Derek was still lost in his thoughts he did not notice Maya stop until he heard her voice. "Welcome to our humble abode" Maya announced in her lively voice.
Looking up at the building it looked just as nice as the other buildings he had seen inside the school. All the buildings in the school were modern style.
Seeing the hostels Derek was tempted to go in and take a look around, but since Maya made no move to go into the hostel, Derek said nothing. Moreover, he felt like they had already seen enough for the day. He could not exactly say he was fed up with the tour, but his focus had shifted to something else.
He wanted to see the five big families participate. Part of him craved the competition, he knew that the fastest way to the top was recognition, but he knew he wasn't strong enough.
Currently, he was at the bottom of the food chain and the only way up was by getting stronger and that was exactly what Derek planned to do.
"I would show you the hostel, but only students are allowed inside the hostel. Visitors are not allowed unless it is a special case"
To her reply, Derek simply nodded his head and resumed walking as Maya was on the move once again. Maya in her usual lively attitude began skipping ahead. Derek felt she was simply a free spirit with no problems.
Maya continued with her tour, showing Derek different important and unimportant spots in the school likewise. Derek either nodded or nodded at each new spot. Maya thought he was either really good at hiding his emotions or he was just totally indifferent but she was more inclined towards the former.
After a few more hours of walking, sitting and chatting, the duo was back at Tate's
"I guess this brings us to the end of our tour" Maya commented. Derek breathed a sigh of relief which earned him a frown from Maya.
"Was it that boring? That you're so happy its over?" Maya pouted at Derek
"It was quite interesting, the expression was because of something else" Derek replied her. Maya stared disbelievingly at Derek. Why then did he have to do it at that moment, she thought. He really is a strange one.
Night was fast approaching, Maya knew that Derek would be able to find his way from here, she waved at him and took off. He could only assume that she was returning to the hostel.
When Derek arrived back at the hotel where the visitors were lodged, he first ran into Chuck. He had to wonder if Chuck was stalking him. Chuck had countless questions for him, he wanted to know where he had been all day because he would have wanted to tag along.
Derek was glad that he had left without Chuck, he didn't think he could have tolerated his noisiness.
The night was a repetition of the previous, the students gathered at the hall once again and held a banquet. As usual, there was enough food to feed two times the crowd in the hall. Everyone happily ate to their fill.
After the students had retired to their rooms, Derek lay on the bed till he could hear Chuck snoring away where he lay. Derek stood up and walked to the window.
The view from the hotel rooms was beautiful. Looking at the night light from up above was satisfying and exactly what Derek needed to clear his head. His stomach was grumbling in anticipation of tomorrow.
Even though he wasn't among the participants, he could feel his stomach clench in anxiety, since it was a yearly event Derek was already motivated to participate in the next one.
After almost an hour of standing by the window completely lost in thought, Derek returned to his bed. He kept on rolling from one end of the bed to the other unable to sleep.
The next time Derek opened his eyes, it was day break. He had spent the better part of the night trying to make himself sleep.
Even though the event didn't start for at least the next three hours, Derek went straight to the bathroom to brush and bath. Even though it was barely visible on his face, excitement had the better of him.
Chuck only woke up after Derek had finished bathing, he stared at Derek who was already all prepared and ready to leave.
"You were about to sneak out early again and leave me here, right?" Chuck asked, raising an eyebrow. Derek simply ignored him.
The teachers had shared a t-shirt for each of their students and they were ordered to wear them to the event center, which Derek had already visited.
It must have been why Chuck thought that Derek was going to leave early, but he had forgotten that the school's bus was the vehicle taking them to the Citadel, so everyone was going to leave at the same time. Even though Derek wished that he could go ahead of the students. But the rules were the rules.
The clothes were for easy identification and the Citadel was a little distance from the hotel, the school was quite large and they had first years on their hands. The school couldn't have itself searching for lost students, they were more important things, like the upcoming event which was to start in less than two hours.
Outside the hotel grounds, the school was already bubbling with activities. Military were deployed to every entrance and exit of the school and strategic points to secure the school against intruders. A lot of dignitaries were expected, so the school was not leaving any feathers unruffled in terms of security.
"Have our visitors left their hotels?" the headmaster asked
"Not yet sir" his secretary replied. The headmaster was cuffing his sleeves, he was already on the move.
"Make sure they leave on time, I want everyone seated when they arrive. I don't want people on the corridors running about"
"Of course, sir" she instantly understood what he was talking about and she immediately started making phone calls.