Unseen (Book 1)

4: Orientation

I hurry and stack my bags onto the bed by the window.
I rush out the door behind X but he's gone in the crowd. Everyone is going to orientation.
I follow the group to the outside of the doors to the grand hall when all of a sudden I hear the sound that makes me stop in my tracks.
It's a girl's voice yelling, "F**** OFF."
It came from one of the halls nearby.
I can't resist following.
I turn and corner and see a group of 3 guys.
All look to be around my age.
In the middle of them is a girl dressed in an oversized white turtleneck sweater and long black tights.
She turns quickly to me and pauses as if she's surprised to see me.
"Are you alright?" I ask.
"I'm fine."she says in a brash tone.
She moves her curly red hair from out of her face and storms past me. She reaches back holding up her middle finger towards the group as she walks around the corner.
I watch and can't help but smile at her unapologetic vulgarity.
Like a record scratch my smile fades when I feel a hand push my shoulder.
It's one of the 3 bullies
"You think this is funny?"he asks trying to intimidate me.
"A little bit, yea." I respond staring him in the eye.
I can tell he's expecting me to back down.
Especially since they outnumber me and I can tell by their physicality that they do some type of sport.
I take a step back. That's as much of an attempt to diffuse the situation as I'm willing to make.
"Shouldn't you be off somewhere starting a boy band?" I ask looking at the three of them.
They start to scowl at me as they sneakily step into formation, spreading out just slightly as if they're getting ready to attack.
"Let me guess, Niall, Harry, and Zayn?" I say point and each of them.
The one on my right takes a step forward.
"Don't do anything stupid."he says.
I look in his eye and start to stare and notice a quick glance to the one standing on my left.
It's like he's looking for a signal or his approval.
"Now that I see you closer you're more of a Louis." I say.
All of a sudden I feel the energy change.
They're about to throw the first punch.
Before the one in the middle can attack I hit the one on my right direction in the ribs as hard and fast as I can.
In the same motion I kick the one on my left directly in the kneecap . I hear his bone snap.
The one in the middle throws a punch but before it connects I step back.
With his arm still extended I reach up and grab it.
I go to twist it behind his back but just as I turn it he does something. He spins and does a move knocking my hand away and breaking out of the hold.
Next thing I know he hits me in my stomach with his palm. It's not hard enough to hurt but the force sends me sliding back a couple inches.
Now we're standing face to face. Separated by only a few inches, maybe a foot. I can tell he's waiting for my next move.
All of a sudden I hear a voice call out, "Harry!"
I turn and it's X standing at the end of the corridor.
"Wait, your name's actually Harry?" I say mocking
He scowls at me but doesn't say anything. It's almost like he's scared to get in trouble with X.
"You don't want to be late." X says.
The guy in the middle straightens up and gives me one last look in disdain before walking past.
The help their friend whose leg I broke up.
Just as he walks past X he stops.
Harry says something to X in french"You think you're top dog just because you had a growth spurt, Samsung."
Harry and X enter a stare down. From where I'm standing it almost sounds like they were growling at each other.
X steps forward as if they're about to fight but Harry backs down and he and the other two turn the corner.
I rush over to X.
"Thanks for the backup." I say.
I extended my fist but X walks past it.
"You shouldn't be picking fights on your first day."he warns.
He sounds like what I'd imagine an older sibling might sound. I don't have many references to go off of.
"I didn't start that." I tell him.
A woman's voice echoes,
"Orientation starts in 3minutes."
I recognize it from before. It's the same woman who stood out front warning the people to not stop for longer than 5 minutes during drop-off.
I turn the corner and there she is standing near the entrance of the building. She's still holding the same silver pocket watch.
X must see the way I look at her.
"That's Ms. Kelly. The time keeper."
When he says that my face turns from curiosity to confusion.
He explains that her job is to make sure everyone is one schedule.
"So a clock could replace her." I say joking.
X let's out a laugh and shakes his head.
"Maybe, but it's a little more complicated than that."he says as if he knows something I don't.
We make our way into the grand hall.
The inside looks like a giant cathedral. There's 4 rows of seating of seats, two on either side of the center aisle. It's enough to seat hundred. Bordering the room is an upper level balcony. That's where most of the staff stand watching over everyone.
At the front is a small stage and a podium.
X and I find seats in the aisle on the left side near the middle.
As we sit X tells me about the trio of bullies.
Harry, the leader, his given name is Harrison Dupree. His mother is the owner of one of the largest real estate companies in Europe. I've actually met her a couple times through her meeting with my parents. She seems like a nice woman. The apple must've fallen far from the tree.
The second stooge, aka the one on the left, aka Niall aka the one whose kneecap I shatter, his real name is Jacob Caldwell. His father is owner of Caldwell Hotels. One of the top 5 most common hotels in the world, second generation. It was passed down by his grandfather. It's likely that one day the company and all the hotels will belong to Jacob. That makes me think old people online are right when they say the next generation is doomed.
The last of the trio, Louis. His real name is Arlon Braxton. According to X he's the most ordinary of the three. His parents aren't billionaires. His dad is a movie composer and his mom is a high rate lawyer in London. Most people who are stuck here are children of people with money. They're also unfortunate enough to have parents that'd rather be rid of their kids in a place like this.
A voice echoes through the room.
"60 seconds!" Ms.Kelly yells.
She somehow managed to get to the balcony above us.
X starts to look around as if he's looking for someone.
A thought occurs to me.
"Hey, why did he call you Samsung?" I asked.
I half expected him to say it's because that was his last name and he was going to tell me about him inheriting a tech company one day.
That would be on brand for this place.
Rather and answering he whispers,
"shhh. He's coming."
It seemed like he was avoiding the question.
I was about to ask who "he" was when all of a sudden the entire room was swept with silence. I got the feeling that I was about to find out for myself.