"Thania is truly intelligent. She strategically spreads fear to expose the real culprit," I hear a woman say in the crowd. Judging by her voice, I recognize her as Beauty.As the crowd amasses in the open field, the atmosphere crackles with anticipation and bewilderment. The mother and the student accused of orchestrating the poisoning stand at the center of attention. President Maria, the embodiment of authority and justice, takes her place on the side, ready to preside over the trial."Queenie Lopez, how are you able to put poison in the food while joining the stroll yesterday?""While we are packing our lunch before leaving, I mix the poison with the ingredients that are there," she replies, staring blankly."What a huge foolishness!" President Maria shouts. The open field fills with whispering."Why did you do this? You killed thirty-one students!" President Maria shouts again, seething with anger. A long silence dominates the open field as the people quietly wait for Queenie's an
"What do you mean, bro?" Damon asks again, trying to understand everything clearly."When you are in critical condition, we've heard that there's an existing school named after the Prime Lady. The school is a complete rival of the Institution of Guhya. And the students believe that the men in black are students from the said school. From my observation, they look just our age," Quinn explains completely."And if Queenie and her mother are really from that school, that means they were both enemies," Beauty suggests a point."But that's not the case now," Ethan points out."What do you mean, bro?" Damon asks."That means the rivalry between the two is the root of this chaos. And that also means this place is completely unsafe for us," Ethan concludes. They all fall silent and start to vanish from my sight."The longer we stay here, the more dangerous it becomes for us," Beauty concludes. From where I sit, as high as the second floor, I jump off and land on the lawn. I look at the sun's
"Grams!" I can't help but shout at her. If there's one person who tests my patience, it is Grams. She knows how to push my buttons."Oh, you're such a child. You've always been strict. I'm just teasing, you know," she replies with a pout."Enough, darling. Stop it. You're irritating our grandchild," Pops tries to restrain Grams."Why, darling? Lorde is handsome and talented. She's also a kind child," they say, which makes me even more annoyed."Oh well, let's go then so Thania can focus on her work," Pops suggests."Okay. Let's go," Grams agrees. When Grams stands up, she smiles at me."I'll leave now, dear. Think about what I said," she says again, causing Pops to slap his forehead. I do not say anything and just let them turn around and leave.I refocus on my work and after a while, the door opens again. This time, it is Blair who enters."Do you want to join us for dinner?" Blair asks me. I decide to join them for the meal to see the situation of the students nowadays, so I nod.Th
Beauty's Standpoint"Quinn!" I yell, stalking the entire classroom building with Damon beside me. Every minute Quinn is missing, my chest trembles more and more in fear of the possible danger that has happened to him. The multitude of emotions overwhelming my heart becomes too much for me to bear."Quinn!" I hear a woman scream on the other side of the building. It sounds like Blair, who has been helping us find Quinn's whereabouts. I also start to feel a bit better knowing that everyone is helping us, but my anxiety about his sudden disappearance is killing me. We continue to stalk the building, walking toward the other side where Blair's voice is coming from."Are you all right?" Damon asks, worrying about me."Yes," I answer as we continue to walk. I feel Damon's hand grabbing mine, so I look at him. He pulls me gently and makes me face him."Hey, calm down, please," he says to me. I feel my heart racing fast as I look at him, directly in the eyes. His eyes seem to be full of unspo
Things move quickly and two weeks pass with the whole school being quiet. The students are full of excitement for the upcoming ten selections that will be held two days from now. According to them, the chosen ten rarely happens in a century. Also, we hear that it is fun to be part of the chosen ten because they are given special privileges at school. Because of this, we have also become interested in the said selection, hoping that this will be the way to get out of here. However, no one has mentioned the specific way in which the students will fight, leaving everyone unprepared for the impending battle.I am walking down the hallway when I hear someone yelling from one side. I recognize it as Kate and her two friends."Kate, are you going crazy? Why are you fighting us?" asks one of his friends who is annoyed. She is shocked when Kate pushes her, just enough to make her step backward."Because you betrayed me," Kate shouts."What are you talking about, Kate?" Kate's friends are confu
We placed next to Max who has been constantly in the first place. The last round became difficult. I feel my vision blacking out and I am about to pass out. Even so, we remain at our place."Are you well, Beau?" Ethan asks, shouting from the side.I bob. My vision is turning around at a breakneck speed. One more step, and everything goes black. I wake up to the bumpy feeling and realize Damon is loading me on his back, while Ethan, Quinn, and Lorde are holding my back and cheering Damon on as they run at the same pace. I watch the finish line, and eight students are already there, while we are about twelve meters away. We continue and in a few minutes, we finish the race."Mr. Han, is that allowed?" One of our classmates asked about Damon's choice of loading me on his back."Race is about reaching the finish line, so that's technically acceptable," Mr. Han replies smiling. The race finished with the five of us being accepted. I also noticed Sachz finishing the race, her being in fifte
"Beau?" They ask in chorus."Trust me this time," I say without looking at them and continue with my pace."Are you sure about this?" Damon asks as he grabs my hand. I look at him intently and nod, our hands still holding each other."I think I know the way," I say as I look at them one by one. "How?" This time, surprisingly, Lorde asks."I see it in my vision. I think I've been here before," I say, and they all furrow their brows."What are you saying, Beau?" Ethan asks, not able to believe what I just said."I don't know, Ethan, but you have to trust me in this," I demand. Despite their doubt, they follow me, and we rush in the direction I point out. With all the twists and turns, I find the path to the exit without hitting dead ends solely based on my memory. But with each passing moment, it feels like we are just going back and forth the same way."Beau, I think your vision is wrong," Quinn finally butts in again."No, we're almost there," I say, trying to defend myself."Beau, yo
We are even more shocked when Alhyssa flies backward because of Lorde's kick. Although Alhyssa is thrown, she recovers easily. She points her weapon at us again."Who is he?" Alhyssa asks out loud, perhaps shocked by what is happening. Thania comes closer and gets between us, so Alhyssa quickly withdraws the weapon."Thania, what are you doing?" She asks a confused question.Thania is silent at Alhyssa's question, and she turns to us."Load him and follow us. Venice, Blair, stay here," commands Thania.Before she can turn around completely, Blair stops her."I'll go with you," Blair almost shouts out of panic. Thania does not answer so we follow her and so does Blair. Ethan immediately loads him with our help. We board the subway train in silence. We feel each other silently. We easily reach the forest and as usual, Thania kneels and touches the ground, causing the dimension to open and the gate to appear. We quickly enter and follow them to the Administration Building. After a while,