I kept my head ahead and increased my pace going straight to the dining hall.
Once I entered the hall I gasped in surprise the hall was vast with long wooden tables forming two rows and approximately 10 columns. The food was served at the side of each row and needed to be self-served. My eyes kept wandering around as I took my plate and got in the line.
There was a huge chandelier hanging in the middle of the room lighting the whole room while students' voices bustled in the hall.
'Woww!'
The food had lots of varieties and seemed delicious. I took what I felt like eating at the moment and found an empty table sitting in the corner.
I kept getting glances now and then but I decided to ignore it and eat my food in peace. I had finished half of my food when someone stood beside me, feeling the presence I looked up to find a wide-eyed surprised face looking down at me.
A girl with blond shoulder-length hair and light brown eyes stared at me in awe. She had pointed eyebrows and a petite frame with medium pink lips.
"Whohhh!" She exclaimed and sat in front of me placing her plate down and extending her hand touching my badge, "It really is real!"
"What is?"
"You Rose! You are real!!"
I frowned at her pushing her hand away slightly as she withdrew her hand and picked up her spoon to take a sip of soup.
"I'm not Rose, you are mistaken....my name is Violet."
"Well....what can I say," she gulped the soup down and smirked at me, "Once you get a nickname here...it's for forever."
"And my nickname is Rose?" I asked adding a little scoff at the end and the girl shook her head.
"It's more like White Rose."
"Why?" I asked and she halted in her action.
"Because you are wearing a white badge."
"What nonsense, then you call anyone wearing a white badge a white rose?" I questioned taking a bite of my bread and she laughed lightly shaking her head in disbelief.
"Have you seen anyone wearing a white badge here?" She asked and I went stiff. I remembered every person I saw while coming here and after coming here....I really hadn't seen anyone wearing a white badge.
I remembered reading about badges in the rule book, there were five badges white, yellow, orange, red and black that denoted the level of the students.
But what level, was not mentioned.
"C-Can you tell me everything about badges?" I asked and she pursued her lips in a pout thinking while tapping her finger on her cheeks.
"Let me think...." she drawled but when I frowned she grinned and slapped my arm, "I was just joking."
"You might already know if you have read the rule book, there are five badges white, yellow, orange, red and black the color goes from white to black according to the level of the student," she explained but my point remained unanswered....what level?
"What level?" I asked and she leaned closer whispering lightly.
"The level of crime they committed."
"I know this is a boarding school for troublemakers but calling their act a crime....isn't it too much?" I didn't commit a crime it was just a mistake and I don't think people here actually committed crimes.
"You really think so?" She laughed holding her stomach while I didn't find anything funny about what I said, "My dear....I have been sent here because I blackmailed a girl and spread her private photos online."
My eyes went wide as she told me the reason she ended up here....spreading someone's private photos online was just awful....and it was indeed a crime.
"A-And you are yellow badge?" I asked looking at her badge as she finished her dinner and smirked.
"Yes, I am, the lowest.....nah....now," she smiled staring at my badge making me shift uncomfortably, "the second lowest among all the people here."
I suddenly felt a shiver run down my spine. I looked around at the people and started taking in shaky breaths.
'Just....what mess did I get myself into!'
Their gazes now were scaring the crap out of me, I couldn't stay there any longer. I jerked up and left the dining hall ignoring the calls the blond girl made while bumping into a girl on the entrance.
"Sorry," she said and I didn't respond to her dashing out of the hall straight to the dorm building.
'I need to get out of here! I need to get out of here....'
I halted midway when I realised the school was situated in the middle of nowhere and I had no device to connect to my parents or friends. The headmistress seemed like a shady person and I had no backup here whatsoever.
"What should I do??" I started pacing ahead bitting my thumb nail anxiously and after reaching the building I didn't go to my room and rushed straight up towards the roof.
I charged through the door and inhaled a deep breath that I didn't even know I was holding. I was on the brink of crying as tears filled my eyes and I slowly walked to the middle of the roof.
There was only a dark dense forest around and no civilization, I don't remember seeing any devices in the places I had been to except for the office where I saw the headmistress's laptop and phone beside the documents.
I could steal and call my parents...but if I get caught I couldn't imagine the consequences I would have to face.
I was busy in my thoughts when I heard loud laughter from behind, by the sound it definitely belonged to a group of boys. I was normally calm but all my instincts were screaming at me to hide, I looked around desperately for a place when I saw a ladder connected to the upper roof and jogged towards it.
"Oh the door is open," someone said and I rushed up. When I reached up I saw a person wearing a black hoodie resting there, he was lying down with one leg bent and one hand supporting his head.
When he felt me approaching him, he opened his eyes and turned his head towards me. His silky black hair sticking out of the hood fluttered due the to wind and his light green eyes penetrated through my soul making it his captive.
"Huh? I don't see anyone here," someone said and I looked back at the group of guys who had orange badges and gulped hard. I scooted back to hide and shivered as the cold wind touched my skin.
"Why don't you check up there," one suggested and I gulped hard as I felt the metal ladder clanking against the wall with weight and shut my eyes tight.
I felt a tug on my arm as I fell back on the chest of the guy sleeping there, I raised my head with a bewildered expression and looked into his enchanting eyes as he placed his hand on my head and lowered it down.
"Don't utter a word," he whispered and I nodded lightly.
I shivered nonstop both due to fear and cold breeze as I heard a voice behind me, I clutched the guy's hoodie tight and closed my eyes.
"Oh....sorry Isaac I didn't know you were resting here.... I'll leave," he uttered and hastily climbed down dragging his friends out of the roof.
'T-they were definitely wearing orange badge and if they were afraid of this guy....he is definitely upper level student.'
I jerked up and shifted back, my cheeks were feeling cold and I can guarantee they had already turned a shade pink from being so close to a stranger....a breathtakingly handsome one at that.
Seeing me trembling he sat up and removing his hoodie slid it over my head softly pulling it down to the waist. His hands slightly grazing my body sent tingles in my stomach and my ears turned red by the closeness.
When he was out of that hoodie my eyes fell on his badge colored in pitch black hardly visible in the night and I froze then and there.
*****