The Players' Game

Part 1 || Ranks ||

Dedicated to SinisterWhispers (I'm shouting people in the comments section out bcz it makes me happy)

Somewhere in the academy, a bell chimed old school style which told the students that it was time to head down to the dining hall for first breakfast of the semester.

I sat at the end of one of the long tables, beside me Joshua was smiling in anticipation, his eyes watching the 'Freshies' pour in one by one to fill the long table that was placed right at the end of the hall. "New game..." he muttered to his sister, Madeline Peters who was sitting beside him, her eyes holding an equal amount of spark as her brother's.

I sighed, closing my eyes to brace myself for one of the roughest day of the year.

You might be confused, why would I suddenly exclaim day one o school to be the hardest other than it being the obvious teenage answer: hate.

I hated this school, I knew this the moment I stepped foot onto the lush green grass of the academy's so called quad, a place roaming with students laughing and smiling like you would see in commercials.

Of course, not everyone is associated with Valentine Academy's deepest, darkest secret.

It wasn't actually a secret, if you think about it. The board of administration knew nothing about the game established by one of their students years ago.

Truth is, Valentine had a system. It wasn't a monarchy that could dared be voiced. No, it's far more complicated than that. It wasn't juvenile or silly, in fact as far as I knew any student who didn't acknowledge the system would be dealt with accordingly by those who reigned as Royals.

Let's start from the beginning shall we.

The first thing any student has to know once they step foot on Valentine ground is that all is fair in love and war. As long as you were a student, you were fair game to everyone and anyone who wanted to rise in the hierarchy.

The Freshies (commonly known as Freshmen) are the students who have not fallen prey to the Game. Not yet. Confused? Allow me to explain:

Level ones are informally known as the Slaves, the lowest of the low in the Players' game. Slaves are scorned by the higher ranks and usually this level was reserved for those who might have committed treason against a person of higher ranking or if they disrespect the rules of the game. Slaves were the 'Losers', the unfortunate victims who fell too hard, too fast.

Level twos were the Peasants. These are the people who are considered the quirks of Valentine. They show no interest in the game, yet they still respect the rules. They stay the hell out of drama and choose to live their high school life as the invisible crowd. Peasants were safe, unseen but still probable conquests.

Level three consists of Governors. They've had a fair share of participating in the Game but aren't skilful or popular enough to rise up. Governors are the wannabees, the ones hungry for power and control and would do anything to rise up as Royals.

And finally, we have the Royals.

Students of Valentine, players or not, know enough to stay away from them. Royals are the powerholders; they are the overseers of the Game. Royals called the shots. Nothing happens in Valentine without them knowing. Each Royal had a specific name that most students would identify them by; Fox, Vixen, Player, King and Queen.

Need I elaborate any further? The names clearly say it all.

Yes, these people exist. Yes, these people earned their ranks, dirty game or not, these people are the ones normal players should stay away from.

And one of them, fortunately unfortunately, is me.

A/N: Is the world of the Players coming to you yet? :)

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Loves, Audrey