Fate of Strings

Chapter 2- ANNOUNCEMENT

"Ahem," the announcer cleared his throat before starting. I wished that he would hurry up because the sun was hitting my head and the bodies around me were starting to become sticky with sweat and anxiety. It was way too warm to be doing announcements in at high noon, but we had no choice.

Remembering my friends, I looked to my right to see Kasen and Yani fanning themselves with their hand. Kasen's long hazel hair wasn't working out for her in the heat so she put it up in a bun. Yani had no trouble due to her hair being less than shoulder length as well as it being the color of snow. I had the toughest luck, having dark hair that was shoulder length which  was good enough to shade my neck from being sunburned, but made the top of my head feel like it was in a oven.

That's when I remembered the guys.

"Kasen," I poked her on the shoulder. She ignored it. I poked a bit harder and she turned around mouthing a "What?"

"Where are the guys?" I asked her. She pointed behind me. I turned back and surely enough they were behind me without a sweat. Erwin was surely not sweating. His dirty blonde hair didn't have a drop of sweat on it. On the other hand, Felix had a bit of sweat under his brown curly hair. Not wanting him to know how noticeable it is, I let him be and focused my attention on the announcer.

He wasn't thin, but he wasn't that fat either. His chestnut hair doesn't style his green eyes nor his face. His hair was soaked with sweat and dark spots were starting on his brown suit.  He looked as if he took a quick shower and forgot to dry off. As I was observing him, he started by saying the names. I tuned him in and started listening.

"The first participant is Sami Luxe," the announcer announced. I racked my mind of who Sami was. The crowd shifted to show a short female with silver hair and grey eyes. She seemed shaken up to be called first, as she had all eyes on her. She went up in front, at least a foot or so in front of us. That's when I remembered who she was. She was someone who bullied me when I was younger. It was weird how someone who you where afraid of before seems to be so different after a few years. She seemed to be at least a year older than me, around sixteen or so.

As she got nearer to the announcer, I looked at her clock. 'Seems like she has a lot of time left' I thought. She stood in front of the announcer and waited, as if needing directions of what she should do next. The announcer noticed this and told her to stand on the side. She went ahead and stood at the far left, knowing that there would be a lot more people with her.

The announcer, pleased that she is set, stated the next participant and the participant after that. The crowd shifted every time to let the participants called up through. I remembered that the amount of participants depends on how many people are around the age of 15 or older. As well as that there was no applause nor  whistling. Probably because your 'String' defines who and what you are, which separates people from their family and friends. 'Hopefully that doesn't happen to us' I thought. 

As I was deep in thought, the announcer called a name I didn't expect to be called, "Yani Malu." I was pulled out of my thoughts and looked to my right to see Yani's face set in stone. It seems like she was preparing herself to be called up. The others looked at her as well, surprised with their mouths agape. She noticed us staring at her and mouthed "See you afterwards" to us. She smiled and started to go up with the other ten participants. 

Not a minute after her, the announcer called, "Erwin Gladwyn". I felt a breeze of wind hit my face due to how quick Kasen and Felix were to look at him. I turned as well to see the horror in his purple eyes. He didn't expect to be called. I felt a gaze on me and looked to see Yani had stopped walking and turned back to look at Erwin. It seems that she was taken aback as well.

Erwin gulped and forced himself to grin at us and left to follow Yani. I was surprised. How many years are we apart? And I remembered that the next person going next is -

"Kasen Thrine," the announcer said as if bored with saying names all of a sudden. Her brother looked back at her, to see that she had a smile on her face. Not a forced one, a sincere one. She turned to Felix and me and mouthed "See you soon" leaving us to follow her brother.

I looked at Felix to see the horror on his face. His mouth was moving, but his words seemed to come out in mutters. I placed my hand on his shoulder. He jumped under my touch, but seemed to remember where we were at. He took a few deep breaths and smiled at me after he had calmed down.

After around 12 more names, the announcer called out, "Felix Asher." I looked at him with concern and he looked back at me with a smile, but his eyes only showed me terror. Placing his left hand atop of mine, he squeezed it and let go. Looking back at me he started to walk toward the small crowd that had formed in the twenty minutes of announcements.

After they have left, the group had grown to around thirty people. Surprisingly, my friends were huddled together in a way that Yani was first, Erwin, Kasen, and Felix at the end. It felt weird to see them up front. With so many clocks. I closed my eyes in a hurry, to stop seeing those horrid timers. I kept my eyes closed until someone bumped into me. I opened my eyes to see a raven haired man with piercing blue eyes. 'I know him' my mind told me. It took me a while to actually recall his name.

"Mabuz," I muttered, loud enough for him to hear. He seemed to heave heard it since he looked down at me. His eyes showing gloom yet he smiled like trying to tell himself that everything is alright. Mabuz seemed to know what I was thinking and spoke in a soft tone, "I'm here to see the Announcements as well as the participants." The crowd shifted and someone pushed me into Mabuz. He caught me and smoothly moved me to the front of the crowd.

That's when I heard the announcer say, "The last participant will be Cenon Sepitis." I froze. How could my name be called out? There was no way my name would be... wait there is. Today's my birthday. And if they counted this then, then-

Mabuz gave me a light push and whispered something into my ear, pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked back to see that he had disappeared. Remembering that everyone was waiting for me, I started to walk forward to where the small crowd of young adults were, where my friends were. Yet, my mind was stuck on what Mabuz had whispered to me: "Never tell anyone what your 'String' is, your ability nor what you will find in the future."

It confused me, why would Mabuz say that. It was as if he was warning of what is to come. And ability? Now that was weird. Everyone had an ability that is normal to their 'String' color. In order not to dwell in it any further, I pushed it to the back of my mind as I reached the small crowd that consisted of my friends and other participants raring to know what their 'String' is.

A/N:

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Hope to see you on Chapter 3-JEWELS!