Chapter 21: An Unusual Encounter

Theo arrived to class earlier than usual.

In fact, to his surprise, the clock on the wall of the classroom indicated that he still had ten more minutes left before the period officially started. He furrowed his brows. He was confused for a moment, before he smacked his forehead with an open palm.

“The infirmary’s clock, it was early.” He concluded.

Theo let out a sigh. Dr. Howlett tricked him, but Theo didn’t know the reason why. Then again, judging by their brief interaction, that woman possessed a pretty playful personality. Messing around with students was probably the norm for her. He just wished it wasn’t with such petty methods.

He shook his head, before he walked over to his desk. The room was empty; now was as good of a time as any for Theo to relax and recover a portion of his strength.

In fact, recovering didn’t take all that long. Even after just a few minutes of walking, he was already feeling better. A bit of ruddiness returned to his skin, while his arms no longer trembled. Under the surface, he still felt weak and light-headed, but it was certainly an improvement from before. Breaking the first shackle had truly left him in a terrible state, akin to a newborn calf in the middle of a blizzard. The sooner he left such a state, the better.

Speaking of which, the first shackle. It signified the start of everything. Within the next few weeks, Theo planned to break three mind shackles. Three was the magic number. Once a person breaks through three of a certain source, they officially cross a threshold. Their bodies undergo a qualitative improvement. What’s more, in terms of breaking the mind shackle, Theo would also unlock the ability to sense the prana in the air.

In Mistelhan, such a thing was called essence awareness. Essence awareness wasn’t really all that special. A variation of it could be gained when one officially begins practicing Inner-circulation, but don’t let such a thing undermine its importance. It was still a momentous milestone, especially for Theo.

In a sense, essence awareness could be viewed as a special ability of sorts. There were other special abilities too, scattered amidst the road of severance. After the third heart shackle, one gains something similar to a regenerative healing factor, albeit much weaker. With it, you could theoretically recover from any injury, no matter how severe. At least, as long as you don’t die from it first. Even if you severed an arm, with the third heart shackle’s ability, then you would eventually grow it back, although it may take over five years to do so.

There were others too. All that stuff about sensing killing intent and premonitions to danger were special abilities gained after breaking through the sixth and ninth mind shackles respectively. Theo never experienced it himself, but he had heard stories of people that had.

As he was mulling over his future training, the door suddenly opened.

Bubbly laughter filled the air. He caught a faint whiff of perfume. It was a mix of lavender and honey. Theo’s nose wriggled. He instinctively turned his head. Standing in front of the doorway were a pair of familiar faces.

The gaudy-looking girls from last week. One had platinum hair that fell down all the way to her hips, while the other sported a golden tan.

Like last time, they were dressed in a very showy manner today as well.

The lady with the platinum hair wore an altered skirt that left almost nothing for the imagination. She had on an unbuttoned pink cardigan, while the dress shirt underneath was only halfway buttoned up, revealing a considerable portion of her milk-white chest.

As for the girl with the golden tan, she wore a plain white dress shirt. Like with her friend, her shirt was not completely buttoned up, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Her breasts were pressed against the fabric of her shirt, threatening to spill over. Out of all the girls that he had met on Plume, she probably had the largest chest. It took Theo’s full will just to force himself to look away.

He focused in on her face. She had clearly dyed blonde hair, of which was tied into a pair of pigtails that fell down all the way to her shoulder blades. Golden hoops dangled from her earlobes.

Beautiful. From the structure of their faces to the curves of their bodies, both of them were beautiful. Still, aside from the slight admiration in his heart, Theo didn’t feel much of anything. They had so much make-up covering their faces that it was almost off-putting. Others might find that sort of thing attractive, but Theo didn’t. They simply weren’t his type.

After a few seconds of staring, he quickly looked away. Theo turned towards the windows. The girls sat somewhere on the opposite side of the room, right beside the doorway. Even with the three of them alone in the classroom like this, Theo did not have any delusions of fateful encounters or whimsical scenarios.

He stared up at the clouds that floated amidst the pale blue background. Outside of the clouds that loomed just beyond the horizon, the skies were clear. Today was a peaceful day.

Theo wondered whether a quick five-minute nap before class was worth it, when he suddenly frowned. He heard two sets of footsteps click-clacking towards his direction. He slightly turned his head and shot a sidelong glance towards the source of the noise. To his surprise, the two girls were quickly making their way towards him.

Before he could react, they were already on top of him.

One of them, the one with the platinum hair, sat on his desk, while the other pulled a chair forward and sat right in front of him. They looked at Theo with glimmering eyes. He subconsciously shivered.

The gaze of a predator, ready and willing to pounce at any given moment… at least, that’s what it looked like to him.

Why are they here? Don’t tell me, I really did turn into someone popular after returning to Plume? Is it my springtime of youth? Am I about to lose my virginity?

A long silence filled the room. Neither party spoke. Theo was still reeling from his confusion, while the other two found it more entertaining to stare than actually do anything else.

After what felt like an eternity, a beautiful chorus of giggling filled his ears.

“Did you see his face? It looked so funny.” The platinum-haired girl laughed, one hand pressed against her red lips. He noticed the glitter and gloss on her fingernails.

“Hehe, he looks like a lost puppy.” The tanned girl added.

Theo did not respond to their words. Rather, his confusion only grew. He wasn’t very good at social situations. He couldn’t quite tell whether they were making fun of him or simply teasing him. Was there even a difference between the two?

What is this? Am I being bullied right now? I can’t tell if I’m being bullied right now.

Of course, even if they weren’t his type, Theo still held some expectation within his heart.

He had heard of the legends. Of spineless gopher-like teenagers being pushed around and bullied by beautiful mean-spirited female students. Of course, when he spoke of these legends, he was talking about the fake, fabricated stories that circulated the wild, wild internet. Even when faced with a situation where he was potentially being bullied by two beautiful girls, he still couldn’t quite decide whether what he was experiencing was real or just a giant misunderstanding.

After a while, their laughter stopped. They stared down at him with mischievous grins.

“So, what’s up Loverboy?” The platinum blonde suddenly asked.

“Loverboy?” Theo raised his brow in surprise. Who’s the Loverboy? Me?

The other girl giggled. “What else are we supposed to call you if not Loverboy? Mr. Boyfriend? Or would you prefer Husband?”

“Boyfriend? Husband? Whose?” Theo was utterly lost.

“You, of course, silly. You’re going out with that shy little squirrel after all.”

“Yup, yup. I’ve seen hundreds of lovestruck idiots before and going by the way she so passionately looks at you, I’d say that girl’s turned completely stupid for you.” The platinum-haired girl responded. “You guys are dating, aren’t you?”

At this point, it finally clicked. “You’re talking about Shirley, right?”

“Who else would we be talking about?” She rolled her eyes. “If it wasn’t for her, there’s no way we’d be talking to such a boring person like you.”

Hearing her words, Theo bitterly smiled. Still, an odd look flashed through his eyes. Me dating Shirley? Was that what it really looked like to outsiders?

“No, well, you’ve got one thing wrong.” Although he hesitated at first, in the end, he decided to come clean with it. “I’m not actually dating her. We’re just childhood friends.”

“Heh, childhood friends he says.” The platinum-haired girl narrowed her eyes. She nudged her friend in the shoulders. “Hear that Maddy? They’re apparently just friends.”

“Puh-lease! As if anyone would believe that.” The girl with the golden tan, the one that Theo just found out was named Maddy, rolled her eyes. She looked at Theo with a gaze full of despise. “If you want to keep your relationship a secret, then you two aren’t doing a very good job at it, especially not after that big incident last week.”

Theo felt helpless. He really was telling the truth. Shirley and him were just childhood friends. Taking the next step forward… he would be lying if he were to say he never thought about it, but for one reason or the another, he just didn’t.

Fear. A part of him was afraid. He didn’t know how Shirley herself felt about the whole situation. Did she even want him?

“If you two are really just childhood friends, then you need to hurry up.” The platinum-haired girl said. “If you’re not quick enough, then someone else might just gobble her up.”

“No, no, no, you’re wrong here Nica.” Maddy suddenly interjected. “It’s not this doofus that needs to hurry up, but rather that girl. You know what they say, right? Childhood friends never win.”

“Childhood friends never win? Where did you hear something like that from?” Nica raised her brow.

“Comics, girl.”

“You read that stuff?” A look of genuine surprise colored her face.

“Heh, it’s pretty interesting every now and then.”

“Then, do you have any recommendations?”

“Yeah, you can try Romeo Pastier for starters…”

For some reason, the two of them suddenly started a separate conversation without him. Theo stared blankly at the girls. The one with a golden tan, Maddy, was currently giving comic recommendations to her friend. The one with the platinum hair, Nica, enthusiastically nodded along.

In the midst of all this, Theo felt somewhat left out.

“Um… you guys…” His voice interrupted the two. Maddy was currently on her fifth recommendation, which involved a rather popular series about a group of cowboys currently searching the grand west for the mythical treasure of a certain king of the cowboys.

The two turned to him. Surprise colored their faces.

Nica laughed sheepishly. “Soz, soz, for a second there, I completely forgot about you.”

“Hehe, what were we talking about again?” Maddy scratched her head and giggled.

“Shirley. We were talking about Shirley.” Theo answered.

“Oh yeah, right. That girl. She needs to act soon before its too late.” Maddy said.

“Ah, but she’s not really the sort of person to take the initiative.” Nica sighed and shook her head. “And this blockhead doesn’t look very reliable either…”

“Ai! This couple’s totally hopeless!”

Although the topic was now back on track, that didn’t stop Theo’s perpetual confusion. In the first place, why were these two talking about Shirley? Were they her friends?

“Um, I’m sorry to ask this, but are you guys… are you guys Shirley’s friends?” Theo asked.

The two looked at one another for a moment, before they shook her head.

“Nope, we’re not friends,” Maddy said.

“In fact, we’re practically strangers.” Nica added.

“Then, why are you so interested in her?” Theo tilted his head. His confusion only grew deeper. He mulled it over for a moment, before a thought suddenly came to mind. He hesitated, before he warily asked, “You two aren’t bullying her or something, right?”

“Bullying?”

“Who, us?”

“Yeah.” Theo seriously nodded. If he really thought about it, it sort of made sense. Or rather, it was the only logical conclusion that Theo could come up with. After all, why would these two popular ladies suddenly show such keen interest in a nobody like Shirley?

Without warning, they suddenly burst into laughter. “Bully her? Please, only low-class woman would do something like that.” Nica commented with a look of despise scribbled on her face.

“Besides, what reason would there be for us to bully her?” Maddy asked as she twirled around one of the ends of her pigtails with her fingers. “It’s not like we look any worse than her.”

That Theo had to agree. Objectively speaking, he believed that the two in front of him rivaled Shirley in looks… Although in his heart, he did possess some bias towards his lovable childhood friend. Plus, he seriously considered their heavy makeup to be a demerit. They still looked beautiful, yes, but he couldn’t help but feel that with a subtler makeup, then they would look even more beautiful.

Now that he thought about it, what would their reason be for bullying her?

Most stories involving girl-on-girl bullying stemmed from the root cause of jealousy. Whether that was stealing each other’s boyfriends or simply being better looking than the rest, it all came back to jealousy. Of course, this was all from Theo’s perspective, who was arguably not the best source for worldly experience.

The two before him clearly weren’t jealous of Shirley… but if it wasn’t that, then why the hell were they so concerned about her?

Maddy answered the bubbling question in his heart. “Isn’t it only natural though? In this world, most people adore beautiful women. Even if they say that they don’t, between a beautiful person and an ugly person, the majority would pick the beautiful person. Even things like personality is measured by the standards of beauty. In this world, people glorify the beautiful.

“That girl’s disguise is pretty good. Most people wouldn’t be able to see through it. Luckily, we aren’t most people.” She cheekily smiled.

“Disguise…” Calling Shirley’s usual appearance a disguise was a bit of a stretch, but Theo could see how someone might think that.

It wasn’t as if Shirley purposely hid herself, but her appearance did give off that sort of impression. Hair that covered the majority of her face, no makeup, wide-rimmed glasses, and a sweater designed to cover as much skin as humanly possible… If Theo hadn’t known Shirley personally, then he too would have probably come to the same conclusion as these two.

“Shirley Polaris is a beautiful girl,” Nica interjected his thoughts. “Someone like that is worthy to hang out with the two of us.”

“To hang out with you?” Theo subconsciously repeated.

“That’s right. It’s only natural. Beautiful people should stick with beautiful people. You wouldn’t want to plant weeds in a flower garden now, would you?” Maddy spoke with an unhesitant and completely straight expression.

“So, all of this… all of this was just some sort of friend-seeking endeavor?”

“Well, I guess you could call it that.”

“It’s true that we’ve been trying to get along with her for quite some time now,” Nica said. “but we haven’t been very successful though.” She sighed with genuine dejection.

“And that’s when you came along.” Maddy stared at Theo with a look of interest. “Some random guy from who knows where, but it just so happens that he’s the only one capable of breaking through that pesky little bubble of hers.”

“When we saw you here today, all alone, we couldn’t help ourselves.”

“You couldn’t help yourselves?” Theo skeptically raised his brow.

“We were wondering, how is a guy like you able to become friends with a girl like her?”

“Ah, but it sucks.” Nica shook her head. “To think that the answer was so boring.”

“In the end, I should’ve guessed it was something like a childhood friend.” Maddy also shook her head. “Why else would such a boring looking guy be her friend?”

Theo sat back and watched their animated words and flamboyant gestures.

The two before him were a couple of vain and narcissistic people. That much he understood. Usually, most people would hate to be around such a person, but strangely enough, Theo didn’t really dislike them. They were so open about their arrogance and vanity, that it was almost refreshing. Their boldness added a whole new twist to everything. Maybe that was the sort of ‘beauty’ that they had talked about earlier; an invisible charm, one that no matter how much you know is wrong, you still couldn’t help but be attracted to.

Just as they were about to speak, the two suddenly turned towards the door. After half a second’s pause, they turned back around.

Nica smiled, “Well, I guess it’s about time.” She suddenly stood up.

Maddy followed suit. She waved nonchalantly at Theo. “Talk to ya later Loverboy.”

“You guys are going? Just like that?” He felt as if their departure was too abrupt. They had only just gotten into the meat of the conversation. Plus, he did somewhat enjoy conversing with a pair of beauties, even if said conversation was more or less one-sided.

Maddy nodded her head. “We don’t really want to be seen talking to someone like you.”

“Soz, Loverboy. Don’t take it to heart.” Nica added. “We don’t hate you or anything, but you really don’t qualify to be out in public with us.”

“What are you—”

Just then, the door suddenly opened. A student walked in. Even though he knew beforehand, Theo’s attention still momentarily shifted towards the newcomer. By the time he turned back to the girls, they were already walking away.

Theo watched them leave. He scratched his head in confusion. The whole exchange, it had felt completely surreal. Even now, he was still reeling.

A few minutes later, the bell rang.

To the surprise of many, Shirley actually arrived on time today.