Chapter 5. New Arrival.

Loy and Lin looked at each other. Everything around them disappeared, they are floating in a blank space, as the words of the teacher Veta, interrupted the moment.

"Introduce yourself, Lin." the teacher asked.

Lin concentrated as she stood in front of the class. "Hello everyone, my name is Lin Hart. Nice to meet you all." she pleasantly said as she bowed forward.

"Thank you very much, Lin" the teacher continued. "Lin is a new student in our class. Lin comes from the city of Saraf,".

Surprised voices were heard from the students as Loy's eyes widened slightly in surprise. Although Saraf was located on the other side of the country, the event was so unusual that the news of what happened spread throughout the entire country in an instant.

"Everyone has heard the news about what happened there recently. I'm requesting you to respect the situation and show hypersensitivity. I am not asking but demanding that you all treat her in a nice and accepting way.", Veta said. "Lin, you will sit next to Nora. Please sit at your table".

Lin walked towards her desk as she looked up at Loy. Their eyes met again for a brief moment.

Dot, another student in the class - average height, brown eyes, with wild blond hair almost like his personality, was happy and excited. It was hard for him to hide his affection for Lin's appearance. Looking forward with a cocky smile, he waited for her to notice him, but in vain. Lin sat down at her shared table.

"Are you really from the city of Saraf? Did you see the man with the purple stone?" A question with excited curiosity was immediately shot at Lin from the girl who sat next to her.

Lin's eyes opened wide. Her gaze froze. Nora was so close to her that she could detect the uncontrollable trembling in her body. "I'm sorry!" Nora cried quickly.

Lin reset with a shake of her head and ignored her question. The class started, and for a few moments, Loy would look toward Lin, unable to control the childish smile on his face. He tried to catch her gaze again. He felt his heart begin to beat rapidly, seeking her attention. Suddenly, a loud voice was heard from inside of him.

"Snap out of it, you know anyway that sooner or later she will know. You have nothing to get your hopes up about her. You look pathetic." The voice mocked at him.

"Shut up." Loy answered back in a clear voice.

But his words had an effect on Loy as his mood dropped. He frustratedly leaned over his desk.

At the end of class, a horde of students stormed Lin with questions, who didn't know how to control the maddened crowd. This time was a good time for Loy to slip into the rooftop. Not that anyone besides Lin would have noticed anyway.

He watched the other students playing from the roof. He felt dejected. "In a certain place... I know he's right." He thought to himself disappointed. He looked up at the sky and blew a long breath as he closed his eyes. "Hey," a voice was heard behind him, which caught him by surprise.

He turned to see Lin standing there with a slight smile on her face. "I had to run away from there, they asked me so many questions I couldn't hear myself thinking." She laughed scratching her head. Her long brown hair is blowing in the open wind.

Fast transition to the classroom. A throng of students and among them Dot violently makes his way through. "Where did she go?!" he aggressively asked his gang. Two submissive boys.

One, Baj, chubby with black hair. His height was average, but he would appear shorter due to his weight.

The second, Toa, relatively tall and thin, also has black hair. Compared to Baj who had a round and dense face, he had an eagle nose and a mole on his cheek.

"How should I know?" Toa asked confused. Baj did not answer, being busy with his breakfast. "Let it be clear to you! She is mine! I saw her first!" Dot shouted at them all of a sudden. "Huh?" Baj asked confused, looking at the salami sandwich he had just unwrapped from its plastic wrap. "Concentrate you idiot!" Dot exclaimed as he slapped Baj's sandwich and knocked it to the floor. "Noooo!!!" Baj shouted heroically, his hand slowly reaching forward as he watched the sandwich drop in slow motion to the dirty floor. The sandwich hit the floor as pieces of salami fell out of it. Baj fell on his knees crying. Gloomy and depressed.

"Why would she even want someone like you? Slouch. All you care about is free food!" exclaimed Dot. "That's true..." Baj confirmed as he gathered the pieces of salami back into his sandwich. "Make it clear to everyone!" Dot threatened with his finger as he pointed it at Toa's throat. "No one dare to mess with her! Your job is to report to me anyone who even smells her way! Got it!?" Dot asked aggressively.

"She's yours! She's yours!" cried Toa threatened, throwing up his hands, still not understanding what was going on. Dot quickly disappeared from their sight and left the classroom to find her, excited and enthusiastic.

Baj and Toa wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads. "He's crazy!" Toa muttered to Baj. "Better with him than against him right?" Baj replied as he bit into his salami sandwich.

"Yeah… uh.." Toa hesitated, "Are you really eating that?" he asked disgusted. "I won't give up our relationship so easily." Baj replied with bravery as he kissed his sandwich affectionately.

Back in the rooftop, Lin is facing Loy.

"I assumed there would be no one up here so they wouldn't be able to find me... What are you doing here?" Lin asked with a smile.

Little did he know that the commotion was just an excuse for Lin to go looking for him. From the moment she walked into the classroom, she had been waiting for this moment, and she wasn't the type of girl to wait for him to make the first move.

Loy, in a slight shock, did not respond. The disbelief of the situation made him float in his thoughts.

"Uh… are you okay…?" Lin asked awkwardly. "I can go if you feel uncomfortable... I apologize." Lin said as she respectfully bowed forward and then turned towards the exit back to the school building.

When he regained his composure, he was startled to see the opportunity slip from his grasp. "No, don't go!" he shouted as he reached forward.

Lin stopped in her tracks and turned back to Loy again, confusion on her face.

Realizing that he had used a louder tone than he intended, he became even more stressed. He gathered his hand to his body. "Oh! I'm sorry! I... uh... I... I don't know what to say-" he stammered scratching his head with a wide, weird smile on his face.

"Can I join you?" Lin asked with a dreamy smile.

"Yes. Yes!" he exclaimed happily as he got up from the floor and invited Lin to his side. Lin moved towards him and leaned against the edge of the building.

"Wow... what an amazing view." she said impressed, looking down on the tree-covered skyline of the town of Nash. "Yeah, it's beautiful, isn't it?" he replied. "Why are you here alone and not with the other student's downstairs?" she asked curiously.

Loy felt his heartbeat. He was stressed.

He didn't know how to answer the question, but he knew that he didn't want to share the real reason why he wasn't with the other students.

"Umm..." he mumbled as he thought aloud and scratched his head, "I was cold... I was looking for a warmer place… so I went up to the roof which is closer to the sun…" he explained smiling a stupid smile.

"The sun is so far from us that it doesn't matter if you get on the roof of the building or not." Lin laughed loudly.

"Yeah… I didn't think it through" he laughed along.

But what she didn't knew was that the reason students don't come near the school rooftop is Loy.

Normally, it was a very popular place among students. It is their nature in adolescence to explore everything. check every possible limit. For Loy, the place became like a second home.

"Do you live in Nash?" he asked. "No... I live in a small place next to this city, in a town called "Gillua" she answered.

"Gillua?!" Loy marveled, "I lived there all my life!" he exclaimed.

"And if you need anything, you can ask me. The town is small, so everyone is within walking distance from each other. I can help you with whatever you need." he continued excitedly. "That sounds great, I'd love to." Lin replied with a little smile.

"This is your first day at this school, right?" Loy asked Lin. "Yes." Lin answered with a wondering look. "What is this thing" she asked in amazement as she pointed to a huge stadium structure next to the school.

"I assumed you didn't have one of these. It's quite rare." he noted. "It's a professional Energia battle arena. Basically, it's not the school's property. However, we occasionally get permission to use as the school principal, Mr. Wotan knows the right people. Occasionally, I watch the fights on the training ground from here too. The roof is a good place. You can see almost everything that goes on from here." he said with a satisfied smiled.

Soon the bell rang which signaled they should go back to class from the short break.

"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself!" he recalled quickly, "My name is Loy Sofen! Nice to meet you!" he exclaimed as he bowed respectfully to Lin.

"No need to be so formal." she laughed in response. "Nice to meet you Loy, I'm Lin." she answered back with a smiling eyes and a nod.

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Lin entered the classroom first, followed by Loy.

"Where did you disappear?" Shira asked her as she entered the classroom. The other students listened with interest to her answer. "I had to go to the bathroom" Lin laughed. Immediately after, she glanced towards Loy. He smiled back as he sat at his private desk.

The last series of lessons of the day began and soon ended as befits a short school day.

The students began to pack their things to get ready to go home.

"Hey Lin! Do you wanna hang out with us? We are going to city center." Offered Shira, with a pack of well-groomed girls behind her. "Come to think about it, where are you from?" she added to ask. "Gillua" Lin answered. "Gillua? What did you drop in a hole like that?" one of them asked in a condescending tone. "Don't be nasty Bertha," Sunny answered her bitterly. "We are not from there, but we can accompany you to the bus station that reaches there." she offered kindly.

"Thanks!" Lin replied, "But unfortunately I will have to decline. I have some business I need to sort out at school... new student affairs." she explained.

"Some other time then" Sunny said back. "Good luck!" Shira exclaimed as she left the classroom with her group. Lin waved them goodbye.

Dot was waiting in the corner of the room, by the door. He was steaming from pressure. He held his breath as he slowly approached Lin, planning his pickup line and the proposal to spend time together right after.

When he saw her radiant face, the sunlight illuminated her green eyes as she arranged her smooth hair behind her ear, at the last moment, he chickened out.

Shame filled him and he quickly ran away with it from the classroom. His gang follows him urgently, creating a great noise and mess behind them.

Lin looked towards the classroom door in confusion.

In the corner of the hallway, Dot's friends found him trying to catch his breath. "What is going on with you?" Toa laughed at him. "Shut your mouth!" Dot yelled back as he hit him on his head. "Ah!!!" Toa shouted in pain as he rubbed his hair, "Why did you do that?!" he asked in anger. "Why do I get so stressed around her?!" Dot thought to himself.

"Don't run so fast..." panted Baj as he arrives late to the assembly. "It's been too long now... it will look weird if I re-enter the classroom like I'm looking for her. I mustn't give her the feeling that I want her so much or she won't want me back. The first rule of the art of seduction" Dot planned to himself.

"Tomorrow... tomorrow I will ask her to go out with me. Tomorrow." he muttered to himself as he walked to the exit of the corridor into the schoolyard with his chest puffed out, proud as ever. His gang followed him as if they were his tail.

The rest of the students went home and only Lin and Loy remained in the classroom alone. As usual for Loy, who was used to being the last one to leave class at the end of the day. "Want to hang out together?" Lin suddenly asked him.

Loy blushed instantly. In addition to the sudden heat that had risen, he was confused and surprised.

"W... What... I… me?" he pointed at himself in shock, "There's no one else here." Lin laughed aloud. "I thought you said you had some plans to sort out... regarding new students or something..." he asked hesitant. "Kind of," Lin answered rolling her eyes, "getting to know the students in the class is also part of the duties of a new student also, isn't it?" she asked with a smile, "But I knew that if I told them that I was planning to hang out with you, they could make a story out of it. That's how it was from where I come from. But, I'm sure it works this way in every school."

"So, what do you say? Do you feel like it?" Lin asked politely. "Of course!" he shouted happily, reporting for the task immediately.

"So, what do you feel like doing?!" he asked enthusiastically, "We can go eat! Although... I don't have any money... "He muttered to himself as he emptied his pockets. He put his hand on his chin, thinking. "Umm... I don't really have anything to suggest that doesn't cost money… I can get you know Nash and all the interesting places in it… Or Gillua…" he wondered out loud.

"What about yourself?" Lin asked with a wink. "Oh! What?! Me?!" he fainted, but quickly got to his feet, stressed and in disbelief at what he heard, unable to stand still.

"Calm down, it was a joke." Lin laughed as she recognized his restlessness, "Don't you know pick-up lines?" she asked. "Pickup lines? Pickup of what?" he asked. "You don't know? A conversation starter. But In a funny way, to make the conversation easier." Lin replied. "Oh... so you don't want to get to know me?" he asked gloomy.

"No. no!" Lin called out apprehensively with a wave of her hands, "It was a joke, but I do want to get to know you. When I think about it suddenly, I don't know anything about you except your name." she realized for a moment. "Right... " he also understood it for a moment, "What can I say about myself?" He hesitated inside.

"More than I can tell about myself, I know what I can't. What do I say?" he struggled with his thought.

"My full name is Loy Sofen. I'm 16 years and a few months old I think... um... I have two parents... and one sister. Mira... I live in Gillua... I already told you that... um... what else…” he thought out loud. "You're talking to me like you're filling out a form" she giggled. "Let's go. We'll get to know each other in the process. If my new home is going to be in Gillua, maybe we should start there, right?" she asked happily. "Sure! " he replied jumping from joy.

"Why did you move to Gillua? It's quite the place. We barely get any new families here." Loy asked Lin curiously. "This apartment is an apartment that an official in Saraf City arranged for me after what happened... he worked at-" she paused as she took a deep breath. Loy noticed the seriousness of her tone. "At my mother's office…" she whispered with a distrait look. But, her sentence was quickly cut off by the sound of the opening bus doors. They stepped inside the empty bus.

"Gillua is really close to Nash, I guess you already saw that when you came this morning. Only a few minutes' drive. But Gillua is still considered a separate town from it that lies outside the city." Loy said.

During their short trip, Lin saw through the bus window the green fields between the two places. "Wow... the view here is something. I've never seen so much green... and vegetation... where I come from, the whole landscape is yellow from the sand of the desert and the crumbling rocks." she shared out loud. "The complete opposite from here. Sounds special." Loy replied. In a short ride, they reached the gates of the town.

"What is this?" Lin asked surprised. "I didn't notice it the first time I got here... It was late and dark... What are these walls? And what are those guards' posts on top of them?" she asked in wonder as they entered Gillua.

Around the town, there were high wooden walls at least 6 meters high. At their end, there was a guard in a post, guarding it with binoculars by his side. Every so often, he would scan the landscape with it. Shortly, they got off at the bus stop outside the town. Lin took a close look at the tall wooden polls.

"Huh? Didn't you have those in Saraf?" Loy asked surprised. "No... I've never seen walls like those before." she said.

"It's against the spirits" he replied.

"The spirits? What?" she asked with a raise of the eyebrows. "I thought it was a prank someone pulled years ago." she added. "A hoax? No... they're real. Didn't you have spirits in your town?" he asked surprised. "No... I've never seen a spirit before…" Lin answered with a slight feeling of missing out.

"Strange... To us, they come every day... but you don't need to be afraid. These are little spirits. We have guards at the entrance to the town. They destroy them quickly. Since they posted guards, we have never had any casualties from the spirits." Loy shared with confidence.

"Casualties? Wow... I didn't know it was that serious… did you ever seen one?" Lin asked, still surprised. "Of course! Lots of times. How could you not know about it? It's talked about a lot in the newspapers of our area. Didn't you get to read it?" he asked curiously.

"No... From where I'm from, we hardly ever bothered with it... there was a time when it was talked about more on the news a few years ago but I never paid any importance to it..." Lin admitted. "I was sure they were the result of a joke. To be honest, I'm still surprised by the fact that we're talking about it in a serious sense. I thought you were kidding me for a second. I always thought they were fiction." Lin repeated, suspiciously trying to double-check that Loy wasn't messing around with her.

Loy recognized it as he raised his hands to defend his innocence. "That's the truth. I'm not lying. If you want, we can wait one day to see a spirit elimination if that interests you. If we wait long enough near the posts, we should be able to see one." Loy stated confidently.

"Really?! Yes!" she jumped from excitement. "But are you sure it's not dangerous?" she asked right after.

"Of course. All the residents of the town have seen it many times. They are small. You have nothing to fear about." He calmed her down.

"So, you moved here with your mother?" he asked. Lin suddenly opened her eyes in shock. She shook her head slightly and immediately after her eyes became downcast. Loy, noticed it as quickly as it happened. He also noticed the weight the word mother held for her.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to! I won't ask any questions! I'm sorry!" he apologized stressed and tense as he begged for forgiveness.

"I moved here alone… I'm sorry but it's hard for me to talk about it..." she whispered with a pained look.

"It's okay! It's okay! You don't have to tell me anything! You don't have to do anything you don't want to! I'm sorry for asking!" he quickly replied as he continued to plead.

"Thanks..." Lin replied with smiling eyes as she looked at Loy. Seeing her glance, Loy's face turned red with a blush. He quickly looked away.

"The truth is that there isn't much in Gillua compared to a city like Nash or Saraf... we have one grocery store. If you quarreled with the seller, you're in real trouble. And he's the unforgiving, stingy type of person. Besides him, there isn't even one other store. Not even one that sells fast food!" He shook his head in disbelief.

"But, when you live in one such small place all your life, every corner has its own story, so you find ways to occupy yourself." Loy said as he looked at the broken cobblestones of the town. "Oh wait… it's winter now. So, it's getting dark soon. You said you wanted to see the spirit, didn't you?" he asked playfully. "Now?!" Lin asked enthusiastically. "Hopefully," he replied with a smile.