Chapter 4

It turned out Satou was in all your classes. And she chose to sit next to you in all of them. Every. Single. One.

It wasn’t like she was hurting for friends. It felt like she had the appreciation and jealousy of every girl at school. They flocked to her at the beginning of every class like bees to a particularly sweet flower.

“I love your hair! When did you dye it?” One sycophant cooed.

“Your skin is so smooth and clear! What kind of skincare do you use?” Another cried.

“Y’know, if you ever get sick of the school dorms, you could always crash at our circle’s house…” A third offered.

It would have driven you insane, but Satou seemed to like the attention. She soaked it all up like a blossom taking in sunshine.

Still, she would periodically glance over to you as she was gushed over. “Look at how popular I am,” her twinkling eyes seemed to say, “You should feel honored I took an interest in lil’ ol’ you.”

In reality, all you felt was annoyance. “Leave me alone,” your glare answered back.

“Ladies, please, class is about to begin,” the professor droned from the front of the classroom after he’d finished passing out syllabi.

It was Calculus. Again. You had taken it in high school but hadn’t scored high enough on the math placement exam to avoid taking it again. Fine by you. You would take as many easy classes as you could get your hands on. It would help boost your GPA.

You found your mind wandering as the professor went over the syllabus in excruciating detail. It didn’t wander far, however. It remained hyper fixated on the girl sitting directly to your left. Satou Wannabe.

Her perfection, her personality, her presumption… They all reminded you of Hiro, the original main character.

But that was impossible. You were the main character now, and the game was over. You lost. Oh, how much you lost… It was best not to dwell on it.

Unless… Unless there was another game, set in the same universe, after the first. A sequel.

That was when the professor called on you. “Miss Sato, would you mind telling the class what percentage each exam is worth?”

Hearing your name called broke you out of your reverie. You looked down at the paper packet in front of you, where the grade percentages were plainly written. “Uh… Thirty-three percent?”

He nodded and turned back to the chalkboard. “There are two exams, each worth thirty-three percent of your grade. The remaining thirty-three percent is split between quizzes and homework. There is no grade for attendance. Don’t come to class if you don’t plan on paying attention.” He looked over his shoulder at you as he said the last sentence.

Bullet successfully dodged, you let out a sigh of relief through your nose and looked over at the girl your daydreams were centered around.

Satou was already looking at you, head propped up in her hands. She stifled a giggle when you jolted in surprise. Had she been staring at you the entire time? Maybe it was her the professor was talking about.

You found your gaze drawn to her smile. You admired her teeth, how straight and white they were, like little chiclets filling her mouth. They gleamed in the midday sun shining through the classroom windows.

“That’s it for today,” the professor said after he wrapped up the syllabus talk, “Next time we meet, we’ll be having a real class, so come in ready to learn.”

Students started packing up their things and heading out the door. You didn’t run away like you had every class you had with her previously. Instead, you took your time, put the syllabus neatly away in your expanding file folder, got up from your seat and stretched.

“I’m done with classes for the day,” you told Satou, your voice low and even. Her eyes were glued to the small section of bare skin only visible because your shirt rode up when you stretched your arms over your head. “Do you want to grab lunch?”

“Yes!” She squealed, immediately jumping up from her desk and stuffing the packet of papers haphazardly into her bookbag.