Chapter 7: 6 [a lunch disaster]

At precisely noon-thirty, the lunch bell rang and Third period came to an end. The clear morning skies had become overcast with thick sullen clouds by now; a bolt of lightning crackled against the murky sky, heralding the rumbling thunder that followed. Translucent raindrops began to speckle the classroom windows as everyone filed into the corridor with haste. 

“Finally,” Liam muttered under his breath while we squeezed along the congested corridor together. “Jesus, I’m so hungry I can eat the wood off the staircase railing. Avery, what are you getting for lunch today?” 

“The usual chicken rice,” I said absently. 

Terasia, who was walking beside me, hesitated. “What kind of delicacies does this land have to offer?” 

“Delicacies?” Liam exchanged a funny look with me before shaking his head. “You won’t be finding anything remotely close to a delicacy in school, unfortunately.”

“I-I see,” she mumbled. “Then, what do you people eat?” 

“Anything that is tolerable to your taste buds.” He laughed. “You can try the Western stall if you want a proper meal. They sell the most expensive stuff, but from what I have heard, it’s the best the canteen has to offer.” 

Having dropped her standards, Terasia gave a grimace of a smile. 

We took the stairs down to the ground level, where we were subsequently confronted by a huge, disorderly crowd of sophomores trying to jam into the narrow sheltered walkway that linked the West Block to the North Block all at once. 

Liam clicked his tongue at the unbelievable chaos. “At this rate, we won’t have enough time to eat and make it to Fourth period…” 

“You can go with them.” I pointed towards the parade square, where some of the more impatient ones had decided to risk getting soaked by the rain by running across it to the canteen.

“If you go, I will go,” he said confidently. “Terasia, what is your vote?” 

“Me?” She glanced at me, then at the unmoving crowd in front of us, before nodding her head at Liam. “I don’t mind getting wet.” 

“Then, it’s decided.” Holding his bag over his head, Liam flashed us a fearless grin and shouted, “last one to the canteen is treating the rest to lunch!” 

“Huh—wait, you bastard!” I immediately gave chase, shielding my eyes from the pouring rain with my hands as I roared after him. “Liam, get your ass back HERE!!” 

“Avery, you’re too slow!” He turned around and raised his bag high up in the air to taunt me. “Get ready to pay for my lunch—!” 

The rain had made the ground slippery, and Liam nearly lost his balance after his heel skidded on a small puddle. I didn’t hesitate to pounce upon his momentary distraction to close the gap between us and pull a mocking face at him.

“See ya later—”

“Not SO FAST!” 

I let out a surprised cry as his hand suddenly grabbed onto the leg of my pants. 

Instead of recovering from his near fall, Liam had used his momentum to lunge forward and yank me down with him. We both fell and rolled onto the wet, muddy ground at the same time, screaming in panic and laughter. 

“You. Are. An. ASSHOLE!” I howled, clutching my knee in agony. Though thankfully it didn’t bleed, the skin around my kneecap was bright flushed red after scraping it against the ground. 

“Holy hell, I think I just sprained my damn ankle!” Liam yelped back, struggling to claw up to his feet like a wounded zombie. His bag had burst open from the fall, sending his textbooks and papers flying in all directions. “NOO, MY HOMEWORK!!”

Terasia finally appeared in front of us, a half-amused, half-concerned look on her rain-stained face. “Are you two alright?” 

“I’m alive, at least…” Liam groaned and raised a shaking finger at his bag. “C-can you help me put my stuff back into my bag?” 

“You’re still worried about that?!” I yelled in a mixture of disbelief and amazement. “Terasia, give me a hand please—we got to bring this blithering idiot to the infirmary quickly!” 

 

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“Why, if it isn’t Liam and Avery, my favourite duo. What can I do for you today?” The school nurse, Mrs. Marie, raised an eyebrow as she examined our dirty rain-drenched uniforms. “Were you two playing ice and water in the field?” 

“Ice and water? Please, Mrs. Marie, I haven’t heard about that game since primary school,” Liam said, grimacing as he plopped down on an empty bed in the school infirmary. 

“Liam thinks that he sprained his ankle after falling in the rain,” I said helpfully. 

“You…think?” Mrs. Marie knitted her brows in a frown as she took off Liam’s soaking wet shoes and socks. “Hmm, looks like your luck has run out today. It definitely looks like you have stretched the ligaments supporting your joint here. Good judgment indeed.” 

“Mrs. Marie, I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or an insult…o-o-ouch!” Liam winced in excruciating pain while Mrs. Marie wrapped his swollen ankle in an elastic bandage. 

“This is to keep your joint in the correct position and prevent further injury, bear with it for now,” Mrs. Marie calmly said. “You, girl, over there—” she pointed towards Terasia standing behind me “—can you get me an ice pack from the freezer and put it on his ankle? And Avery, help me put a pillow below his ankle to elevate it. I’m going to get some medication from the cabinet.” 

I quickly took a pillow from the adjacent bed and slid it under Liam’s bandaged ankle as instructed. Meanwhile, Terasia returned with an ice pack, which she gingerly placed on top of his bandage. 

Liam managed to crack a joke despite his pain. “It’s heartwarming to see that you still have some humanity in you after calling me an asshole, Avery.” 

“Shut up,” I chided him lightly. “This is the consequences of your own actions, and you know it.” 

“At least I didn’t lose.” 

“You really are an idiot, aren’t you?” 

“Please give me some space, you two,” Mrs. Marie said as she brought a small blister pack of orange tablets to Liam’s bedside. “This medication is called Ibuprofen. I’ll prescribe you three days’ worth to relieve the pain and swelling in your ankle. You must follow the instructions written on the back carefully and don’t take more than the recommended dose, understand?” 

“T-that’s a lot to take in, Mrs. Marie,” Liam said. “But yeah, I get it.” 

She handed him two tablets and a glass of water. “The effects should start working in about fifteen to thirty minutes. Until then, just take a rest here. Avery and…sorry, girl, what’s your name?”

“It’s Terasia, Mrs. Marie.” 

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“I don’t think I have seen you around before, are you a new student here?” Mrs. Marie shook her head and continued, “never mind about that. I’ll have to inform your Fourth period teacher to excuse you three from class later. You and Avery, please look after him while I’m gone.”

We nodded our heads, and Mrs. Marie hurriedly grabbed a file from her desk before stepping out of the infirmary.

“I don’t suppose that you kids have eaten lunch, right?” she said just before closing the door. “There’s a stash of cup noodles under my desk. Don’t tell anyone else about that, okay?” 

The door slid close with a thud, leaving just the three of us inside the small, white-walled room. 

“Right then, I’ll be taking a nap for the time being,” Liam announced, wincing again as he shifted his weight on the bed. “Wake me up when she’s back, Avery.” 

“Mm, okay.” 

Terasia gave me a worried glance. “What about your knee? You didn’t tell the nurse about your own injury earlier, is that really fine?” 

“No worries, it’s only a scratch,” I said reassuringly, pulling up the leg of my pants to show her my knee. “It’s really nothing compared to Liam’s injury.” 

“But even if you say that, your knee is looking a little red and raw for a human…” Without warning, she bent down on her knees and held her hand over my wound. 

I panicked a little. “W-wait, Terasia, what are you doing?” 

“Be still,” she said, speaking in her usual gentle voice, yet having a strangely commanding tone to it. “I’m not as skilled as the elven race, but I think a minor injury like yours should be manageable.”

My eyes widened momentarily, but I didn’t dare voice out the thought in my head. 

Terasia began to chant a quiet incantation, her voice soft but steady. The words of her chant were ancient, powerful and captivating with each solemn line, belonging to a language that spoke of another world. Of a world I used to know. A world I had loved. 

A world I had once sworn to protect. 

As she spoke the words, her aquamarine eyes began to glow a deep emerald. A warm light radiated from her hand and enveloped my knee. 

I inhaled sharply. I knew this magic. 

A long forgotten memory was dragged out from under the hazy fog of my subconscious and to the surface. 

Relax, Hero Stefania. Allow my sister to tend to your wounds. 

“Your sister?” A pause, followed by a painful gasp for air. “Reflando, you never mentioned that you have siblings.” 

A laugh reminiscent of wind chimes swaying in the breeze. 

I wasnʼt intentionally obscuring such a fact about myself. Itʼs just…itʼs a little hard to talk about my sister, especially back in my forest. 

“Oh? Why is that so?” 

Because, you see…my sister is the Crown Princess of the elven race. 

“The elven Crown Princess?” A frown, then a nod of understanding. “I remember meeting her once. Her name should be…”

The vague recollection came to an abrupt end as Terasia stopped her incantation. 

“That should do it,” she said, breathing a relieved sigh. “How are you feeling now, Avery?” 

I blinked and realised that my eyes had suddenly misted over. 

“Avery?” Terasia snapped her fingers in front of my eyes. “Hello? Oh no, did I do something wrong with the spell—” 

“Nothing. Itʼs nothing, really.” I hastily blinked back the unexpected tears filling my eyes and looked down at my knee. My wound had completely healed, the skin around my kneecap unblemished as if I had never scraped my knee in the first place. “T-thank you, Terasia.” 

“No problem,” she said, her aquamarine eyes still holding a hint of worry. She paused as if wanting to say something to me, then shook her head and managed a smile. “Are you feeling hungry? We should open up some cup noodles to eat.” 

I nodded my head. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” 

“Oh! Thereʼs so many flavours to choose from…” Terasia quickly rummaged through the box tucked away under Mrs. Marieʼs desk. “What flavour do you prefer, Avery?” 

“Ah…seafood flavour will do. You can get the same for Liam as well.” 

“I shall choose…hmm, kimchi sounds interesting, Iʼll try it.” She stacked the three cup noodles one atop the other and looked around the infirmary. “Do you know where I can find hot water, Avery?” 

“Thereʼs a water dispenser in the corridor outside,” I said, pointing at the door. 

“Okay, Iʼll be right back!” The door closed shut, and I painfully released a breath that I didnʼt know I had been holding the entire time. 

That memory just now… 

Thereʼs no mistaking it. It was a memory from my past life. 

Then, if she can invoke such a memory in me with her magic…as I have suspected, she is a reincarnated individual from Eltshion too. 

But…who was she in my past life? 

I frowned, trying to dig into my clouded memory, but the answer eluded me nonetheless. All I knew is that Terasia had known me as Stefania, and she has the ability to use magic like the elves. 

As I thought…I will have to ask Terasia myself to find out the truth. 

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