Mr Estrada gathered attention just before the beginning of homeroom.
"Alright students, your midterms are coming up starting in 12 days. These exams will run from the 8th of June, to the 10th of June."
Seemed completely regular, just barely worth an explanation. "Well, on the 8th
you will have your History, and Mathematics exams. On the 9th you will have Science, Geography, and English. On the 10th will be a physical examination followed by practicals for art and music" That seems like a packed three days.
"Sir, will these exam results be public?" Egawa asked this, obviously.
"You are able to share them, but they won't be posted on a board or publicly shared, Miss Egawa, the rankings and marks will be returned on the 15th of June"
That seemed awfully quick.
"If there are any questions about the processes please don't hesitate to ask. Individual teachers will guide you through what will be covered on tests, so don't ask me about that"
It was fourth period, math class. I could barely keep my eyes open at this point, I had zero motivation for maths, I'd just get a 65 and be happy with it.
This is when I felt a small object strike my temple and land perfectly on my desk, it was a piece of paper. Turns out it was a note from Egawa to me. Intrigued, I woke up a bit and unfolded it.
'I want to compete with you in these exams'
I couldn't be bothered with this, but I decided to put in the effort to humour her a little bit I suppose. I sent her back a note myself.
'I'll do one subject, you choose whatever I don't care'
/Daniel really is a weird guy, I thought he'd refuse my request immediately. Looking over at him barely conscious in math class I
decided I might as well help him out here. What class do I harass him the least in?/
Egawa was looking over at me, she was disturbingly focused on me. Then she just gave me the piece of paper, didn't even throw it or anything.
'Let's do History then'
I guess she actually was thoughtful after all, perhaps that's why she was surveying my every nook 30 seconds ago.
'Works for me, what's the prize for the winner?'
Just as I kindly responded to her I sensed an ominous presence. My math teacher, Mr Twining, firmly placed his hand on my shoulder and upper arm.
"Passing notes in class are we Mr Barrington?"
"Uhh, maybe..?"
"See me after class sleepyhead"
Shit.
"Don't do things like that in my class again. You got that?"
"Yes sir.."
Mr Twining was an intimidating guy, think he was at least twice my weight of pure muscle.
"Hello there"
Egawa??
"Hi..?" "How come you're waiting after class for me?"
"Well we never finished our conversation, and I kind of felt bad for you getting in trouble on my behalf"
"Well thanks for that"
"Not too bad though, probably around this much" She put her hand out and held her thumb and index finger around an inch from one another.
"That's the most you can muster huh?" "How charming"
"Don't you call me un-charming Mr Snake"
"Uncalled for but whatever, the prize for the winner of the bet?"
"Hmm, how about you get to make one request of the other person, valid forever so there's no time limit"
"That's not too bad an idea, I'll go with that Egawa"
"Just so you know I won't be kind if I win"
Yeah mate I hadn't imagined you would be.
"I had anticipated as much"
Egawa and I walked to the cafeteria together, seeing as it was lunch now and I'd held her for 10 minutes, I decided that I might as well cover for her.
"So what are you having for lunch? I'll cover you today cause I kept you so long earlier"
"I want the strawberry sponge cake" Did I really hear this right? This wicked harasser might actually be sane after all!
"Sponge..Cake..?"
"Er-oh-uh-yeah my bad" I had been completely absorbed in thought I tuned her out.
"I absolutely love the school's sponge cake, obviously they'd have to make it good considering the school's prestige, but it's SO MUCH better than it should be!!"
Is this girl seriously the only person who understands my love of cake?
"I wholeheartedly agree with that!"
"Wait Daniel you like it too??"
"Like? No. I LOVE it."
"Maybe you aren't so bad after all.."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
After I bought her and myself the same thing we sat down at one of the very few remaining tables.
"Eating together hm, like a couple?" I knew Egawa didn't see me that way, and she likes teasing me for some reason EVEN THOUGH SHE ISN'T LIKE THIS WITH ANYBODY ELSE. Matter of fact, I've barely even seen her speak to other people before.
"Be real, I couldn't spot my friends, and you, well, you have none"
"You're so mean" She obviously didn't care, even I could see that at a surface level.
We ate our "lunch" together, where I ended up stealing like a quarter of hers because she was too slow. With that our break ended and we went to, funnily enough, History class.