ALL NOVEL Chapter 28: No One Came to Pick Up
The next day at noon, as the 11:30 bell rang punctually, the entire class was already filled with the cheerful atmosphere of the upcoming holiday—
"Finally, vacation time! I'm going to sleep in big time when I get back home!"
"High school life is such a drag, and having such a sneaky supervisor like teacher Emmanuel is just plain bad luck!"
"Why isn't there a beautiful sexy homeroom teacher like in novels, ugh…"
"Anyone up for a five-man team match this afternoon? Let's get it set up!"
"Wait, aren't you guys worried about the monthly exams?"
"Exactly because of the monthly exams, we need to have some fun before the break. We can focus on studying in the last few days!"
"You make a good point, but it feels like if we have too much fun, we might overdo it."
"This crappy school does one decent thing with breaks—they start at noon. It feels like we've got an extra half-day off for free. It's like winning!"
Indeed, Thessaloniki First High School had a nice perk for monthly breaks—they started at noon, giving students the illusion of an extra half-day off. It felt like a small victory.
However, the time taken from summer and winter breaks far exceeded this half-day illusion.
Some anxious students, not wanting to return to their dorms to pack, would bring their luggage to the classroom in the morning, storing it in a small room at the back. When the bell rang, they would head straight to the room, grab their bags, and leave.
For students living far from the school, if their parents came to pick them up, some would go to the school cafeteria for lunch before heading home. Others, disliking the cafeteria food, would have their parents bring home-cooked meals or go to a restaurant outside the school.
Xanthia’s deskmate, Dematero, was one of those who had prepared everything in advance. Knowing his parents were waiting at the school gate, he was eager to leave.
When the bell rang, Dematero didn’t rush to the back room to get his things. Instead, he packed the textbooks, supplementary materials, and handouts he wanted to take home.
He packed a lot but still felt it wasn’t enough because he was determined to study hard for the upcoming monthly exams.
He often made such resolutions, but his actions often mirrored the certain trait of procrastination where he chastised himself for playing cards but still played when the time came.
Regardless, Dematero aimed to maintain his previous exam results, at least being in the top 10 of the class, with class rank 7 being his benchmark. In middle school, his worst rank was 16th, which he found shameful.
Moreover, if possible, he wanted to surpass Elena La Loannou as a sort of personal comeback.
He believed that if he outperformed Elena, he would have more courage and be more worthy of liking her.
Don’t laugh at Dematero’s thoughts—this is typical of high school boys’ innocent crushes.
Despite his confidence in the next exam, Dematero hadn’t realized that his good performance in the preliminary exams had made him somewhat complacent.
And due to his budding romantic feelings, he hadn’t fully focused on studying. He even spent more time writing than studying, resulting in a shaky foundation in subjects like math, physics, and chemistry.
While Dematero was packing, he noticed that Xanthia didn’t seem to be packing at all. Curious, he asked, "Xanthia, why aren’t you packing? Is your dad or mom picking you up today?"
Xanthia always seemed to maintain a happy and relaxed demeanor, as if nothing could upset or sadden her.
However, Dematero knew that ever since Jimmy’s bizarre lecture, where he claimed Dematero didn’t really like Xanthia but merely pitied her, there seemed to be a natural rift between them.
In reality, this so-called "rift" was just Dematero’s imagination. Xanthia didn’t feel any distance; she simply stopped forcing herself to complete the "Battle of the White Moonlight" task out of sheer pragmatism.
Yes, since then, Xanthia had essentially stopped playing the "Tea Sister Activation" mode. She had plenty of ways to entertain herself and didn’t need such clumsy playacting.
After Xanthia returned to her normal self, Dematero found it much easier to get along with her. However, he also felt a slight sense of loss because he thought that side of Xanthia was quite endearing.
As time passed, Dematero stopped obsessing over it. His true goddess was Elena La Loannou, and as for Xanthia, he was content to treat her as a good friend.
"No one’s coming to pick me up. I’m a day student, live close by, so I can just go home myself," Xanthia replied casually.
Dematero suddenly realized this and couldn't help but feel a bit envious. "Living close is definitely convenient. My home isn’t in this provincial city but in a subdivision in another city. It takes an hour and a half by car on the highway. Fortunately, we have a car, or it would be a huge hassle to get back."
High school students, unlike college students, rarely traveled long distances on their own unless their family conditions were really poor or their parents were too busy.
Dematero wasn’t from a wealthy family, but his mother was an elementary school teacher and his father a minor government official in the municipality. As their only child, with stable incomes, Dematero never lacked anything growing up. Plus, with his consistently good grades, his parents always provided him with the best possible environment.
His parents also practiced a relaxed style of education, encouraging him to pursue hobbies beyond academics. As a result, he wrote well and had beautiful handwriting, which earned him the appreciation of their teacher, Emmanuel.
However, kids from such backgrounds often lacked a certain fierceness. Dematero had a very good temper and rarely got truly angry. The only time he lost his temper for Xanthia was because Jimmy was excessively out of line. This incident showed how much he cared for Xanthia.
But after Jimmy’s "social death," seeing him become a laughingstock among classmates, Dematero felt pity and didn’t want to add salt to the injury.
What comforted Dematero was that Xanthia, who had every reason to despise Jimmy, didn’t use this opportunity to exact revenge.
Xanthia’s kindness made Dematero like her even more.
He shared all this with his good friend Glenn. Glenn also thought highly of Xanthia and increasingly believed that Dematero was blind for not taking advantage of the situation and instead pining for Elena La Loannou.
"Dematero, you’ll regret this someday," Glenn said meaningfully.
