Obstinate Elitists

20

For your Agility and Running class, you had surpassed one person on the second mile. And you were pretty damn proud of yourself for it.

Whistling under your breath while you walked home from school, you were feeling content for once. School wasn't as terrible as it usually was, minus the victim boy. Kicking a pebble from beneath you, you turned around a corner and stopped before a crossway. Other students were lingering there as well, waiting for the flashing green pedestrian light to signal the right to walk. Friends conversed with each other, all in their own world and speaking of mundane subjects. A pang hit your chest at the sight of it. It reminded you of the last day before your death... where you had hung out at the library with Riki.

Riki... you wondered how she was doing. Hopefully she wasn't feeling guilty for what had happened. None of it was her fault. The webtoon situation was still a little surreal, but it couldn't be that she had anything to do with it. Wait... if she read the webtoon, would you suddenly appear in the story as a character? Immediately feeling nauseous at such a thought, you rubbed your eyes and lowered your head. The handle of the bag was tightly gripped.

You had done so well removing your feelings, to charge ahead with no thought in mind. A relapse wouldn't be able to save you now. Doing internal breathing exercises with yourself, you calmed yourself. The light for pedestrians glowed neon.

Stepping out into the dark road, you safely crossed it along others. Then you proceeded ahead, arriving at a quieter section of a neighborhood. The deeper you went in, the more deserted it was, which was nice. Peace was always appreciated.

Your head turned around and you halted in your tracks. Behind you was a looming tree rustling with the wind. That was weird. You thought you heard footsteps. Was it your imagination? Shrugging, you resumed your walk and tried to brush the idea of it away.

Unfortunately, the feeling would not go away. It felt like eyes were stuck on your back, following your every move. Hair rising on your arms, you crossed them over your chest protectively. It came up all abruptly too. You didn't feel watched while you were on the main street, busy and crowded of other students. No, it showed up when you were alone. This was getting dangerous. Could it possibly be one of those sketchy men you spied on the other day? Did they somehow found you out, and now decided to seek revenge? Were they going to torture and kill you like they said they would do to that old man? Not again. You couldn't possibly die so soon in your second life.

Think! Use your damn mind, [Y/N], you silently scolded yourself. It was such a sad sight to behold when a top student in a previous life couldn't even do anything to get herself out of a tight spot. Instead of learning skills of the real world, you had delved into books and crammed information in your head. After all, you could barely cook an omelet with your own hands, much less know what to do to protect yourself.

Should you pretend not to notice the stalker? Whoever they were, they would be less likely to ambush you if you feigned oblivion. Or maybe you were walking straight into their trap.

Footsteps quickened and you kept your school bag near you. In case anything were to happen, the bag would be swung right into the intruder's face. There should be a good amount of textbooks heavy enough to knock someone out.

A rustle to your left cause your head to swing in panic. Much to your embarrassment, it was a squirrel, running at the top of some fences. Releasing a sigh, you continued your walk and kept your focus on the idea of home. It was the first time since coming here that you were this eager to reach that foreign house. It was cold, empty, and lifeless with only two people living there, but at least it offered a veil between this unknown uncertainty.

The large mansion loomed in the distance and when you arrived at the front of the steps, the only sound you could hear was the pound of your heart. Jerking the door open, you hurried inside and closed it shut, locking it. You even made sure to double check, spinning the door knob to see that it wouldn't open.