2 CHAPTER I: FRESH ORIENTATION

So, that's it. The world isn't what it is. The dead are alive. The weak became strong. The strong became weak. And lovers turned out to be insane psychopaths. The normal days of a superhero-in-training, I suppose. I hope you have a bit of patience because my story is a long one, and it starts out in the same old, boring world. To be specific: the holy land of university.

I beg your pardon though, if my younger self is a tad bit stupid and naïve. That's really how superheroes start out, you know? I'm the same way. Yassi Anne P. Sorento was just a normal human being right before she became not-so-normal anymore.

But let's go on with the story. University. Oh, university. I can still smell the dusty libraries and the seizure-inducing scent of the sweat-filled gym. Much like high school, really. But less rules, more booze, and a little bit more insane drama. The insane drama part works out pretty well for me, actually.

So there I was, minding my own business during the mandatory (or I wouldn't be there) freshman orientation. But suddenly, a chick with obviously dyed-blond hair sat beside me and started up a conversation that would later turn my normal world upside down.

"Hi, I'm Jesta. What's up?" she said, crossing her legs, revealing more skin under her navy blue miniskirt. Her blond hair was cut short and choppy, and her whole aura could only spell trouble. Like the innocent little freshman I was, though, I smiled back at her.

"I'm Yassi Anne. Under Biology," I replied.

"Ho! Little Scientist, huh?" Jesta jester-ed. "I'm in Fine Arts. I've got no real skill, though. I just chose the course so I could make my parents anxious."

Little me laughed along with her, but I didn't really know if she was kidding or not.

Suddenly, the whole auditorium blacked out, causing a few people to shout out in surprise. 'What's happening?' I thought, searching my backpack for my phone.

"Pft. Calm down," I heard Jesta say, obviously unperturbed by the sudden darkness. "It's just the upperclassmen's silly gimmicks."

True to her words, an ear-splitting sound of a microphone connecting haphazardly into the speakers boomed out, causing people to hold their hands against their ears in agony.

"Oops! Sorry 'bout that!" a high male voice was heard through the speakers scattered around the wide hall. He coughed a little and started again, "Freshies and seniors who still feel fresh, I welcome you all to the Annual Freshman Orientation!"

His last few words were practically screamed, so the hall groaned yet again for their poor eardrums. As he finished his little introduction, the auditorium flashed back into sight, causing yet another wave of surprise for the unprepared. As the students blinked their eyes in temporary confusion, the host started introducing himself.

"Hey hey hey! I'm your host for today. Call me Sir Ransom! Let's see… What else? What else? Yeah! I'm currently in my sixth year here in the Uni," the host announced proudly. "Eh, don't look at me like that! It's hard to finish college on time!"

The other freshmen and I just stared at the guy blankly…

He cleared his throat and ran his ever-twitching hands through his gelled out black hair. "Bah, anyway! Here's a toast to you getting in the prestigious MU!"

Almost in sync, a group of older girls appeared from behind us and started giving us cups.

A particularly noticeable girl approached our seats, her red hair shaved on the sides and held up like a Mohawk. Immediately, I knew that she was an upperclassman. How did I know that? Let's just say I have an eye for things. That, and because she wore an "I'm your senior!" nametag on her chest. She was smiling devilishly as she handed out the cups to us, which we of course received from her.

"Enjoy!" the senior said, and thundered away.

Jesta and I looked at each other, and then sniffed at the liquid.

"Juice?" I guessed, looking at the dark substance suspiciously.

My companion, though, seemed to suddenly have an epiphany. Smiling widely, she quickly gulped down the whole thing all at once, making me gasp. When she was done, I just found her looking at the bottom of the cup, glaring at it so hard as though she was hoping it would somehow fill itself up again.

"Jesta! So what is it?" I called out to her, growing impatient.

She snapped out of her reverie and looked surprised to still see me there.

"Hmmm…" She scrunched up her brows and looked away, as though trying to remember the flavor. "Juice, yeah, and definitely mixed with a bit of booze."

I gasped. "No way! How'd the seniors sneak alcohol into campus?"

Jesta only rolled her eyes at my question.

'Ugh, duh. This isn't high school anymore… Of course there'd be alcohol in Uni,' I mentally chided myself, wondering if Jesta found me too clueless. When I did look at her though, she was only staring at her cup, grinning maniacally.

'What is up with her?' I thought, slightly worried for my new friend.

Before long, the host started the usual orientation topics, so I sat back and shut him out.

I must say that even before I got my superpowers, I had this little power of my own. Anywhere I go, no matter the circumstances, I can just switch off reality and hide away in my daydreams. Unless someone pinches me awake, no sound could ever wake my dazed out self.

Before long, though, I really do get pinched. I startled into reality and glared at the miscreant. Jesta didn't mind my look at all and only pointed her lips towards the mini-platform in front of us. Still pissed off but also a bit curious, I turned to look at what was happening.

My little me loved Jesta for waking me up. Future me, not so much.

What I saw was quite possibly the most handsome college student I have ever seen. In fact, I practically drooled into my halfway empty cup. Jesta giggled at my bewitched state and pinched me again; this time from my hormone-induced dreams. I cleared my throat a bit and in order to drown away my embarrassment, I raised my cup and finished it all in one big gulp.

I slowly felt my cheeks grow warmer as I looked back at the presenter.

"Huh," I muttered. "I'm heating up from the alcohol…"

Jesta laughed from beside me. "Yeah, definitely from the alcohol."

I simply ignored her. Instead, I stared at the handsome guy. He, too, had the "I'm your senior!" badge, and he seemed to be talking about his club. I didn't really understand anything he was saying, so I just did my best to memorize his Romanesque face instead.

Before long, though, he was done endorsing his club and was already giving way for the next person to speak. Observant as I was, I saw how the next speaker, a buff guy wearing a white tank top, obviously hit his shoulder against the handsome guy's. That made my brows go up.

I won't bore you anymore about the things he said, but it was clearly shown in his speech that he disliked the first club and he endlessly claimed that their own club was way better than theirs.

Honestly, I couldn't even remember which club was which, so I only found myself staring in wonder.

Jesta, though, leaned over to whisper into my ears, "Our university doesn't allow fraternities or sororities, and that's why they show up as 'clubs' in this school. This guy's club, The Ace Club is one of the two reigning clubs in the university."

I had to do a double take on that information. Then, I too leaned over to quietly ask, "Then the other fraternity is the one represented by the handsome dude?"

Jesta laughed silently and nodded her blond head. "Yep. I heard they were the Alpha Club."

I inwardly cringed at the choice of names. Who would even name their fraternities as the "Ace Club" and the "Alpha Club"?

Although it hurt my pride to join a club named "Alpha Club", I still asked my seatmate, "Are girls allowed in the clubs?"

She grinned at me knowingly. "Duh. It's not like they can choose which members to join them, right? Our school is a co-ed one, after all."

I turned my attention back into the speaker with the tank top. With a start, I realized he was now openly fighting with the handsome guy. It was pretty clear who was winning the verbal match, though. The former was speaking rudely but made little sense, while the latter spoke evenly and with eloquence.

In frustration, the Ace Club representative finally screamed out, "This has never been fair! It was never a fair competition, and you know it!"

The handsome guy only shook his head calmly. "Please, let's just talk this out after this is over. We don't want to cause any trouble for the new arrivals in our esteemed university."

With a huff and a glare, the buff guy can only agree and stepped down from the platform. I was watching all this, enjoying the short time of entertainment, when I felt someone snatch at my cup.

"No way," Jesta uttered, looking at the bottom of my cup like she did hers. She looked up at me with a wide smile that was bordering on insane levels.

'What is up with this girl and cups??'

"I guess you won't need to wait long until you meet Mr. Handsome again," Jesta told me in a singsong voice.

I stared at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

She only laughed annoyingly and wouldn't answer me. Annoyed, I quickly pounced on her, reaching for both cups stacked together in her hands. Her hands were seriously fast, though, and she wouldn't let up at all amidst my interrogations.

"Stupid girl and her stupid cups…" I muttered, glaring at the jubilant girl beside me.

I did finally get my answer just as the orientation ended.

The host was screaming out his last words, with very few freshmen still listening. I did, though. "If any of you guys are interested, there'll be a small rally later on to support the Vigilantes! Come if you're interested!! Heroes, not criminals!"

There were a few cheers and a few boos around the auditorium.

Then, a tall, freshman guy went up to Jesta and encircled an arm around her. They seemed to know each other.

"Ugh, get your filthy arms off me, you jerk." Jesta quickly prodded his arms off of her, glaring at the new arrival. The guy didn't seem hurt by her reaction though.

"What'd you get?" he asked with excitement, stretching his long neck out to look at the cups in her hand.

She easily hid them away from his sight, and a silly game played out for the next few minutes, with the guy hopelessly trying to get the cups from her hands. When Jesta finally seemed tired, she thrusted the two cups towards the guy's face, making him look cross-eyed for a bit. When he did get a good look at the empty cups, he let out an insanely loud guffaw.

"You can't be serious!" he pounced on Jesta and ruffled her mop of yellow hair. "You freaking slut! What'd you do to get two codes? You can't be that lucky!"

Jesta only laughed with him for a while, dodging his questions, before he caught sight of me.

"Oh, hey there!" he said, putting on a sleazy smile. "You a friend of Jesta's? I'm Markus from the Sociology Department."

Then, he came near me and tried to gather me in a hug, which I promptly stopped by punching him in the gut. "Ouch! Feisty and beautiful… I like that!"

I simply ignored him. When I didn't reply, he turned his attention back to Jesta. "Hey, have you heard the news?"

I didn't peg Jesta to have a penchant for the current affairs, but a dark brow went up in interest. "Yeah? What about it? Anything on the Vigilantes?"

They then talked about the news like it was perfectly normal. It sort of shocked me. I've heard about how the Metropolitan University did attract certain kinds of students, but it was just now that I was finally seeing it for real…

After a few more words, Markus went away with his "See you tomorrow!" and "Dress up, okay!".

I found Jesta waving the cups at the guy, sporting an irritating smirk.

I, on the other hand, was growing extremely annoyed and confused.

"What… is… in… the… cups?" I growled at Jesta.

She took pity in my angered form and finally let up. "Our cups have codes printed in them. It's a sort of lottery the seniors do every year. If your cup has a code, then that means you're invited to the Freshman Welcoming Party the following night."

I looked at Jesta and at how confident she was about these things. She even knew about the fraternities/sororities disguised as clubs. She really does seem like the type of person who would have a lot of connections and be privy to all sorts of secrets.

I suddenly had a suspicion. "Did you really rig the results?"

"What do you think?" she asked with a mischievous smile. She then grabbed my chin and leaned in closer. I could smell the alcohol on her breath as she whispered, "But you getting the code? You're the real lucky one, sweetie."

I felt a shiver down my spine as I saw her tan face up close. I felt as though bad things could happen while she was around. (And boy was little me right.)

Keeping up the same trouble-maker smile, she brought out a pen from her pouch and grabbed my hand. "Here's my number," she announced, scribbling the digits into the insides of my wrist. "Give me a call tomorrow morning at eight. You'll need all the help you can get."

"I don't-" I started, but she cut me off in a snap.

"Just listen to me and call me, alright?"

In a hurry, she then stuffed her pen away, and moved to make her way out.

"Hey, wait!" I called to her dashing form. "Jesta! Where are you going?"

There was a moment when the world seemed to have gone still. Jesta looked different when she looked back at me. Strange, but not bad either… She smiled mysteriously. "Just off to do some things."

At the door, she cried out to me, back to her normal, mischievous smile, "Call me! I'll doll you up nice and good!"

And then she was gone.