Project: Socialize (Chapters 1-197)

22. Classroom Conflict

When I entered the classroom, it was the usual scene, with the other students chatting and laughing with their friends. Some students glanced over at me and immediately returned to their conversation. Loyd was seated at his desk and a group of people surrounded him, chatting it up with him. I didn't pay much attention to them and squeezed down the isles to my desk.

Muria was already seated in her desk next to mine, and as always, she didn't look over at me even when she noticed me approaching. With the usual indifferent look on her face, she stared at the screen of her smartphone, reading a novel.

After I sat down in my seat, with my left arm as a pillow against the surface of my desk, I rested my head on my arm. With fatigued, bloodshot eyes, I gazed out of the window at the skyline of the city in the distance. Since my school was located on an elevated hill, from here one could see the taller buildings over the shorter and closer concrete buildings.

I yawned as my eyes became fixed on the birds that perched on the power lines in the not too far distance. The soft humming of the air conditioner slowly lulled me into a faint slumber.

"Finally about to decompose?" Muria said to me, and I turned my head to look over at her, who still maintained her eyes on the ebook on her phone.

"Yeah," I responded with a sigh.

"You look awfully tired," Muria said, once again without looking over at me.

Does she have like a third eye or something because...how?

"Didn't get enough sleep last night," I forced my head off of my desk and lean all the way back on my chair.

"Is that so?" Muria put away her phone as the bell rang, signaling the start of the school day.

The rest of the school day gone on as usual, but what was different was that I wasn't able to take in most of the lesson. To be honest, I don't care for the lesson at all because I could always get a consistent passing grade. However, I didn't want to draw attention to myself so I forced myself to fight the urge to fall into a deep slumber.

As the day progressed on however, what eliminated all signs of my drowsiness was history class after lunch. It started like usual, with me eating the food that I bought at the convenience store, alone in the corner at my desk. I ate in silence, yawning occasionally, and sitting in the desk next to me was Muria, who also ate from her packed lunch in silence. Despite our silence, the volume was still high near us as those numerous other students brought their desks over to Loyd's, putting the desks up against each other, and eating their meal together.

These people...so selfish. Don't they know some people are tired and want to eat in silence?

I heard a gentle sigh coming from my right, and looking over in that direction, I discovered that Muria seemed to be quite bothered by their loudness.

"Hey Muria," I said in an intentionally loud voice, "don't you think those people that are loud and obnoxious are selfish?"

Muria looked over at me with a somewhat confused expression in her face. However, her intelligence immediately allowed her to pick up on my plan. Thus, with a faint smile, she continued accordingly with the script that I had in mind.

"What a surprise," she smiled, "that we would have something that we agree on."

"Right?" I said, mimicking the voice that these social lovers used when intentionally talking down on someone.

I always find it fascinating how humans yearn to bully and put others down. However, because bullying isn't allowed at school they reverted to these dirty tactics, intentionally brushing against the boundaries while delivering scarring damage to others. I've seen this numerous times, and every single time, not a single person stood up for that person that was being targeted. I admit, I didn't either. However, that is to protect ourselves from becoming the next target. Therefore, it is human nature to stay quiet. Because of this, I despise humanity.