EPISODE 5

Naomi did not want to wake up, her alarm rang again and again

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

She buried her face deeper into the pillow.

“Five more minutes…”

Thennher eyes snapped open and she scremed, “…INTERNAL MARKS.”

She sat up instantly, “OH NO—”

The next fifteen minutes were chaos.

She rushed through everything hair half-done, bag barely packed, almost tripping over her own shoes while running out.

“This is his fault,” she muttered, “Everything is his fault.”

By the time Naomi reached college, she was early. Too early.

The campus looked… different, Quieter, she almost thought it was holiday today.

Naomi stood near the classroom door, breathing heavily.

“…I hate this,” she whispered.

She checked the time again, Still early.

“Unbelievable.”

She pushed the door open and walked in.

Empty, Of course.

Naomi dropped her bag on the desk and sat down, resting her head on the table.

“I could’ve been sleeping right now…”

A few minutes passed.

Then the door opened again.

Chloe walked in, she froze, Then slowly looked at Naomi.

Chloe: “…who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”

Naomi didn’t even lift her head.

“Shut up.”

Chloe walked closer, suspicious.

“You? Early? Voluntarily?” she gasped, “This is history.”

Naomi groaned, “Don’t start.”

Chloe leaned on the desk.

“Wait wait...did something happen yesterday?”

Naomi : "........" (silence).

That was enough.

Chloe’s eyes widened.

“Oh my God. Something DID happen.”

Naomi finally looked up and said , “Nothing happened.”

Chloe : “That’s exactly what people say when something happens.”

Naomi glared at her.

Chloe gasped dramatically, " oh yeah he called you yesterday in his office didn’t he ".

“Did he scold you? Did he shout? Did he—oh my God...did he make you cry??”

Naomi : “CHLOE.”

“Okay, okay,” she raised her hands. “I’m calm.”

“…so what happened?”

Naomi exhaled.

“He called me to the staff room.”

Chloe:" I know and ??"

Naomi :" shut up or i won't tell you anything ".

Chloe : "ok ok ".

Then slowly a grin spread across chloe face.

chloe : “No way.”

Naomi immediately pointed at her.

“Don’t make that face.”

“What face?” Chloe said innocently.

Naomi : “That stupid face.”

Chloe ignored her, “What did he say??”

Naomi leaned back in her chair.

“He gave me a test.”

Chloe blinked, “…that’s it?”

Naomi stared at her, "and..."

chloe:" AND...?"

Naomi : “I got three out of ten.”

A pause.

And Then Chloe burst out laughing.

“THREE??”

Naomi : “Shut up!”

chmoe : “I’m sorry..I’m sorry but THREE??”

Naomi grabbed her notebook and lightly hit her arm.

“Stop laughing!”

Chloe tried to control herself.

“Okay, okay..fine what else?”

Naomi looked away.

“…he said if I’m late again, he’ll cut my internal marks.”

Chloe stopped laughing.

“Oh, That’s serious.”

Naomi : “I KNOW, that's why I'm here".

Naomi dropped her head on the desk again.

“He even increased it when I argued,” she muttered.

Chloe blinked.

“…he what?”

Naomi sighed.

“It started with two… then four… then six…”

Chloe stared at her.

“…you argued with him??”

Naomi paused, “…maybe.”

Chloe burst out laughing again.

“You’re insane.”

“I’m not insane, he’s insane!”

“Yeah,” Chloe grinned.

“And now you have to come early because of him.”

Naomi groaned loudly.

“I hate him.”

“Sure you do,” Chloe said casually.

Naomi narrowed her eyes.

“Don’t.”

Chloe : “I didn’t say anything.”

Naomi : “You were about to.”

CHLOE : “I wasn’t.”

Naomi : “You were.”

Chloe smirked.

“Okay fine,” she leaned closer.

“But you were talking about him a lot just now.”

Naomi blurted out, “…I was not.”

Chloe : “You were.”

Naomi : “I was jus... just explaining!”

chloe : “Mm-hmm.”

Naomi picked up her pen and threw it lightly at her.

“Shut up.”

Chloe laughed.

Till now the class was almost filled with students and the bell rang indicating the it was time of the class.

The door opened, silence fell instantly, Elias walked in.

Exactly on time.

Naomi straightened in her seat immediately.

Her eyes flickered toward the clock.

Then back to him.

She was early.

For the first time.

Elias’s gaze swept across the room and paused.

Just for a second, On her.

Then moved away.

“Open your books.”

Like nothing happened.

Naomi frowned slightly.

That’s it?

No reaction

Nothing.

She looked down at her notebook.

The class went on like usual.

But Naomi wasn’t paying attention.

Not because she didn’t want to but because something felt… off.

She found herself glancing at the front more than usual, At him.

Naomi : "Why is he acting like nothing happened?"

“…unbelievable,” she muttered under her breath.

Elias : “Miss Naomi.”

Her head snapped up.

Elias stood at the front, watching her.

“Since you seem to have time to talk to yourself,” he said calmly, “why don’t you solve this?”

Naomi froze.

Chloe whispered, “You’re dead.”

Naomi stood up slowly.

Walked to the board and keep staring at the question.

“…I hate my life.”

“Focus,” Elias said.

She tried.

Got it wrong.

Elias : “…try again.”

She tried again.

Still wrong.

A few students chuckled softly.

Naomi clenched the chalk slightly.

“I don’t know this,” she said, turning toward him.

Elias walked forward.

Took the chalk from her hand and wrote the first step.

Elias : “Start from here.”

Then stepped back.

Naomi stared at the board.

Tried again.

This time slower,more careful.

And finally “…done.”

Elias : “…correct.”

She blinked.

Then quickly stepped back to her seat.

Chloe leaned in immediately.

Chloe : “You just had a moment.”

Naomi : “I did not.”

Chloe: “You totally did.”

Naomi : “Shut up."

Elias : " miss chloe, do you wanna come and solve the next question".

chloe : " no thanku sir, I'm fine ".

The rest of the day passed surprisingly without disaster.

And when the last bell rang, Naomi packed her bag instantly.

Naomi : “Let’s go.”

But before she could leaventhe classroom door opened.

A girl stepped in, holding a diary.

“Naomi Pierce, chloe Carter, Ryan Blake, Mia Collins, Aaron Lee….....”

Naomi frowned.

“…why does that sound like trouble?”

Chloe stood up immediately.

“Oh, this is definitely something fun.”

Naomi grabbed her arm.

“Wait—where are we going?”

Chloe just grinned.

Naomi ( in mind) : "That grin, i knew it something is definitely gonna happen."

Naomi sighed.

A few minutes later they reached the playground, a group of students had already gathered. The students were talking non-stop then suddenly a voice came from behind

“If you’re done, we can start with some warm up.”

The P.E. teacher stood in front, clapping once, catching everyone’s attention.

"Dylan Carter. I’ll be handling your P.E. from now on.”

His gaze moved across them.

“We’re doing festival sports trials today.”

Naomi blinked: “…we WHAT?"

Dylan:" Any problem here miss ?"

Naomi: “I’m Naomi,” she said, crossing her arms. “And I don’t remember signing up for this. So can I leave?”

“Then who signed up for you?” he asked, calm.

Naomi : I don’t know!

" I did! I'm sorry" Chloe pouted, eyes watering.

“I just wanted you to join me…”

Naomi :" what.why.are you crying? Hey it's Ok I will do whatever you say just stop crying. ok?? "

Chloe : really??

Naomi: "yeah "

Dylan:" ok so i think the problem here is solved" so “We’re doing relay trials for the festival.”

Naomi blinked ,“…relay?”

Chloe : "you said you would do anything I say".

naomi : ughhh fine.

dylan : The rules are simple , teams of four. Pass the baton, reach the finish line.”

Naomi ( in mind ) : That does not sound simple.

The teacher glanced at his list.

Team 1: Ethan Brooks, lucas Reed, Ava Mitchell,

And Sophie Turner

Team 2: Noah Hayes, Jason Miller, Emma and Lily Bennet.

Team 3 : Naomi Pierce, Chloe Carter, Ryan Blake, Mia Collins.

They took their positions, Naomi stood at the last point the final runner.

“…why am I last?” she muttered.

“Because you’re the main character,” Chloe shouted from her spot.

“THIS IS NOT A STORY—”

dylan : “ON YOUR MARKS!”

Naomi groaned, “This is how I die.”

 “GET SET—”

“Chloe, if something happens to me—”

“GO!” The whistle blew.

The first runners took off.

Ryan ran first for their team.

Fast but not fast enough.

By the time he passed the baton to Chloe they were already behind.

Chloe grabbed it and ran.

“…OKAY THIS IS HARDER THAN IT LOOKS—”

she somehow managed to pass the baton to Mia

without dropping it.

“GO GO GO—”

Mia ran.

Better than expected.

But still they were behind.

Naomi watched from the last position , Her stomach dropped.

naomi : We’re losing.

The baton came closer and Closer

“NAOMI—” Mia reached her.

The baton almost slipped ,Naomi fumbled—

caught it.

Barely.

“…oh my God.”

And then she ran.

Slow at first.

Her legs felt heavy.

Her breathing uneven.

Everyone was ahead.

naomi : “THIS IS WHY I DON’T RUN—”

chloe : “NAOMI!”

She glanced to the side And froze for half a second.

Chloe stood near the finish line holding something.

Naomi: A paper??

Then her eyes widened.

Gojo Satoru??

Naomi’s eyes widened, “…you wouldn’t.”

Chloe grinned, “Oh, I WOULD.”

She started tearing it.

Naomi : “NOOOO .....WAIT STOP.."

chloe : “RUN FASTER THEN!”

Naomi didn’t think, didn’t hesitate.

She ran.

Faster, her steps grew stronger.

The gap started closing.

One runner ahead.

Then closer.

Closer.

“You’ve got this!” someone shouted.

Her heartbeat pounded in her ears.

Just a little more.

One final step And .......

She crossed the finish line.

For a second it was silence and Then...

“—WAIT, SHE WON—?!”

Cheers broke out.

Naomi bent forward, hands on her knees, trying to breathe.

“I… hate you…” she gasped.

Chloe ran toward her immediately.

“BUT YOU WON!”

naomi : “Give me that—”

Naomi snatched the Gojo page and held it like her life depended on it.

Naomi: “You’re insane.”

chloe : “And you love me.”

naomi : “…unfortunately.”

Dylan the P.E. teacher approached, handing her a water bottle.

“That was impressive.”

Naomi blinked “…huh?”

“You were last when you got the baton,” he said, “And still finished first.”

She shrugged slightly, “Motivation maybe .”

He chuckled “Ever thought about joining the sports club?”

Naomi shook her head immediately.

“No.”

“Think about it,” he added.

“Travel, competitions… prize money.”

Naomi “…money? Real money??

dylan : yess!

That got her attention.

For a second.

naomi : “…I’ll think about it.”

Before he could say anything else she grabbed Chloe’s arm and started walking away.

chloe : “HEY—”

“You almost killed Gojo,” Naomi snapped.

Chloe laughed “Worth it.”

Naomi looked down at the page again.

“…not funny.”

But she didn’t let go.

From the upper corridor someone stood watching.

His gaze lingered just for a moment on Naomi.

Then he turned away.

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