Today will be the day that decides the fate of Mia’s gaming club.

There’s still about an hour left before I should meet her at the temporary club room. It’s a good that I can get that hour as it fits into my current plan.

Cain has been waiting for a few days now to deal with Michael. I think I’ve finally found my chance.

Michael’s usual group have become a little bit distant. Apparently, he had a fight with one of the boys in his group. A lot of gossip have been going around on why that fight happened.

As I’m sitting inside one of the toilet stalls, luck has brought two of Michaels’ affiliates to this restroom. I quietly listen in on their conversation.

“Hey, Marco. Are you really doing it?”, one of the boys says.

“Hell yeah I am. I’m not waiting any longer and I don’t want to have any regrets. I’m just going to do it.”, Marco, I assume, replies.

“I, one-hundred percent, am with you, man. Michael is such a douchebag. I’ve started to really hate him. It’s like he thinks he’s at the center of everything!”, the first boy exclaims.

After mutually agreeing in their dislike for Michael, the first boy asks Marco,

“So, how are you gonna do it? I hope you’re not doing it through a text message.”

“Haha, no. That’d be so lame. I’m not telling you, though.”

“What? Why?”

“’Cus. It’s embarrassing.”

I hear the rustle of clothes and backpacks.

“You’re embarrassed? Ha, that’s hilarious! C’mere, tell me.”

“Haha, cut that out. I’m not telling!”

“Come on man, I’ve known you since elementary school!”

The rustling stops and I hear a sigh.

“Alright, alright. If you really don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. Whatever the case may be, just let me know if you need any help!”

“Thanks, Jay. I mean it. Augh, now I feel like showing you!”

“Woah, show me? You mean it’s ready to go right now?”

“Yeah, kinda. Here.”

I hear a backpack opening and something with a peculiar sound came out.

“Oh, shit! That’s so old school! You seriously going to use a written love letter?”

“You’ve known her for as long as I have. I’m sure she’ll like this.”

“Hmm. I guess doing something this classic would be popular with the chicks. Not bad, Marco.”

“I guess.”

The peculiar sound, which has now been identified as the sound of paper, returns followed by the zipper of the backpack.

“When are you giving it to her?”

“I was going to do it today… but…”

“Stop right there, Marco! What you’re doing right now is thinking about it. You just said so yourself, right? You weren’t going to wait any longer. Thinking about it is just gonna make you scared and stuff. So, stop thinking and just do it!”

“But, I…”

“No! The time is right now!”

Rustling and stomping echoes inside the restroom.

“Okay! I get it! I can walk by myself, no need to push me.”

“We’re gonna get you laid tonight, bro!”

The voices and footsteps left the restroom and fade into the hallway. This is the perfect chance to get information on how to deal with Michael. I discretely follow them.

---

After carefully planting the love letter in one of the backpacks in their classroom, the two boys quickly left before Michael or the two girls returned from their scheduled restroom break. Do they always go check the mirror after class?

Marco’s friend gave him a ‘good luck and tell me after’ and separated from him. Right now, I’m hiding behind a bush in the school courtyard. We didn’t stray too far from the main entrance but we’re well away from prying eyes.

Marco is several feet in front of me, waiting anxiously in the shadow of the school’s building. It’s been about five minutes, but it probably feels like forever for this boy.

I spot a female student approaching before Marco. She’s one of the girls that was with Michael when I was looking for the backpack. I can’t be bothered to remember her name.

“Hi, Marco. I, uh, got your letter…”

“Hey, Lynn! I’m glad to see you.”

“Yeah…”

They both visibly blushed. The silence between them grew a little too long. The girl speaks to break the silence,

“So, what did-”

“Please, go out with me!”, Marco suddenly exclaims.

“Woah, he actually did it!”, I heard a soft voice to my right.

“WH-“, I shout.

I clasped my hands over my mouth and look over to Marco and Lynn. Marco is now talking about being childhood friends or something. Looks like I was able to suppress my surprise. I hide back into the cover of the bush and look at my unexpected companion.

“Mia!? What are you doing here?”, I whisper.

“What are you talking about? I’ve been following you all this time.”, she whispers in return.

“Since when?”

“Well, I called out your name in the hallway but you didn’t hear me. It looked like you were following that guy, so then I decided to come with you.”

I can’t believe I hadn’t noticed her. I’ve truly gotten weak. No, it’s not that. I’m not weak. It’s just that this girl is an anomaly. Is she hiding some secret ability? Her thought patterns and her actions are both unpredictable.

“I’m in the middle of, uh, something. Could you go wait in your club room or something?”

“I can’t leave now! Things are getting steamy!”, she says as she pops her head out from the bushes.

I look out from the bushes as well.

“Hey, Kastille. Why are you hiding? Is it because that guy is your rival? I didn’t expect to come across a love triangle!”, she whispers as we keep our eyes on the event in front of us.

“No, that’s not it.”

“Wait. Is it the guy then!? I didn’t know you are gay!”, she gasps.

“What? No! I don’t- argh… Listen: I’m not involved in some stupid love triangle and I’m not homosexual. I’m just here to… help a friend. Yeah, that guy there? He’s Marco. I’m just here in case he needs help.”

“Oh, I see.”

Does she really? I turn to look at her to see any facial clues, but she seems to be focused at the lovey-dovey duo. And she’s close. Too close. We’ve been trying to look through the same vantage point in the bushes so we ended up pressing into each other. I move away, but now it’s difficult to see without risking my position.

Oh? There’s a spot under the bush.

I push my head flat on the grass and look through a small clearing at the bottom of the bush.

“Marco… I’m really happy. But… could you give me some time to think about it?”, Lynn says as she looks down with a red face.

“Please, take all the time you need! Whenever you feel ready, Lynn.”

“Thank you, Marco. I’ll tell you tomorrow. Promise!”

They said their goodbyes and Lynn left. Marco stayed behind for a minute to calm his nerves and then left.

I sit back from the bush. I sincerely hope all this trouble was worth the information I got. I’ll have to think of a way to use this to my advantage.

“Hey, Kastille?”

“Yeah?”, I turn my head to reply.

Mia put her hand on my head and retracted it soon after.

“There was a leaf in your hair.”, she says as she threw the leaf away.

“Thanks. By the way, did you need something from me when you called out to me?”

“Oh, right! I saw you and I thought I could ask if you wanted to walk with me to the club room before it starts. Ah!”

She took on a face of shock and quickly took out her phone to look at it.

“Oh, my gosh! We gotta run!”

---

I didn’t want to run. ‘We have enough time to get there. No need to get impatient.’ I would say. Mia kept rushing me, though.

Even though we arrived at the club room with plenty of time to spare, there was nobody to be seen.

Mia and I are now sitting inside the classroom. She’s sitting in the middle front of the rows of desks. I sit in the corner desk closest to the door.

Six minutes had already passed since the time to start the club. Still nobody to be seen.

“I don’t think anyone’s coming, Mia.”, I pipe up to break the silence.

“It’s only been a few minutes! Please, let’s wait a little bit longer.”, she says unwaveringly.

“How long are you going to wait?”

“As long as I need to! Wait, are you not waiting with me?”

“I don’t want to be waiting here for nobody to show up. In fact, I think I’ll leave right now…”

“No, wait!”, she exclaims, “can you wait just a few more minutes? Half an hour and I promise I’ll let you go then.”

“Argh, alright.”, I say dejectedly.

Stella would give me an earful if I just abandon her right now anyway.

Mia gets up from her desk and runs over to the one next to mine. She pulls the chair from there to the side of my desk and takes a seat.

“Let’s talk to pass the time!”

“So be it, then. What do you want to talk about?”, I sigh.

“What kind of games do you like to play?”

“Nothing other than chess, really.”

“No video games?”

“I have a game on my phone. I play it sometimes.”

“That doesn’t count as a video game! Seriously though, nothing?”

“I don’t play video games.”

“Why not?”

“Never really needed to. I read most of the time.”

“Oh? What do you read?”

“All sorts of subjects. What about you?”

“Eheheh… I don’t really read that much…”

“Right…”

Mia leans forward with her elbows on the desk and supports her head with her hands.

I lean further back into my chair.

“Why do you like reading?”, she asks.

“Why? Well, it’s not that I like reading. I don’t really have any like or dislike about it. It’s just something I’ve always done.”

“Since you were a kid?”

“Yes. Though, the only books I could really read were my father’s at that time.”

“Your ‘failure’ of a dad.”

“I suppose he didn’t fail that much.”

Without my father and his books, would I be where I am today? Would I be the same person as I am now?

“What about your parents? You used the same word for them, too.”, I ask in return.

“Ah… well. I’ll only tell you if you tell me something else about you.”

“Ok.”

“…”

“…”

“You’re not interested!?”, she cries.

“No. Should I be?”

“Kastille! Oh, fine!”, she puffs out her cheeks in frustration.

“I'll start, then... My dad is… was a popular vocalist for a band. His band got one hit song but got into some rough days. He couldn’t really get another good song out and his band broke up. My mom was one of the groupies that followed my dad’s band around before that happened. You can probably guess how I was born. They never really married, though. My mom is working as a computer technician and she’s taking college classes to get a better paying role. So, she’s not home most of the time. My dad… I don’t know what he is doing, but my mom said he’s still paying for the child support.”, she says after calming her face down to normal.

“Your turn.”, she gestures.

Well, it’s only fair to pay what is owed.

I tell her about how my father became a small-time entrepreneur, investing his hard-earned money on start-ups. My family could live comfortably then. My mother didn’t have to work, and my sister and I didn’t have to worry about our daily needs. We were not incredibly rich by any means, but we didn’t have to worry about money.

That is, until my father tried to go big. He became too ambitious. He flew too close to the sun and fell into debt. Missing the right targets and hitting the bad ones. After declaring bankruptcy, followed by the divorce, he left somewhere. The last I heard was that he got a job at one of the companies he helped start up.

My mother was a pharmacist, but her degree quickly became obsolete as automation for that field were better and cheaper than a human could ever be. By the time my father became bankrupt, no pharmacies needed pharmacists anymore. Now she’s working as a front desk clerk by day and a waitress by night.

“Wow, we’re really not that different…”, Mia said.

“Maybe.”, I reply.

Before she could get anything else to say, there was a knock on the door.

“Hey, sorry I’m late. Is the club still happening here?”

Mia stands up forcefully from her chair, knocking it over.

“Todd! Oh my gosh, you came!”, she exclaims as she runs over to him.

“I thought you couldn’t?”

“We couldn’t. We got tired so we decided to take a break. Then, the president remembered about the gaming club yesterday and now we’re here.”, he shrugs.

“We?”, Mia says as she looks behind him.

Sure enough, the carpentry club is following right behind Todd.

Mia is now positively beaming.

“Please, come in! I put all the games in categories at the back. There’s board games, card games, and other stuff! I wasn’t able to get video games in here since it’s a temporary club room, but I promise we’ll get them!”, she gleefully told the group.

They sit themselves down in various arrangements and started doing their own thing.

Several minutes later, more groups came down into the room. It’s getting packed in here…

Many of these groups seem to be from the people who we talked with yesterday. It looks like they all had the same idea and decided to take a break from their work here.

Well, they all had the same idea since I gave it to them. A very available excuse to take a break is right here in the same building. Heck, even the passing students became interested in the increasing crowd and joined in as well.

Looks like my job here is finished. I left the room as another group was entering.

---

I’m glad that’s over with. Now, I must go to Stella and tell her it’s finished.

However, before I could open the door to the student council room, someone called out my name.

“Kastille!”, Mia shouted from down the hallway.

I stand where I am for a few seconds until Mia arrives.

“Hah…. ah…. phew…. Kastille! Why did you leave without saying anything?”, she pants.

“Looked like everything was doing fine. The club is getting members. What else is there to do?”, I answer.

“You could stay. Why not join the club, too?”

“Sorry, I’ll be busy with my student council duties. I wouldn’t have the time.”

“Isn’t that what they all said?”, she remarks.

“Very true…”, I agree.

“Arghh… alright, it’s ok! Exams are coming up and you’ll be busy with the student council. I understand.”, she says with resolve.

Then, she smiles. This isn’t like the previous smiles she has shown. I can tell it’s genuinely from the bottom of her heart. A very warm and calming smile filled with gratitude.

“Thank you so much, Kastille. I couldn’t have done this without you. Really. I don’t think any of this would happen if it weren’t for you. Having someone come along for the ride is really more fun than going at it yourself!”

“I could say the same thing to you…”

None of this would have had to happen if it weren’t for you.

“Aw, thanks.”, she giggles.

Hmm? She’s gone quiet suddenly.

Kastille…”, she begins, “I…”

She averts her attention to the floor underneath her.

“What is it?”, I ask.

“Ahh! Nevermind! It’s nothing! I, uh, gotta go back to the room! You know, to do club stuff. Okay. Bye!”, she burst.

She turns around and starts running. After a few steps, she stops and turns back to me.

“Come visit the club if you ever do find the time.”, she shouts.

I wave back at her and watch her disappear into a corner of the hallway.

Is it safe now?

I’ve had many smiles of gratitude shown to me. Many students who I have helped in middle school has shown me smiles like that, thanking me. Dale is but one of those students.

Her smile is oddly different than the rest, however. While I can see the same gratitude, there was something else empowering it.

She grew silent near the end of our conversation, too.

Oh, well. I hereby declare Mia Schroeder as a Class 1 Anomaly.

I turn the handle of the student council room and push to open it.

Something is stopping it. The door gave out a loud thunk, followed by three variations of ‘ouch!’ and running when I tried to open it.

I slowly push the door open and it now seems to be functioning properly.

The inside of the student council room is different, though.

As I enter, I see Lilianna pouring out a tea kettle at the counter. There’s nothing coming out of the tea kettle, however. She noticed this revelation and set the kettle down. Now she’s… just staring at it? Maybe she really likes tea kettles.

I look to my left where Rhys is standing, facing one of the large windows looking out into the sport fields. The issue is that the shades are closed, obstructing the view to the outside world. Is he just admiring the window shades? They do look very modern…

Finally, I look straight ahead of me. Stella is sitting in her presidential chair. Normally, she’d be doing something on her desk. This time, she’s spinning. The chair is not even aligned with the desk properly. It’s as if she ran to it and sat herself down forcefully enough to move the chair and got it spinning.

I approach Stella’s desk and sit myself down in front of her. At the same time, her spinning chair slowed down to a stop. The back of her chair is facing me, however, covering Stella’s small stature.

“Uh… Well, the issue with the club has been resolved.”, I report.

“Good!”, she proceeds.

She fixes the angle of her chair so that she could face me.

“Did something happen?”, I question the room.

“Nope! Nothing. Well? Are you going to tell me your report?”, Stella demands.

---

I reported how the issue with the club is resolved. The gaming club shouldn’t have any problems with membership now.

That means I don’t have to deal with that Class 1 Anomaly anymore! Hurray!

Unfortunately, I was premature with my celebrations...