Jacob promised himself that he would never, ever get old of the sight of his classmates’ icy faces as they were attacked by flitting snow. Even with the snow cap pulled low over his ears, he could hear the annoyance oozing from their voices as they spoke.
“Okay,” said Rayne, burying her numb fingers into her pockets.
“It’s winter,” said Cara, the cold not seeming to affect her that much.
“Really windy winter,” Charlotte observed, shuddering and hugging herself.
“Just be grateful that it’s not the desert!” he tittered. The three of them turned towards him, and everything fell soundless.
Charlotte was the first to break the silence with laughter. “Jacob, you got a little something on your eyelashes!” He looked upwards, only to see flakes of snow collecting on his eyelashes. He brushed it off and glared.
“Ha-ha. Very funny Charlotte.”
“Sorry, can’t help it, amigo,” she grinned, holding her hands up and shrugging apologetically. She stuck her tongue out in guilt when she saw that Jacob was still eying her suspiciously.
“But we should be thankful that today isn’t the desert,” he grumbled. He eyed the three girls, who lowered their gaze and started fidgeting as their realized how lucky they were. Conditions were never so bad in the winter biome.
From time to time, Jacob would think of how weird it was that their classroom could change biomes. It did not, however, freak him out in any way. In fact, their varying learning conditions more or less fascinated him.He didn’t really care if it was ‘magic’ or not, it made school fun, much more fun than all the other schools he’d been to. The biomes were just an accessory; they weren’t really dangerous or anything along those lines. In winter, you could barely feel the chill due to some protection or whatever. Jacob didn’t really remember the details.
Charlotte tried pushing his feet, that were propped up, off the table when she walked past behind him. When his feet didn’t budge, she flopped the bobble on his cap and sat down in her seat. Cara and Rayne had already settled in their own seats and started their own conversation. A comfortable silence settled between Jacob and Charlotte.
Rayne was the first to speak up. “What time is it?”
“You should really wear a watch,” Cara said, rotating her wrist and bringing it closer to her face, squinting as she read the numbers on the digital display, “it’s 7:57.”
“I forgot, again…” Rayne trailed off with an embarrassed smile on her face.
“You always forget,” Cara hummed gingerly. Rayne really did have a knack for forgetting things. Jacob didn’t understand how she remembered to bring her bags. He was then reminded of the time when Rayne didn’t bring her bags to school.
Charlotte was glancing around the room. She was trying, quite obviously, not to be obvious. Jacob got a little annoyed by this. Why not prod? Prodding is fun.
“What, or who, are you looking for?” he asked firmly. Upon seeing Charlotte’s taken aback reaction, Jacob laughed internally, to save what little bit of dignity she had left. This was going to be a lot of fun.
“It’s just, Jase and Cole are never late,” Charlotte mumbled. A hint of pink flushed over her cheeks. Gotcha. Charlotte always put her emotions on display and let her feelings show way too easily. “Jacob. I know that look. Shut. Up.”
“I didn’t even say anything! Why? Does someone have a crush?” He mocked in a baby voice and making goo-goo eyes in attempt to aggravate her even further.
“N-no! I’m blushing because it’s cold and-” She was such a bad liar. Thankfully, the bell drowned over her voice, saving her in the process. Jacob took his feet off the table and stood up. Charlotte stood up too. Rayne and Cara were waiting outside. Jacob hated the assembly, but he’d be worse off if he was late.
Charlotte went to walk out but then she stopped, turning back to look at Jacob. Her eyes were steady and unwavering.
“I do not have a crush,” she declared stubbornly. Not that that was enough to make him feel guilty for teasing her, though. Or convince him.
“But I don’t even know which one-” he faltered when her eyes did not stray from his. They bore into his soul, unblinking and unwavering, forcing him to accept what she had said as the truth. It was basically a staring contest between the two of them before Jacob could feel more snow building up on his eyelashes. He blinked, sighing.
“Fine, fine! Just stop with that look, okay?” He rubbed his eye begrudgingly and muttered, “It’s creepy.”
Charlotte turned without another word and made her way through the thick layer of powdery snow caching the floor.
From what Jacob had heard about the tundra biome system, the classrooms would filter away the excess snow when students were present inside. Most of the information he’d forget because they were too complicated to understand.
Jacob absconded through the door before Charlotte could slam it shut, ducking under her arm and twirling around to face her. He was met with Charlotte’s ‘I’m-honestly-so-done-with-you’ face. His winter clothes were replaced by the hideous school uniform that clung too tightly to his body. He looked around and saw other students exiting the class, also trying to adapt to the uncomfortable uniform.
Jacob finally made his way to the assembly hall. On the way in he caught two blondes, 15-year-olds, examining him and whispering intently as he walked past. He ignored them and sat down in his usual seat. Row 5 Column 1. Rayne, Charlotte and Cara were already seated in the row in front of him.
Though the assembly hall had been practically deserted when he came in - nobody liked to come that early - people started to pour in almost immediately.
He studied the area around the door and saw Jase pushing his way through the crowds. Even with the swarms of tardy people flooding in through the assembly door all at once, Jacob still could see Jase. He was too tall, standing at 6 feet with shockingly pale hair. Right behind him was a head of messy dark hair; Cole, his brother. They made their way towards him, arguing about punctuality and laziness.
Hidden by the two trees was Ms. Cary, their principal. She sauntered her way towards the stage with her humble dress flowing as she walked, the usual announcements and notifications on a clipboard cradled in her arm. She tied her greying hair into her usual tight bun quickly and neatly before picking up the microphone. Jacob sank into his seat.
Thirty minutes. He had to sit through thirty minutes.
Author(s):
stupid format won't work with us. it's been a while. hope you enjoyed :D
to intro: http://eaglesyoungwriters.blogspot.my/2016/10/trailed-by-nature-intro.html
to chapter 3: http://eaglesyoungwriters.blogspot.my/2016/11/trialed-by-nature-chapter-3.html
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