I didn’t like “offensive spells” too much. It’s not like I hated it or anything. It wasn’t even the most disliked class for me, but I still didn’t like it that much. It was a rather unpredictable lesson, where sometimes you would just listen to the lecture for a long time, and sometimes the teacher would have a great idea to show off his skills, and he would start casting spells.

I didn’t like this unpredictability, so I didn’t like this class.

“Okay… Are you all seated?” an old man said moments after we entered the class.

Professor Arras - a rather peculiar teacher that wore a brown suit, and came to every class with a big bag. It was like he needed to be ready for anything, but that was his charm. His face looked old, but he was still handsome even with his wrinkles and white hair. That was probably because of his sharp, black eyes, that felt like they could see through you.

“Yes Sir.” some of the students said, and he looked at us with a smile. After that he quietly approached a small desk that was on the front of the class. There he put his bag, and after that he sat on the chair near it.

“Let me take the attendance then.” he then said, and opened a small book that he brought with him, and started reading the names of the students.

As he was doing that; I looked around the room. I was seated in the left, down corner of the classroom near a window. From there I could see everything that was happening around me, and this old looking place. The walls that were covered with damaged paintings of well known wizards in the field of offensive spells, and green walls that made the room look a little obscure… Everything seemed to be affected by the passage of time, including a gigantic blackboard that was behind the teacher.

“Anna Egerbell.”

“Present!”

“Ethan Estnell.”

“Present!”

As more of the names were read, I looked at the empty chair before me. A chair that was normally taken by a boy that now had a special “date” with someone. It’s not like he had too much time, because this lesson was normally taken by small groups of students. There were more or less than thirty people in the class right now, and his name was going to be read in a moment.

“Matthew Smith.” the professor said, and I looked at the desk where he was sitting.

“Present.” I said, and he nodded while looking at the next name.

“Ryan Stoneville.” a short silence occurred after the words of the teacher, and some of the students started looking at the chair before me “Is Ryan Stoneville present?”

Was it worth it Ryan? Those words suddenly appeared in my mind, as I thought about my friend that was now absent. Of course, I didn’t feel bad about him that much, mostly because he was so smug in the morning.

“Professor Arras, I think that Ryan isn’t here…” a loud noise came from the door, as one of the students was talking. There, my friend was standing while panting heavily. After that he looked at the teacher, and smiled a little.

“Ryan S-Stoneville is present.” he then said, while still trying to catch some air. Was it just a dumb luck that he came and said those words, when professor Arras was looking for him?

Was it even going to work? I thought to myself, and looked at the teacher. His expression didn’t change much, and he gazed at the book that he was holding.

“Okay, you can sit.” he then said, and Ryan sighed loudly making some of the students laugh. A quick stare from the professor calmed them down, as Ryan approached his desk.

“I thought I’m done.” he then said, while still trying to catch some air.

I could understand his nervousness. You need to have a perfect attendance on some of the classes to even think about passing them, which made appearing in class that much useful. Offensive spells wasn’t one of them, but the teacher always looks different at a student that always comes to their class.

And borrowing the notes from others is rather tiresome.

“How was your date?” I asked quietly when he sat down, and then he looked back at me nervously.

“I told you to keep it a secret.”

“I’m being quiet. Your weird behaviour is more suspicious.” as I said this, he seemed to think about something and then looked down.

“It was nice.”

Oh? What is it Ryan? Are you that embarrassed by it?

“If it was nice then it’s ok.” I responded to his words, and he looked at me weirdly.

I didn’t know much about romantic stuff, but I wanted to understand him better. It’s not like I was that interested in it or anything; I just was grateful to him. If I were to describe it, then I was like a father that didn’t want her daughter to be taken by some weird man.

Now that I think about it, it sounds weird.

I looked around once again, and I noticed a girl that was looking at me from time to time with her big, blue eyes. Black haired girl that for some reason seemed to be interested in me. Should I do something about it?

“Hey, look… The class rep is looking at you…” Ryan said quietly, and smiled a little “Maybe it is the start of your youthful adventure?”

“Or maybe she doesn’t like people talking in class?”

“Yeah, that is probably the case.”

I didn’t think that it was the case, but I knew that Ryan would just make fun of me if I told him that she also looked at me before. It’s not like it mattered, or rather I thought it didn’t.

“Okay, it seems that everyone is present. Now, I hope you remembered that you had to bring a homework for today.” professor Arras said after taking attendance, and smiled mischievously.

Well, I brought my homework so I didn’t really…

“Shit.” a quiet voice said before me, and it belonged to no one else than Ryan.

This was to be expected.