Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

"So let's introduce ourselves! I'm Amanda," said the blue-eyed girl with shoulder-length blonde hair.

Then David, sitting next to her, smiled shyly, raised his hand and introduced himself. "My name is David Jones, I'm from the Archery Department."

"Oh! So that's the David Amanda's been talking about..." One of the girls teased her, making Amanda blush. "By the way, my name is Helen Eggleston, and whatever egg joke you're thinking of, believe me when I say I've heard them all." She said. This girl had very short black hair, and she was pretty too.

Her manner was brash, which intimidated most of the boys, but Andrew laughed out loud when she finished speaking because he thought her manner was funny. As everyone turned to look at him, he introduced himself.

"Ah! It's my turn, isn't it? My name is Andrew."

"Come on, Krista. Now it's your turn." Amanda said, looking at the shyer, thinner girl who had hair so light it was almost white.

The girl had her head down and was practically whispering. "I-I'm Krista S. Hendley. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Nathan looked at her with a look of wonder and rapture. He had never seen a prettier girl than Krista. When everyone looked at him, he realized he was staring too hard, so he stood up and introduced himself.

"I'm Nathan, and I have..." He was about to brag about his IQ again, but then he looked at Andrew and realized that this was not the time.

"You have..." Helen stood waiting.

"Hungry." He said blushing and sat down again.

While all this was going on, Klaus and Ashley Cox stared at each other, not knowing how to react. They had a history, the promise of a date that Ashley had to keep, just a few nights ago when Klaus found her in the middle of campus and approached her, she pretended not to know him.

Obviously, they were attracted to each other, except that they had never even exchanged phone numbers, not even when they first spoke on the train.

Klaus had liked Ashley Cox from the beginning, but it wasn't like he was in love with her. He found her beautiful and mysterious, that's all.

Ashley Cox had also liked Klaus and found him very attractive, but at first she didn't like him very much when he approached her. For her, who had always been used to being approached by many boys, it had become a routine. But with Klaus it was different, because in the first moment he showed more interest in Dagger than in her and even challenged her to a fight for a date. From that moment on, he began to find him charming, but not very smart, because he was also betting on his own chance to get into the Special Program. And then he proved to her that he was not only charming, but also arrogant.

When he beat her in Dagger Fight, she no doubt suspected him of using Hack and even accused him of it. But Klaus was not intimidated, he just said that he could beat her, so she suggested that they meet in the future at the special show to put everything to the test. And there they were, face to face, in a group meeting with other people they barely knew. They didn't know what to do or what to expect.

"Hi..." said Klaus, dully.

Ashley, also dull, replied, "Hi..."

"You two know each other?" asked Amanda curiously, since all they had to do was introduce themselves.

"Not exactly. I've seen you on a big screen around campus," Klaus said, trying to disguise himself.

At that moment, all of Klaus' roommates simultaneously realized that the girl was not a girl, but Ashley Cox herself. They were so focused on the other girls that they didn't even notice her presence, and this was a classic example of the so-called scientific event called confirmation bias, which is the tendency of people to ignore or dismiss information that contradicts the normal order, that is, that the brain expects not to see and therefore almost automatically ignores.

Nathan, David, and Andrew looked at each other and practically had a conversation about not looking so surprised by Ashley's presence because it might spoil the date for the girls.

"That's so cool! So she must be famous," Andrew said, finding it amusing.

"Yeah, not so much." Ashley tried to tone it down, forcing a smile.

"Don't be modest, Ashley. Guys, she's the one who started the Dagger Dispute Society. She's very smart." Hellen said.

After that Klaus introduced himself as well and finally they started to choose the playlist they wanted to start with.

Klaus and Ashley would have liked to sit on the sofa as far away from each other as possible and avoid eye contact, but that was practically impossible because the seats were already taken, everyone seemed to be getting along, and they didn't want to disturb their colleagues. Still, they felt a mixture of embarrassment and interest in each other.

Ashley didn't know if she wanted to go through with it and really enjoy the moment for them to get to know each other better, because she was sure he thought she had dumped him.

At the same time, the other guys were impressed by the beauty of the girls, and Klaus was no different, especially when he saw Ashley again. She was brunette, tall and slim, with green eyes and red lips. She wore a tight black dress and high heels that were also black. She looked stunning.

Trying to make conversation, Nathan asked Krista to help him pick out the drinks that everyone would order, since she seemed to be the considerate type when it came to other people's tastes.

"So, what do you like to drink?" asked Nathan, looking at the digital menu.

"I like natural juices, especially orange. What about you?" asked Krista, looking at him.

"I like natural juices too, but I prefer pineapple juice," Nathan said with a smile.

"We have something in common," Krista said with a shy smile that made his heart race as he selected the drinks.

The two hit it off and started chatting about what drinks the others liked.

Meanwhile, David sat next to Amanda and tried to make small talk with her. He was quite nervous because besides being a girl, she was also beautiful and smart.

"So... are you from the archery department?" asked Amanda, also a bit shy, but more proactive.

"Yes... I am... why?" David scowled.

"Ah... nothing... it's just that I find it interesting... that field..."

"Do you like archery?" asked David interestedly.

"I do, it's a very nice sport, don't you think?"

"That's cool! Do you know how to shoot a bow and arrow?" Curious and excited, David finally seemed to relax.

"I know a little, because my grandfather liked it a lot and taught me a little when I was a kid, but I'm not very good. I was terrible at the archery step in the selection process," she said, embarrassed.

"How nice! You could come over to my department sometime, you know, to practice and have some fun. I bet the Captain would let you if I asked."

Amanda was surprised by his invitation. She hadn't expected him to be so direct, so she was happy and nervous at the same time.

"Sure... just let me know..." Amanda was a little flushed, because when David was excited, he was different from the shy man from before.

Amanda smiled at him and put her hand on his arm. She felt a connection with him from the beginning because she found him sweet and shy at the same time, and that was something she liked about him.

As the conversation flowed between everyone else, Klaus noticed that Ashley was a little tense and distant. Klaus thought that maybe she was uncomfortable with his presence, maybe even a little disappointed, and since all of his classmates seemed to be getting along well with the other girls, he decided to go out for a bit to breathe in the night air.

Ashley, on the other hand, couldn't really concentrate on what was going on. She was torn between her interest in Klaus and her suspicion. She didn't want to get hurt again like in the past. But when he excused himself to go to the bathroom and left the room, she decided to take a chance and tell Klaus the truth.

While Klaus was still in the hallway, he heard her voice calling him.

"Hey, wait a minute! I need to talk to you!" She said with a serious voice.

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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