Paper Balls

Jay-jay's POV

Since I enrolled in class a bit late, Sir gave me a copy of the lessons I missed. Fortunately, their lectures hadn’t progressed too far yet.

Sir Alvin is our English teacher and also the adviser of Section E. My start in this class section wasn’t great, but now I’ve been staying quiet.

**Tik Tok Toink

I take it back! I haven’t even settled down yet! Is it a ghost?

I’ve been getting hit with paper balls at my seat for a while now. Just small, crumpled-up pieces of paper. But whenever I try to figure out where they’re coming from, the whole class just acts innocent.

What the heck?! What are you guys doing to me?!

We moved on to the next subject, but the same thing kept happening. The crumpled papers were scattered all around me.

Calm down, Jay, they’re just messing with you!

I tried to focus on the lecture again. Sir Alvin gave me a copy of the previous lesson from the substitute teacher as well.

I was busy writing when I suddenly felt something hit my hair. I reached up to touch it and—

I immediately felt it… wet?

They threw a wet piece of paper at me. There was no need to ask where the water came from. A person's mouth is the fastest and easiest water source, and it was a bit slimy and sticky.

Yack! Eeewwww!

I quickly grabbed tissue and alcohol from my bag. Girl scout to the rescue!

The next classes went by, but the same thing kept happening. Damn it!

As soon as the teacher left, I stood up and faced the entire class. My gaze was sharp as I looked at them all.

"WHO THE HELL KEEPS THROWING THINGS AT ME?!" I shouted angrily.

No one spoke, so I was about to say something again when suddenly everyone raised their hands. Each of them was holding a crumpled-up ball of paper.

They call those paper balls—crumpled-up paper rolled into balls, some even as big as apples.

They were all ready to throw them at me. Oh no!

Then I saw Keifer smirking. He stood up and positioned himself as if he were about to throw a baseball.

My eyes widened at his stance. What have you gotten yourself into, Jay-jay?

I gulped and instinctively shut my eyes when I saw him about to throw the paper—

The paper ball hit me. After it struck my face, I suddenly felt multiple paper balls hitting me one after another.

"Aarrrggghhhh..." I screamed.

It didn’t really hurt, but I couldn’t fight back or even move because there were just too many. Their laughter accompanied the barrage.

"Keep going... hahaha"

"There’s more over here..."

"Hahaha..."

I knew there were only about 15 of them, but why did it feel like more than 100 people were throwing at me?

"Aarrgghhhhh... What the heck?!" I shouted at them, but of course, it had no effect.

I had no choice but to grab my bag and run out of the room as fast as I could.

They kept throwing paper at me until I reached the door, but they finally stopped when I was completely out.

I didn’t stop running either, not until I was far away from the building itself.

They really went overboard with me! I shouldn’t have responded to that Keifer guy.

Since it was lunchtime, I decided to head straight to the cafeteria to eat. I entered and got in line.

I was busy looking around while waiting when I suddenly overheard a familiar voice.

"That was really funny... Hahaha..."

Rakki and her classmates were there. I immediately turned my back on them.

Why is this line so long?!

"Hey Rakki..." I heard someone calling her. I'm not one to gossip, but I couldn't help but listen.

"Wassup Mykel?" Rakki greeted.

"I heard you met the new transferee... What can you say about her?"

Were they talking about me? They were discussing me.

"Uhmmm... She's pretty and a little noob."

Should I be happy? She complimented me and insulted me at the same time. What was that?

Why is this line so slow?

"Hahaha... What do you mean?"

"She ended up in our section instead of being placed in Section E's room."

Suddenly, they all burst into laughter, including Rakki's classmates. How embarrassing!

"That sounds embarrassing..."

And she even said that! The line moved forward, and I finally reached Ate, the vendor. I bought two meals because I knew I was in for a challenge. I also grabbed a big Piattos, Nova, and Cheeppy.

I had everything taken out since I had no intention of showing my face in Section C. It's so embarrassing!

I got my order and quickly walked toward the cafeteria door, but then I suddenly stopped when—

I ran into Aries—my cousin.

His eyebrows immediately furrowed when he saw me. I couldn't move from my spot. I'm in trouble!

"Hey Aries! Over here!" Rakki shouted.

But he didn’t move, and neither did I.

I felt someone approaching until...

"Jay-Jay! So you're here..." Rakki greeted me. "...Guys, the transferee is here."

She put her arm around me and turned me toward the people in the cafeteria. It was too late to resist.

"She's Jay-Jay... The one I was talking about earlier," Rakki introduced me.

I just bowed my head. I didn’t know who I should feel more embarrassed in front of—the people here or Aries.

Aries left their place as soon as he found out I was moving in with them. Our relationship wasn’t good because of the things I did in the past.

"So, Jay-Jay... How's your experience with Section E?" asked a guy. He was probably Mykel.

I couldn’t answer. I didn’t want to tell them that the entire Section E had been messing with me. And I didn’t want Section E to think I was snitching.

"I-it's okay... Th-they're nice to me," I answered with a forced smile.

"I think that’s a lie. Section E are all—"

"Barbaric. They have records inside and outside of school," said Rakki.

My forehead creased at what I heard. Barbaric? That sounded extreme, like they were monsters.

"No need to worry... Jay will fit well in that section," Aries said.

I looked at him. I had no idea what he meant by that.

I knew I would only embarrass myself more if I stayed any longer. I slowly removed Rakki’s arm from around me.

"R-Rakki... I need to go. Sorry."

I didn’t wait for their response. I quickly left the cafeteria. I don’t know—maybe the atmosphere there was just too uncomfortable.

I was also ashamed in front of Aries.

I used to be a troublemaker at my old school. Since I came from a broken family, I became rebellious. My grandmother took me in to take care of me, hoping my life would improve, but it didn’t change anything.

Until one day, my grandmother had a heart attack because of my constant fighting. My aunts got mad at me—all of them except for Aunt Gema, Aries’ mother. She was the only one who reassured me that I wasn’t a lost cause.

Because I was so ashamed of myself and of what happened to my grandmother, I—

I just said my goodbyes and left. Aunt Gema took me in because they didn’t have a daughter. I agreed and promised my grandmother and everyone else that I would fix my life and myself.

When I arrived at their house, I thought everything would be fine, but Aries got angry when he saw me. He said that if I didn’t leave, he would. Since Aunt Gema didn’t want him to leave, Aries left instead, and that was the last time we saw each other.

It was really difficult for Aunt Gema. I could feel it, even though she never said anything. If only Aries knew that I had changed.

Without realizing it, I had already reached the Section E building. Wait!

I couldn’t go inside yet. I was sure they would bully me, and I wouldn’t be able to eat properly.

I looked around and decided to find a table and a bench that looked decent enough from my perspective. I sat there to eat.

I opened the first meal I bought.

I also placed a handkerchief over my blouse. I didn’t want it to get stained by food—it would be a hassle.

Our uniform was a simple blouse with a black necktie and a skirt that was two inches above the knee. The necktie indicated what year we were in. It had a white stripe because—

We were already in our fourth year, with four stripes.

I finished my first meal and was about to open the second one when someone suddenly snatched it. So fast—faster than Flash.

"This is mine now!" shouted the one who grabbed my meal. I was sure he was my classmate.

I couldn’t do anything about it. Other classmates also rushed in, fighting over the food like they were starving.

I saw Keifer leaning against the wall, just watching our classmates scramble for my food.

"Share some!"

"Give us some!"

"It’s mine!"

Were they really that hungry? Didn’t they eat lunch?

"Sorry about that, they’re just hungry," someone said.

I turned to see who spoke—he was already sitting next to me. Mushroom? He just popped out of nowhere?

He was one of the guys I talked to earlier—Keifer’s companion, the one with brown hair.

"By the way, I’m Felix..." he introduced himself, extending his hand.

But I ignored him. Did he think he was lucky? After they led me astray earlier? Let him suffer!

I just took out the big Piattos from my bag. I was about to open it when—

Just as I was about to open it, someone suddenly grabbed it again.

"Hey, what the—!" I shouted.

The thief disappeared, buried under my starving classmates. What the heck?

What’s up with these classmates of mine? Vultures? They’re even worse than eagles when it comes to snatching food.

"Hahaha... Don’t take out your food yet," Felix said.

Irritated, I glared at him. "What’s wrong with your classmates? Are they starving or what?"

He laughed at what I said. "Hahaha... Sort of."

I felt like I lost my appetite out of sheer annoyance. My classmates had scattered food wrappers and leftovers all over the floor.

Were they really that hungry?

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