by Jae Choguk
like a door and led me down a dimly lit, small flight of stairs going up. We got to the top and he opened the door waiting for us there. The room wasn’t huge like the rest of the school, nor was it as small as a normal dorm. There was a queen-sized bed, a closet, a dresser and writing desk with a comfy, deep blue chair. The blue was a nice change from all the red that has been setting me on edge.
“Do you like it?” He asked, even though I was pretty sure he already knew the answer judging from his smile, and mine. I didn’t respond though, because I was already walking towards the big window covering most of the wall with blue curtains parted on each side. There was a handle on one side so I pushed the door open and walked onto a half-circle balcony with a stone railing surrounding us.
“Why do I feel like not everyone has this dorm?” I ask in awe.
“That’s because they don’t.” Mr. Zander said setting my stuff down on my new bed, “You were a special case. The students don’t know about this room either, but that’s because we haven’t had a transfer student before.”
“Why not?” I asked coming back inside to start unpacking.
“No one has been able to escape before. There is always rouge Animas, but we usually ignore them unless they cause a disturbance. The hunters take them down before it comes to that though.”
“Hunters?” I didn’t like the way he said that.
“The only people who can kill Animas.” He replies simply.
“As opposed to…?”
“Everyone else, well I shouldn’t say that. A human can kill us, but they would have to know how. But since we aren’t supposed to exist, how would they? He says with a shrug.
“So there’s a certain way to kill us, instead of the usual gunshot?” I say dryly.
“Well yes, and no. You have to be shot in the head, or heart, but we can heal almost any other wound. I shouldn’t say that, excessive bleeding from hitting vitals as well. Besides you, since you’re a special case.” He finished hastily.
“What if I don’t want to be special?” I ask sitting on my bed, giving up on unpacking.
“None of us do.” He smiles sadly and walks back down the staircase, making me realize just how alone I am.
I woke up the next day surrounded by my clothes that I didn’t bother to put away. I sat up slowly and looked around, remembering where I was. As I stretched and yawned, I saw a note from Mr. Z telling me what my schedule was, and that I should be happy to know I had him for my homeroom. I rolled my eyes and wondered what I was supposed to wear; from what I saw yesterday everyone had uniforms. I opened my closet, and sure enough everything I needed was there. Neatly pressed blazers, trousers, Bermuda shorts, and skirts lined up. The colors are that blood red color, charcoal grey, blacks and whites. I chose a white button-up and red blazer with the crest of the school, which was a shield with three red slash-marks across it. It was just another thing about this school that unnerved me. I grabbed the pants and looked for socks. I should’ve expected that I would have a choice in color and height. There were thigh-highs, knee-highs, and ankle socks. I had pants, so why have high socks? I put on the ankle socks and chose the tie instead of bowtie or ribbon for my neck. We had our own choice of shoes, so I chose one from my extensive collection.
With that I walked out of my room and went downstairs, through the picture and closed the curtains behind me. I looked at the “map” Mr. Z gave me, which consisted of an arrow, a dot, and a couple lines. I somehow made it to the classroom, where Mr. Zander was waiting with a class full of loud kids my age. He was fiddling with his laptop when I walked in and everything went silent. I haven’t felt so out of my place in my life, I still wasn’t all that convinced that I was an Anima or whatever, but they all thought I was. My mom told me to keep a low profile, but I had a feeling that was close to impossible. I managed a small smile when Mr. Zander stood up from his desk and met me in the front of the classroom, giving me my books and telling me which desk was mine.
“Everyone, this is our new transfer student, want to introduce yourself?” I was so tempted to say no, but that probably wouldn’t make the best impression.
“I’m Lydia Raion, nice to meet you?” I said in what sounded more like a question.
“Treat her well; she hasn’t learned half the things you already know so any problems and you tell me alright?” I nodded and went to the empty seat in the back. The classroom was elevated like a stadium and they were tables of two, instead of desks. I sat down, and the guy next to me was sleeping. I ignored all the eyes that followed my every movement and tried to focus only on Mr. Zander. Someone tapped my shoulder and I turned around to see Alice and Mai, who I met yesterday. They smiled, and I gave a sharp exhale of relief.
“I didn’t know you were the transfer student, although I should have guessed since we don’t get guests very often.” Alice said with a smirk.
“Yeah you’re all anyone was talking about yesterday, and right now!” Mai added a little too loudly. As if everyone wasn’t already watching us, the room was growing louder and louder with anxious whispers.
“She doesn’t bite you know.” Alice remarked dryly and that seemed to be enough for everyone to jump out of their seats and rush towards us. Mai rolled her eyes and I tried not to throw myself out the window. I was bombarded with questions about where I was from and what animal I was.
“How far have you transformed…Why did you jump off the…Why you seem to know Mr. Z…” I couldn’t answer any of them, because the guy next to me slammed his hands on the desk and raised his head. I realized it was the same kid -Jeremy- who threw me around like a sack of meat. The class went silent as they looked sheepishly away, are they really that afraid of him?
“Sit down.” The two words seemed very affective to the other kids. They quickly went back to their seats, and Mr. Zander just watched the whole situation with amusement.
“They were fine, just go back to sleep.” I said glaring at him, and I swear I could see them visibly intake their breath.
“Alright class settle down, Jeremy lower your hand before you do something you regret.” Mr. Zander interrupted. I felt his eyes on me, glaring so fiercely I thought I would melt. I just looked down at my schedule that Mr. Z handed me.
Homeroom- Mr. Zander
Self-Defense- Mr. Cain
Anima History- Miss Longfellow
Martial Arts- Mr. Zander
Special
Each class was an hour except for homeroom, which was half an hour. I didn’t know what Special was, or who the teacher was, but I felt like it wasn’t something I wanted to be in.
“You ready to go to class?” Alice said stepping beside me after homeroom ended. Mai had a different schedule, but Alice-thankfully- had my same schedule.
“Do you also have this special one on the bottom?” I asked showing her my schedule.
“Ah, and that’s where we will have to part unfortunately.”
“What is it though?”
“Uh, well I’m sure you’ll figure it out when you get there.” She laughed weakly. I had a feeling it was going to be a long day.
We walked outside and to a building in the back, which I found out was for all their fighting classes. We went to the girl’s locker room, which was just as grand as I thought it would be, as far as locker rooms go. Granite sinks, lots of dispensers for soaps, lotions, and yes mouthwash. The benches were also granite, and lockers were nice and big. I found the locker with my nametag on it and worked my new locker combo, which was electronic of course.
I slipped on my shorts and T-shirt and since my hair was already in a French-braid I left it. I followed Alice up the stairs leading to the gym. I looked at all the different equipment lining the walls, the mats laying everywhere, and the number of bodies on the ground. People flipping other people like they were sand bags, and punching and jabbing, all these different maneuvers that must be for self-defense. We walked to the middle of the room and Alice introduced me to Mr. Cain, and when I shook his hand, he grabbed it and flipped
me over his back. I landed with a hard thud.
“What was that about?” I demanded after I got back up.
“Rule number one, don’t trust anyone.” He says like I should already know.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Rule number two,” He says putting my arm behind my back in a painful grip, “Always be ready for anything.” I tried elbowing his stomach to get him to release my arm. Unfortunately in the process he made me elbow another guy in the side. I turned around to yell at the teacher again, who was just smirking at me.
“Rule number three, always be aware of your surroundings.” Mr. Cain said as he walked off to yell at another student.
“Never forget them, but by the way he drills them into our heads, you won’t have a problem with that.” Alice laughed and started stretching on the mat beside us. I sat down by her and stretched as well.
“Get up.” Someone said and I looked up to see Jeremy glaring down at me.
“Sit down. Get up? Do you ever say sentences that are more than 2 syllables?”
“Yeah, get up before I make you.” He says like that was supposed to be any better. I lift my eyebrow and he grabs my arms and drags me up anyways. Alice started to protest but I just shook my head.
“I can take care of myself.” I said reassuringly.
“All right, but he can get a little…” She didn’t finish her sentence, which made me wonder why he was so feared. He walked to me to the