COVER CREDIT-@-BUBBLEGUYM / Cross-posted on Quotev /
UPDATES EVERY FRIDAY /
Rowan Evergreen, age 14, will be attending Saint Clair's Academy, one of the most prestigious schools in Ardeville. There they will meet numerous friends, rivals, and maybe...
July 25, the Year 2022. There I was, standing and sweating inside the Gymnasium of Saint Clair with ninety-nine other 'no-good trust-fund kiddies' according to Miss Mela at least. The Gymnasium was large and built with a very Greek/Roman-style in mind. Up ahead of me was an elevated platform where numerous teachers stood.
These past few weeks, starting June 13, have been arduous, hours of workouts, and studying different fighting techniques, have been in preparation for this very week. Today was the start of the week of reckoning, The Ardeville Fitness Test.
Many tests and assessments for the following week would ensure I and many others would be left exhausted. This assessment is a true challenge of our strength!
I want to leave! Get me the hell out of here!
Students are already getting into groups; most popular and athletic students walked over to form one group and other groups of various athletic abilities formed around them. I'm not a big fan of 'them vs. us' echo chambers, so I minded my business and proceeded to the platform.
Someone I assume to be the principal walked up to the podium and began a speech I could not be bothered to listen to. Something about 'school pride' or 'trying your best. The main takeaway from his oration was his mention of the ranking system.
There would be five tests. When a test concludes, your score will be put on a leaderboard, ranking 1 to 100. Depending on how high you place on the leaderboards, you will be sorted into your respective cohort. I'm aiming to land in the 3rd cohort at the least.
The first task would be a simple timed run; run 2 miles in 8 minutes. Your time would be ranked on a leaderboard, fastest on the top, slowest on the bottom. I'm aiming to at least finish the timed goal; I was never an exceptional runner.
We split into five groups; one group would run at a time. I was in the group that would run second. After doing some warm-up stretching, I examined my peers.
Most of the students in my group were talking amongst themselves, in those cliques as mentioned earlier I mentioned earlier. I'll be honest- no one there looked compelling. I thought such a prestigious school would have a unique student body, but nope!
But it seemed that one person noticed my staring. Sauntering over in my general direction was an affable young man who, despite his relaxed posture, absolutely towered over almost everyone else. He opened his mouth to speak, but the whistle of one of the practitioners interrupted him.
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(A/N): A little spoiler here: there will be a fight next chapter LOL. It would mean a lot if you could vote on this chapter, give feedback, and booklist Culture Shock!
Credits to @-BUBBLEGUYM for amazing cover!
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