"Bang." The office door was abruptly pushed open from the outside.
"Eh? Alice, haven’t you gone for lunch yet?"
The newcor was a middle-aged male teacher, his hair thinning but stubbornly combed towards the center of his head.
Initially, his face lit up with surprise upon seeing the beautiful Alice, but then his gaze shifted to Sam standing in front of her, and his joy visibly faded.
"Sam is here too?"
It was quite normal for this teacher to know Sam, just as many in the school were aware of Angel’s presence, many knew of Sam as well.
The adage ’beauty is power’ holds true in any era, in any country.
Of course, envy from those of the sa gender is inevitable.
Sam glanced at the balding teacher, then turned his attention back to Alice.
Due to the unexpected arrival, the sparkle in Alice’s eyes dimd and vanished in an instant, a hint of regret lingering. Her gaze remained on the young boy’s neck, just as Sam’s fingers had just brushed against it.
He even let out a soft ’hiss,’ as if feeling the pain of the wound.
His acting was quite convincing, seemingly a reflexive whimper upon touching the wound.
Finally, Alice shifted her gaze away from Sam and looked at the teacher who had barged in.
"Oh, it’s nothing much, just discussing club matters with Sam. It’s all sorted now. Sam, you should go have lunch. Just rember what I told you."
"Okay, Alice..."
With that, Sam left the classroom.
...
That was a close call just now; Sam’s ’scar’ was almost exposed.
If the male teacher hadn’t arrived, the situation would have been more challenging to handle. Sam would have had to pretend to be under hypnosis and honestly confess that he was either forcefully kissed or seduced by Angel.
Explaining that would be tricky, and though he could have managed, it would have deepened Alice’s suspicions. This unexpected turn of events was obviously the best outco.
Indeed, one can never be too careful. It seems everything is under control, but it’s essential not to let any part of the plan fail. Caution is key.
Due to the delayed trip to the cafeteria, many of Sam’s favorite foods were already gone.
However, Sam didn’t complain. He wasn’t picky and was content as long as he had enough to eat.
As Sam sat in the rather empty cafeteria, three figures suddenly appeared before him.
Initially, he thought it might be so sort of mishap or that the persistent club president was up to so underhanded sche.
But when he recognized them as Asher and his companions, he relaxed, feeling even more at ease than if he had seen Team Rocket.
Despite their potentially intimidating behavior towards their peers, these three were actually quite naive and simple at heart.
Of course, this wasn’t to whitewash their past actions. They had indeed caused harm and possibly even psychological trauma to so students.
They sat across from Sam, staring intently at him.
Sam continued eating calmly as if nothing had happened. The three of them just looked at each other, creating an awkward atmosphere, with none of them able to break the silence.
Finally, as Sam was finishing his al, he looked up. "You three, what’s up?"
Asher hesitated before speaking. "Lately... we haven’t been bullying other students or trying to collect protection money anymore." Surprisingly, he admitted this.
Sam couldn’t help but nod with a hint of amusent, "Why tell this?"
Indeed, even if they resud bullying other students, it had nothing to do with Sam.
He wasn’t a hero, just a man trying to safely navigate this world.
After a mont of thought, Asher said, "I know this isn’t enough to prove we’ve turned over a new leaf... but I still hope we could have the chance to be friends with you."
Sam frowned.
"It’s not like... you’re not elentary school kids anymore. Is being friends with soone like that important? Just live the life you choose now. Whether I’m your friend or not won’t impact your life’s trajectory. Isn’t it a simple truth that you’re the only one who can take responsibility for your life?"
Sam’s words left the three boys exchanging puzzled looks.
Asher, appearing a bit troubled, lowered his head and his voice. "We understand that... it’s just that we want to change. Even though we’ve stopped doing those things... the other students are still scared of us.
I know it’s because of what we did before, but we really want to change our way of life. So maybe we need soone like you to occasionally remind us, to guide us towards change. We really don’t know where to start, it’s like..."
Jace, the boy next to him, quickly interjected, "It’s like having strength with nowhere to use it!"
The shorter boy nodded vigorously, "Confusion, we’re really confused!"
What sort of strange, youthful drama is this?
How could he even help them? Take them to confess to a priest? That seed inappropriate.
But the earnestness in the eyes of the three was too sincere to be faked; with their capabilities, they couldn’t mimic such emotions.
Sam sighed and set down his utensils. "Honestly, I don’t know how to help you. But there’s a concept you might consider."
"Please tell us, Sam!"
"Well... it’s about not deliberately doing things that are drastically different from your past behaviors. Perhaps just living a normal life like other students, studying normally, and letting those small incidents in life awaken your true kindness and gentleness might be a better approach."
Asher furrowed his brow slightly. "You an..."
Jace seed to catch on. "Be more natural?"
Sam nodded. "Exactly, be more natural, not so forced. With ti, people around you will see your change, and probably by then, you’ll realize your lives have beco entirely different. That’s all I’ll say on this. As for being friends with ... let’s keep it natural.
The day we can be friends, we’ll naturally beco friends."
After finishing his advice, Sam picked up his empty tray, ready to leave. It was then that Asher rembered sothing important.
"Right, Sam, there’s sothing I need to remind you about."
"What is it?"
"Brody seems pretty angry lately... he’s even criticized and punished a group of students at school recently. The foreboding mood isn’t great, be careful he might have other plans against you."
Of course, Brody would be upset, having lost a significant amount of money.
Sam smiled and said, "Alright, I got it, thanks."
With that, he left with his tray.
As he walked to the classroom designated on the club application form after school, Sam pondered whether he had changed anyone’s life.
He couldn’t imdiately conclude because whether it was the trio of Asher, or others like Angel, Alice, Zoe, their intersection with him might just be a part of fate.
For now, he couldn’t arrogantly claim that his actions had altered certain tilines. All he could say was that he was steadfastly following the path he believed was right.
Sam’s steps halted in the quiet corridor, stopping before the closed door of his destination.
The club activity room... 103.
He stood up straight and knocked on the door.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Soon, a voice from inside responded.
"Co in."
It was an unfamiliar, yet unexpectedly pleasant and lodious female voice.
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