West Academy

chapter v

three weeks later...

WEST ACADEMY, 0810 hrs

Caleb had initially planned to settle for an average school as long as it was somewhere he could get to study well and graduate, get a diploma and possibly a good recommendation for universities, but the moment he heard about West Academy, he thought: Why not? Sure, it was difficult to get in, with all the ordinary papers and documents you use to get into other schools tripled in terms of demand here in West Academy. And it's not just that, there is a whole new other deal for students who want to study in this highly prestigious school, one would find very difficult to do.

But in the end, it would all be worth it. It is West Academy after all.

And so, here he was, marching with his worn out pair of blue converse on this school's fancy waxed hallways. The moment he entered the gates, everything screamed riches from the marbled paths to the high-class glass windows that covered the building's walls from one end to another. Even the school gymnasium was fashioned in bizarrely extravagant materials, which makes Caleb's former school's buildings look substandard and made by his own ass.

It still remains a mystery to him though—how he got in, that is. He didn't have the money nor the skills. He only had the brains, but even that was not enough to get someone into West Academy. You needed all three and so begs the question: how did Caleb Dash, the boy who already struggles to pay his 7182₩ monthly rent, receive a mail from West Academy claiming he was already three weeks late for school?

Even so, with the question that remains unanswered, Caleb shrugged all worries off and decided to give it a shot.

As he stalked further into the vast hallways, gaze widening in adoration at everything that passed by him, he couldn't help but smile at the view despite the very reason he accepted the mail and offer from the school. Forget about that for a second, he thought, you're in West Academy!

But the grin on his face faltered. His gaze sat atop a lanky figure that mindlessly sauntered the lobbies and Caleb stared curiously, stopping on his tracks to observe the soulless boy. The boy, who walked sluggishly with his back slightly hunched over, orbs so bleak and austere, seemed so void of any hint of life within him. It's like he was there, but at the same time, he wasn't; like he was alive, but was barely living.

"Hey, man," Caleb tried to call, but the boy didn't reply. He didn't even bother halting from his walk or to even shoot a glance at Caleb. At this very second, Caleb was concerned. "Are you alright?"

The footsteps were echoing clearly amidst the wide halls, the sound getting louder and louder through his ears as it grew nearer to Caleb. He didn't move. He waited for the lanky boy to eventually stand in front of him and as the boy did, Caleb thought it was going stop, but strangely enough, it never did. The lanky boy kept walking and walking until it pushed past Caleb, bumping into his shoulder but still never bothering to take a halt. He never fazed.

And this weirded the lights out of Caleb. It's like he didn't even see me, he thought. Gulping down the lump that was forming in his throat, Caleb decided against his better judgment and instead, carried on his way towards Room 117 with a class slip the school provided clutched in his hands.

But once he stepped forward, he felt something under his shoe. As he looked down, he saw an ID card, the same one that he has, only with a different face and information etched on it.

Henry T. Rochester.

Crouching down the waxed floors, Caleb's fingers wrapped around the card and he picked it up, deciding to hand it over to the admin later. Then, he shrugged it off and stalked down the path towards his classroom.

It was a turn on the right, three flights of stairs up, and five classrooms down towards his designated schoolroom, and he would've eventually lost his way further into the lobby if it hadn't been for the boy with alluring grey eyes standing by the doorstep who called out to Caleb.

"Are you the new kid?"

Caleb hesitated, scanning his surrounding for any other person that the boy could've been talking to. However, seeing as to how he was the only figure in the halls as of the moment, he nodded, gaze landing on the plaque plastered atop the doorframe that said, 117.

"Yeah." He trudged towards the anonymous guy who held out a hand to him. Caleb looked down at the said hand and he flashed a boyish smile, closing in the gap between their fingers as he reached for a handshake.

"I meant your slip. I need your slip."

Caleb's lips parted in realisation as he dropped his hand back to his sides and passed on his entrance slip. He restrained the urge to slap his own forehead courtesy of his stupidity. The embarrassment pulsed through his figure, but he decided to shake it off as he fixed his posture.

"I'm Caleb, by the way," he introduced while the unknown boy in front of him was busy examining the entrance slip.

"So I've heard." The boy marked something on Caleb's slip and after that, he returned it back to the new guy with the same blank look on his face. "I'm Maven. Welcome to the Star Section."

"Sweet!" Caleb couldn't help but exclaim and every vein in him was excited to just step into this fresh, fancy room he was going to stay in for the rest of the school year, but as soon as he pushed a foot forward, Maven stopped him.

"Watch out, alright?" The boy lowly said. "It's not actually how you think it is."

JEON RESIDENCE, 2301 hrs

Axle had just come home from a tiring day at his night job, but he never failed to flash a wide grin at his mother who motionlessly sat on their couch. Despite not being able to give back a smile, Axle knew she was just as happy to see her son come home unharmed.

"Hey, mom," the boy greeted, softly sauntering on his way closer to where his mother sat. "Have you eaten yet?"

The woman didn't answer back, but instead gestured at a note placed right beside her using her gaze—the only thing she could move at the moment. Obediently, Axle reached out for the note.

Went out for some art supplies! I already fed mom, so don't worry. Nanny left you some food too. – K

A reassured smile washed over Axle's lips. It was a huge relief to know that his sister was diligently taking care of their mother when he was out and that Nanny still had no such intention to leave them all unattended, but rather stayed and even acted out as his mother's nurse when he and his sister were out for school.

During their darkest days, Nanny never left their sides. She even helped to pay for all of Axle's mother's medications when little Axle was still too young to even get a part-time job, and he could never thank Nanny enough.

"You're recovering fast." Axle lightly laughed as he propped up from crouching and softly tapped his mother's shoulder. He stared at her, all the memories of the past flooding his mind like a colossal tidal wave.

A bottle, broken and shattered at the bottom, the remaing parts so sharp at the edges. A man... using this as an instrument to oppress an innocent, patient woman.

Axle snapped out of his reverie. The tears started to sting his eyes. He restrained and fought the urge to hug his mother or he might actually just worsen her situation.

He sighed.

"We got a good deal, didn't we?" A bittersweet smile rested on his lips as his mother answered back with a knit of the eyebrows and a slight shift of the head to the right—it was the best she could reply as a "no."

Axle lightly nodded in acknowledgment. He knew his mother would never agree to what he thinks. He knew she would never say that the deal was good. She was worried, but Axle chose to ignore it and instead, put up a thumbs up to reassure his mother that nothing bad was going to happen.

At least, he hoped so.

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