Prologue

The snow beneath my feet crunches as I inhale the cold air. I slowly squinted my eyes to decrease the pain from the frigid air. I saw a little bench right below a lamp post and sat on the cold hardwood. I waited and waited for a long time, but there was no car to pick me up.

"Where is he?" I muttered to myself. impatient, I tapped my foot on the ground with a fidgeting nose.

I've been waiting for my brother for thirty minutes or so. We planned to meet up here in Mulberry St. But he hasn't arrived yet.

I sighed and sat down on a big rock near the road, wishing my brother would appear.

It's the winter season, after Christmas, and why am I waiting for my brother you ask? Well, my brother was supposed to pick me up early today and bring me to Arthur's Academy so that I could turn in my papers and settle my things.

Since the Academy is so far away from the apartments I checked out months ago, I've decided to board school instead. The rooms weren't small, neither were they big. But It was just the right amount of size for a fifteen turning to a sixteen-year-old boy to stay at.

I just hope that I won't have a horrible year and a delinquent as a roommate.

I scoffed to myself.

I doubt that there would be any delinquents at that academy. It is one of the most prestigious schools out there after all.

A loud engine approached my way, and so I glanced at the source of the sound and saw a black car. Chevrolet Suburban, Corey's car, my brother's best friend.

"Charlie!" My loud-mouthed brother shouted and I winced. His brown messy and curly hair was enough to make me smile, I missed my brother very much. Bailey smiles and told something to Corey that I couldn't hear. The car slows down and stops in its tracks. I wasted no time and got up. My brother, Bailey, exited the car and gave me a tight loving hug.

"Charlie! It's so good to see my Lil brother!" He exclaims near my ear.

"Hey, Bailey." I returned his hug and glanced at Corey who's long hair was in a man bun, "hey." He nods and returns a smile.

"give me your luggage," Bailey demands and forcefully takes my stuff. "I can do it alone, y'know. I'm no longer a child that needs to be spoiled by his older brother." I mumbled and pouted.

"I know," he replies and placed the luggage in the trunk of the car, "it's my way of apologizing to you, I know how much you hate it when I get late." He opens the car door and gestures for me to go inside.

Surprised, I quickly entered. "What's up with you? You've never done this before."

"Oh shush, I wanna spoil you after all these years I went through. Arthur's Academy has been Hell." He says as he entered the car and I giggled.

"That's only because you keep getting late to class, berry," Corey explains and snickers.

"Shush, I was just fifteen minutes late." He pouts.

"Well, It's enough to get you in trouble," Corey responds as Bailey smacks him on the shoulder.

"Let's go, wouldn't want to miss the games," Bailey says.

Corey nods and revved up the car. After a long conversation with Bailey and Corey, we have finally reached the school entrance. The gate was overwhelmingly beautiful, and the stone walls were tall and impressive.

Corey stops the car in front of a wall that has an engraved speaker and mic.

"Corey Stoll from building one, my friend's little brother just enrolled," Corey announces through the mic on the wall, earning the gates to open for us.

I gaped my mouth at the incredible way of entering the Academy. Bailey grins, "what? Are you impressed?" I nodded my head vigorously and both Bailey and Corey laugh.

"So... when do the games start?" I asked and Bailey checks his watch.

"Hm... about an hour. We should go drop off your stuff first before we go." He says and Corey parks in a parking lot just in front of a huge building with vines. I unbuckled my seatbelt and jumped out of the car.

"Woah there, no need to hop out." Corey teases but I ignored him.

The three of us entered and saw a sweet old lady on the reception desk.

"Hello Mrs.Clover, can we have the room key for Charlie Addams?" Corey asks and Mrs.Clover looks up at him with two raised brows. She glances at me and gets off her chair. She slowly approached a file cabinet and grabbed a file. Very, very. Slowly.

Okay, maybe she's not that sweet.

"Mrs. Clover isn't too keen with newbies." Bailey whispers to my ear, "I remembered I needed something from her, to turn in some of my papers. But it took so long, my professor had to call mom and dad for a meeting. Good old memories, but hey! You'll get used to it." He pays me back with encouragement.

"I think she does that only to you.", Corey says and chuckles.

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"Your brother here broke some school property. Most of it belongs to building one." He says.

"Whaaaaat... psh, noooo..." Bailey waves him off and a loud sound came from Mrs.Clover's direction. A small silver key, just in front of her was very... worn off.

Great, now she thinks I'm like Bailey.

"Here's your key. Floor two, room nine. Your roommate is up there." Her voice was distant and cold. It made me shiver. I thanked her and we walked to the second floor. After a few minutes, I was finally in front of my room.

I exhaled with nervousness that was mixed with excitement. Not knowing what was behind this door made it even more exhilarating.

I glanced at both of my sides and saw Corey and Bailey with raised brows, I could tell what they were saying.

What are you waiting for?

I glanced back at the door and slowly turned the golden doorknob. The floorboards creaked as I open the door wide. There was a bed on the left and one on the right. Each one had a desk with a couple of notebooks, which I guess were the guidebooks to this school. The walls were painted sky blue. And the ceiling was white. It looked clean, which I'm thankful for. I can't handle messy things, it makes me irk.

A door on the left suddenly opened and revealed a young man with tanned skin and black hair, "Hey, are you Charlie Addams, my little bunny roomie?" They asked.

"Yes," I offered my hand and he shook it. Corey pats on my back and left my luggage, "Bailey and I need to check up on something, contact me after you're done." He says and I nodded.

I turned back at the man in front of me, "the name's Luis A. Reyes, I'm a Fruit Bat. Specifically the—"

"Small white-winged flying fox?" He looks at me wide-eyed, "how'd you know?" He asks.

"I can just... tell...?" I said with a shy smile.

"Out of the one hundred and sixty-six species of fruit bats? Yeah right." He shakes his head in amusement and grabbed a shirt on his bed. That's when I finally realize he was half-naked. I quickly covered my eyes with my two hands and turned around.

"S-Sorry... I didn't mean to..." I mumbled.

"Don't worry, we're both men here. And besides, you should get used to it. I'll be doing this often." He says and chuckles.

After Luis changed clothes, I quickly unpacked my things. I started with my clothes, I arranged them in a rainbow. Satisfied with my work, I quickly turned to the empty bookshelf and placed textbooks and novels inside— categorized by genre of course.

I peeked inside my travel bag and saw my red alarm clock, "hey, Luis, is it okay if I use my alarm clock? You might not get much sleep because of this." I asked and he turns to face me with his sunglasses.

"Sure, I have a hard time waking up in the morning anyways."

I nodded and placed my alarm clock on my bedside table, "Hey Luis, sorry for asking you again but— My brother and his friend are going to the games with me, do you wanna come with us?" I asked and he hums, clearly thinking about his decision.

"Sorry little guy, I can't, I have some things to do." He gives me a sorry look and I waved it off, "no-no, it's fine. Maybe next time then?"

"Sure." He says and I smiled, " Imma head out now, see you later," I said and he nods.

I exited the room and returned to the Lobby where Bailey and Corey were chatting. I yelled for their names and Mrs.Clover glared at me, I gave her a small smile and apologized. I approached Bailey and he placed his arm around my neck, " we should go, the games are starting in twenty minutes."

We arrived at the school's stadium and saw so many people with different colored Varsity Jackets and different flags with symbols.

"Oh look! It's a taco stand!" I squealed and yanked Bailey's arm, "I need Tacos!"

I quickly ran up to the taco stand with Bailey's arm on my hold, and slowly inhaled the smell of the food coming from the stand. My mouth was already watering from the sight and smell, I almost cried out.

"Can I have a Taco with tofu and without meat?" I asked and the man quickly prepares the taco that I paid for.

"How about you two?" The man asks Bailey and Corey, "we're both having what he's getting." Corey replies.

As I waited for them to have their tacos, I quickly glanced at my surroundings once again and saw various teams of various colors. A smile spreads on my face and I yelled out a strange noise of excitement.

The games started and we were already on our site with snacks to munch on. The ceremony ended and teams from various factions were introduced. They were all cool but there was only one team on my mind.

Aureum, a team that was led by one of the strongest people in the academy. Lyon Pierce, he's currently seventeen and his genes are of the African Lion. His golden tanned skin and golden brown hair shine from the group. It was honestly blinding to look at him. I was told by everyone who has seen him said that he was a very handsome man, I can see why and I completely agree with them.

The first round started slow. Three representatives of each team have to perform a performance with fighting skills, Fighting three-to-three was what I meant.

One by one, after the other, the team Aureum took first place with flying colors and was followed by the team Draco. The team was led by Lucien V. Donovan, his genes are of Burmese Python Snake. The team in third place was team Hippogriff, led by Marissa Crawford, her genes are of Northern Cassowary.

Hours passed by and the first day of the games has come to an end. It was already eight p.m. and we were getting hungry. We head to a small cafe on school grounds and placed our orders. After every game, the school fair starts at night. That was the reason why students were still walking late at night. They had smiles on their faces, and food in their hands.

After we ate our food, Both Corey and Bailey left because they were tired. I on the other hand decided to check the rides and booths by myself. The night was still young after all.

"Ant! Damn it, I told you not to go anywhere!" A female's voice yelled out so loud, it made me wince. I turned around and saw two people underneath the huge tree covered in fairy lights.

"I was busy sucking dick, didn't I told you?" The young man with white hair says as he looks up at the sky groaning.

"No, and you should brush your teeth. It fucking smells like Cum." The girl replies.

"Okay, okay." He says as he rolls his eyes. He glanced in my direction and noticed me looking. He grins and flashed me a wink. The small action made my lips part slightly and my cheeks blush.

"Where the hell are you looking at?" the girl asks and looks around until her eyes landed on me.

"Sorry, is he bothering you?" She asks with a concerned tone in her voice.

"Um... no," I said and she sighs. Her eyes landed on my chest and she notices an emblem that was familiar to her.

"Building number one, Mammal huh?" She says and I nod, "I'm Volta, Volta A. Wattson, year three. I'm an electric eel, and I live in Building number three."

"I'm Antonio Miguel P. Cortéz, Year three as well, I'm an Albino Axolotl. Building four." The man next to her says with a low sultry voice.

"I'm Charlie Addams, Year one, Mini Lop Bunny, I live in Building one," I said as a small smile formed on my face.

"Bunny huh~? You can come anytime to my room, it's room number six, what's yours~?" Antonio says as his arms were crossed and his eyes were squinting at my... bottom half?

"Um... n-nine...?" I said as my voice trailed off.

"Nine!? Oh, shit, my room is six, and yours is nine! Its fate!" He yells as he grabs my hand in his.

"Okay— Ant. Back off, the poor guy feels uncomfortable." Volta says, her eyes glaring at his back.

"Okay, okay." He backs down and whispers to me, "Take this piece of paper, it's my number." He slips a piece of paper into my back pocket.

"O-oh... um... thank you."

Volta slaps Antonio on the back and pulled him away from me, "Charlie, seems like you're alone tonight. You should come with us, god knows what kind of perverts run around this campus."

I nodded my head vigorously and followed Volta and Antonio to a couple of booths.

꧁꧂

Written on March 1st, 2021

[Monday~ 8:06 P.M. GMT+8]

Published on December 22nd, 2023

[Friday~ 11:51 P.M. GMT+8]