Olympia Academy (Stray Kids)

Chapter Ten (Selene)

Iris and Selene decided to spend the Wednesday evening studying in their room instead of the student lounge. Iris was tired from her long journey to Persephone Academy and Selene was never opposed to staying in. The girls sat at their desks, flipping through pages in their textbooks and taking notes. 

Selene sighed and turned around in her stiff, wooden chair to face Iris. Her head was bent over a thick arithmetic textbook. She was slowly writing equations on a piece of paper.

"I'm exhausted," Selene yawned, stretching her arms into the air. She moved her head from side to side, her bones making cracking sounds with each move. 

"Why don't we just take a break from studying the rest of the night?" Iris suggested, eager to quit.

Selene gasped. "We can't just take the rest of the night off! The sun hasn't even set yet," she exclaimed in horror.

"Just for one night! I think we'll be okay," Iris said, closing her book. She did not bother to save the page she was working on.

"I guess we could," Selene said, reluctantly closing her astronomy book. Unlike Iris, she made sure to mark the page she was working with. As much as she wanted to take a break, she knew this decision would hurt her later.

"Let's sit on our balcony!" Iris said excitedly, grabbing the pillow from her bed. Selene did the same, and the friends opened the balcony doors to reveal a cool, early-autumn evening. Iris lay her pillow on the stone deck and sat on top of it. Selene did the same.

The breeze ruffled Selene's red hair. She brushed it away from her face. Her gaze fixated on a stone and dirt trail that led down the mountain to the east. She stared at this path, the same one they had taken to come to Olympia Academy. Selene wondered what was going on in their hometown.

"What do you think we would be doing right now if we hadn't been brought here?" Selene asked, her voice quiet.

"Who knows," Iris replied. "Maybe we would be learning the merchant business like our fathers."

Selene scoffed. "If my mother had her way, I would be married off by now. Who knows where I'd be," she said, gazing at the path. She was grateful for the escape from their hometown. Selene had always felt she could do more than be a wife. She wanted to study and explore. Coming to Olympia Academy had allowed her to do just that. She wasn't going to waste this chance she was given.

"You're not wrong," Iris sighed. "I do miss our little valley. It was so peaceful. I feel like there are so many pressures put on us here."

"That's true," Selene agreed. Better than the pressure of marriage though, she thought. She didn't think any fate could be worse.

"Like these competitions, for example. I understand that we are preparing for the final battle, or whatever they call it, but I feel like it's such a waste of time. They're so stressful," Iris lamented, resting her head in her hands.

"I'm terrified for Friday. Hypnos has said it isn't a big deal, but I just feel like it is. He's just trying to make me feel better. And I'm the weakest person on my team, no less," Selene said, picking at her nails. She thought of Nyx, the most powerful goddess she knew at Olympia Academy. Selene felt that she couldn't come close to comparing with her grace and power. This made her scared to compete on the same team. Even more so, she was scared to be a disappointment.

"That's how I felt last week. It was terrifying," Iris confessed. Selene gave her a concerned, nervous look. Iris shifted in her seat. "But, looking back," she said, changing her tone. "It could have been a lot worse." She quietly laughed.

Selene chuckled and gave in to her light mood. "Maybe I'm overthinking it," she suggested with a shrug. On the inside, Selene doubted that she was overthinking anything.