How Things Changed Forever.. PART - II

CH 4: Just Clicked Together

His eyes blurred slightly as he read the time. 

3: 12 am.

Kai rubbed his eyes for the nth time since evening. After turning in all his online business courses' assignments that had been due since the time he was shot, he had busied himself with searching a new space for himself. Of course, the elder Granger had been extremely helpful, providing him with a shelter when he was in a desparate need of it, and fairly, Tyson hadn't really been much of an annoyance since. But Kai didn't plan to overstay their hospitality.   

He had been sending subtle signs to his grandfather that he planned to stay in Japan, and not just for three months. He was quite sure that they would notice the large sum of money disappearing from his account, especially when they knew that he made it a point to sparingly use it. 

And the tiny outhouse he had rented for the last two months weren't going to be enough. Hence, that was how he found himself awake until three on the very first day of highschool. He begrudgingly shut his laptop down, for he had finally found himself a few flats that might suit his needs. He needed at least a few hours of sleep to function tomorrow.

******

Ray had left the floral studio way more early than was really needed. He had really wanted to avoid Aunt Rosa's questioning gaze. Having arrived nearly an hour early, he had had a lot of time to explore the school. He went from corridor to corridor, floor to floor, learning the location of the indoor sports section, outdoor sports section, the library, the laboratory, and everything else the school had to offer.

The teal coloured house uniform along with the navy blue school blazer looked quite out of place on him. His limbs also felt quite restricted as he wasn't used to wearing such fitting formal clothes. His hair was still tied in a long white ribbon, which still attracted many pairs of curious eyes.

As he stood outside the classroom, waiting for his teacher to call out for him, Ray felt plenty nervous. Well, one might find it questioning as he found himself very much at ease with thousands of people watching him bey-battle at a stadium. 

But there's the thing, Ray was highly confident about his bey-blading skills, to at least put up a good show if not winning them all the time. But this was a completely different issue. He was smart, but his schooling had been pretty much basic and easier than what was offered here. He had to really, really hard to graduate with flying colours.

Ray was grateful for the smartphone in his hands for keeping his nerves in check and make him look busy as he randomly swiped left and right. He wondered where Kai was. It was five minutes past nine. Kai was never late and he was quite sure that Kai wouldn't even bother attending the orientation program, since it wasn't compulsory for sophomores. He had been counting on sharing the stage space with Kai when the teacher introduced them to the class, hoping it would be less awkward then.

The door opened as Miss Stacey called him in. A loud round of applause started as soon as he entered. She flashed him the tiniest of smile as she stared introducing him. He just felt more worried about not having done anything to earn that applause. His eyes swept through the room, not knowing what to do with his hands with so many expectant eyes looking up at him. He waved his hand with a bit of awkwardness as he caught a pair of amused eyes trained on him. "And I would like..."

Kai was already seated at the far corner of the room, near a large window. Luckily, he had been placed in the grey house itself, his uniform not terribly deviating from the colours he usually wore. With his hair just bordering between tame and casual, he looked like the epitome of grace of a highschool student.