Chương 58: We Are Dropping Out Of School

Soon, I found myself back at school, in my dull, mundane maths classroom. Like usual, I was at the back of the classroom, looking forward at the countless rows of tables and students in front of me. Unfortunately, I didn't have a phone anymore, which was upsetting, but at the same time, because I was a Hopper now, the reasons why I needed a phone in the first place had dwindled. I shared a row with Cayman, Ellie and Devon, the three Hoppers from Planet Zero.

Cayman and Devon were listening intently to the teacher and just keeping it casual, whilst Ellie had simply laid her head down on the desk. Across the aisle sat Theo and Ben, who were chatting amongst themselves, and sitting two rows in front of me was Daniel, who, surprisingly, was all by himself. There was no sign of his friend Jamie Denton anywhere.

"Turn your textbooks to page 157," the teacher explained.

"That includes you two, Theo and Ben." Theo and Ben did as told. They were also trying to portray a casual demeanour. Once I flicked my textbook to the correct page, I transported myself into my own world. A world that only I could see. I had just learnt skill creation, perhaps the most useful quality a skill user should possess. I had learnt how to create skills from scratch, using basic household items, such as a phone and sugar, and I had gained vital new skills to improve my profile.

I knew that things were only going to get better from here. Once the teacher was finished with his explanation, Cayman turned his head to look at me. Words were about to escape from his lips.

"Last maths lesson," he whispered to me.

"Then we're getting the hell out of here. To hell with school." I nodded, embracing the fact that Cayman's acting when at school was truly awful.

"If you wish to drop out, please fill in this form with all the required details."

"Thank you sir," Cayman said when all the forms were handed to him. There were eight forms in total, one for every Hopper that the school possessed.

"I can't believe it. We had one dropout the other day, and now there's eight more? Those eight people didn't even show up for half of the week, because they all seemed to be 'ill'. This is ridiculous. What are teenagers doing these days?" I heard the teacher's snide remark clearly from the hallway. Cayman handed me one of the dropout forms, but I wasn't interested in filling the form in just yet; I wanted to know who had just dropped out. Was it Jamie Denton, who wasn't present during the maths class?

Or was it someone else who I didn't know? Was Jamie just sick and that was why he didn't show up? If it was Jamie, then that could be a cue for trouble, since he had heard a brief overview of the skill user world. He could use this newfound time to do thorough research on the skill user world and potentially cause trouble. Just those thoughts alone worried me. A whole slew of unanswered questions began to fill the tank inside my brain. We walked into an empty classroom to fill in the forms.

We did so during lunchtime, when everyone went about their own business outside, meaning there wasn't really anyone around who could stop us. There, I took a seat next to Daniel and thought about how I was going to ask him about Jamie. After all, I still had social anxiety, something that I hadn't overcome yet. I tapped Daniel on the shoulder.

"H-Hey," I muttered in a quiet voice.

"I just want to ask you something."

"What's up?" Daniel smiled at me, asking that question in a calm and collected tone. On the surface, there were no visible signs of hostility or indignation in his voice.

"I noticed that your friend wasn't in maths class this morning," I murmured, still unable to raise my voice.

"It's been bugging me since I heard the teacher talking about someone dropping out a few days ago."

"Are you asking whether it was Jamie who dropped out?" Daniel asked, successfully deducing the reason for my question. I nodded subtly.

"You've hit the nail on the head," he replied simply.

"H-He dropped out?" It was Daniel's turn to nod.

"He dropped out," he repeated.

"Before we learned skill creation, when we were still on Earth, I got a text message from him saying he had plans to drop out. I didn't think he would actually do it though."

"W-Was it a shock to you that he dropped out?" Daniel nodded again.

"I've been friends with Jamie for more than ten years. For a while, he was the only friend that I had. He understood everything about me to perfection, which no other person could do. And for that, I felt a sense of gratitude, since back in the day, I was like you, Robert. Stuck in my own world." I gave Daniel a huge grin, which made him chuckle.

"You've opened up now, right?"

"I have."

"Do you know why Jamie decided to drop out?" Daniel sighed and hung his head, implying that he knew exactly what the reason was.

"He said he got hired by some successful business," Daniel began.

"They gave him a job offer and he took it without having second thoughts. When I asked why he instantly agreed, he said that the pay was really good and that he could provide substantial amounts to his family if he took the job."

"I-Is he in some sort of dire situation financially?" Daniel shook his head.

"Luckily, he isn't. His family actually has quite a lot of money. They live in a nice house in a nice area. Guess where they live." I shrugged my shoulders; I had never seen Jamie walking to and from school before. Maybe he usually gets dropped off.

"Denton Way," Daniel said, then he burst into laughter afterward, as if the joke was something straight out of the best stand-up comedy shows out there.

"Cool," I responded bluntly, not amused by his petty jest. Denton Way was just a few blocks away from my house.

"Anyways, we've sidetracked. Let's get back to talking about Jamie." I nodded.

"He said that he was going to send me money for being such a good friend," Daniel continued, finally diverting back to the topic in question, "but I haven't received anything from him yet. Well, he's just started his job, so I think the money will come later."

"He seems like a nice guy, though, so he'll definitely send you some money," I replied, although I based my sentence on just the physical features Jamie possessed. After all, I seldom hung out with Jamie back when he was still at school. I debated about it in my head, and eventually, the side that said I should say the sentence won, leading me to move my mouth and let the sentence escape. However, I didn't want to give Daniel false hope, since you can never judge a book by its cover.

"It's a shame, but a part of me feels glad that he's finally found what he wants to do. Now, it's up to us to fulfil our own desires and explore the world in our own way."

"As Hoppers," I added.

"Yes, as Hoppers. Maybe I'll make Jamie jealous with all the money I make as a Hopper." The conversation reminded me that Daniel was actually a nice guy. He didn't have any hostile intent directed at me and my friends, and his voice was soothing and calm, a testament to his benevolent nature.

"Hey, are you guys even filling in the forms? The sooner we do this, the better!" Cayman's impatient nature was starting to show, revealing the cracks in his seemingly perfect personality. He walked over to us, showing his completed dropout form. His handwriting was horrendous, but at least all the boxes were filled to the brim. Ours, on the other hand, were still at least eighty percent blank.

"Oh for god's sake, just hurry up!" Immediately, we lowered our heads, grabbed the pens at the side of the room, and began filling in the relevant sections of the forms.

"What do you think our parents will say when they find out that we've dropped out of school?" Ben asked quizzically, determined to know the answer. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. However, the answer he got wasn't what was in his expectations.

"Shut up!" Maya shouted, taking her eyes off the form she was filling in.

"Don't ruin this perfectly good mood with your silly remarks!" The one thing that I found odd about Maya's appearance was the absence of the golden crown on her head. Unfortunately, that could expose her identity as a Hopper, and people were prohibited from wearing caps and hair accessories as grand as a crown inside the school.

"You're overthinking things," Theo said simply in a calm and collected manner.

"Don't think about that for now. Think on the bright side. If you suddenly develop the same mindset as Devon, we'll all crumble to smithereens."

"Hey, leave me out of this!" Devon interrupted, thoroughly inspecting what he had written down. A long, awkward silence followed.

"Theo, Robert, Ben, Daniel," Maya said, feeling emboldened and breaking the silence after what felt like hours.

"I have a proposal for you all." That prompted Theo, Ben, Daniel and I to sit nearer to Maya.

"Now that we've all completed our solo missions, and now that we're dropping out of school, how about we go to each other's planets and have a look around?" That wasn't a bad idea. It could intrigue me, it could pique my interest. Therefore, I nodded lightly. Theo, Ben and Daniel seemed to have the same idea. Ben and Daniel also nodded, whilst Theo said, "I'm down." Maya, satisfied with our responses, gave us all a bright, beaming smile. This was a million times better than the life I had yearned for.

This was something not even out of my wildest dreams. Once the conversations had finished, I looked down and scrutinised my form. There were so many sections to complete, some of which required at least a few lines of writing. So, after blocking out all the intrusive thoughts in my brain, I grabbed a pen and began filling in all the necessary details.

There was some time left over, which meant that we could go outside and enjoy walking around the school grounds for one last time. Just like on a regular day, the kids were enjoying themselves, hanging out in large groups with some playing football on the concrete. Somehow, our group consisted of eight people: me, Theo, Ben, Maya, Daniel, Cayman, Ellie and Devon. It felt surreal since I had rarely been in a group this large prior to this.

As our group walked out of the school doors and into the playground, other people began to cast fleeting gazes at us, as if something was wrong. And soon afterwards, they all burst into conversation.

"That's an insane lineup right there."

"I never thought Theo and Ben would end up in a group of friends."

"Yeah, right, considering they used to absolutely obliterate anyone in their way in the past."

"That's not the most odd thing about that group."

"What is?" Some of the conversations about Theo and Ben managed to reach my ears. It was only because they were not used to seeing Theo and Ben with other people that they were like this.

"Wait, I think I know what you're getting at. Is that the guy who's always on his phone by himself?"

"What, that Robert dude?"

"Yes!" Unsurprisingly, some of the conversations were about me. Of course they were. Those ignorant fools only knew about me because I was an eccentric one, someone who preferred to be by himself rather than with other people. And once something unusual happened to me, it would almost certainly turn into unnecessary gossip.

"He's actually with other people now?"

"This is a miracle!"

"He's not on his phone anymore!" Yes, I wasn't on my phone anymore. But that was because that damned Cayman Grace took it off of me and made it into a damn skill!!!

"Wait, who's that cute girl in the middle there?"

"Who? There are two girls in that group. And Devon." Who were they talking about now? Was it Maya or Ellie?"

"Holy shit! I feel like I've just been hit by a ray of extreme beauty! How the hell did she find a crown so beautiful?" As soon as we heard that, all of our gazes shifted towards Maya, who had somehow managed to pull out her crown from her inventory, placing it neatly on her head. How did she manage to sneak that into school??? Cayman looked poised to chastise her, but Maya had already run off in another direction.

"Hey, Cayman! What's up with your new group of friends?" Other students began to encircle Cayman, prompting Cayman to divert all of his effort into trying to quell his boiling anger. I could tell that his original goal wasn't to talk to other people, it was to relax and chill for ten minutes.

"Why did you decide to drop out of school? We need you here, mate!"

"Huh?" Cayman didn't know how to answer. Despite displaying contempt, he had to answer. He just didn't know how.

"Tell us!"

"Well… we decided to start up our own business," Cayman said hastily, telling a blatant lie.

"Really? Tell us more."

"S-So, the eight of us here, oh, wait, the seven of us including that girl wearing the crown, have become business partners and we're off on a business venture together," Cayman lied.

"That's crazy. How's it going now then?"

"We've made a good profit in our first month," Cayman muttered, trying his best to remain composed.

"Profits are looking good so far."

"Wow. Good luck on that then!" Eventually, the crowd began to disperse, leaving Cayman shell-shocked and unconsciously pulling a face that perfectly depicted his internal irate nature. Maybe his social skills weren't that good either.

"Those little mother-""That was some lying skill you've got there," Theo said, giving Cayman a pat on the back, "although it might be more of a half-lie. There might be some truth in your words, since this is basically a real business venture."

"Don't mention it. Just leave me alone." Theo laughed heartily, knowing full well that this business venture thing that Cayman had made up on the spot was actually feasible.

"The main problem isn't that," Cayman continued.

"It's the fact that Maya ran off wearing that damned crown on her head! We're gonna be exposed if that happens!"

"How come?" Ben asked quizzically.

"You've seen what that crown can do! It's not from this planet. It's different from buying a product on the other side of the world and bringing it back home. That crown is from a different world, a different planet!"

"How does that expose us?"

"Just shut up," Cayman said, his voice filled to the brim with pure indignation.

"You're doing nothing to help my mood." I, on the other hand, held a different perspective. If I were Cayman, I wouldn't really give a damn. After all, the context of the situation is also important: we are dropping out of school anyways, and it is highly likely that we will never see the people inside this school ever again. This means that once we are gone, they would most likely never think about skill users and Maya's glistening golden crown ever again.

Whilst I was here, though, I so dearly wanted to say goodbye to the bench that I always used to sit on to read novels on my phone; after all, since we were dropping out of school, I was never going to see it again.

Maya sauntered away from her group of friends with a gleeful smile perfectly printed on her face. Everything was going well for her: she was dropping out of school, she had a new group of friends that actually cared about her, and she could show off her unique style to others by wearing her crown. Life is good, she thought to herself. As she rounded the bend, she found herself in an area where the others couldn't see her.

The place she found herself in had a true meaning to her, since it was the place where she used to hang out with her old friends. Yet those friends had ostracised her all because she had awakened. Just thinking about those despicable people instilled a surge of anger inside her, making her feel contempt towards them. They had said many horrible things to her, including many offensive comments, and finally, she was going to exact revenge on them.

After what felt like hours of searching the area, she finally found them. Her old 'friends', those people she had harboured resentment towards for the past month. She knew exactly how she was going to approach them.

"Hey." One of the girls turned around, diverting her attention away from the conversation. She was instantly entranced by her bewitching demeanour, her face portraying a look of pure shock.

"Maya?" she said incredulously.

"Yes, it's me," Maya replied, standing squarely with unwavering confidence and determination.

"Yeah, Maya is here." She only had one goal in mind, and she wasn't going to stop until that goal was achieved.

"Maya? Maya De Souza? What the hell is that stalker doing back here?"

"Yeah. Go away. We don't want to see freaks here in front of us."

"Let me get a good look at this… oh my gosh."

"What?" The girl who stopped mid-sentence averted her gaze from Maya and laboriously turned her head to face her friends. She had gotten a clear view of Maya, whose transformation was conspicuous. She was incongruous with her surroundings, a queen in a town of peasants. This encouraged the others to follow suit, turning around to get a good glimpse of Maya's countenance.

"What the hell…"

"How did she… get this beautiful?"

"How can you make dark hair look so shiny?"

"And that crown! How the hell did you get that crown?"

"I bet it's from one of those fancy dress stores. It's probably a cheap crown that she bought to try and appease us. That's not going to work, buddy, because we know what you are deep inside." Instantly, the views of the other girls changed. However, Maya remained silent, unfazed by the offensive, snide remarks. Instead, she just tossed back a few strands of her dark, shiny hair and smiled.

"What are you still doing here? Have you still not gotten over the fact that you're a stalker?" Silence.

"Go away, you freak!" Still, there was silence.

"We don't want to be acquainted with a stalker!" Maya's lips continued to curl up into a sinister smile. Finally, after listening to the multitude of offensive sentiments, she opened her mouth.

"Do you still think I'm a stalker?" she asked, directing the question at no one specifically.

"Do you still think I'm a freak?"

"Yes, we do."

"Well, this freak has now become a queen. What are you going to do about that?"

"Huh, queen. What are you going to do, assert your dominance on us?" Maya's sass levels were over the charts. She was akin to someone about to walk down the red carpet at a fashion show, leaving the audience bewitched. Somehow, the way she wore her school uniform suited the presence of the crown; her tie was loosened, leaving the top button of her shirt undone.

"Maybe," she said simply. [Skill, 'Strength (advanced)', has been activated.]"This queen's orders are absolute. And you haven't been following them!" Punch! Bang! The girls all covered their mouths with their hands; Maya had just punched the girl who was closest to her in the cheek. Her head flew back, and so did her body, and she hit the ground, writhing.

"This is what you get." Punch! Punch! Punch!

"It's only right that I reciprocate all of the hurt that you gave me that time!" Maya bellowed, thoroughly enjoying every bit of her outburst.

"It won't hurt for too long, unless you truly believed that I was your friend!" Punch! Punch! Punch!

"This is what you get for shunning me and sending me to the dumps!" They were all a mess; their hair was dishevelled, their uniform was creased and they were bleeding from their noses, their lips and from cuts all over their bodies. What Maya had created wasn't a massacre, but something similar to a massacre.

"Finally, I've shown you how a real queen behaves," Maya said as soon as her former 'friends' were all on the floor, unable to get up.

"Just know this. This queen is dropping out of school. Wipe all of the memories of me out of your brains, because this will be the last you'll ever see of the great Queen Maya." Then, she left, leaving the supercilious girls to suffer the karma that they should have suffered ages ago. Because after all, in this world, no serious wrongdoing should go unpunished.