The Moon Hiding at Dawn

Chapter 1: A New Academic Year

The summer was plain and old. I laid down in bed the whole time, just gathering dust like whatever else is inside here. I'd play games, watch TV, and do things that simply went through the day. My typical summer zoomed fast like a falcon diving towards it prey.

The next thing I knew, I'm at my Senior Year in higher education. I'm at the ending steps of College, so to speak. There's around ten of us left in class from what would originally be a class of 25. Some switched schools and courses, the others were stuck repeating classes. I can't blame them. As a matter of fact, we left behinds finished all requirements by our third year. The only thing left for us to do is comply with attendance requirements so as not to lose the merits we have. Considering our disposition as double majors in a weird mix of programming and business management, we are still held by the school with high regard than the usual great harvests.

Yes... The ten students include an introvert like me and an airhead like Kallen. She's not to be taken as a joke in academics though. Out of the ten of us, she's the one with the highest grade. I curse whatever being that created her for this unfair absurdity. Another weird addendum to this weird collection is how the classes were so individualistic in nature that all of us got stuck in a pressure cooker. Everyone was focused on finishing fast that no one really knows each other unless they were already friends before or they've participated in a club. You can see through a few hobbies and skills with enough observation but other than that, we are all strangers. Up until this final senior year.

One thing I definitely hate about this is how the whole school reeks of the stench of money. I get it, everyone here is rich. I'm the odd one out for having missing in action parents and getting in the school with a scholarship. On top of that, the nine other "prodigies" so to say are billionaires. A son of a general, a daughter of an owner of a media industry, a heir to a company, a child of a C.E.O. and owns a mall. I can't help but feel extremely little under the overwhelming face of capitalists as represented by those in my class. They may only be nine but their assets combined can equal that of a country while mine won't even measure to that of a house. The only thing that I have in connection with them is my confidence in my skills and how, for some reason, I ended up with them as the tenth prodigy. The fake elite standing amongst overpowering presence of classmates who would never imagine a day where they would run out of money. The only thing I can imagine them having a problem with are health issues that are deadly and have no cure no matter how much money you have. I guess equality only exists when near the deathbed.

Nonetheless, I cannot tell if those facts serve to aggravate our current situation or not.

Ten 'elites' left with nothing else to study. I don't know how this class would take the year. Would we get to know each other or would we all die of boredom first? Either way, all of us would be facing the same question. Well, the others seem to have their own reputation in various fields. I, on the other hand, am a shut-in who only played games, never participated in clubs, and occasionally wasted cash on arcades. My backgrounds never compare to that of others. If only life is as respectful to those who play games as to those who work normally, then I may be able to stand in solidarity with everyone else in the classroom. Sadly, the virtual world will never blend with the reality within. My skills and parameters inside a game would remain in that world, never to see the actual world that I walk at. If it did, I may even be better physically than everyone else in our school, let alone class. 

Here I am, stuck in a helpless extended summer of June towards March. Waiting for my chance to replace the sun at the throne of dawn.

Should the world bend to my will, everything would be better... I think. I just know that it would be a less wretched place than what we currently have. Status would not matter, nor would money or anything else. Just living the life that they would please. That said, I could never imagine holding such a great of a power.

I have accepted the role of standing in the sidelines, waiting to be pulled out of my seat towards any direction they would take me. Then suddenly get left behind, leaving me with no choice but to sit again in the same position and wait. I'm used to it. I was always treated that way. Still, I cling to the hope that after getting pulled, I'm dragged far enough and for so long a time that I'm left to stand regardless if I'm alone.

I think that's my only wish. I think that is the only hope for me to believe in everything again.

A thin shed of light seeping within the cavern I am in. Nonetheless, it's too soon to hope for the best. I have a whole year ahead of me to encounter with nine other people whom I mostly am unaware of. 

June, the start of classes. I got to my uniform, grabbed a bite from anything existing in my ever-barren wasteland of a fridge as I made my way outside my house and eventually walking my way to the gates of the university. Back then, breezing through was bearable knowing that I can fend for myself and that I don't have to be concerned about anyone. That very lifestyle may not be as acceptable and may change the very moment I take a step within our classroom.

Without much of a care towards what awaits me, I took a step inside, plunging myself into a spiral of interaction that I, and probably the rest of us, would not expect.