Jared finished eating the sandwich his mom gave her in the first hour of their trip. That four hours was surely tiring, they had to stop twice for a CR break. But Jared felt a shred of excitement as they went through different towns, seeing different people and landmarks. This was his first out-of-town that was this far, and without his parents.
They were now traversing a cobbled road that was obviously going upward. There were no more buildings nor people on the roadside but maple trees and a long metal fence that was painted with black and had arc design. Jared loved to look at the falling orange and red maple leaves as if the trees were intentionally filling the dry dark ground with colors. Once in a while, squirrels would peek out of the tree hollows, perhaps curious about the noise the car engine emitted.
"Hey, boy!" Carl was looking at him through the front mirror. "Look at that!" He pointed at the top of the hill they were heading to. The top of it was perfectly occupied by the school campus, as if the school was a part of the hill itself.
The campus had citadels on each of its four corners and the wall surrounding it was about twelve feet tall. Jared could not help but remember the castles he loved to look at on his encyclopedias. He wondered what the students there were like. What being there was like.
His heart was beating fast and he realized his mouth was open as he was looking at what would be his school for four years.
"That's the same reaction I watch every year," Carl said.
Jared turned his attention to Carl. "Sorry for being silly," he poked his tongue out for a moment, "but I can hardly believe I'm going to that school. It's so… it's so beautiful!"
"It definitely is. And what's more? Not all people get the chance to study there. It's a rare privilege."
Jared touched the center of his chest. He could feel his heart pumping and his strong breath blowing his arm. "I am… Maybe I'm that lucky."
Carl smirked. "No one goes to Tesla just by luck. You see, even if you pass all their exams, you may still fail at their background check. Whether that's based on your character records or what people tell about you, I don't know… But if they don't see what they're looking for in you, you won't get in. You need more than luck."
Jared did not know how he would reply. He did not know that Tesla did a background check before accepting their students. He thought the 3-hour entrance exam that would baffle even college students was just it. If what Karl was saying were true, then he should attribute it to luck. If the school had checked his background, they would never, ever let him in.
"I also dreamt of going to that school."
Jared's eyebrows rose. "Really? What happened?"
"Well, it may be that I am neither lucky nor qualified. I somehow passed the exam, that was a long time ago, but as I told you, Tesla is always looking for something only they know, and I did not have that," Carl said, his hands still on the steering wheel. Looking at his white hair and wrinkled face, it really sounded like it was a very long time ago.
"Wow, but that was still great! If you could pass Tesla, you could surely pass anywhere else… Isn't that right?" Jared asked with a smile.
Karl suppressed his laughter. "Not really, boy. I was really never a good student. I was happy to get a C+ on my report, that's who I was. But when I heard of Tesla, I thought I'd give it everything I got. And even with that, I had hardly passed their entrance exam."
Jared turned down his head and frowned, "Sorry about that, Carl."
"Oh no, no! Don't be. Failing at Tesla was not a dead end, boy. I lived life. I at least became a driver to the students of Tesla. Seeing students' dreams come true gives me a feeling that my own dreams come true through them. But I guess you're too young to understand that."
Jared lifted an eyebrow and looked up for a moment, his fingers touching his chin. "Maybe I understand it a little bit. I guess that's what my dad feels when he encourages me to fulfill my dreams."
"You got it, child!" Carl beamed.
Before he realized it, the car stopped at the front of the school gate. It looked like any other gates except for the size that matched the giant wall. Jared felt a rumbling in his stomach as he looked at the school through the gate. He could see the different buildings which seemed to have been inspired by different time periods and cultures, and no one of them was small.
Jared clutched on the straps of his backpack, he felt the sides of his mouth quiver and tears well up in his eyes. What was inside each building? What would it feel like to be in them? His mind ran into a future fantasy where he was walking through the school corridors wearing Tesla uniform and clasping the books under his arms. His lips slowly curved into a smile.
"Are you happy, nervous or what?" Carl asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"Maybe both," Jared replied, his eyes twinkling.
Carl took off his sunglasses. There were wrinkles around his black eyes and his eyebrows were fully gray. His mouth turned into a smile. "Fulfill your dreams, child."
Jared nodded. He pulled the door's lock and opened it, pulling out his travel bag as he came out. Its wheels clanked upon leaving the car.
He felt a shiver ran throughout his body as the car roared away and he was facing the school all by himself. After letting out a long breath, he trudged into the campus.
"Good morning!" Jared almost jumped as the security guard greeted him. He did not notice a small guard house beside the gate. "New student?"
Jared nodded.
"May I see your temporary ID, please?"
Jared took out his wallet and slid out a piece of paper. He showed it to the security guard.
"Alright, you may go in!" He said while lifting his hat a little and smiling. He did not have a mustache and protruding belly like the security officers he often saw. In Jared's estimate, the man must be around 25 years old. His uniform was black and ornate with gold-colored metals on the shoulders and the edge of the chest pocket. He thought he was dressing fancily for a security officer.
The school looked more enormous from the inside. Each building was not less than three floors but the one in front of him was the biggest. From the open windows, he could see the classrooms that could possibly accommodate a hundred students at one time.
Other people were starting to enter the campus; they were bringing big bags just like him. They stopped for a moment to look around, but continued to walk on. The people who had been inside the campus even before he entered were surprisingly noisy. They were not necessarily chatting to each other: some were approaching the newcomers with a plate of finger foods, and some were wearing football uniforms and shouting a battle cry at the front of the new students, while others were wearing traditional clothes as they greeted the new students happily. Jared pursed his lips as he was looking at what was happening.
He was about to walk into the main building in front of him when he felt a shoulder bumped against his back. His feet were lifted in the air before his whole body plopped into the ground. If it was not because of the grass that was covering the school ground, his skin might have been scraped. The noise that was filling the campus earlier turned into dead silence.
His whole body was shaking but he tried to turn his head up. His bags were opened and the things he carefully fit into them earlier were now scattered behind him. He saw a pair of shoes near him. Jared slowly looked up and saw a boy with an unbuttoned uniform and long unkempt hair. His right hand was holding a baseball bat resting on his shoulder.
Here we go again, Jared thought as he pushed himself up from the ground. Still looking down, he shook off the dirt from his clothes, wondering what the guy in front of him would do next. He bent down to pick up his things. He felt his heart thumping and his cheeks burning as he put back his clothes, underwear and toiletries back into his bags. What a way to start the first day of school.
He saw another pair of hands picking up his things that were further from him, it was no other than the boy who collided with him. What would he do? Throw his things further away? Dump them into garbage bins? Laugh at his unbranded clothes? Jared shut his eyes for a second and let out a sigh. But the boy came closer to him with his clothes and other things clutched between his arms and chest.
"Hey, what were you doing standing in the middle of the way, huh?" The boy said. Jared noticed that his skin was pale white, it was a perfect contrast to his hair, eyes and uniform that were black. "But I apologize, it's my fault anyway. I was looking at my watch while running because I'm in a hurry."
The boy was looking into his eyes while saying his apology, but Jared looked away. His face was so close as they were still picking up the things that were thrown away earlier, and he could smell menthol wafting from his mouth.
"By the way, I'm Marv." Marv reached out a hand to Jared. Jared looked at it before catching it with his hand and shook it a little.
"I'm Jared," he said as he looked away again. He felt his cheeks burning.
"I believe this is yours as well?" Marv asked while holding a brown box between his hands. "It's a little heavy, what could be in here?" He tilted the box a little to examine it.
Jared quickly grabbed the box and dropped it into his bag. "Hey, thanks for the help."
Marv grunted and obviously suppressed a smile before standing up. "No worries. By the way," he took out a card from his pocket and handed it to Jared, "I assume you haven't got a house yet? Go to us if you're interested. We surely take good care of noobs."
Marv just stared at his face. Jared realized he was waiting for a response, but he did not know what to say. What did he mean by house?
"Oh, well… If ever you become interested, you just have to go left from the main building. That's where I'm heading right now." Marv turned his back and quickly walked away.
Jared shrugged his shoulders as he was looking at Marv's back before he was lost in the crowd as the other students went back to their own businesses. He then turned his eyes to the card that was in his hand. It said House of Jade Hummingbirds beside a colored drawing of the world's smallest bird.
Jared sniggered. Was there such a thing as a Jade Hummingbird? What could Marv mean by house?
A girl in a kimono walked close to him and offered him a glass of lemonade. Jared's eyebrows rose as he took the drink.
"You must be a new student, aren't you?" She asked. "If you haven't chosen a house yet, would you like to consider visiting our house and becoming a member? I am from Onyx Serpent."
Onyx Serpent? Were these people fond of mixing the name of a gemstone with the name of an animal?
"Thanks for the refreshment but I already have a house," Jared said while holding the card Marv gave him.
Or did he? He was a bit scared to admit to himself he wanted to see Marv again. But no, no! It wasn't to see Marv only for the sake of seeing him. He invited him to join their house- Jade Hummingbirds- and he wanted to know what he exactly meant by that.
The main building was huge, he thought it could be a school just by itself. He turned left from it, just as Marv instructed.
As he was walking, a student would cheerfully invite him to go another way, to their so-called house, and join them. Despite their flatteries and bribes, he set his mind to first pay a visit to Jade Hummingbirds. Who knew it might be a cool house especially someone like Marv was there. If he would not find it likeable, he could simply turn back and walk away, look for other houses- whatever on earth it meant.
He saw a building near the main one. With all its huge pillars and meticulous designs, anyone would think it looked like a Greek temple. But instead of a god, a statue of a big cat was standing in front of it. Its whole body was made of bronze, at least it looked like bronze to him, and its eyes were a perfect cut of red gems. The image was glimmering under the sun. The cat, with its mouth open and fangs shown off, looked ferocious and strong.
The building he was looking for was not very far off. It was smaller and designed simpler, it literally looked like a house with a statue of green hummingbird on top of it. There was a long table set in front of its doorway and Marv was sitting behind it, blowing a bubble gum with his arms crossed and almost dozing off. Beside him was a lady with a long brown hair in a fancy jacket, arranging papers that were scattered on the table.
"H-hi," Jared greeted as he approached Marv who was still dozing off.
"Hi there!" The girl beside him replied instead. She was smiling and her voice was high-pitched. "Did you go here to join?"
"M-maybe. But before that, I would like to… uhm… know what you exactly mean by house?" Jared was trying to avoid the eyes of the girl and was looking at Marv who just yawned and now stretching his arms. As soon as Marv opened his eyes and noticed Jared, Jared looked away to the roof of the building.
"Oh, it's you!" Marv said.
Jared turned his eyes back to Marv, but he looked away again as soon as he felt a burning sensation on his cheeks. "Y-yea, it's me," he said while scratching the back of his head.
"Marv, he said he wants to know what house means," the girl said. She turned back to Jared. "By the way my name is Mitch." She reached out her arm and Jared slowly reached out for it.
The moment they made a handshake, Jared scowled because he felt Mitch's fingers against the bones of his hands as if they were closing pliers. Mitch quickly took away her hand when she noticed Jared's reaction.
"W-why don't you take a seat? Marv will tell you everything." Mitch said.
Marv gave a tight smile as he pulled out a chair from the table. Jared walked around to sit on the chair that was beside Jared.
"Well, how should I start?" Marv grunted. "There are four houses in Tesla Academy- Sapphire Eagles, Onyx Serpents, Ruby Jaguars and Jade Hummingbirds. The house serves as a support system to students. The housemates help each other with anything, and we compete with other houses."
Jared put a finger on his chin. "We can choose whichever house we want? No initiation? No entrance exam? Registration fees?"
Marv snickered. "You can choose whatever house you wanna go. Besides, it's not like you came here just by chance or because I invited you." He turned his eyes up to look at the image of the hummingbird. "They say the spirit animals of every house are calling the rightful students to them. If your personality is near the qualities of a hummingbird, then no matter how others invite you to other houses, you'll still end up as a hummingbird."
"Qualities? Of a hummingbird?" Jared repeated with knitted eyebrows.
"I know that sounds crap. It may really be a crap. But that's how it goes here." Marv shrugged his shoulders.
"What are the qualities of a hummingbird then?" Jared started tapping the ground with the soles of his feet.
Marv closed his eyes for a moment and let out a sigh. "As you may notice, hummingbird is the weakest of all four. It can be a prey to any of them. But the bird symbolizes bravery and perseverance- qualities which are more important than strength itself."
Did Marv mean that anyone who chose to be a part of their house was weak and their only consolation was being called brave and persevering? His lips pursed and his arms crossed without him thinking. He wanted to revolt and tell him bluntly that the whole idea was stupid. It would take a long time and many assessments to determine the true potentials of a student. Choosing a house with weird symbols would never become an intelligent alternative in knowing people by trying to know them.Was he weak? Well, perhaps, yes. But that was not the point.
"How about the jade? I notice there's always a gemstone before the animal."
"Good question!" Marv said with a slight smile. "Do you like to answer that, Mitch?"
Mitch turned away from the papers she was arranging and looked at Jared with a tight smile. "We believe that the gems give us energy, to say simply. You must have seen people wearing gemstones for luck or protection? For jade, it gives you luck and attract the right people in your life. So it is the guidance of the hummingbird and the energy of the jade."
"It's interesting," Jared looked down to the table, touched his chin and grunted. When he turned up his head, he pushed his chair back and stood up.
"Hey, where ya going?" Marv asked with narrowed eyes.
"I'm going to talk to the admin," he mumbled, "I guess… I guess there's a mistake."
"Tell us what it is then," Marv demanded.
"I don't think this is what I signed up for. I… I came here to Tesla to… to change. Not to join something like this."
"Seems like there's something you're trying to forget," Mitch guessed. "Whatever that is, I just want you to know that Marv had been a notorious delinquent before he came to Tesla. If change is what you're looking for, welcome home!"
Jared's eyes became wide. Mitch was right, he was trying to forget something he did in the past. Something that he regretted now and if it was only possible to turn back the hands of time, he would change without any hesitation.
Marv sneered at Mitch before turning back to Jared. "Anyways, whatever is that, change can only happen if you can forget what has been and focus on what is."
"I didn't expect you have some depths, Marv," Mitch joked.
"I just got that from teacher," Marv whispered.
Jared grinned and sat back on his chair. He slid one registration form in front of him and started to fill it out. When he got to the section where he would choose the elective classes he wanted to take, he was taken aback.
Assassination is one of their electives? Jared wondered. He rolled down his eyes to see the other subjects, there was Reiki, a form of energy healing, Military Training and different martial arts. His pen stopped dancing over the paper, its ink starting to spread on the spot where his fingers froze. What's wrong with this school?