Chapter 4: Skylark Academy
"Zayn! Zayn! Come down and get your breakfast so you can get ready for school! We don't wanna be late now do we?" A faint shouting voice resounded in Zayn's ears as he groggily mumbled.
"Mm...mm...Yes...I'm a princess...a pretty little princess..." He grinned sleepily.
"ZAYN! Get the hell down here!" A loud voice screamed.
"Huh? Huh? Mm...coming!" He said faintly as he rubbed his eyes.
"Sigh. Another boring day."
He got down from his bed, stretched his waist and did a brief morning workout. Rushing into the bathroom, he grabbed his toothbrush from a small robot, sloshing toothpaste on it as he began to brush his teeth. Washing his face with some water and removing his clothes, he smiled as he looked at the mirror.
The mirror reflected the tall slender figure of an eighteen year old, with faint abs on his body and a prominent tattoo of an eagle like bird spreading its four wings on his back. His face was slightly handsome, with dark eyes and silky shoulder length black hair. He could easily pose as a fashion model anywhere on Earth.
"Damn! I'm so handsome." Zayn smiled narcissistically as he brushed his hair.
"Alright, it's go time." He wiped the smile off his face as his eyes quickly glowed in an electric blue color. Faint sparks trailed around his toned body as his figure disappeared in front of the mirror.
A bright blue electric trail traveled speedily towards the bathroom, making a few bathing sounds. A second later, the electric trail agilely sped towards his room, and back downstairs, where the figure of Zayn was seen wearing a dark purple uniform with a white and gold badge with the image of a dragon on it; facing a woman who had her back towards him, setting a few dishes on a table.
Zayn's eyes briefly turned a dark shade of purple, but it disappeared just as quickly.
"Oh. I see you're ready. Don't let me wait that long next time when I call for you okay?" The woman faced Zayn with a faint smile on her face. For some reason, a slight wave of terror flashed in Zayn's heart, and he hastily nodded his head in consent.
"Alright. Pick up a spoon and dig in. The bot is not gonna feed you this time." The woman sat at the table with a soft grin on her face. The woman looked like someone in her thirties, with waist length golden blonde hair and beautiful obsidian orbs that enhanced her womanly charm. Her assets were fairly big, with a nice hourglass figure. Her pure white teeth shone as she opened her mouth to take a bite of the food.
Zayn didn't say anything more, and quickly sat his ass on a chair, taking a spoonful of the food in his mouth.
"Mm. This tastes good. Nice job mom." Zayn said as he took a bite.
"You like it? I guess I'll make it another time then." The woman smiled.
About thirty minutes later, the table was cleared of the food. Zayn quickly grabbed ahold of a dark bag, and calmly slung it over his shoulder.
"Alright, good bye Mom." He waved his hand slightly.
"Goodbye son. Remember to take your studies seriously. Do not come back here if you don't get an A+ in all your courses!" The woman shouted to him.
"Okay Mom." He answered perfunctorily.
'Seriously? Such a pain.' He thought wearily as his eyes glowed electric blue again.
Disappearing from his location, a blue electric trail followed behind his figure as he zipped through the streets of the city. A few minutes later, he arrived at a station where trains could be seen coming and going at high speeds.
Arriving at a counter nearby, he nodded at a middle-aged woman with thick glasses on her face as she lazily sorted out some files.
"Hi! How much for the ticket to Skylark Academy?" He politely asked.
The middle-aged woman peered at him through her glasses for a second, then turned her face away as she lazily replied, "200 euro-dollars."
"Wait! Seriously? Why the hell has it gone up again?" Zayn was surprised.
Well, he had a fair right to be. Ever since the people of Earth began to rebuild their planet, many things were reformed. One of which was currency. The leaders of Earth decided to collectively create a new currency; one that would be used by all, the euro-dollar. In terms of exchange rates, one euro-dollar was roughly equal to 10 dollars of old Earth. And spending about two thousand dollars worth of currency on a train ticket didn't sit right with him, regardless of distance. Nevertheless, he still had to pay, so there was pretty much no use crying about it now.
"Hey, if you're not going to pay, then move over. I've work to do." The woman was nonchalant.
Zayn didn't say too much and directly made the transaction, after which the woman passed him a white ticket with blue stripes on it.
"Freaking rip-off." Zayn muttered as he walked towards a substation that had the words "Destination: Skylark Academy" electronically displayed over a screen and directly entered a train, picking a random seat and resting his butt on it.
After the train had passengers filled up, the doors immediately shut close. After which, the train immediately moved with a huge jolt, causing the people inside to fiercely jerk backwards on the seats.
The train moved at high speeds, clocking at a max speed of Mach 3, a speed that could put most vehicles to shame. Zayn put on some headphones and causally leaned his head against the headrest of the sleek leather seat.
After a few minutes, the train gradually came to a halt at a nearby station. Zayn glanced around, and seeing that the train had stopped, he calmly held his bag and walked out of the train. After a two minute hike, Zayn stood before a large hexagonal shaped building that stood at about 200 feet tall and 150 feet wide.
A bunch of students could be seen, some of them staring at the huge gates of the academy with longing in their eyes and curious naivete on their faces. Some of them had mixed feelings in their hearts as they recalled past memories while a faint smile appeared on their faces.
A new school semester had begun.
A bunch of seniors with dark purple uniforms such as the ones Zayn was wearing had smart looking grins on their faces as they tried to welcome the newer students. Some of them wore cool glasses, pushing them up the bridge of their noses as they tried to make themselves look smarter while showing the new students around. Most of the senior students became peculiarly quick-witted, especially in the face of a new female student.
"Hey there! Are you a new student? Let me help you with your registration. The academy is a big place, and since you're new, there are a lot of things you don't know yet, right? You might get lost around the way. Come on, follow me. I'll take you where you need to go."
Similar conversations such as this one could be heard all over the place. It looked like a hub of pure bustling activity. Some of the male seniors would frequently compete amongst themselves for the right to welcome the attractive female juniors.
Those among them who won the competition would strut around and puff up their chests proudly. After guiding the confused females to complete the registration, the seniors would then complete the most important aspect of the process: acquiring their communicator numbers or their social media contacts.
Of course, not all the females would give out such information. That would all depend on the luck of the pitiful male seniors.
Zayn looked at all of this and let out a faint smile. Taking a deep breath, he muttered.
"After three long months...I'm back here again." Zayn's voice was filled with profound emotion.
'Skylark Academy! Zayn! Is! Back!' He roared in his heart.
Walking through the large gates of the academy, a faint light shone on Zayn's body. A neutral robotic voice was heard.
[Identity confirmed...]
[Sixth-Year Student, Zayn Reeves]
[Welcome back to Skylark Academy.]
[You are advised to go to the assembly hall for a debriefing.]
[Your Division Rank has been set.]
[Position: 10]
The white and gold academy badge flashed, and a number 10 appeared on it for a few seconds, after which it reverted back to normal.
Zayn looked at the badge on his chest for a few seconds as he rubbed his hand on it. Letting out a faint grin, he walked into the periphery of the academy.
As he was lost in thought, walking towards the assembly hall, a hand patted his shoulder, causing him to jerk forward and nearly losing his balance. His eyes quickly glowed a dark purple as he turned to look at the person who touched him.
"Whoa there! Don't get all crazy on me!" A lanky boy with wavy blonde hair, an overly handsome face and a gold earring on his right ear said laughingly as he waved his hands.
"Oh. It's just you. Shit! Kai! Don't scare me like that next time." The dark purple glow in Zayn's eyes quickly receded.
"Yeah, yeah. I got you. But what do you mean by "oh. It's just you." Shouldn't you be happy to see ya best friend in person after a whole three months?" Stars shone in Kai's eyes as he let out a lewd grin.
Zayn nearly barfed.
"Get off me you weirdo. Talking shit like that, someone's gonna think we're gay." He turned his face away.
"Aww. Don't talk like that. You know you like it." Kai pestered him.
"Eww." Zayn took a deep breath.
"Oh, and by the way, have you seen Lynn? Seeing as you got here before me." Zayn asked.
"I'm always here before you. And no, I haven't seen him. Where is that guy anyway?" Kai looked around the school as his eyes glowed bright yellow.
"Right here." An emotionless voice sounded behind them.
"Aah! Shit! What the hell is with you guys?" Zayn shouted as he looked at a boy with dark spiky hair that covered his left eye, a cold demeanor and a red scarf wrapped around his neck. His right eye drew people into it with its royal blue colour.
"Hey Lynn. What's up?" Kai said with a chuckle.
The cold boy nodded.
"Oh. We're going to the assembly hall. Wanna come with?" Zayn offered.
Lynn didn't say anything and just walked in front of them. Zayn and Kai looked at each other and said at the same time.
"Still as cold as ever."
The both of them smiled, and chased after the cold boy as they went to the assembly hall.