well. If she was to be hated, she wanted to be hated for what she was, not for what people assumed of her.

Stupid people hating her because they're jealous of her? That's fine.

Stupid people hating on her because they think she's an evil person? She couldn't stand that.

And at that moment, in front of his honesty, Gaby just felt this urge to be honest herself, to finally leave out after years of bottled-up emotions, to say how she truly felt, because she met the one kid that pushed her to the limit.

And to her shock, despite thinking that was going to be the end of that story, the kid just kept coming back.

He was there waiting to talk to her once school was done, saying some gibberish about wanting to start over and wanting to apologize.

Not that she believed of course. Many kids had come back running trying to say 'I'm sorry...' after Gaby showed them her superiority.

But somehow, this time felt different.

Just like before, compared to the words of others, his words felt honest, as if he wasn't trying to gain her favor, or her seat, or because of her power. It was as if he just felt bad for hurting her and wanted to make things right.

She almost wanted to forgive him, but there were too many years of lies and trickery blinding her to his gesture.

'He will betray me as well! He will abandon me as well! He will turn his back on me as well! He's just like the others! Just like the others! Just like the others! Just like the others! Just like the others! Just like the others! Just like the othe-'

The words kept repeating inside her mind.

Don't let him get too close. Don't open your heart. You will only disappoint yourself.

Gaby was too afraid of feeling hope, only to get it taken away from her again. The pain of loneliness was better than the pain of betrayal.

But even after all that, what was stranger was that she wasn't lonely at all.

The boy kept following her around, trying to apologize again, trying to talk to her, trying to defend her from Saramin and her friends.

Why wouldn't this weird boy go away? The class was already against her and they were even finally starting to fight back. There was no reason to try and trick her by this point.

But he just would not give up.

Gaby finally decided to draw a line on the sand to make it clear she wanted nothing to do with him by joining his three-on-three fight versus Saramin's group and just leaving them to fight on their own in order to not let Sara memorize her power.

And yet, looking at him working together with his chubby friend as they faced Wesley and Ron, Gaby couldn't help but think what it would be like if she was there as well...

What if all three of them could just fight together, get hut together, win or lose together...

They kept acting recklessly, taking risks, and getting injured while fighting.

So many times the boy with red hair would get an injury, but he would just heal up and try again later.

Why was him, who kept getting hurt all the time, looking so happy, while Gaby, who was safe and sound away from danger looking so sad?

Could it be?

Could it be that it was worth getting hurt? It was worth taking the risk?

The boy came running towards her.

Once again, she was stuck in her own world, away from everyone, and he would show up out of nowhere and bring nothing but trouble with him.

"How about you? Are you a fun person?"

She could just leave. She could just step out of the arena and surrender right there and now. It would save so much trouble, so much effort, and time.

But yet, she didn't.

"I hate you... So much..." she replied.

"Really? I couldn't tell..."

The boy laughed at her. His bright smiling face. Looking at her. He wasn't looking at what people assumed of her, or what hr power was, or anything like that... He was actually honestly looking at the girl in front of him.

"You better move..." she mumbled, finally deciding to play his game.

She entered the fight, and just like she imagined a fight against Saramin would be like after she had memorized five powers at once, it was a living hell.

But Gaby did not care. Even if they were getting completely trashed by that white-haired girl, that was the most fun she had in a long time.

Even if she was covered in wounds, even if pieces of her hair were falling out, even if her clothes were a mess and all the kids watching were rooting against her... She still had someone by her side during all this.

Gaby had forgotten that she was even able to feel this way. The boy's honesty and stubbornness had finally pierced through the wall she had created and reached her.

"Why her and not any other of us?? Just why are you doing all this??"

And, just as all her emotions were finally turning crystal clear after being in such a confused state for so long...

"I just like her!"

"What...?"

"I. Like. Her!"

The red-haired boy throws this curveball at her and turns all her emotions into a jumbled mess once again.