At the end of classes, the teacher asked Lyan to stay behind and clean the classroom. He didn’t mind much, since he had done it several tis before.
Without further ado, he grabbed the broom and started sweeping without much enthusiasm, with chanical and repetitive movents.
The classroom was empty, and the silence was only broken by the brushing sound of the bristles against the floor.
His phone vibrated in his pocket, so he took it out with one hand while continuing to sweep with the other.
It was his father.
Lyan stared at the screen for a few seconds, sowhat surprised. It had been a while since they last spoke.
’Whatever...’ he thought as he sighed and answered the call.
"Hello."
"Are you okay, Lyan? You took a while to answer," asked the voice of an older man on the other end.
"I was cleaning the classroom..." Lyan replied quickly.
"Ahhh, I see. I’m glad you’re still attending classes."
His father continued with trivial questions: how he was doing at school, if he had friends, and how things were going in general.
Lyan lied effortlessly. "Everything’s great," he said in a neutral tone.
Then ca the question that made him stop.
"Do you have a girlfriend yet?"
Lyan fell silent, staring at the broom in his hand for a mont.
"No. I don’t," he finally answered.
"Oh... what a sha." The disappointnt in his father’s voice was clear. "Your younger brother already does. And he’s also working on sothing he didn’t want to tell about. You should talk to him and learn from your younger brother."
Lyan rolled his eyes, annoyed. It was always the sa. Always comparing him to his younger brother, the exemplary one.
"I have to go, Dad," he said hastily. "We’ll talk later."
He hung up without waiting for a response and stood there for a second with the phone in his hand.
"What a pain..." he muttered.
"Lying so shalessly to your father is... hmm. I can’t quite find the word."
A voice echoed from the doorway, making Lyan turn around imdiately.
Leaning against the fra was a girl with short blue hair down to her shoulders and eyes of the sa color.
Sophia Bennett.
One of the most popular girls in the academy.
Lyan cursed internally. Lately, he seed like a magnet for popular girls.
He just looked at her and scoffed, going back to sweeping as if nothing had happened.
But only a few seconds passed before he looked up again; she was still there, not having moved an inch.
Lyan, already sowhat tired, turned around to face her.
"What do you want?"
Sophia tilted her head, placing a finger on her chin as if thinking about what to answer.
"Do you think you’re that important for to want sothing from you...?" she said, downplaying Lyan’s question. "Anyway, I was just bored."
She paused briefly and continued.
"I just finished cleaning my classroom. Seems like they made you do the sa thing."
Then she pushed herself off the fra and turned toward the hallway.
"Well, I’m leaving. Take care," she said without looking back and walked away.
Lyan stared at the empty doorway for a few seconds before continuing to sweep.
- - - -
When he finished and started leaving the academy, it was already late.
He had his backpack in one hand and walked without hurry toward the exit, but suddenly soone grabbed him roughly by the shirt and slamd him against the wall.
Lyan looked up only to see Lucas in front of him, wearing the sa irritating smile as always.
’You’ve got to be kidding ,’ he thought, annoyed.
Unconsciously, he clicked his tongue, making Lucas raise an eyebrow.
"What’s wrong, asshole? You think you’re sothing for sighing like that?"
Lyan looked at him in silence, tired. He no longer felt like pretending to be scared.
"Hurry up," he said without emotion.
Lucas looked at him in surprise for a second, hesitating. Then he rembered Lyra’s face, making him tighten his grip on Lyan’s shirt in frustration.
The right hook landed straight on his cheek, sending Lyan to the ground with blood in his mouth and his glasses thrown to the side.
He spat out the blood and searched for his glasses without hurry, putting them on calmly.
When he looked up, Lucas was staring down at him. Then he clicked his tongue and left without saying anything else.
’Looks like he’s not in the mood today...’ Lyan thought.
Without further ado, he slowly got up from the ground, adjusted his backpack, and finally left the academy without looking back.
- - - -
A few minutes after Lyan disappeared into the distance, Sophia appeared walking slowly through the sa exit.
She had her hands clasped behind her back and a small smile on her face.
’Looks like Lyra is up to sothing...’
She thought as she began to leave.
"I should set my plan in motion..." she murmured with a smile, casting one last glance at the darkening sky.
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