One Of The Higher Ups

October 20th. Friday, 11:55 AM. 

The week flew by. The students had an exam on Tuesdays and were getting the results at 6 PM today. This exam was out of 50, and whatever score out of 50 they got would equate to how many points they would get. The exam had various questions from all five subjects they studied; therefore, it was tricky. By now, even the students recognised the increase in difficulty on the academic side, but they were also about to acknowledge the other side. Today was Friday, so usually, they would have a schedule packed with lessons, but that wasn't the case. The students received an email yesterday informing them that all their lessons were cancelled and were told they only had to attend a mandatory assembly held at midday.

That's where we are now—the main hall was jam-packed with every first-year student in their uniforms. Obviously, the students sat with their friends and near people they were familiar with.

"Why are you yawning?" Benjamin asked Malakai, who was covering his yawning face.

"You're asking someone why they are yawning? I'm tired. Why else would I yawn?" Malakai replied like Benjamin was an idiot.

"You know some people yawn after saying yawn or seeing someone else yawn", Lucas interjected.

"No one asked", Malakai joked. Lucas got shut down. He didn't bother arguing back because you would most likely lose if you got into an argument with Malakai. UK banter, Malakai's friends still had to get used to it.

"You woke up about half an hour ago. What time did you go to sleep?" Benjamin asked, looking at Malakai's tired eyes. Malakai always had eyes that looked tired if you looked carefully, but today, they were obvious.

"I don't know. I didn't check the time; the last time I checked, it was like 2:30 or something", Malakai said, thinking back.

"Why do you go to sleep so late? Just go to bed earlier", Lucas told him.

"Bro, I try, but I end up lying in bed just rolling left to right," Malakai replied, looking to his right at Lucas. 

"He's always tired, forget him", William added.

"Who invited you?" Malakai asked William. William was sitting next to Lucas, so he had to lean forward to get involved in the conversation.

"Me. I invited myself", William came back.

"That's kinda sad cuz you're not wanted", Malakai replied, smirking, trying to start an argument.

"Please, don't argue", Lucas pleaded, sitting in between the two. He wanted to avoid hearing them diss each other the whole time after stopping himself from starting one with Malakai. 

"Do you think it's another challenge?" Ray asked David. 

"Yeah, I think so. Unless Malakai's done something stupid again. I don't see a reason for them to call an assembly". 

"Do you think they're going to announce a challenge?" Lorenzo asked Ryan, who looked calm. 

"No. A second-year girl told me the next challenge is all about cards, and it happens at the end of October", Ryan replied slyly, looking around the hall.

"And you believe her?" Lorenzo said, sounding sceptical.

"It wasn't only her that said that a few others did as well", Ryan replied.

"How many second years did you sleep with?" Lorenzo sarcastically asked.

"Why are you assuming I slept with them?" Ryan answered Lorenzo with a question.

"I saw different pairs of shoes outside your room. I doubt you're bringing girls over to have a study session", Lorenzo brutally answered. 

"Do you have a problem with it?" Ryan questioned, as it sounded like Lorenzo had a problem.

"Na, man. Do what you gotta do", Lorenzo said in a voice showing he didn't care. 

Ryan kept looking around the hall at the other students. "I'm pretty sure this assembly is about the mini-games, or they're going to make an announcement about exams", Ryan predicted.

"Ok, that's cool, bro", Lorenzo replied, uninterested.

Ryan glared at Lorenzo. "Get off your phone, man; it looks like someone's coming on stage," Ryan told Lorenzo. Throughout the whole conversation, Lorenzo scrolled through his phone and didn't look at Ryan once. 

"Fine," Lorenzo said, turning off his phone and putting it in his pocket. Ryan wasn't lying as a figure walked on the stage towards the mic at the centre.

Now standing in front of the students was a short, round older man. He had grey hair on both sides of his head and the back, but the top lacked hair. He wasn't very old—he looked about 50—but you could tell he was closer to 60 than 50. The man was clean-shaven in a navy blue suit with smart brown shoes—an unfamiliar face to all the students.

"Good afternoon, everyone!" He said in the mic. After that greeting, all the scraps of noise were cleaned up, and now there was dead silence. "This is the first time you've seen me, so let me introduce myself", he continued. He looked left to right with a proud look on his face. 

"My name is Mr Miller, and I'm one of the higher-ups in this Academy".

After mentioning his position, the students gave each other a few looks, and a few whispers appeared.

"Please, can I get your attention?" Mr Miller said, killing the whispers before it grew into something louder. "Thank you. As I said, I'm a higher-up, so I oversee most things in this Academy and am involved in the many important decisions involved".

"Do you think he knows who you are?" Benjamin whispered to Malakai.

"I doubt it. I'm only a first-year; I don't think he cares", Malakai replied, slouched back in his seat.

"I've got to say I'm very impressed by the standard this year. I've seen your results for the first challenge and the mini-games. There are some great students", Mr Miller praised them.

"What were you saying?" Benjamin said to Malakai like he proved him wrong.

"I still doubt he knows who I am, though", Malakai replied. "He's probably only seen my name. He said he's a higher-up; why would he waste his time watching us?" Malakai said, thinking what Mr Miller was saying was all fake. Sweet talk to flatter everyone.

"Anyways, I'm the one who organised this assembly. This is because I'm here to announce that next week the second challenge will take place".

After this announcement, different groups of students had different emotions. Some were surprised, some were happy or excited, and the majority of the students were still tired. Even after the mini-games, the leaderboard didn't change much, but now, with another challenge, students gained some confidence to break into the top ten. 

"I won't tell you what the challenge is; you will find out soon. But I will tell you some important information. There will be no lessons next week; the challenge takes place all week. All of you will be sent an email telling you what day your challenge will occur." Mr Miller looked around the hall, excited about what was to come. "I see some of you are confused. Don't worry. All of you will be doing the same challenge. We just had to split you throughout the week to make it work. I know some of you are expecting a challenge involving cards, but let me inform you now that won't be the case".

Ryan kissed his teeth. All the information he gathered was for no reason. It seemed like things were different this year; he should've known after the random introduction of mini-games. His initial plan was out the window, and there was no way to make a new one as the next challenge was unknown. Getting number one doesn't look that easy now.

"For this challenge, you will be in groups of five; you will find out who is in your group on the day of your challenge. In the email you receive, you will be given the day of your challenge and a number between one and six. The number represents what group you are in."

"Do you think we'll be in the same group?" Frank asked Alexander.

"The chances are slim, so my guess would be no", Alexander replied quietly.

"That is all the information I'm giving you", Mr Miller said. Just before he walked off, he said, "Oh, I almost forgot: the challenge will be livestreamed. So you can watch your friends compete in their challenge. The livestream will be available on the academy app; then you can connect it to the TV in your dorm".

Something that has never been done before, livestreaming a challenge. The first time the academy was trying was on these new first years.

Mr Miller clapped his hands together. "That's all from me; you will receive the email at 3 PM. Thank you all; you may leave," he abruptly concluded.

Confusion. The students looked at one another. Was that it? They've been called to an assembly for that little information. Yeah, it was a big announcement, but it was only about 5-10 minutes. This could've been done by video. The students had mixed emotions; they were annoyed at the inconvenience of the whole situation as they could've stayed in bed, but they had no lessons because of this assembly. Anywho, what could they do now, it was finished. They could return to their dorm and go back to bed if they wanted to.

"Is that it?" Malakai said disappointedly. "I woke up for that", he continued.

"You can go back to bed, it's fine", Lucas told him, showing him the positives.

"No, I don't take naps. If I go to bed now, my sleep schedule would be fucked", Malakai replied. 

"It already is fucked", Benjamin said, standing up.

"Touché", Malakai replied. "I still ain't going to bed, though", Malakai said, getting ready to leave the hall. 

Frank and Alexander were walking to a shop to get some ingredients.

"Did your brother ever tell you about the higher-ups?" Frank asked, knowing talking about Alexander's brother was a touchy subject.

Alexander kept quiet for a few seconds before answering, "Not really. I remember him saying the higher-ups didn't show their face much. They only ever showed themselves when they wanted to", he replied.

"So you didn't know Mr Miller?" Frank asked.

"No", Alexander simply replied.

That sharp reply didn't stop Frank from asking, "Does your brother give you advice?" Frank wanted to keep the conversation alive.

"Why would I want advice from him?" Alexander replied in disgust. "He tries to, but I don't listen to him".

"You should at least hear him out", Frank said, choosing his words carefully.

"No. He didn't win. He didn't even get into the top 30. The only thing he got from this academy was a certificate," Alexander ranted. "My family don't even talk to him." Frank stayed silent, feeling he would interrupt him if he said anything. Alexander also went quiet; it looked like he was thinking about something. 

"Just a certificate", Alexander quietly said. "But despite that ... Tch", Alexander shook his head. 

"Disgrace".

"Nevermind; we're here", Frank said, feeling it was a good time to end that conversation.

6:10 PM 

"Damn, it's getting close".

LEADERBOARD

1) MALAKAI JUNIOR (1-C) - 683 POINTS

2) ALEXANDER BURRELL (1-A) - 644 POINTS 

3) FRANK CARTER (1-A) - 631 POINTS

4) MARK HARISON (1-A) - 625 POINTS 

5) KENNEDY SMITH (1-A) - 620 POINTS 

6) RYAN LEE (1-B) - 603 POINTS 

7) BRI LOPEZ (1-A) - 601 POINTS 

8) LORENZO DEMARCO (1-B) - 600 POINTS 

9) SYDNEY HAYES (1-A) - 599 POINTS 

10) EVE MASON (1-A) - 595 POINTS