Chapter 3

I finally match his pace. He throws me a glance over his shoulder, smirks, and goes even faster. My competitive spirit kicks in and this becomes a race.

The air hitting my face and the echoing sound of our footsteps and my giggling make me forget about my surroundings. I completely lose myself in the moment and through the joy of it all I manage to inch in front of him. He lets out a surprised sound and catches up with me so we are going at the same speed.

I come to a grinding halt when I see a large group of people about ten meters in front of us. I hold out my arm so Jaemin stops as well.

"You're pretty fast for a girl!"

"Pretty fast? I was just ahead of you!"

He smirks playfully at me and strides ahead of me to the group of people walking into the hall. I join him and we slowly start entering the hall.

I thought the other rooms were expensive and extravagant. The entire room is made out of a deep chestnut coloured wood and is round in shape. Rows and rows of chairs curve with the walls all circling the centre of the room. I turn around to Jaemin and he wears a similar expression to me. I look around the seats and by my estimate, there must be around 400 students here. Which is less than I expected.

"ALEXANDRIA!" I hear somebody shout my name and I scour the pews to try and see who it was. To my surprise I find Zakiah and Valentina waving and calling me over. Jaemin pats my back.

"Looks like our friends are sitting close together, let's go." I just nod as I am a bit shocked by the sudden physical contact. After I climb the several stairs they both get up for me to sit down.

"Hi." Haechan is sat next to me with a big grin on his face.

"Hello!" I try my best not to sound too excited but how can I not? I am at this amazing new school and I have already made friends with all of these fun people, some of them being quite cute.

"Ah~ You're excited to see me then? I don't blame you." Patting his chest, he looks off into the distance. I giggle lightly and look over to see Zakiah and Valentina to see them still standing with Jaemin. It looks like he is flirting with them a little bit. He is such a grease! They offer for him to sit next to Haechan instead of me but he shrugs it off smoothly.

"I'd rather sit next to two pretty girls." I make eye contact with Haechan and we both burst out laughing, my friends go quite bashful but accept nevertheless. I end up sitting next to Zakiah and Haechan with Jisung and Jaemin on either side of them. The conversations we all have are light, friendly and fun. Everybody around us seems so awkward but in our groups, we are loud and comfortable with each other.

Mid-laugh I make eye contact with that pitiful fat bitch again and my face drops instantly. I stare her down until the girl next to her notices and looks at me as well. This new girl is petite and has brown hair and eyes. She looks basic and spineless, she is clearly trying to assert her dominance over me. Not going to work. I make my mouth turn into a slight sneer. The girl's eyes waver and she breaks eye contact with me and talks to the fat one in a sympathetic tone.

Haechan notices me drop off in the conversation and nudges me playfully.

"Earth to Alexandria? Come on, we were just talking about how good I am at singing. I wouldn't want you to miss out~" Instantly my mild anger subsides and I let my face grow into a wide smile as I rejoin the conversation.

Finally, a small man walks up to the small stand in the centre of the stage.

"Can I have silence now please." He says this in a calm and reserved tone and the noise in the room diminished immediately. He clears his throat.

"Welcome, TO ACADIA ACADEMY! WHERE YOUR HOPES AND DREAMS CAN COME TRUE, WHERE YOU WILL FIND FRIENDS AND FAMILY FOR LIFE, WHERE ONLY THE BEST OF THE BEST CAN ATTEND!" He starts shouting out of nowhere and I stifle a chuckle. Our group seems to be doing the same as me. He clears his throat again.

"Now I will go through the rules and regulations on the school and the new requirements needed." The room explodes into confusion and panic.

"What do you mean new requirements?"

"We are already here!"

"Like it was hard enough getting here!"

"This isn't fair!"

"SILENCE! As you all probably already know, we only take on one group of children every four years so we can focus on them and their needs the most. But due to the previous year's incompetence and bad reputation as a result of their arrogance we have decided to add a special set of regulations. Every year the bottom one hundred of the year will be ejected from the school. When you are seniors there will only be one hundred of you remaining. Meaning there will be more resources for you to use and our reputation will not have to be tarnished by any more black sheep. If you have a problem with that you may leave now."

To my surprise nobody left, there was still a huge commotion. Well if I was them I would be concerned as well, but as I know I am one of the most talented here, I'm fine. I look around to everyone around me.

Haechan and Jisung both look perfectly calm. Which I understand, I have never met anybody who could dance like Jisung or sing like Haechan.

However, Jaemin looks slightly nervous. If he is an idol, he will also be tested based on stage presence and charisma which I can tell he has. So he has no reason to worry.

Valentina and Zakiah on the other hand, look on the verge of tears. I have never seen either of their work so I can't say anything. But knowing me, I'll probably help them in whatever they are doing so it'll be fine. I can't console them at the moment as I feel like I don't know them well enough, so I give them a sympathetic smile and turn back towards the man.

"You may have the dangers of being ejected, but the rewards are bigger and better. If you are in the top ten per cent of your year, you are classified as S class students and will live in the best dorms we have to offer and will be rewarded with grants to fund your personal lives. You will also be in lessons with each other so you can push each other to your limits. I have a list of the top ten per cent right here, if I read your name come to the stage please and follow Mr Reynolds."

I mask the pride and arrogance that I am feeling and try my best to keep a neutral expression. The man goes down the list. The further he gets down the more my heart seems to sink and the tenser I become.

Jisung is called, he gets up with a wide smile on his face and shuffles across us. He makes eye contact with me and gives me a supportive thumbs up. That is so cute.

Haechan is called, he lightly brushes my shoulder before leaving.

"You're on the list, it's fine."

My heart starts racing, what if I'm not? He proceeds down the list until all I can hear is the rhythmic pumping of my heart drumming into my skull.