Petra, Billy, Lex and Ame were up at the graveyard talking before class starts. It's a routine they often repeated, it was fun catching up before they had to sit in the classroom till the end of the day.
"Every year, there's an album that's so overplayed, you can't get away from it. And, you know, even if you liked it, after the proliferation, it becomes ear poison forever."
"What's shocking is that you like INXS at all. You usually have such great taste. Just doesn't seem like your thing."
"Michael Hutchence is every girl's thing."
"She's bloody right about that." Ame praised Petra's statement. Music always seemed to be a topic they frequently talked about, as they all were very into it.
"Hey, uh, what are you smoking?" Marcus asked walking up to them.
"Good morning to you too, yes we're all great, how are you?" Ame said sarcastically.
"Yes good Uhm, do you got any weed?" Marcus asked the rats after noticing they were only smoking cigarettes.
"We all enjoy a nip of pollen, but first thing in the morning? Tres gauche." Lex butted in still facing the wall he'd just wee'd on.
They told Marcus that the school's dry and they or the Hessians didn't have any weed. Marcus didn't sleep well was his excuse for needing the drugs so bad.
The bell rang and the rats all stood up making their way to class.
"Oh, well, you'll have to face the day dry, son. Easy does it. Let go and let god. One day at a time." Lex exclaimed dramatically kissing Marcus afterwards, leaving Marcus stunned.
After a few classes, it was time for AP Black arts, Ame had been dreading this class ever since she woke up. Yes she had killed a man, she had proof, and he deserved it, but she did not get rid of the evidence, she had left the body to take care of her own, she had failed, and Ame hated it.
Willie stood in front of the class explaining how he did succeed and killed a homeless man.
Looking around the class Ame noticed Marcus twitching and looking uncomfortable. She could recognise his behaviour from anywhere, Willie hadn't killed that man he talked about so thoughly, Marcus had.
Ame knew Willie's rep was fake, Willie and herself had connected well during her first year at kings.
"Seventy percent of soldiers don't pull the trigger in battle. No matter the stakes. The weak always choke in the face of killing. With fear of expulsion, all your hopes and dreams, all your family's expectations, only one of you could do it, so we'll have a new test. A final chance to prove your worth. Survive and you earn a place here. Fail and you die. The weak do not belong in my school. Go. Get out of my sight."
Everybody walked out, except for Willie, who master Lin had told to stay. As Saya, Viktor, Chico and Maria complained about failing out loud, Ame decided she'll be angry with herself after this 'new test'.
The gates closed locking the teens in the room.
Master Lin was heard through speakers: "I'm alive without breath and cold as death. I'm never thirsty but always drinking. What am I?" Lin spoke while some sort of gas was led into the room.
"To pass this quiz and survive the poison gas, you need to make it to the botanical classroom and answer that riddle in five minutes." That was the last thing the teens heard before the sound was cut off leaving them to pass this test and survive.
Ame was standing next to Saya and Marcus. Saya told them to take small breaths, control their heart rate and take it slow. Which they did.
Viktor tried to open the gates while pushing them but failed.
"Hey, I think I can help," Marcus said walking up to the gate.
"I think you can screw off. What is this loser Rat doing in AP class?" Brady exclaimed.
Marcus ignored her and took a pin out of her hair, which Brady did not appreciate. Ame smirked knowing what he was going to do. He opened the gate with ease smirking.
"Get out of the way Rat."
"Your table awaits, Jocko," Marcus said smirking
Ame waited for everybody to walk out before walking out together with Marcus.
Walking down the stairs many were coughing while Ame felt blood drip from her nose, ears and slowly seeping from her mouth.
"Are you okay? You're bleeding." Marcus asked looking at the girl worried.
"We're all bleeding Marcus, I'm fine," Ame replied not understanding his worries as they were all in the same situation.
"No I mean look at your shirt, and your eyebrow is bleeding." He replied pointing at her side that was bleeding. Ame looked down seeing her wound from the night before bleeding again, it wasn't extreme or life-threatening so she just shrugged it off and kept walking to hide the blush on her face, she liked the fact he cared for her.
They walked into an empty room, Ame noticed the flooring and knowing Lin's tricks she knew there would be a trap.
"Watch your steps, everyone!" She told the group who nodded their heads understanding what she meant, catching on.
Right after she told everyone to look out Marcus stepped on a tile that made the walls come down as monks appeared in the room with canes.
The first person went to take down the monk but failed, as did the other students who tried.
Fighting off the monks wasn't easy, but it wasn't impossible, for Ame fighting the monks was easy, her wound to her disadvantage but she got on well. Ame heard Marcus scream her name as she looked at the nearly closed door, she ran for it sliding underneath just in time.
They all ran towards the botanical classroom stumbling inside. All of them were bleeding and on the verge of death, it seemed.
As the first few people, including Saya, fell to the floor passed out Ame repeated the riddle to herself.
"I'm alive without breath and cold as death. I'm never thirsty but always drinking. What am I? I'm alive without breath and cold as death. I'm never thirsty but always drinking. What am I? Ah, what is it goddamn."
Ame fell to the floor passing out in the process.
Marcus repeated the riddle to himself once more answering it but was pushed to the floor by Chico trying to reach the antidote. Chico fell as well but Maria was able to grab the antidote and put one of the leaves in her mouth. Crawling over to Marcus she put a leave in his mouth before doing so with the rest of the teens leaving Chico and Ame to be last.
She crawled on top of Chico and sat still questioning if she should give him the antidote, she eventually gave in and gave it to him. Ame was still on the floor choking, if she didn't get the antidote quick she would not make it out alive.
Marcus sat up recovering before looking around the room. He panicked once he saw Ame still struggling to breathe, he crawled over to Maria who was still sitting on top of Chico deep in her thoughts, he snatched the antidote out of her hands and made his way to Ame. He grabbed her chin putting the antidote in her mouth watching her slowly breathe again. She made it. He puller her up and hugged her to his chest, not liking the feeling of almost losing her.
"Come on, everybody. Vote Shabnam for class president. I'll win with or without your help, but I'd much rather have your support." Shabnam exclaimed excitedly as the teens walked inside the cafeteria covered in blood.
"We need more nurses in the infirmary. We need stalls separating the group showers. If you put me in charge, there'll be..." Shabnam couldn't finish his sentence as Viktor threw the trash bin over his head pushing him to the ground. Ame laughed at the scene, she could not care less about Shabnam, all she really wanted to do was join her friends for lunch and lay down.
Marcus helped Shabnam up. Ame rolled her eyes but waited for her friend to be done talking to the nerd. Shabnam gave Marcus a mixtape.
"U2, Whitesnake, Banana-bloody-rama, and Def Leppard. Sweet lord Jesus." Lex exclaimed mockingly observing the mixtape Shabnam had gifted Marcus.
Marcus saw Shabnam waving at him, and Marcus waved back.
"New pal?"
"I'm not really into the hierarchy, don't normally shit on the physically unattractive, but that dude and his crew are highly annoying," Petra said, Ame nodding agreeing with her.
"Crew?"
"The goop patrol. Banker kids, mafia accountants, NASA."
"NASA?"
"There's a lot they're not telling you," Ame stated looking at Marcus.
"Whatever, I'm not gonna watch some kid get bullied."
"These animals see kindness as weakness. Safer to be a Dick." Ame replied
"Everyone loves a dick."
"Oi oi, some more than others." Lex joked making a hand gesture making the whole table chuckle.
"Any of you guys seen the new Spuds MacKenzie commercial?" Shabnam said as he sat down in between Marcus and Ame where there wasn't any space to sit down, so Ame needed to move her seat to the head of the table.
"You've brought a plague on our house," Petra said mad.
"Do you know what goes great with people who love beer commercials? A bullet in the box." Lex said making Marcus glare at him.
"Anyway, Marcus, my parental units are gonna be out of town, so, me and the crew were thinking of firing up the Commodore 64, a little Castle Wolfenstein, a charcuterie plate. My dad probably left some amaretto too, if we want to get a little crazy." The last part is what got Marcus's attention.
"We're in," Marcus said, Ame caught on to his plan quickly.
"Come again?" Billy asked confused.
"School is dry. It's better than nothing." Marcus explained.
"My dad was clear, just a few friends," Shabnam said worried, he did not want to go against his parent's rules.
"You can't win an election with just a few friends, can you?" Ame said standing in between Marcus and Shabnam.
"You need to connect with the proletariat." "It'll be a small gathering. We promise." Marcus said not convincing anyone with his statement, all of them knew this was going to be a big party, and not 'just a few friends'.
Hey friends! I just wanted to say thanks for reading my story!
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