The Prodigy Series

"This is taking forever," Ji-Hun complained as Aiyana passed him back his handwritten personal statement with her corrections now highlighted in the deep red ink of her pen.

"Take heart. This is the last draft, I promise," Aiyana said as she put a hand to her c.h.e.s.t in mock pledge, making Ji-Hun chuckle a little. Wyatt g.r.o.a.n.e.d from his seat beside Ji-Hun, making Aiyana turn to him.

"At this rate, we'll never finish writing it," Wyatt sighed as he made to write his essay all over again with Aiyana's corrections.

"How did it seem like I was bragging?" Wyatt suddenly asked, frowning as he pointed down at a small note Aiyana had scribbled at the side of his sheet.

"It does," she said, folding her hands over her small c.h.e.s.t. Wyatt raised a brow in disbelief and the two went on to bicker for a few minutes. Wyatt eventually took her word for it, returning his attention to his work.

"Ben, do you want me to take a look at yours?" she asked, making me blink in surprise at her offer. I'd just been sitting silently as I observed the three of them from my seat across theirs on the wooden rectangular table.

"No, it's fine," I mumbled, looking at my computer screen. "You took a look at it in our last critical thinking class.

The truth was that I wasn't working on my personal statement at all. I was busy watching a muted YouTube video with subtitles as the others worked on theirs. We were in the study hall, and the coordinator never got up from her seat to look around, I doubt she knew what the far end of the hall looked like at all. Heck, she was probably on her phone watching YouTube videos as well.

"Okay." She shrugged before turning her attention to her own computer. It was a pink palmtop that she treated like her child. The table was soon silent as everyone worked on what they were supposed to. Aiyana eventually plugged her earpiece into her palmtop, meaning that she was probably on YouTube at the moment.

When I eventually got bored of cl.i.c.k.i.n.g video to video, I closed the YouTube tab before looking up from my laptop to find Ji-Hun resting his head on the table, and Wyatt showing his work to Aiyana - he'd just finished rewriting the whole thing.

"Ben, how's the website going? Has Felix talked to you about it yet even?" I heard Ji-Hun ask, making me turn towards him. His head was still rested on the table, but he was now playing with a stray ballpoint pen that has been on the table before we got here.

I opened my mouth, then closed it sharply when I realized I was going to tell him about what Felix had sent me. Ji-Hun was most likely asking about the school site, not Felix's personal project.

"No, he hasn't told me anything about the school site yet. He said he'll tell me during the next meeting so that I can meet the rest of the people working on it."

Ji-Hun nodded at my answer, sitting up in his chair before stretching out his arms as he yawned. I let my gaze wander to the wall clock above the hall's entrance. I frowned slightly, realizing that we still had thirty minutes until the double study period ended.

"Can this period be over soon?" Ji-Hun asked no one in particular, airing his thoughts. Wyatt looked up from his work to look at Ji-Hun with an amused smile.

"Play a game or something then. I doubt that Ben has been doing any actual school work," Wyatt said as he ran a hand through his boyfriend's dark hair.

"Don't throw me under the bus," I said, turning to Aiyana who was now typing up something on her computer as she hummed to the music that was probably being played before her brows suddenly bent into a small frown as she bit her bottom lip.

"Damn. I hate Amanda so much sometimes!" she suddenly g.r.o.a.n.e.d, taking out her earpiece before pushing her palmtop to the center of the table and resting her head on the cool surface of the table. "Why can't she be lazy like last year's student council vice president?"

"What's up with her?" I asked, looking from Aiyana who seemed to be having a mini break down to Ji-Hun who was giving Aiyana a sincere look of sympathy.

"Amanda asked all the class representatives to write a report of some sort," Ji-Hun said, answering my question. Wyatt took his hand away from Ji-Hun's hair as he sat up a little.

"Oh," I mouthed, watching Aiyana grumble into her arms. I looked away from her to my laptop, smiling when I spotted the green dot that meant that Felix had messaged me on Kaneva. He'd gotten me into casual virtual world gaming. I'd thought it was boring compared to the fantasy or task-oriented games I was used to playing, but after spending hours with Felix online as I figured out the platform it became one of my favorite sites in over a span of a few days.

Terabyte101 [Me]

You're online?

1:30 PM.

I sent as a reply to his simple hi.

Digital_Switch [Felix]

Yes, and so are you.

1:31 PM.

He sent, making me smile at the tab as a small chuckle escaped my full lips.

Why am I laughing? There was nothing even mildly funny about his response, but I was feeling giddy, and I couldn't couldn't really explain any of my actions when they involved Felix.

We talked for a while until Felix said he had to go to a class and logged off. I looked up from my laptop to find Aiyana still typing into her computer. Huh, looks like her break down's over.

"How does Felix endure dating someone like her," she grumbled, making me frown lightly.

Wait, what?

"Felix is nice, she's just a spawn of the workaholic devil in sheep's clothing," Aiyana continued as she rubbed between her brows.

Is Felix dating Amanda? It's Amanda she's talking about, right?

The thought alone made my heart ache. So all the texting and talk it didn't mean anything? Heck, why did I even over think them in the first place?

I suddenly felt the urge to get up and find somewhere that I could be alone by myself, but I didn't want to draw anyone's attention towards me so I just sat on my seat and tried not to over think things. If you guessed correctly you'd be aware that I did badly.

"He's not dating Amanda. He used to date her," Ji-Hun cut in as he looked up from his textbook to turn his attention to Aiyana. He was holding on to a green highlighter, spinning it in his fingers as he observed her.

"I really don't care for accuracy. I'm just pissed." Aiyana folded her arms over her c.h.e.s.t, pouting. Ji-Hun might not know it but his words alone made me calm down a little. It didn't eradicate the doubt brewing in my mind, but maybe I was even thankful for it being there. It was a kind of reality check if you will.

Although I was trying to convince myself that I didn't care about it, I soon found myself speaking up.

"Felix used to date, Amanda?" I asked, looking from Ji-Hun to Aiyana.

"Yes. It's been an on and off thing since their junior year. They get together and act lovey-dovey for a while before getting into an argument before breaking up. It happens on loop," Aiyana explained before she frowned at me sightly. "How don't you know this? It's like public domain news in this school."

"I didn't know about it either." I heard Wyatt say, making me turn to find him looking up from the pieces of A4 paper he was holding.

"You barely have a social life, no one holds not knowing anything against you," Aiyana said, making Ji-Hun laugh. Wyatt didn't seem very amused. He had his brows fixed in a frown, and he was now looking through the A4 papers in his hands again to avoid looking at Aiyana. Ji-Hun soon proceeded to pester him by tapping his cheek and whispering what I suppose was an apology to him.

"Oh," I mouthed as I tried to digest the information. My mind tried to picture Felix and Amanda as a couple. It made sense. They were both star students that spent a lot of time together in classes, clubs, and meetings.

Then why do you feel upset? I asked myself. It made perfect sense that they would be dating, but I couldn't rub off the negative feeling that was building up inside my c.h.e.s.t. Felix has been so nice to me, and maybe that's just how he is to everyone, and I was just the one who has been overthinking things.

I've read way too much into his behavior. I thought, blinking back the wetness in my eyes that had appeared out of nowhere.

I'm crying? I asked myself in confusion as I rubbed my eyes in an attempt to get rid of the burning feeling that was building up in them.

"Sorry, I have to use the bathroom." I excused myself, getting up from my seat before hurrying towards the study room's exit. I left the place, half running and half walking to the male bathroom on the first floor.

My hands were shaking so so couldn't get the knob to turn for a while, and when it did I let out a sigh of relief before heading into the bathroom. I moved to the sinks at the corner, standing in front of one before running its tap and washing my face with the cool water. When I'd calmed down I let myself stare at my reflection in the mirror, allowing myself to get lost in my features as I compared and contrasted them with Amanda's.

"Dark colored eyes and rigid jawline versus deep blue eyes and soft features, eh?"

I chuckled silently, letting myself stare on as the drips from an improperly closed tap echoed in the bathroom as it slapped against the sink's interior.

Who was I kidding? I was—

My line of thought was cut short when the sound of a toilet flushing made my eyes widen in shock. I turned around sharply, surprised to find Simon -Felix's close friend- coming out from one of the stalls.

"Ah, this is awkward," he laughed, running a hand through his hair that was dyed a platinum blue. I found myself trying to put on a smile. Yeah, it was awkward, but what could I really do?

"I guess." I shrugged, putting my hands into my pockets as he put on a small smile.

He's just like Felix. He's always smiling like a f.u.c.k.i.n.g Teletubby. I thought as I watched him pull a small bottle of hand sanitiser from his back pocket before using it. Simon had pale skin and a lanky stature. If I was supposed to throw a guess I'd put him around 6'0. No one would pin Simon as the kind of guy that would hang out with Felix. Well, not until you realized how much of a nerd he was as well. The only difference was that Simon preferred a more alternative style of dark clothes, piercing, and bold jewelry compared to Felix's plaid closet.

Simon laughed a little before he turned and headed towards the bathroom door. The door soon closed behind him with a small click, causing me to turn back to the sink.

I wonder if he heard me? Nah, I doubt it. All the talk about Amanda was more of whispers. It was the laugh I did right after that was probably the awkward bit.

I spent some more time in the bathroom, leaving it and then heading back to the study room to collect my books before heading for the next period.

For the rest of the day, I tried to prevent the thought of Fexis' and Amanda's rocky on and off relationship from consuming my thoughts but I failed badly.

I mean, whenever was I able to not think about things regarding Felix?