"Some call him a fool; some call him lost. But his dreams were a fire that defied the sky, and his story, though lonely, became....."
The words fell flat as Miss Ivory finally closed the book like it had some personal feud with her life and dragged her vision from one corner to another of the seemingly empty classroom with five of the most promising students in the school. Nobody wanted to be the first victim of her damned session.
"Interpretation," she said, her voice cranky. "Anyone, guys…."
Silence, utter silence — seemed to radiate from the classroom, and finally someone broke it with a yawn, followed by the sound of a pen clattering against metallic rulers.
Finally, Max, who was sprawled across his chair like a first-rate corpse, his golden hair shining in the evening light, raised a hand without bothering to lift his head. Why? Because you had to look cool when your teacher was the most beautiful young teacher on the whole campus, in a place where beauty was non-existent and even dogs had better facial structure than those 'homo sapiens' with more facial hair than skin itself. So things had to be done.
So, "Miss Ivory, with all due respect… why the hell are we being taught this philosophical shit when exams are still days away?"
Before the teacher could respond, Lucas shot him a glare sharp enough to cut steel.
"Yeah! No shit, Sherlock. Remember that, you bastard....you made both of us bunk five classes on 'prehistorical melodrama.'
That's why we're stuck cramming this at this time, you piece of shit."
Max raised both of his arms innocently.
"Hey, don't blame me for having a real social life instead of yours, filled with those bootleg games with a thousand hours of grinding your wrinkled ass on them."
The other three students snored, seemingly unimpressed by the class due to their late-night study sessions, which were obviously faker than crocodile tears, as they had visited every gaming zone in the city just to find 'the one.'
Miss Ivory cut in, her voice filled with dry sarcasm or a cough.
"Gentlemen, please do not add more to my regrets, as I am already regretting not marrying that dentist in my college who asked me out. If I had, I would have been sipping Château Cheval Blanc while watching the sunset in Paris. But no, I had to follow my passion and the noble cause of educating you hormonal shits. So let's not add on to my suffering."
The class erupted in laughter, as even those three hardcore gamers woke from their power nap, while Lucas cracked a grin.
Max leaned back in his chair, still stifling laughter, as he began,
"Well, Miss Ivory, for what it's worth, you look way too good to teach at this dump."
There was silence, and Lucas started whistling as if this were some rom-com taking place from his point of view.
Miss Ivory tilted her head, which was half amusement and half warning.
"Careful, Max. Flattery might get you an extra mark or detention. It's hard to say at this hour…."
Max blinked, and then blinked again, as he had been caught off guard. For the first time, his usual smugness was replaced with a faint blush in the evening's golden rays.
The room chuckled again, happy to see this instead of that textbook crap, while Max sat like a soldier, muttering, "Worth the shot, boys."
---
The class then dragged itself on gloriously for two more hours, after which Miss Ivory finally waved them off with a sigh, rethinking her groundbreaking life decisions.
Max stretched, running a hand through his golden hair. Lucas, meanwhile, packed his bag with the exhaustion of a man working 24x7 in a medical shop.
Together, they stepped off the campus gates, and the cold evening air hit them hard.
Just then—
"Max."
A voice, like a shriller version of a feminine in-game voice, made its way to Lucas's ears, while Max made the face of seeing sunshine for the first time, and yeah, it wasn't beautiful.
A girl with soft brown hair came jogging toward them, her beauty unbothered by the evening darkness, and stopped in front of Max with a smile only childhood friends ever had.
"Was it finally over?" she asked Max, brushing a lock of brown hair from her cheek.
Max grinned, looking more alive than he had all day.
"Yeah… today was a hell of a day, Ann."
Lucas watched the two of them, the way Max's eyes softened and Annabelle's smile lingered too long. He muttered to himself with a smirk, "What a tsundere."
Neither of them even glanced in his direction during their special interaction event.
And in that moment, cold truth pressed against Lucas's head as he realized he was the third wheel again.
Not that he disliked Anna, she was polite, kind, and respectful. Not that he liked being the third wheel or disrupting their moment, because he only knew Anna through casual acquaintance, not like they were friends who hung out.
He shoved his hands into his pockets while trailing behind both of them.
Lucas sighed.
Yep, definitely a third wheel. Might as well get it tattooed on his bicep as well. Though he was lean, that dumbass didn't have an inch of shredded muscle on his body.
As the three of them walked through brightly lit lamps and shops, candle scents drifting out into the street.
As they reached the end of the lane, Max stopped and turned to Lucas.
"Hey, come over to my place, bro. Mom has finally made something edible tonight. Even Anna is coming. My parents will also be glad if you come over."
Lucas shook his head, his hands still in his pockets.
"Nah. You guys enjoy. I'll pass."
Max groaned as he tried to insist, saying that his mom had finally made something good that didn't taste like sponge and cardboard.
Anna chimed in, smiling softly.
"Yeah, Lucas, you should come. It would be fun to eat together."
Lucas gave a small nod.
"Thanks, but really, I'm fine. You guys should enjoy."
"Fine, fine. I'll save some for you, Lucas, so you won't starve tomorrow begging for it," Max said with a smile plastered on his face.
Lucas only gave a short nod, smiling faintly, and turned back to walk toward his home.
The street was filled with lights and people enjoying the cold evening.
Inside Lucas's head, there was no sarcasm or jokes to keep people entertained, though Max knew his real side: a quiet boy who liked silence, books, playing games, grinding endlessly, and reading novels.
Lucas kept walking until he reached a tall apartment building and got inside the elevator, thinking about the new game he had just installed from an APK.
The elevator stopped with a hiss and opened its doors. Stepping onto the 30th floor, he rang the doorbell.