NOVEL NEXT Chapter 19: The F-Rank's Stand
"Hello there," Logan said, turning away from the girls' gazes. The entire time he was seated, their eyes stung like the sharp of a bee's stinger. It was only made worse that he recognized some of their faces.
"Logan, there's no need to be shy," Sabrina continued, lips wide with a smile so genuine that he couldn't help but reciprocate. She grabbed one of the fries edging her tray, taking it up to her mouth.
"W-well... I suppose in that case—"
"Screw this!" Before Logan had the chance to speak, one of the girls already made her move, slamming her two hands into the table. "Sabrina, when you said that you wanted us to meet someone, I would've been fine with anyone, but him!" Then, she pointed her finger in his direction. "Look at him! He's F-rank! Even if he lost a little bit of weight, he'll always be trash!"
While Sabrina's eyes bent in disapproval, the other two students present—both girls—nodded along. Logan, on the other hand, remained silent.
Though her white hair waved with all the brilliance of a star and the grandiosity of a galaxy, purple dress clinging to her nicely shaped body, Logan couldn't help but find himself frowning at her sharp tongue. 'To think that someone so beautiful could be so bitter.'
"Emily, that is no way to treat him. He's human, regardless of social standing," Sabrina urged, fisted clenched ahead of her. Emily's face didn't change.
Though Sabrina's words were a nice sentiment, they were immediately contradicted by the ongoing conversation in the background.
"Hey, that's the F-rank with zero wins to his name."
"He showed up to the cafeteria? Man, that takes more balls than fighting a phoenix."
"Isn't that Sabrina at his table? What is she doing with someone like that?"
As the students in the cafeteria piled on their reservations, Logan looked between the girls, seeing how they each stayed silent in their embarrassment.
"I have to agree with Emily on this one," another voice resounded, coming directly from Sabrina's right. "The guy's an outcast. I don't know how I feel being associated with him."
The girl's eyes lacked the same youthful flame that Emily's did, instead, propagating a sense of maturity. In a way, she reminded Logan of his mother.
"Yeah... I don't discriminate or anything, but... I'm still not really comfortable sitting at the same table as an F-rank," the third voice added, almost whispering. Her hair was long, dipping nicely into a light brown. Almost to match her soft voice, her nose was blush in red, cheeks pale. Her gaze was almost glued to the floor, and her fingers constantly dawdled between each other.
"Jasmine, Amelia, now is not the time for this." Sabrina stood firm, letting go of her tray of food. "Don't you guys see? All this separation by class is stupid, and perhaps even dated! If you would take the time to actually talk to Logan, you would see that he's every bit a person as you and me—maybe even more!"
Eyes scorning, Emily side-eyed Logan. "You mean to tell me the human training bag sitting right over there is worth something?" Without warning, she lifted her hand to reveal a firework of mana from her palm—so dense that even without supporting his eyes, Logan could make it out. "Don't you see? With a single tap, I could kill him and all of his kind. How could some... thing like that be equated to me? And especially you."
Sabrina sighed. "Come on, Emily. You're being far too short-sighted." She lifted her closed hand in the air, raising just her index finger. "For one, how strong you are doesn't make you more valuable as a person." Then a second finger. "Two, if you didn't know already, Logan awakened his Gift." Finally, a third. "And lastly, even if you truly were better than him, that doesn't give you the right to talk down on him."
Laughing at the prospect, Emily stomped one foot on her chair. "Well, what do you think, Jasmine, Amelia? Should we give him a chance; get him to show us what he's made of?"
"What are you doing, Emily...?" Sabrina grunted, peering deep into her eyes. Emily didn't react.
"Don't involve me in this," Jasmine remarked, turning her head. "I don't partake in such childish games."
Clumsily, Amelia bobbed her head. "Yeah... you should really stop this, Emily..."
Emily waved her hand, breathing away their words."Sabrina, you talk about this 'Gift' that he's awakened, but do you know what I've heard?" Mockingly, she pushed her finger into Logan's chest. "I hear that he's lying for attention. I mean, you can sense it, right? There's nothing going on in that little core of his. To me, I think that he went to a body transmorpher, got a faux glow up, then got high on the infamy to the point that he lied about being a Gifted."
Logan felt his shirt's collar ruffle at Emily's words. It was Pixel, using her index finger to motion his attention. "Logan, this is bad. Why don't you just get out of here?"
"I didn't know you cared about me so much," he joked, covering his mouth with one hand. "But no, I can't leave. Sabrina wanted me to meet her friends, so I'll do just that."
Shaking her head, Pixel retreated into his shirt. "Alright, then. But just know, if you find yourself in a situation where you can't fulfill your end of the deal, I'm taking whatever little mana is in your core and hightailing it."
'Scary,' he thought, unknowingly grinning directly at Emily.
"The hell are you smiling for? Is something I said that funny to you?" Emily's teeth gnashed, seeming to grind the very air to dust. Although cold sweat trailed along Logan's brow, he still didn't feel nearly as scared as he would've just a day ago.
"No, I'm sorry. I wasn't smiling at you," he assured, open palms in the air.
She scoffed, turning her eyes down as if she were witnessing a bug crawl up her arm—then a laugh left her lips. "You think this situation is funny, don't you?" Without giving Logan time to respond, she stepped on top of the table, attracting the attention of everyone in the room. "Well, then. If you're going to be my equal, then that should extend to magic, correct?"
Sabrina shook her head. "Emily, you wouldn't..."
"Logan! Right here, show me and everyone else in this room that you possess a Gift! Commit even the simplest task of empowering your fist with mana and crash it into the table below!" she yelled, raising her arms in front of everyone.
The harrowing cluster of voices all fell into silence, the heads behind them all twisting in her direction. She smiled.
"Come on, cat's got your tongue? If you've truly awakened, then it should be an easy feat!" As she paraded across the table top like a lunatic, Logan could only feel his chest grow tighter. While him awakening wasn't technically a lie, he had the exact same issue he'd experienced since last night.
No matter what he tried, the mana in his core wouldn't react to his intent.
"Emily, stop this immediately! Forcing him to do something like this won't get you anywhere!" Sabrina pleaded, grabbing Emily's hand. Emily smacked it away.
"Sabrina, don't you see? Even if I wanted to, I can't stop now. Everyone in this cafeteria is a B-rank or above, and with that comes the expectation that you are strong. Of course, to gain such a reputation, we all must wear ourselves down to the bone," Emily mentioned, allowing her before-cynical tone to bleed more into theatrics.
Now pointing her hands directly perpendicular to her torso, she spun. "To eat in the cafeteria is an earned privilege, not a given! They'll take his indecisiveness as an admission of deceit! Now, imagine this: how do you think they feel that someone like Logan comes along and steps over that built-up pride by cowering behind your protection? Obviously, they're just begging for an excuse to get at him."
Caught off guard, Sabrina's eyes leaped to every corner of the room. In some students' faces, their thoughts were obvious—gripped fists, hardened expressions, and stone-cold stares. "No, that can't be..."
Logan knew, though he didn't mention it. All the beatings he took, the swigs of toilet water he was forced to ingest. Every single kid in the cafeteria was itching to get at him for intruding upon their space—the only reason he hasn't already being Sabrina's presence.
"Don't you see? If Logan doesn't prove himself now, then the punishment that he'll suffer will be worse than Selzehar's flames itself!"
While Amelia and Jasmine sighed, Sabrina trembled, breath rasped from her quaking chest. "Is this true?" she asked, poised to no one in specific.
The room was silent.
"Logan," Sabrina said, voice shaky, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen. How about you and I just get out of here—"
"Fine, then if you all must witness my Gift, you shall!" Like something clicked inside of Logan, both his posture and demeanor completely flipped. "Though, this display won't come without cost. Say, Emily, how about a deal? I show you my Gift, and you have to obey my every command for a month."
Emily stepped back, eyes wide. She tripped on her own words, then, confidently raised her lips into a smile. "A bluff to get me to back down, but no matter. I accept."