“Beepidy boopdy bodepy boo, Giddy giddily goo,” I said absentmindedly as I rested my chin on the cafeteria table.

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Tristan asked as he stared at me.

  “I don’t even know I’m just bored,”

  Tristan gave me a blank look before his eyes drifted back to the book in his hands.

  “Are you sane? Should I call 911?” Nishimoya asked.

  The worst part about her question was that she sounded legitimately concerned.

  “I’m perfectly sane. Don’t I look like it?” I responded as I pointed to my face.

  “No.”

  I frowned at her quick response.

  ‘She didn’t even hesitate…’

  “Oh yeah, happy belated birthday Nishimoya,” Tristan congratulated abruptly.

  Nishimoya looked slightly surprised for a moment before regaining her composure.

  “Um, thank you,” she replied.

  Soon after that, we were all sent upstairs for our first period classes.

  Like every Monday, I had mathematics for my first period.

  It was fine. Nothing out of the ordinary.

  However, I caught myself thinking about Aurora a couple times.

  ‘What did I do wrong? Did I even do anything wrong? Maybe she’ll act normal today. I haven’t gotten a chance to talk with her yet so maybe she’ll be normal when I see her today.’

  Considering this, I continued to complete my assignments in class.

  For my next period, I had science with Nishimoya.

  And it was a pretty nice class.

  I worked with Nishimoya for partner work and since both of us really cared about our grade, we were pretty productive.

  Plus, we were able to have a fun conversation while we worked.

  Overall, I think we did well on that assignment.

  After science class ended, I headed over to art class.

  In class, we started learning about a European artist who made very creative works and impressive works of art.

  Not only were his works a unique blend of art styles and culture, they also were executed with extreme precision.

  He was without a doubt, an artist with extreme talent.

  But that’s not what I was interested in.

  What I was interested in was his view on his talent.

  He said talent was nothing without hard work.

  Inwardly, I scoffed.

  ‘That’s obvious. Everyone says that. But really, that ignores the truth. If you give a talented person the same or even less resources or practice as an untalented person, they’ll perform better. In that case, wouldn’t it be more accurate to say hard work is nothing without talent?’

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  I played with a pencil in between my fingers as I thought.

  ‘Why do all talented people pretend that talent isn’t what makes them who they are? Theoretically, a person that works infinitely hard would beat any talented person through sheer perseverance but that’s not reality. Tons talented people work just as hard as the untalented. That’s why they win.’

  I was confident in this belief. There were very few things I was sure I was right about, if any. But this, I was sure of.

  ‘In the same way that the wealthy value money less is the way that the talented value talent less.’

  After that thought, I decided to bury my annoyance and focus back on class instead.

  Once that period ended, I had phys ed with Tristan.

  There, I decided to interrogate him on dumb stuff.

  “Bananas or Apples?” I asked as I served in badminton.

  I hit the birdie over to Tristan’s side with a forehand stroke.

  “Bananas,” Tristan replied as he hit the birdie with a backhand stroke, his long hair swaying as he did.

  “Sci fi or fantasy?” I asked next, hitting the birdie back to him.

  “Fantasy,” Tristan answered, hitting the birdie back to me.

  We repeated this process as I asked him more questions.

  “Work as an architect or an engineer?” I inquired.

  “Don’t care either way.

  “English or math?” I questioned.

  “Doesn’t matter to me.”

  “Spain or Portugal?” I proposed.

  “Doesn’t matter.”

  “Life or death?” I desperately interrogated.

  “Don’t care.”

  “Bro come on!” I exclaimed.

  Bam!

  While I expressed my annoyance, Tristan used a drive to earn a point.

  My eyebrow twitched.

  ‘I only got two actual answers!’

  As a result, Tristan’s nonchalance, it was rare for me to get legitimate answers out of him.

  I was used to it already, but it still a frustrating process every time.

  ‘Well I’ll just keep asking him questions until I find more that he actually answers.’

  With that known conviction, I continued to interrogate Tristan as we played for the rest of the period.

  By the way, all of his answers were I don’t care.

  Although, I wasn't bothered by this long since the next period was lunch.

  “Hey guys,” Aurora said as she down at the lunch table.

  Soon later, Soriel came and said something similar.

  Nishimoya, Tristan and I had already sat down so we just began to talk like usual.

  During group conversation, Aurora seemed to be acting normal so I assumed maybe she was in a better mood.

  However, whenever she spoke to me specifically, it felt slightly cold.

  Not like intentionally malice or disgust, more like a slight detachment.

  ‘So I’m the issue? But what did I even do? Damn it, I’m always doing something aren’t I?’

  As the lunch discussion continued, this slight thought kept itching at the back of my head.

  ‘Wait, so what if she’s mad at me. If she’s going to get mad at me for no damn reason I shouldn’t waste time worrying over it.’

  Internally, I made that small shift in mentality.

  That disgusting shift allowed me to relax a bit.

  After all, it’s harder to worry about a person when you’re annoyed at them.

  But even though my mentality shifted internally, I didn’t allow it to show on my face and continued to talk as usual.

  “If a tomato feels like a vegetable, why don’t we just change the rules to make it one?” I asked with a serious expression.

  “I agree!” Nishimoya responded.

  “That’s stupid, don’t encourage him!” Aurora retorted.

  “I feel like that’d cause some sort of issue,” Soriel said with a smile of slight concern.

  Aurora sighed in exasperation and spoke.

  “Anyway on a serious note, I think my friend might go to prison,” Aurora said.

  “Really? Why?” Nishimoya questioned.

  “Well, she stole some money from her old man to buy designer clothes, jewelry, y’know, the usual stuff. But her dumb dad got pissed and called the police,” Aurora explained.

  “Oh that makes sense…wait shouldn’t she go to juvy, not prison?”

  “The specifics aren’t important right now,” Aurora replied, slightly agitated.

  “I’m sorry to hear about that. I don’t think she should’ve stolen but I hope she’ll be treated justly in court,” Soriel said reassuringly.

  I took a moment to think on Aurora’s words and then I noticed something that bothered me.

  “Why’d you insult her dad?” I asked Aurora.

  “Huh?” She replied in confusion.

  “You said her dumb dad. How is he dumb?” I questioned.

  “Well he got all bent out of shape over nothing. She should be able to have a bit of fun and do what she wants. Her dad could’ve afforded it anyway,” Aurora answered.

  “She should be able to do what she wants even if it messes with others? Her stealing that money still hurt the dad financially. Maybe even emotionally since he obviously can’t trust his daughter anymore,” I argued.

  Aurora shrugged and said, “It’s not that big of a deal.”

  My eyebrows knitted.

  I wanted to get pissed and say stuff I probably shouldn’t have.

  But I didn’t.

  ‘Am I the crazy one here? That logic is so moronic it’s crazy!’

  Those types of thoughts circled through my head for a while.

  Even after Soriel found a way to change the topic, I didn’t stop thinking about it.

  In fact, my annoyance increased over time.

  I couldn’t help but think…

  ‘What kind of person is Aurora?’