The Cat's Tail-Chapter 71: I Am Callisto Mandjet

One by one, students entered their respective classrooms. As usual, eyes from the students entering the same classroom as Callisto and the others passing by to get to their own room followed her silhouette. Most of them seemed to voice out their attraction toward her face and slender frame, at how beautiful she was more than getting curious about her silver-hair that seemed like a wig with cat-ears at a glance.

But because of the lingering concern at the back of her mind, Callisto was more focused at those few people whispering about her cat-ears than the ones who were simply fascinated by her beauty.

After all, no one knew when someone would suspect something about Callisto and act out of innocent curiosity, or hostility.

The sitting arrangement in their classroom, like every classroom in Silangan High, was determined by the student’s last name. Those students whose last name started with letter A take the front seats and those whose last name started with the last or the furthest letter in the alphabet would take the seats in the back row.

"Hey, Calli, wanna change the first letter of your last name to ’f’? Make it Fandjet!"

"No. It sounds weird."

"Come on, at least humor me. We won’t be sitting next to each other after all. Ah, I know! I’ll change mine to Medream!"

"I can’t tell if it sounds better than Fandjet or worse."

Their teacher and adviser, Novelyn Nalicia, arrived in the classroom following the last batch of students entering the same room.

"All right, everyone. Since today’s topic has already been brought up during the ceremony, I suppose there’s no need to repeat that. So today, what we’re gonna do is finalize the sitting arrangement, do some self-introduction and finally take note of our class schedule."

The purpose of finalizing the class’s sitting arrangement was to give an exception to the students who had visual or hearing impairment and other problems that made sitting in the middle to back row of the seats disadvantageous for them.

"Miss Mandjet, are you sure you don’t want to take a front row seat," asked teacher Novelyn. "There’s no need to hold back, you know."

"It’s okay, Ma’am. I’m in perfect health. We should reserve the front row seats to those who really need it."

The class seemed to collectively agree with Callisto’s response.

"Well, if you insist, you can take that seat then."

Callisto saw Elesis pouting at her for not taking one of the front row seats as it was closer to El’s seat. Though she didn’t mean it, Callisto could tell the red head was thinking she rejected the front row seat because of her.

"Sorry," mouthed Callisto at the red head who then smiled in response, accepting the silent apology.

Once the sitting arrangement was finalized, which put Callisto in the corner of the middle row seats next to the window to the hallway, the class adviser announced that it was time for the class to do self-introduction.

"Let’s start from the front and make our way to the back."

At the teacher’s words, some students began pointing out their shyness and wished to skip introductions. As much as she sympathized with her students who were dreading this particular event, Novelyn insisted that it was necessary for everyone to get to know one another.

And so, the first student in the first row was called to stand up.

Everyone’s attention was quickly drawn toward the young man. They knew of the pressure of taking the lead, of taking the first step. The boy was the deciding factor for how the next self-introduction would go.

If he made a mistake, he might get laughed at and the pressure he carried would be passed down to the next. But, if things went smoothly, not only will he gain respect from his classmates, it will give them courage for their own self-intro even if just a little.

As he stood up, he scanned the room until his pupils landed on a few girls who stood out than the others. And then, his eyes found another couple girls, one with the red hair and the other with silver.

He thought the other girls were already cute, but the redhead and the silver-haired girl were definitely in a league of their own.

Not good!

The pressure just skyrocketed for the boy. But at the same time, he also knew he could not afford becoming a laughingstock in front of these two beauties.

Steeling his resolve, the boy opened his mouth and began belting out words.

"My name’s John Dimaculangan. Please call me John. I hope to get along with all of you."

Short and simple. But what mattered in the end was that the boy was able to introduce himself properly. He didn’t even stuttered once.

That was when he knew he had won. He had won from the pressure, gave his classmates the courage to follow in his footsteps, and impressed the beauties of the classroom.

Or so he thought until Elesis and Callisto turned their attention to another classmate next to him who was introducing herself as if nothing happened.

From then on, the students’ self-introduction progressed smoothly. Some introductions were short and reserved, others were going at it flamboyantly, as if they were reading an essay about themselves.

"My name is Elesis Fredream, age very young, born in the planet earth, blood type A for anime addict and also into manga! You can call me El if my first name is too long. Let’s get along, everyone!"

Just like back then, El’s confidence was nothing short of impressive for Callisto. Then, after a while, the class adviser eventually pointed everyone’s attention to Callisto.

At last, it was finally her turn. Callisto stood up without missing a beat, carrying herself with a confidence that was a far cry from the one Elesis poured out, but was more than enough for Callisto to be able to speak with the class smoothly.

"My name is Callisto Mandjet, one of the new students of Silangan High. I know that my appearance is rather intriguing, but I’m hoping to get along with everyone. So please don’t hesitate to talk to me."

Callisto’s words hung in the air for a moment, until everyone started greeting her.

"Let’s get along, Mandjet!"

"Nice to meet you, Mandjet!"

"Let’s be friends, Mandjet!"

"Yes, Calli is my friend!"

"Stop trying to one-up us, El!"

Callisto met her classmates’ kind words with a grateful smile. Before she knew it, she was surrounded by her classmates who wanted to forge a connection with her, her heart warm and full to bursting at their eagerness.