The rest of the day flew by quickly. Levi tried his best to join affiliate commands, but every command had its restrictions. The only command memberships attainable were those limited to grey academics only. Levi felt that their activities were quite dull, so he indulged in an early and hearty dinner.
Surprisingly, many academics were already seated in the cafeteria. With boldness, Levi walked down the central aisle, looking straight ahead. He noticed a girl and a boy approaching from the opposite direction, so he sensibly moved to the right, allowing them enough space to pass by. However, the couple deliberately maintained an unnecessary gap in the middle, and the male intentionally bumped into Levi's shoulder.
"Watch where ya goin', freak!" The boy yelled, gripping onto the girl next to him as if she were something precious. Levi calmly endured the encounter, carrying on his way while ignoring the stares.
[That was on purpose]
"You think?" Levi asked ironically. He made his way to the buffet and grabbed a tray, taking in the mouthwatering aroma of chicken as he opened the stainless pot.
He padded his plate alongside a bowl of rice noodle soup. If he was going to the South Wing, he might as well eat the best food he can while he had the chance. Levi turned, he took a look around, searching for empty seats. All tables were occupied with few academics on them, leaving empty positions in between.
He rather sit on the floor, Levi thought.
He could see from his side, four boys had gotten up menacingly and were stomping towards him. One of them was Chase. Levi noticed he had a cast on his arm, he couldn't help but smirk at the view. Serves him right, he thought.
Levi completely forgot about the trouble coming his way. In a hurry, he composed himself and quickly walked in the opposite direction. Another male, who was close to Levi, stood up and forcefully shoved him, causing the contents on his tray to spill.
The crashing sound called the attention of everyone in the room. There was silence as the first group caught up with Levi, who was staring at his soiled chicken and soup.
"You broke my arm, you idiot! Did you think ah'd just forget about that?!" Chase's voice thundered from behind. The boys surrounded Levi, all eager to throw him punches like he'd hurt any of them before. Levi slowly turned to meet his gaze. The chicken issue still hurt him a lot—that was a perfectly roasted one.
"No," Levi replied boldly. "I expected this to happen sooner or later, but can we postpone it? Because right now, I really want some chicken." Levi finished as he tried to wiggle past the clique, but was pushed back. He sighed.
A boy next to Chase chuckled. "He thinks he's funny." He took closer steps to Levi and grabbed him by his collar. "Let's stretch that grin of ya, shall we?"
"You will be doing nothing!" A voice from the door interjected the unravelling scene.
All eyes turned towards Loras as he appeared at the doorway, holding a stack of documents under his arm. "Nine, come wimme," he ordered loudly.
Levi skimmed his confronters, a mischievous look in his face. He made to leave as one of them grabbed him by the arm. "This is not over psycho," the boy growled.
Levi jerked his arms forcefully out of his grip before taking the long walk on the aisle back to the door. He had really wanted to eat that chicken. What does Loras want anyway? He thought.
Loras extended his other arm, inviting Levi to join him. "Apologies for that," he said. "And sorry 'bout this as well, just wanted to introduce you to the crew before tomorrow morning. Let's head out, shall we?"
---
Loras and Levi walked for a while before entering a room that looked like a library. It felt a bit strange to Levi, as it seemed to be the only room in the entire institution without a modern appearance.
Loras opened another door, revealing a chamber filled with desks and chairs. It looked like a classroom, though darker and without any chalkboards. There were already six academics in the room, some sitting, some standing and one pacing around. Abby was the one pacing around.
"What?!" A female academic cried in contempt once she saw Levi. "Fuc' no! No way! It just gets worse!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air and over her head. "You didn't say it would be this guy!"
Another unfamiliar male academic just blurted out a short chuckle. He was resting slightly on a desk, next to another female academic. "What the-" he said in confusion with a sprinkle of humour.
"Relax, Pink, it's the Director's orders," Loras said, arranging the files in his hands into a shelf nearby.
Levi recognized Brody and Box as well. Brody was already walking towards him, wearing his usual soothing smile. Box was seated at the far end, while Abby had a look of sheer anger on her face.
"These posts are meant for golden and red academics and for golden and red academics alone," the unfamiliar male spoke up again. "Now, we have a blue and a fuckin' grey with us? You must be kiddin' me," he finished with a bland expression on his face. Levi noticed his black sleek hair. He was very handsome, no argument. Broad shoulders, green eyes with a playboy face, what a lot of girls would want.
Abby chuckled sarcastically and said, "Paige is a green, you idiot," while gesturing towards the girl whom Loras had earlier referred to as Pink. The girl had short shoulder-length hair, dyed pink and purple on one side. Was it a coincidence they named her Pink?
Paige wanted to speak up, but Loras cut in, "That's enough, all of ya. Being teenagers doesn't give you the right to be pasturing kids." He paused, waving his hand for Levi and Brody to take seats in the back. Abby, stubborn as ever, refused and remained standing.
Loras continued, "Y'all will have to know yourselves better. You'll be stickin' together for about a month in that horrible place. And you'll have each other's backs." Loras finished with scoffs coming from his audience. He ignored the sounds. "You'll have different quarters at the other end of the institution. Tomorrow, you'll have medical tests and the day after that...the voyage." He locked eyes with each of them, adding, "I'll be right back. Behave yourselves and get along." Loras excused himself and left the room.
There was a short silence before the Pink girl stood up with anger. "You slutty bit-!" She started, facing Abby.
Abby's eyes widened with fury. "You're in lavender aren't you?! Greens are just advanced greys if you don't know."
The girl stood dramatically and pointed at Levi, "Don't you dare lump me in the same pile with this piece of shit," she hissed.
"Watch your mouth," Abby threatened. Her eyes turned white and sparks of electricity danced around her body as she lunged forward.
"Woah woah woah!" The boy had interjected, stepping in front of her. "Abby what the fuc' is wrong with ya, huh? You're trying to start a fight? In this room?"
"Get out of my way, Nate," Abby said coldly, her gaze unremoved from her prey.
"Or you will do what?" The boy replied, his eyes and fists turning a scary glow of golden.
"You guys should stop it!!" The other girl, blonde, next to Nate finally cried out. "Don't tell me we're seriously having a brawl here?" She said, standing up.
"No one asked for your opinion," Abby said, still matching chest to chest with Nate.
"And I didn't ask for yours either," the blonde girl replied quickly. "I've been to the South Wing before, me and Nate. So, you should understand why he's sceptical about the crew that's following us. That place is something else, we're the last golden academics left because of it."
Levi couldn't help but stare at the blonde girl. She looked awfully familiar, too familiar, but he couldn't make out.
"I dunno how relevant he can be," she turned, taking a short glance at Levi. "But he'll surely increase our chances of survival by at least 1%."
What the hell? Who's she? Levi pondered. Her pale white skin was attractive as it was elegantly laid under the red and black sweatshirt.
"Jamie, the punk dislocated my best friend's arm," Nate yelled with a right annoyance. To Levi's surprise, he and Abby were still squaring off.
"Ugh, cut the crap, Nate. You know how Chase is such a bully. I'm sure...Levi had to do what he did." She took another look at Levi, with her straight blonde hair shielding her left eye.
Brody leaned on Levi and whispered, "Don't tell me you don't know who she is?"
Levi turned quickly to him and mouthed 'who?' She really looked like someone he had in his memories for a long time.
"Jamie. Jamie Greyson, remember? The girl in school," Brody said with a shrug of his shoulders. He felt he wasn't meant to be there.
Jamie? What? It can't be! Why are some of his old mates showing up in The Academy?
She still looked beautiful, Levi pointed out. Her glittery blonde hair and pale skin were just as he remembered them. Though she didn't have many curves—none at all, in fact—Levi had always adored her just the way she was. Now, she had fully grown.
Jamie pulled Nate away from Abby with a carefree ease that caught Levi's attention. It seems they're close, Levi thought.
"I say we all get along as quickly as possible, for the best," Jamie said, turning to Paige who stood beside her. "Whether you like it or not, he's on the team, as is his friend, Brody."
Jamie then faced Abby and Nate who had relieved their abilities. Red and golden academics must have good ability time span, Levi noticed. "You both should do the needy, we can't survive out there as lone wolves."
The room was quiet for a while, cold gazes passing amongst each other.
"Go to hell," Abby spat loudly, rolling her tongue before stomping out of the room.
"Well, goodbye!" Paige yelled, hoping Abby could hear it. She turned and gave Levi a scornful look, followed by an amusing and mocking smile that played at the corner of her lips. "I'd rather have a hound's balls in me mouth than this psycho on the team," she quickly stomped out of the room too.
"Pai-" Jamie tried to call. "Ah, fuc' me," she wailed as she dropped back to her chair. Nate came closer, trying to touch her. "Don't... fuckin' touch me," she whispered.
Levi looked around, spotting Box seated at the end of the room with arms folded. He looked unbothered at everything that just happened.
Levi and Brody both shared a glance. Was this the crew he was going to team up with in that deadly abyss?