Seth was in a hurry. His Mom had another meeting that morning, so she was not there to wake up Seth. The alarm clock didn’t help either. Seth woke up fifteen minutes before first period. He did everything at full speed thinking he could still make it to school without being marked as tardy.
Well, expectations do not always happen in real life. When Seth arrived at school, he was already thirty minutes late. He didn’t want anyone to see him walking nonchalantly through the front gate, so Seth entered through the secret passage. He thought no one would be there considering first period had already started. However, Seth heard muffled voices talking. Seth stopped on his tracks.
Seth observed the area. He saw two figures standing close to each other not far from where he was. He knew instantly that one of the figures was Gilbert Hugo. But who was the other guy Gilbert he was talking to?
Seth moved closer to have a better look of Gilbert and his company. He gasped when Seth realized the true identity of the guy. Yes, he could only see the guy’s side profile, but Seth knew him—he knew the guy even from his previous life. Gilbert was talking to none other than Simon Walsh—a third year student and the student council president.
During Seth’s previous life, he knew Simon Walsh as the student council president and also the top student in the whole school. Chuck Mallory’s achievement would seem like a child’s star stamp in kindergarten compared to Simon Walsh’s accomplishments. Even when Seth dropped out from school, he could still hear Simon’s name and achievements from different sources. Sure enough, Simon Walsh became a national treasure; Simon made a great impact in the literature scene in the country with his published books. He was considered as one of the greatest authors of his generation. Simon’s books were all critically acclaimed and some of them were even made into blockbuster movies. Simon Walsh was also known as a philanthropist. He established various foundations to help those in need.
So, it came as a surprise for Seth to learn that the great Simon Walsh was acquainted with Gilbert Hugo. However, when Seth remembered what Gilbert would become in the future he realized that it was not impossible for the two to know each other. Great minds do think alike, as they would say.
Seth could see how close Gilbert and Simon were standing beside each other. They were talking in hushed manner. What they were talking about might be something important based on the expressions on their faces.
“Please think about it, Gil.” Simon Walsh said. He even tapped Gilbert Hugo on the shoulder. “And please, no more smoking. It’s never good for your health.”
“Why do you care about what’s good for my health and what’s not?” Gilbert said—a hint of annoyance was evident in his voice.
“Gilbert…” Simon’s voice was pleading. “Your dad asked me—”
“Just leave, Simon. No need to concern yourself with me just because my father asked you to.” Gilbert Hugo lit a cigarette.
Simon was not backing off easily. “I’m not only doing this because of your dad. I am genuinely concern about you, Gil—”
“Shut the fuck up! And stop calling me Gil. You fucking annoy me.” Gilbert puffed his cigarette.
Simon Walsh looked at Gilbert for a second before leaving. Seth was not sure what the hell he had witnessed between the two.
Seth was about to leave when he heard Gilbert Hugo spoke: “Did you enjoy the show?”
Set coughed out of nervousness. “I-it’s not my intention to eavesdrop…”
Gilbert Hugo walked in Seth’s direction. “Relax. I don’t bite.”
Seth heaved a deep sigh. His nose caught the smoke from Gilbert’s cigarette. Seth coughed.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Seth saw Gilbert throw the cigarette butt on the ground and he stepped on it.
“Pa’r bxjs…” Vfat gfqilfv. “Qts jgf sbe tfgf? Qtja jybea mijrr?”
Xliyfga ujnf tlw j afjrlcu rwlif. “Mlgra mijrr lr mjcmfiifv yfmjerf atfgf’r j afjmtfgr’ wffalcu bo rbwf rbga. Xefrr, sbe vbc’a xcbk jybea atja, Zg. ijaf mbwfg.”
Efv kjr jc ecvfgrajafwfca ab vfrmglyf Vfat’r fwyjggjrrwfca.
“Qfii, la’r cba j mglwf ab yf ijaf rbwfalwfr. Gbc’a qgfrregf sbegrfio.” Xliyfga rjlv ab tlw.
Seth gave Gilbert a look of understanding. “I can see your point, but I don’t want to be marked tardy or absent. I want my school record to be immaculate.”
Gilbert raised an eyebrow. “Hmm, so you’re one of those students who care about their grades and academic standing.”
When Seth replied to Gilbert, his voice was serious and stern. “I don’t know about your circumstances, but for me, this is a chance to turn my life around. I have goals I need to fulfill. I possess dreams that are waiting for me to turn into reality. I don’t want to be a nobody anymore. I want to live a life that I can be proud of.”
Gilbert looked stunned. His mouth was slightly opened and his eyes show an unexplainable expression. Though, it only lasted for mere seconds. Gilbert looked at Seth intently. His fists were clenched.
Seth believed that he was going to be punched. Did he deserve it? Of course not! But, in Gilbert’s eyes, he believed otherwise.
However, seconds had passed with no single punch was thrown into Seth’s way. He heard Gilbert sigh. “Don’t look at me with evident fear in your eyes. I won’t punch you, Seth Wiley. I may be a bad guy in your opinion, but I don’t hurt just anyone. I respect your opinion. I respect your willingness to change. You are commendable.”
Seth felt ashamed for thinking that Gilbert was going to hurt him.” I don’t think you’re a bad guy, Gil…”
“You’re calling me ‘Gil’ now, huh?”
“Oh, my god!” Seth was in panic mode. He called the most fearsome guy in the school by his nickname. Seth heard the student council president call Gilbert by his nickname. It was stuck in Seth’s mind and he subconsciously did it, too. “I’m sorry—”
Gilbert tapped his shoulder. “It’s okay, Seth. You can call me by my nickname.”
Seth’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “W-what?”
Gilbert didn’t want Simon—the Student council president to call him by his nickname, but Gilbert gave Seth his permission. Also, what was the relationship between Gilbert and Simon? Seth’s mind was in shambles!
“Don’t sweat the small stuff, Seth Wiley.” Gilbert said with a hint of laughter. “Go to the classroom and do your thing.”
“W-what about you?” Seth asked.
“I’ll follow you in a minute. Just let me smoke a cig in peace.”
Seth nodded his head. Then, he left Gilbert and walked toward the school building.
When Seth arrived at the classroom, he was surprised to see that most of his classmates were gone. The only students he saw inside were Chuck together with his two minions—Greg and Jay. The three were busy looking at something on Chuck’s phone.
“Where are the others?” Seth couldn’t help but asked.
As expected, Chuck and his minions ignored him. Seth just shrugged it off. He sat on his chair and started to answer some exercises from the textbook.
In Seth’s previous life, his textbooks were always missing. Chuck and his minions would hide Seth’s textbooks for their amusement. He never told anyone about it in the past. Seth was so afraid to cause a scene, so he just accepted his fate in Chuck’s hands. But now that Seth had the chance to redo everything, he became a different person from his previous life. Seth made sure that Chuck wouldn’t have the power over him. Seth stood his ground against Chuck. Maybe because his bullies saw that Seth was not a weakling, the harassment was not severe compared to what Seth had experienced in his previous life. Chuck still mocked Seth by uttering hurtful words, however, Chuck’s words didn’t have any power over Seth’s being.
“How does it feel to be number one for the first time?” Chuck asked out of the blue.
“It feels normal.” Seth replied nonchalantly. “Well, it’s just a quiz, not a big deal.”
Chuck looked annoyed. “Just wait and see…”
Seth ignored Chuck and continued answering his textbook.
“Ahm, the English teacher asked us to tell you that you need to go to his office the moment you arrived.” The one who spoke was Greg.
Seth wrinkled his eyebrows. “The teachers are in the middle of a meeting right now. How I can I talk to the English teacher if that’s the case?”
Greg’s face became red in embarrassment.
“The teacher was here just a moment ago,” said Jay. “If you don’t believe us, it’s your call. Don’t blame us if you get scolded later, okay?”
It was a trap. Yes, Seth could feel that these three idiots were planning to do some idiotic stunt. Well, Seth decided to play along. He wanted to know what kind of plan Chuck was cooking.
“Okay, I’ll go and meet the teacher.” Seth could almost hear the three idiots sighing in relief.
“Have fun!” Those were Chuck’s words to Seth before he stepped out of the classroom.
For the benefit of the doubt, Seth really went to the faculty room to see if the English teacher was really there. However, an upperclassman saw Seth and told him to come back later if he wanted to talk to a teacher. The senior also said that all the teachers were currently in the meeting room.
Seth thanked the senior and went back to the classroom. He was not surprised to see that Chuck and his minions were gone. In a few minutes that Seth was gone, what kind of idiocy the three idiots could do to harm him?
He sat down and continued with his textbook. Seth made a mistake in one of the questions. He reached for his bag to get his pencil case. When he opened his bag, a shiver ran down his spine. There was a foreign object inside his bag. It was not there when he left home in the morning. The object was not also there when he left the classroom just a moment ago. The object was Chuck’s phone.
“Fuck!” Seth cursed under his breath. So, this was the idiot’s plan. They wanted to paint him as a fucking thief. When caught, Seth was sure to lose his chance to be the top student of their grade. He couldn’t afford to stain his student record just because of Chuck’s scheme!
Seth was thinking of a fast solution to his predicament, when he heard the door to the classroom opened. Seth’s heart stopped beating for a moment. He was going to get caught by a classmate!
“What are you doing?” asked a voice.
It was Gilbert Hugo! Seth felt a little relief.
“That’s the idiot’s phone. Why are you holding that, Seth?”
Seth was starting to panic. “I-I can explain…” He started to tell Gilbert about what happened.
“It was something that an idiot like Mallory could do.” Gilbert shook his head after hearing Seth’s explanation. “Give me the phone.”
Seth couldn’t believe what he heard. “W-what?”
“I’ll take care of it.” Gilbert had a serious expression on his face.
“What are you going to do, G-Gil?”
Gilbert smiled at him. “It’s better that you don’t know so when they asked you, you can’t tell them what you don’t really know. Trust me.”
“I trust you.” Seth uttered those words from the bottom of his heart.
“Go outside. I’ll handle this.”
“Thank you, Gil…”
Gilbert just nodded. Seth walked out of the classroom. His palms were sweaty. Nothing like that happened in his previous life. Maybe it was one of the consequences of Seth’s determination to change the course of his life.
*****
Fkng brats
Uh……
That was a dumb move
Gil’s gonna do something 😳
Bastards. Some people like to say violence does not solve problems but I beg to differ. Sometimes an ass whooping is very necessary. Thanks for the chapter.