Chapter 33. Breakfast
Both Jayden and I met up with Syrus, and we all went down to eat at the cafeteria. Jayden quickly guzzled down his food, just as Syrus and I began talking. “What do you think Jayden’s opponent is gonna be?” Syrus asked while adjusting his glasses. “Hmm… It would have to be a famous guy for me to know.” I said, not wanting to spoil the big reveal to everyone. Jayden then cut in with a large smile. “I don’t care who it is, as long as I get an awesome duel!” Both Syrus and I looked at each other and shook our heads with a sigh.
The seat beside me was suddenly moved, and I looked to see Blair sitting down with a tray full of food. She had a large smile while she pulled her seat closer to mine. “Hey Blair!” “Hi Blair.” Both Jayden and Syrus said hello, but I was silent. I still didn’t know how to deal with her. Blair noticed my deepened frown while avoiding her cheerful gaze. She patted my arm a bit with a small chuckle while I tried to ignore her and eat my food in peace.
We ate for a while until… “Ah! Blair!” I then perked up from someone calling out to Blair, and I recognized the voice the moment I heard it. We all looked around to see Professor Banner coming over with his benign smile. I balled my hands into fists under the table to help keep myself calm. Being around Banner put me on edge, and the idea of him being alone with Blair made me sick. “Hey Professor Banner! What’s up?” Jayden answered back while I did my best to not let any of my anxiety show.
“Hello children. I just wanted to talk to Blair about moving her up to Ra yellow.” I let out a small sigh of relief from Banner not wanting to talk to her alone. “Oh right! I forgot about Blair moving up!” Jayden and Syrus were about to celebrate Blair moving up, but she cut them off faster, yelling her desire to stay. “I don’t want to!” Everyone in the cafeteria went silent after overhearing Blair yelling. All was silent as everyone’s eyes were on Blair.
Blair noticed how she was the center of attention, and quickly hid her face behind her hat. She glanced at me for help, begging me with her eyes to stay. A small wind tickled my arm as the spirit of the breeze asked me to help as well. I sighed as I stood up from my seat, knowing that the other girls wanted Blair to stay as well. I quickly patted her hat lower over her head to keep her from looking at me while I spoke to her. “Just say what you want… Just… not all of what you want.” I said that last part more silently, trying to stop some mishaps of me being announced gay since everyone still thought she was a guy.
Blair giggled a bit after hearing what I said, and nodded at me after she readjusted her hat. She then looked over at the confused Banner with a cheerful smile. “I’m sorry Professor Banner. But I want to stay here with my friends.” Banner scratched behind his head. “Are you sure young man? Your friends will always be here.” Jayden then chimed in. “Yea! We’re still friends with Lex, and Bastion! It doesn’t matter if you're not wearing red!” Syrus nodded with a reassuring smile to tell Blair that he would still be friends as well.
However Blair looked at me the longest, waiting to hear what I had to say. I sighed and shook my head while cleaning my tray. “I already told you what I think you should do. It’s your decision, not mine.” I was about to leave the conversation, but Blair grabbed hold of my sleeve before I took two steps. “Do you want me to stay?” She asked me. I could hear the slight anxiety she had, and frowned as I looked in her large brown eyes. She kept holding my sleeve, while I noticed the rest of the gazes in the room were now focused around me.
I sighed from the sudden attention, and looked upwards to avoid everyone's peering. I took a deep breath while forcing words from my mouth to leave this situation. “I would be… Unhappy… To see you go…” I then removed her hand from me, and went on my way to the kitchen with my tray. I placed my empty tray on the others, and looked to see Blair, Jayden, and Syrus standing right behind me. I flinched from their sudden appearance, and Jayden laughed while he patted my shoulder. “Looks like he’s staying here!” He cheered as they all dropped off their trays as well.
Blair smiled while she nodded at me. I frowned and moved ahead to lead our little group to morning classes. “There’s no need to be so embarrassed, Rakki!! We’re all friends here!” Jayden yelled with mirth in his tone. I could tell he enjoyed messing with me like this, so I just kept my mouth shut. “Ow,Ow,Ow,Ow!!” While I also held his head in one arm, and wretched my other fist into his head while turning it a few times.
I eventually stopped, and continued on our way while Jayden, and Blair were laughing with each other. Syrus was trying to see if Jayden was ok with the sudden attack I had given him. It was all so much noise and commotion, but not one that I could find within me to be unhappy with. I sighed again while we took our seats in the classroom ahead of time, and talked while other students trickled in.
Alexis, Jasmine, and Mindy all came in and took their spots beside Blair and I. “Sup Lex!” “H-Hello.” “Good Morning” “Mmm…” Everyone gave their greeting while I just grunted while nodding off at my desk. “Hey everyone. What are we talking about?” Alexis asked while they got settled in their seats. “We were just talking about Jay’s upcoming match.” “Yea, I’ve been wondering if I need any new cards to up the power of my deck.”
Jayden let out a groan from having to tinker with his deck more, and I knew the struggle. It was scary wondering if what you were doing was actually just making your deck worse. I spent a lot of time agonizing over whether to add one more card or not. “Why don’t you just ask Rakki?” Alexis asked with slight confusion from her tone. I popped my head from my makeshift pillow and squinted at her with confusion. ‘I remember everyone trying to add their own cards to his deck. Not pushing it on others.’
“Hah! As if he could help! All he does is rely on luck for everything!” Jasmine scoffed, breaking me out of my thoughts. “He does?” Blair was confused from the sudden hint of what my deck was, and Jasmine was happy to explain. “Yea!! He just plays a bunch of cards that rely on chance, but never fails with it! It’s so aggravating!! He can’t help build decks when his Deck is so strange! Jayden, don’t let him anywhere near your deck!” Jasmine was panting from all that she yelled, and was being consoled by Mindy beside her to help calm her down.
Jayden laughed a bit, while Blair stared at me with awe. I shrugged my shoulders and shuffled my cards while glancing at each one. I still had more cards to fill out my deck, and thought back to extra cards I may want. ‘Extra Cards…’ “Stupid Time Wizard! He never gets it wrong!!” Jasmine started back up again, while Jayden helped defend me from her wrath. “He likes Joey Wheeler’s kind of deck. He even helped me get the heart of the underdog that helped win me my match against Bastion.”
Blair then perked up with that bit of information about Rakki, and blurted out a question that plagued her since last night. “Is that who gave you your deck?” Everyone went silent from that question, and they all gave it some thought. It made sense. Joey was known for having a lot of luck as well, and his star card was the same as Rakki’s; Time Wizard. Alexis thought back to after she dueled with Rakki, and how he talked like he didn’t know about his own deck. ‘Did Joey Wheeler give him that deck?’
I scoffed from all the stares I was getting from everyone. “No.” I shook my head at the idea, and kinda wished it was true. I did always want to meet the guy. I still had no clue how or why I just woke up here. Everyone looked unhappy from how it wasn’t true. I guess they wanted to know someone who was close to a celebrity. “Sorry, I don’t really know where I got this deck.” That just confused them more, but class was starting up. “Wake me up after it’s done…” I whispered to Blair. She giggled a bit and nodded to me before I closed my eyes.