The Wither Academy

Chapter 3

Jesse inspected the card carefully. A golden eye on one side and blank on the other. Well, it looked blank, but Jesse watched enough movies to see that no one would just send her a blank card just for the hell of it.

So, what would it be? Invisible ink? Similary colored ink that would only reveal itself at a different angle? Or, going on that route, UV ink, which would need UV light... Like the sun! Hmm, maybe the gold color is a clue too?

Well, one way to find out.

Exiting the poorly lit and graffitied bathroom, Jesse left the main Art Club building, looking at the card, sun behind her, the light hitting the card full force.

Well, in the end, it seemed like none of the above were right. There were small indentation on the card, small enough that they'd blend with the rest of the card's blemishes. Now, looking more carefully at it, she could see that there was something written there...

"Look where the luminated minds to impart their knowledge gather to ..." Jesse murmured. "Classrooms?" She wondered out loud. It... kinda made sense. There the teachers gathered to teach students. Was she supposed to look for something there?

Jesse looked once again at the golden eye.

Hmm, maybe she should look for something marked with an eye?

Looking at the sun's location, Jesse looked at her phone. It was barely 11:15, she had the whole day to look around the classrooms here. Especially seeing how they were, it would take a while to –

"Yooo, Jesse dude! Wanna join us for lunch?" At the sudden sound of Nell's voice, Jesse couldn't help but yelp, throwing the card in the air by accident and trying to catch it, it always slipping out of her hands.

"C'mon Nell, don't scare her like that." Gill gently chided Nell, just as Jesse finally caught the slippery card.

"Sorry..." She said, sighing. "What were you saying?"

"We're going towards the cantina for lunch." Aiden said, pointing towards the... well, the Art Club area exit. "And since you were in the area, these two wanted you to join us."

Jesse wanted to say no, only for her stomach to growl angrily, reminding her when was the last time she decided to fill it up.

Well, searching the classrooms could wait a bit...

"Sure, wouldn't hurt to have lunch..." Jesse said, placing the card in her overalls' front pocket. Looking back at the group, she was certain Aiden lowered his eyebrow when she turned her attention to him.

"Alright then." Aiden said, turning towards the bridge. "Move out people, the more time we lose, the bigger the chance we get the cafeteria slop." And with that, he started walking away, Nell and Gill quickly followed him. Jesse shrugged and ran along.

---

The cafeteria building itself was outside of the main campus, just a bit before the parking lot where Jesse's parents left her. A concrete building, giant cracks on its surface, revealing the red bricks underneath, and a large plaque above the main doors, on it inscribed CAFETERIA.

Jesse couldn't help but stare at the building in dismay, hoping that the inside was much better looking than the outside, she had enough of bad cafeterias for a single lifetime. Funnily enough, the antibiotics tasted better than that food.

The others ignored her, entering the building without giving it a second glance.

Oh yeah, she hoped that the inside was better looking than the outside.