Gift Zero

After saying goodbye to the principal, I hurried out of the room, trying to hide the blush on my face. All because I had managed the incredible feat of forgetting why he had called me.

(How could I have forgotten that I was the representative and that he'd called me to let me know which room I'd fallen into?)

I thought to myself as I reprimanded myself.

And to make matters worse, Astrid was still here with me. If she remembered what I'd said before we arrived, she'd have no doubt that she'd start filling me in until we got to the room. And, as if by magic, that's exactly what happened.

[Astrid's POV]

As we walked towards the room the principal had told us about, I watched Mira out of the corner of my eye. She was strangely quiet, which was a clear sign that something was bothering her. I knew my friend well; her way of avoiding eye contact, her hurried steps... everything indicated that she was trying to hide something.

I chose not to press her right away, but my curiosity wasn't going to leave me alone for long. After a few seconds of silence, a memory of what she had said to me earlier popped into my head.

"Mira, wait a minute..."

I began, my tone more casual than I had intended.

"Now that everything has been sorted out, I remembered something."

As soon as I said those words, she stopped for a second, but didn't turn to face me. Then she continued walking, which only increased my suspicions even more.

My suspicions became even clearer when Mira began to sound cold.

"What?"

Mira turned to me with that sleepy smile I hated so much. The worst thing was that she knew it very well, so there was only one explanation: she was trying to calm me down with that smile and get me into the conversation.

"Don't tell me you made all that drama just to tell me that the principal called you in just to tell you which room you'd fallen into?"

I asked in a more serious tone, still trying not to believe that the answer to my question was really what I had feared. My friend, as well as being a dullard, seemed to be a bit slow too.

"Surprise! Didn't I tell you he liked me?"

Mira answered my question with a light tone, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. But I knew exactly what she was trying to do: divert my attention so that I would forget the mistake she had made.

As soon as I heard what she said, my eyes instantly turned cold. I looked at her sideways and, for a split second, a violent thought of strangling her right there flashed through my mind.

I stopped walking, slowly turning towards her. The look I threw at her was icy, and deep down I knew that she realized how much her antics were beginning to wear me down.

"If you weren't my friend, I would have killed you a long time ago."

My voice came out low, with a hint of menace that wasn't completely true, but enough for Mira to realize that I was testing the limits. Although most of the time I wanted to be angry with her for some reason, I couldn't.

In response to my comment, Mira didn't even blink. Instead, she walked up to me and put her arm around my neck. As if that wasn't enough, she still had that sleepy smile on her face, a unique way that only she could pull off. It was almost annoying how carefree she seemed, even in the face of the whole situation.

"But I know you love me."

Her answer came so naturally that I almost wanted to laugh, despite my irritation. Mira was exactly the kind of person you look at and think: If anything goes wrong, she'll definitely be involved. And, as always, she had the gift of knowing exactly how to destabilize any argument I made, even when I was one step away from losing my temper.

I sighed deeply, letting the irritation slide down my shoulders as I pushed Mira's arm away from my neck. There was no point in prolonging the argument - I knew Mira loved to tease me, and I wasn't going to give her that.

"Mira..."

I began, trying to change the tone of the conversation as I shook my head, pretending to really give up. Before she had a chance to respond to my comment with another tease, I decided to change the subject. Apparently, it worked, since I managed to get her attention. She looked thoughtful, probably still reflecting on the new student.

When I called her name, Mira turned to me, still with that sleepy smile on her face, which only made me certain that my patience had reached its limit. She looked at me with the same distracted expression as always.

"What?"

Mira asked, still looking like she wasn't paying attention to anything around her.

I decided to ignore her detached attitude and change the subject before I really got stressed out and ended up saying something I didn't want to.

"I've been curious about this since the principal's office. But why do you want to become friends with that boy?"

I asked, a little curious, as I watched Mira's expression to see if she really meant it or just wanted a new toy.

"Friend... that's too strong a word. It would be more like... having connections. Besides, don't forget that he's a lonely boy, which means he's much easier to manipulate."

Mira's response didn't take me by surprise. After all, I had already imagined that she would say something like that, but hearing her say it with that smile of someone who thought everything was very normal almost made me laugh.

"Connections?"

I repeated, trying to understand.

"Don't tell me you're going to put him in danger?"

My voice came out slightly cynical, but I couldn't help it. Mira always had a way of getting involved with people, but never for pure reasons.