Koon Chai Cafe

Chapter Three - An Eventful First Day

Park

It took me a minute to get reacquainted with my surroundings. One minute I was looking down at my phone searching for my next class, the next I was on the floor having just been launched a full foot backwards. 

My assailant held out a bronze hand to me to help me up. He must be new then, only someone new or out of their mind would bother. 

I ignored his hand and lifted myself up off the floor, dusting myself off as I did. 

He kept his hand outstretched. "I'm so sorry about that," he apologised in a low voice. "I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm Kopter."

Whether he was new or not I couldn't quite tell. He looked just like the rest of them, effortlessly handsome and charming. Was it not enough to be part of the one percent, did the rich all have to be so attractive too? 

Now that I was standing straight he was much taller than I had realised, he had tanned skin and a mess of soft dark brown hair which had that carefree look that took hours and copious products to achieve. He had sharp model-esque cheekbones which covered part of his soft deep brown eyes and he smelt like an expensive cologne I wouldn't be able to pronounce the name of. 

He stooped down to pick up my book bag and held it out to me, smiling. 

"Thanks," I mumbled as I yanked my bag away from him.He looked taken aback for a second but regained his composure.

"Do you know where Lafayette Reception Hall is?" he asked. "I'm supposed to report there before class starts."

I rolled my eyes as hard as I could to let him know just how much of a pain in my neck he was being. 

"Are you blind or something?" I pointed to the classroom to my left "It's literally right over there." I assumed he was trying to make some kind of joke out of me. I never really understood their humour. 

There was a pause where he looked down sheepishly at the floor. "Do you have AP English next?" He asked in a small voice, "I'm kinda new and I could really use a friend to show me around..." 

He looked so pathetic that I almost felt bad for him. I sighed. 

"Look, I'm gonna tell you this once and only once. We are not friends, we are never gonna be friends. That's just how this place works, you'll figure it out in no time. So do us both a favour and brave this big ol' scary school on your own for now." 

I turned on my heel and started walking down the hall to English. I felt his eyes on the back of my head as I walked and I felt a stab of guilt in stomach. But it was better this way, it was better to be enemies off the bat on my own terms than have him realise we should be later on. 

I walked into English with my head down and headed straight for my desk in the far left corner. Professor Humza wasn't in yet so I buried my face in my textbook and read the same passage over and over again. 

The professor walked to the front of the class and cleared her throat and the entire classroom fell into silence, nobody would dare disrespect her. 

"Class, this our new student, Kopter Sittawat. He's joining us from Bangkok. I hope you'll all give him a warm welcome to Trinity Academy." 

I heard the girls next to me giggle excitedly as Kopter sheepishly smiled round the classroom. 

"Oh he's cute!" One of them exclaimed to another round of irritating giggles.