“Welcome Y8 students!” the Headmaster of the Dong Academy appeared. I rolled my eyes. I’ve never liked the Headmaster, because he is a wizard, and one that loves to flaunt his skills. Teleporting to different place was one of his favorite and most annoying tricks, especially when he decides to use teleportation during his rounds around the Academy-grounds. It scares the hell out of everyone. “I’m sure you’re all excited for the coming year. You pretty girls and hormonal guys get to blend and mix with each other in classes. I’m sure both sides are hot blooded and extremely excited!”

I started to tune him out. He wasn’t going to say anything exciting until he actually dismisses us for class. The Y9 and Y10 students sat in chairs on both sides of the Headmaster. Most of them looked just as bored as I was, and uncomfortable, since the amphitheatre set up put us Y8 students above and looking down at them. Most of the girls weren’t ‘dressed to impress’, for that, I think I’m going to like them. That’s when I saw him, sitting casually in the third row, second from the right. I swore that I will never fall in love with another male celebrity again. With my sharp eyes, I could see his ears pointing straight up from beneath his light, sand-brown hair. They were rounded, so he’s definitely a half-blood, but he was at least half-elf. The girls on both sides of him were definitely sneaking glances at him and the girl behind him seemed to be in love with the back of his head. He seemed oblivious to them, or at least he was pretending to be. He seemed as bored as I was and was staring at the sky, with one hand playing with a stud in his left ear. His clothes seemed casual, but he definitely meant for it to stand out. He had a black tank top over a red t-shirt and a thin chain around his neck that disappeared into his shirt. His cargo pants were tighter than what I usually see guys around campus wear, but paired with black cargo boots, he was stage-ready, prepared to capture the hearts of young fan girls.

“Ow!” I rubbed my side where Danielle elbowed me right below the ribs. “What?”
            “We’ve been dismissed. The headmaster has to talk to the upperclassmen, but we can go, so we can collect our schedules and rooms from the headmistress’s minion advisors and find where our classes are. You didn’t listen to anything he said, did you?”

“Not really.”

“Then I bet you didn’t hear that we’re finally able to join the upperclassmen at the Spring Ball! Well, it’s really for Y10 and up, but if you get invited to go by one of the upperclassmen, you’re allowed to go!”

“Right, knew that. You complain every year how it’s just so unfair that we’re not allowed to go to the Spring Ball even if we were invited by an upperclassman, not that any upperclassman did invite you.”

“Hmph,” I knew she wanted to stick her tongue at me the way she always does when she was angry at me, but had nothing to say, but it is ‘an undignified thing to do in public’. I could hear her voice scolding me for every time that I would stick my tongue out at her. Hey, I’m not the one that cares about looking dignified.

“Hey, did you see any cute guys in the crowd?”

“Not really. I wasn’t looking over there,” she laughed. Apparently I had a stupid looking expression on my face again. “There were a couple of cuties on stage though. Like that cutie with the rock outfit. Did you see him? He’s totally half-elf, and he had a piercing through his right eyebrow. His violet eyes were so gorgeous!”

“What? How do you know his eye color?”

“Duh,” she motioned to the binoculars that she had in her pink messenger bag.

“Right,” How could I have forgotten? She made a huge fuss about getting purple binoculars from Dludum to match her bag before break was over. Why else did I think she bought those binoculars? Of course they weren’t for something lame, like bird watching.

“Leah! Danielle!” We turned to see Arianna join the mass of people waiting to their schedules and classroom assignments. Alex followed closely behind her. “Hey! Aren’t you guys excited? We get to be in classes with actual guys!”

“I really don’t get the excitement,” I pouted in the direction of the newcomers. Arianna was annoying, but only about as annoying as Danielle. I never liked Alex though, with that head of blond spikes and eyes that always wandered. Alex was a player and the type of person I want to use as a punching bag. “It’s not like we don’t see them around campus.”

“Yeah, but still, who actually goes out of their way and talks to them?” Arianna rolled her blue eyes and started twisting her strawberry-blond hair around her finger.

“I know, right?” Danielle was on her side. Of course, Guys versus Friendship? I’ve always known where her loyalty lies.

“Now we’re in actual classes together and the teachers will totally match us up for projects and stuff!”

“Yippie-kay-yay,” I rolled my eyes at them. Is it that big of a deal? I might be able to see him though. That might be a bit of big deal.

“Did you see that one guy?” Danielle has starting gushing details again. “He was so hot! That one that totally looks like a rock star?”

“O.M.G. You mean the one with the red and black top? I know! He was just sitting there all casual and stuff. We must have been such babies to them being all hyped up and stuff!”

“I know! He skin is so perfect. He definitely had no blemishes at all. His eyes? They are violet.”

“Like purple-violet?” Arianna was practically drooling. “No one has that shade of eyes anymore. Well, obviously not ‘no one’, but you get what I mean.”

“Yeah,” Danielle is so proud and smug about having the latest scoop. “And he had such tight cargo pants that I’m surprised he didn’t look girly.”

“I know. His body looks so fit. He’s probably in Physical Contact classes.”

Oh no. I had almost guessed that this was going to happen. I had already noticed that his arms were muscular and he looked athletic and that it was only a matter of time until they said it out loud. I could feel their eyes boring into me. I’m pretty sure Arianna is not the type to take any Physical Contact classes, and Danielle definitely was not type to take Physical Contact classes. Why me?

“Hey, Leah?” Arianna was making the attack, like a lioness slowly approaching its prey. “You signed up for a bunch of Physical Contact classes, right?”

“Yeah,” I turned around and smiled, like I didn’t know what was going on. I hate this. I hate being the middle person. “I should have been able to get into Advanced Hand-to-Hand Combat and Advanced Self-Defense. My fingers are crossed.”

“That guy, if he’s in one of your classes, you wouldn’t… not tell us, right?”

“Which one? I kind of zoned out.”

“Oh, come on,” Danielle smirked and advanced on me as well. “You must have seen him, that guy that looks like a celebrity. We all know you have a thing for celebrities.”

“Oh, come on. This is unfair. A double team attack?” I tried to smile, but it hurts just a little to be reminded that your friend would pick a hot guy over you. “You guys know that I wouldn’t keep it to myself. Why would I do something like that? It’s not like I’m the one that desperately wants a boyfriend. Come on, it’s our turn.”

“Right.”

As I turned to leave, scanning my schedule, I swear I saw Alex’s arm snake around Danielle’s waist. She wasn’t complaining.