Protagonist Syndrome

3

"Who doesn't. It's Rehan King." 

Rehan King. 

Oddly similar to the character's name found in that story. As I blink my eyes in confusion, Jia reaches for her books before stacking them on her desk in the same manner she does when something or someone's annoyed her.  Vigorously slapping her textbooks flat on the surface of her table. Flinching, I choose to silently divert my curiosity elsewhere. I think she's annoyed for real. Class should be starting about m=now but the teacher's still missing in action. I should be relieved that I have more time to study yet I can't help but find it kinda weird. We're actually starting class late today. The room's blaring with noises again as the once empty seats begin to fill. No one's mentioned anything about the new interior designs or the expanded space. 

I find myself unconsciously stealing a glance of that person I swear I've never seen before and allow my mind to wander. Judging by his appearance and solemn face, her looks like a man of little words. In the book, Rehan King's an only son of a wealthy family and the next heir to a successful company. He excels in the field of academics and sports but oftentimes refrains from engaging excessive physical movements due to his asthma. What were the odds we'd have a classmate with the same name as him.

But then again.

Although it might sound ridiculous. Could it be that I've transmigrated to the book Jia gave me? I mean there has been signals flashing left and right ever since I've stepped foot here. It could be possible. 

Absolutely not!

As fast as that thought appeared, it's fast to vanish and disappear into the back hole inside my mind. I shake my head. There is no way such thing could happen. It's impossible. 

Right. 

The only logical thing I can cling on is the fact that maybe I was just too occupied with loads of school works to even notice we had a new transfer student. 

Yeah. That's probably it. 

"It was Insane! They went nuts when I scored the final goal!" A loud voice booms the room, followed by quick footsteps hitting the floors.

Loud. 

Too loud. 

I want to chop my ears off. 

Jia looks unaffected. She doesn't even bat an eyelash. Normally she'd be the first to abandon anything she's doing and react. Out of pure curiosity, and slight annoyance of the person making such loud noises so early in the morning, It's at that moment I see three boys surround themselves around that Rehan guy. One of them has red hair. My pen slips and I hold the urge to roll my eyes as I lean down to pick it up. It brushes against my fingertips and rolls further below the table. 

"Oh you're here. I could've sworn you were just with us a minute ago." The same voice , and supposedly the same one who came in with so much energy, laughs as he tosses his backpack on the chair beside Rehan. Once again, why don't I know this people? They look way too comfortable to be new students and not to mention the weird exchange between Jia and Rehan only heightens my curiosity. 

"The match was really unbelievable. You guys should've been there. Hey Arlo, did you do your homework?" 

A soft, melodic voice responds. "I was wondering when you were gonna as-"

The sentence's cut off with an abrupt screech and a thumb sound. As if someone had just bumped their head on solid wood. With a hiss, I dig my fingers through my hair and rub my head while wondering why today's been nothing but a pain in the butt. First I wake up late, and then this happens. 

"Are you okay?" Jia asks, peaking down at me. With her hair tied up, I can perfectly see the worried crease in between her eyebrows. 

"I'm fine. Thought I heard someone say Arlo." 

"Oh. You mean Arlo Miller?"

"Yeah that." I murmur, unaware of the four set of eyes staring at our direction. I return back to my seat, this time forcing my brain to study for today's quiz. 

"What about him?" 

"What about what?" Today's quiz for basic calculus covers limits theorem. I'm sure I'll be fine if I get a few examples. 

"What about Arlo...I mean." 

For a second there, I thought I caught a bit of shyness dripping Jia's tone. As I turn to face her,  I notice those set of eyes on us. I poke the inside of my tongue and stare back at my sister. 

She's gone back to shoving her noise in a book. To be honest, she's been acting very strange ever since this morning. Her uniform's properly worn. Her hair's tied up. Different from her usual style. She's wearing less make-up and perfume today as well. And to top it off. She's studying. 

I'm considering bringing up the book at this rate. Because so far everything screams suspicious. But if I do, I'll probably sound crazy in front of her. Then again, it's better to ask and confirm rather than stay quiet and never know. 

"Ji. On our way here I heard something about A4? I'm not sure. But I'm curious. What's an A4?" 

There's a good chance those girls also read the book and were just simply doing what normal fans do. Share idea and stuffs. Or I could be wrong. 

Her soft palm connect to my forehead and the narrowness of her eyes returns. "Are you sick? Did you bump your head too hard?" 

"I'm totally fine." 

"Then why are you asking about A4?" 

"I don't know. I was just curious..?" I don't sound too sure with myself. I think I even hesitated completing me sentence. Why does it feel like I've asked something I shouldn't have asked? Weird. On the bright side, they're no longer staring this way. 

Jia sends me a look of uncertainty for a few seconds before sighing, throwing her thumb beside her shoulder.

"Them." She says. "Seven Cole, Leyk Novak, Arlo Miller and Rehan. Remind me to bring you to the nurses office later. I think you broke your head." She murmurs something under her breath but they're way too from reaching my ears.