Headmistress Interview

"No…Sir… I am just testing my stamina…" Rafael said with heavy gasps. There was no way he would tell anyone what just happened. It was something he wanted to bury deep in the seven hells and incinerate it if possible.

'What a way to start a day,' Rafael thought.

The security still felt suspicious. He then said, "Look, if there is any problem, just come to me. I will help you. I don't want any trouble in this area. And based on your age, I think you are one of the new students, right?"

"Yes, sir. I came to finish my registration."

"I will give you one suggestion then. Tidy yourself first. Looks are very important in this place. Don't take this the wrong way, but did you enter with a scholarship?" The security asked with concern in his voice.

"Yes, is that a problem?"

"The other kids here come from rich families. They often look down on people coming in with scholarships. I will suggest you stay in the background and avoid them if you can. There are so many bullying cases here, I hope you won't be another victim."

Hearing the security's words, Rafael frowned. His mind started considering many possibilities. What worried him the most was now his sister.

If something happened to him, it would worry her, and he couldn't let that happen. But if he needed to stay in the background, that would mean losing his scholarship since one of the requirements is to be ranked in the top three in his class.

Rafael's lips curled into a confident smile. "Thank you for the warning, sir. I will be careful."

"Alright, I will return to my post. Take care, young man."

"Rafael, I am Rafael."

"I am Ben. Look for me if you need anything…. It's nice to meet you, Rafael."

After he left, Rafael looked for a nearby mini-mart. He bought an energy drink to quench his thirst and then freshened up.

Coming out of the bathroom, he then walked to pay at the cashier.

A woman with chubby cheeks and a good figure replied, "That will be $3."

"Alright, do you have some change?" Rafael asked as he took out a $5 bill.

"Sure… Are you a new student?" the woman asked with a flat tone.

Rafael looked at the woman's name tag. It said "Emma."

"Yes, I am, Emma. Is that a problem?" he asked.

"Nothing, just asking," she replied as she gave him a $2 bill as the change.

Seeing the man leave, Emma looked at the school with a complicated gaze. She, too, once hoped to enter that school, but after working at the mini-market for some time, she knew better than anyone else that it was a good fortune she had rejected in the past.

"I hope he won't become a casualty," she mumbled. Her lips then curled into a smile. "Oh well, it's not my problem anyway. I finally got called for an audition. If I get the job, I can say goodbye to this place forever."

Emma smiled.

Meanwhile, Rafael entered the school. He got a few glares from some of the students there, as it was normal class time. But he only came to finalize his entry.

Walking toward the school administration, he was instructed to meet up with the headmistress .

Following the directions from the staff, he knocked on the door. Not long after, the door opened, showing a beautiful, mature woman with blonde hair and blue eyes.

The woman gave a polite smile, then raised her hand for a shake. "I am Vivian."

"Rafael, nice to meet you, Mrs. Vivian." At first, Rafael wanted to call her Madam, but seeing she still looked young, he decided to change it to Mrs.

Vivian didn't mind. She felt happy being called Mrs. as it made her feel young.

Taking a seat, her atmosphere changed as she took a professional tone, "Alright, now that we are acquainted, we just need to do a basic interview before getting you approved."

"Is this necessary? I thought I just needed to finish the registration," Rafael asked, feeling worried the interview could revoke his admission.

He had already started with a bad day and got multiple warnings that the school wouldn't be a good experience. Despite all that, he still decided to go in. If he now got rejected, that would really complete his misfortune for the day, making it the second unluckiest.

Vivian then tried to calm him down. "Don't worry. This is just an extra step for those who get a 100% scholarship. You should know it's not normally given to someone, so we have another layer to make sure our candidate's personality and upbringing are the same as the document."

Before Rafael could answer, Vivian began her line of questioning. It started simple, like name and school grades, but then it started becoming more personal. It was a question that asked about his personality.

"You are standing by a track switch and see a runaway trolley heading towards five people who are tied to the tracks.

You have the option to pull a lever to divert the trolley onto another track, where only one person is tied down. What do you do?"

"Do I know any of them?"

"No, both of them are strangers."

"I will pull the lever then. Standing still with no action also means I let the other five die, and it's irresponsible."

"Then you have no problem letting the other one die?"

"As both of them are strangers and I don't know anything about them, then yes, I prefer to sacrifice the one."

"So you mean there are some reasons why you can choose to prioritize the one?"

"Yes, if it's my family, or for example, the other five are douchebags and assholes. 

I am someone who thinks some people don't deserve to live in this world."

"Can you tell me what kind of people those are?"

Rafael started considering whether he should answer her honestly or not, but after some thought, he felt it was better to be honest, since he had an inkling Vivian preferred that.