She was lost in the middle of nowhere; submerged in her own thoughts as she sat on her chair holding her G-Tech pen, circling it between her index and ring fingers, trying to figure out something out of the blue. She had her notebook open in her table showing a blank sheet with a little scribble on the side.
"It has been a year since we last saw each other..." She doodled on the side of her notebook with the top of her pen. "I wonder if he'd gotten taller and skinnier or what." She sighed "I can't wait to see him again."
"What should I bring when I visit him?" She thought.
It was a bright sunny day where the brightest Green was ever recorded. She was seated next to the window near the teacher's table as she stared at the high noon sky. "I guess a box of chocolate cookies will do just fine, just like the old times..." She uncapped her pen and started to write in her notebook what she will bring to her visit to a friend. "I have to drag Dave to come with me, I bet he'll be happy to see us."
"Hey, Sandra, what are you doing there?" Paul said loudly while entering the classroom.
"Ohh, nothing... what's up?" she replied with a dry smile. She brushed her hair behind her ear and faced the guy.
"The meeting with the Circa will start any minute soon... I came to get you as what the president said." Paul replied.
"Ahh,, okay." She fixed her things inside her bag and stood from her seat. "Then, we better get going. Jayson will get pissed if one of us will be late for the meeting." She said to Paul who is standing next to her. "And he said he's got something to announce today, right?"
"I bet... haha...Then, let's get going." He poked her friend and went their way.
It has been a year since the incident on Flight Loki happened. She thought that they will be having a meeting on what to do at the ceremony in honor of those who have died in that aircraft along with the billion cost equipment for ORION. So, she prepared something like a proposal for the event held by the school for the cause of those who lost their lives. Many things had changed since then. She entered the GSSTI a year ago but only she and her friend were able to enter. The three of them took the exam, but unfortunately, one of them did not pass. Though they have the recommendation signed by the president of Orion, it was not enough to get by because of the grading system set by the school. They are very loyal in upholding their rules and regulations.
Thus, the other one went to their old school and enrolled in the High School Science Curriculum. They were already in their second year and still a lot of things are happening around the corner.
Cassandra Grey was able to work with her grades and enter the Circa, the highest status you can attain in the prestigious school of GSSTI. It is the Council of Student Government in the Gold Star High composed of the top 10 brightest students in the school. The top 1 will become the president until the top 10 will become the PIO. The officers are all equipped with knowledge and skills in programming, computing, scientific recourse, and other academic stuff.
The top 11 will only be considered as one of the Scores, and all of the top 20 in the school. They were given special privileges by the school like tuition fee grants, recognitions, competitions, and other stuff. And The Circa was part of it but they have more special privileges because they are the student council which is composed of different grade levels.
"Ne, Sandra... what were you doing a while ago? I saw you are thinking so deeply like you have submerged yourself in a pool.." Paul said, facing her while walking backward.
Paul McRyan is the 2nd year external PIO, the top ten of the Score, and considered as the bookworm-geek among the Circa. He is in charge of every classroom representative and other concerns of the student buddy pass through him before getting to anywhere near the board or the Circa. He's the son of the secretary of supplier of Orion with Wolfgang and other chemical compounds for their compact components. He had brown hair and brown eyes with eyeglasses on and a nerdy look. He's become friends with Sandra a year ago after the incident because he got into a fight with her. They have cleared the misunderstanding though and now they are friends. He specialized in graphic design and game computing.
"It's nothing. I was just planning something, and... and, it's none of your business, anyway." Sandra replied, rolling her eyes.
"That's mean..." He stopped his pace and stared at her. "...but, it's okay if you don't want to share about it..." Paul turned around and continued saying, "Anyway, have you thought of what to suggest to Jay later at the meeting? I bet he's gonna want some new ideas." he waved his hand in the air as if drawing something.
"I have prepared quite a number... I guess one of these will satisfy his expectations." She took out her pad and flipped some sheets.
"I know he'll be glad because you're pretty confident about it. And besides, we don't have a problem with Jay in terms of this event, but with Alex..." Paul said. "I'm still uncomfortable."
"I thought so too...." She replied with a sigh.
"It's hard to be in the Circa, right?" he twitched his lip.
"Not really, but I had to admit, it eats my time, energy, and patience..."
"Same here."
"But, I wish you all the best, Ms. Secretary..." Paul said
"You too, Mr. PIO." Sandra replied.
They continue walking to the hallway going to the office of the Circa in the west side of the building towards the gymnasium.
...
They arrived at the room where they will be having their meeting. It is a special room created only for the use of Circa. It was as big a 47mx35m room with an upper floor occupying half of its high ceiling with a huge floating chandelier. It was equipped with high-end technologies installed by Orion and the GSSTI board in order to cultivate the talent they gathered in this circle of students.
Paul opened the glass door and a vast scenery welcomed them in a blinding light.
"He changed the background again..." Paul whispered. "Who would have thought it is a feature he would be interested in?"
"Yeah,, but this time I kinda like it..." Sandra replied.
They went outside on the deck of a pirate ship sailing in the bright noon sky of the Caribbean. The sail was so big and the logo of the GSSTI was printed in black sails as well as on the black flag. The rails were coiled with big abaca ropes with sacks on both sides to even the weight of the ship. Cassandra looked up and glanced more at where they are and he saw the captain of the ship at the upper deck where the helm is. Jayson Smart, the president is manning the ship wearing a straw hat standing firm facing the scorching sea breeze of the Caribbean.
"Hey Cap!" Sandra called,
The captain turned to the one who called him and said, "Good thing you're already here." Holding his hat as a gesture of salute.
"Yeah, I have to be early to present these things to you.." She replied waving her proposals in the air.
"I can always count on our Secretary..." He replied.
"As long as I can do the stuff, I will do it." She said.
They went to their assigned seat and sat in wait for the others to come.
"He wants to stay there, you think?" Paul whispered, covering his mouth with his right hand.
"He set all these things up so maybe, Yes,, he wanted to stay there." Sandra replied.
Jayson Smart is the 3rd son of the Smart Co. rivaling the ORION in the Telecom business. They owned several towers giving signals to cellphone users around the city. They have extended their connections to the neighboring cities but they still need the back-up of ORION. This means that they are allied to the ORION company running in the city of Aurum but not on the Gold Star Inc. companies outside the city. He's 18 years old, a 3rd year student. He had gray eyes depth with curiousness and knowledge. His hair is gray with black highlights and wavy strands. He wears contact lenses with Bluetooth connections that he can read what was sent to his mobile phone. He is currently wearing a white shirt under a sunflower printed polo, denim shorts, and a pair of rubber slippers. He's currently in the zone with his selected scenery.
A new member entered their deck and sat on her seat. She is Victoria Volcov, 17 years old, a 2nd-year student just like Cassandra. She was in the other class on the other door next to her's. She had long black hair and stunning black eyes. Her skin is so white because of her Russian origin. She wear her school uniform the same as Cassandra but it looks on her as if she is modeling the clothes. She is one of the Logistics of Circa.
"Hi, Tori!" Sandra waved her hand as Tori sat in front of her opening her lollipop.
"Oh, Hi, Sandra. You too, Paul." Tori replied.
"So, now, we have here, the President, the Secretary, the Logistics, and the PIO. We're still not in a quorum." Paul mentioned.
"Don't mention it.." Tori muttered.
The list of the members of the Circa is as follows:
Top 1: President
Top 2: Vice-President
Top 3: Secretary
Top 4: Treasurer
Top 5: Auditor
Top 6: Logistics
Top 7: Logistics
Top 8: Logistics
Top 9: PIO (Internal)
Top 10: PIO (External)
The list of members updates every Grading period; thus, the officers are replaceable depending on their performance in school. Finishing the course in GSSTI guarantees a special work-related privilege.
A few minutes later, 2 members arrived and took their respective seats. They are the Treasurer and the Auditor.
"Sorry, we're late.." Andra said.
Andra Diana is the 1st year Treasurer of the Circa in charge of the funds and dues of the school and the council as well. She is a Latin-American chick with brunet hair and brown-black eyes. She wears a thick pair of eyeglasses and pony-tailed hair. Her eye bags darken under her eyes.
"It's fine. We haven't even started yet." Sandra replied.
"We didn't mean to be this late, it's just that the Accounting department won't release the funds we asked for the program and I bet Jayson will be mad to hear bad news so we really took our time convincing the Accounting about the budget." Andi explained.
"I said you don't have to explain and say sorry about it, Andi. We haven't started yet.." Sandra said.
Andi Ybarra is the 1st year Auditor of the Circa. He is an Asian-American with black hair and cute little eyes. He's just 16 same as Andra but they entered the Circa at a very young age. He and Andra were cousins so they do their job together most of the time.
"But, I kinda like the scenery today..." he mentioned "So,, where is Jayson?"
"Manning the helm. I guess he'll just stop steering the wheel if the members were already here." Sandra said.
"Yeah right.." Tori replied.
Another 3 members entered the deck and hurriedly sat on their seats. They seem to be exhausted because they're all bathed in sweat.
"Did you run your way to get here?" Sandra asked.
"How did you know?" the three said in unison.
"It's all written in your faces.." Paul exclaimed.
Koen and Kean Gomez are identical twins born in Spain with a Spanish father and a Japanese mother. They are sons of the Gomez Productions who dominated the animation industry in movie productions. Their base is on America filled with Gold Star High graduates. They were sent there by their parents to study about their business and many other things. They're just 16 years old, first-year students but currently at the top 7 and 8 spots: The Logistics of the Circa. They have black hair with red highlights, dark brown eyes under a thick pair of eyeglasses. They have the same physic that sometimes they are mistaken to be their other half.
Ogawara Michiyo is the internal PIO in charge of the dissemination of info inside the Circa and the Board. She is 17 years old, a second-year student with high remarks though being an Idol from the Show Business industry. She had golden hair and shining chestnut brown eyes with a beautiful voice. She had many concerts every year but she wanted to build a production industry with all she learned from GSSTI.
Three minutes before the expected time of the meeting, the last member arrived. The Vice-President of the Circa, Alexander Green. He is the best friend of the President but he cannot be spoiled in front of him. Alex is the only son of the president of the Green Industries who supplies the whole world with eco-friendly cars with high-spec technology. They have extended their horizon to all kinds of transportation like airplanes, ships, cars, trains and many other vehicles using fuel and electricity. He's tall, dark and quite popular among the girls. He's known for his brute strength and strong built because his father had sent him in a military school in his middle school years. He's in 3rd year, the same class with Jayson.
"I'm not late, Jay... c'mon and let's start with this crap." He said.
"I guess these stuffs aren't crap, Alex" Sandra exclaimed.
"Shut up bitch..."
"Did you just call me bitch?" Sandra exclaimed, forming fists, pointing it to Alex.
"Stop that Alex,, no teasing, especially on Sandra. She's monstrous when mad.." Jayson said stepping down from his helm.
"You too, Jay?!!" Sandra said, pouting her lips.
"Haha,, that's enough... let's get this started." The captain sat on his place on the long table, removed his hat and placed it on the table. "It's time to start what we're here for..." he added.