Golden Melody

Chapter 3

Chapter 3- The Unexpected Connection

IE Preparations

Zatariel Wov

His Pov

February, 2013

I slouched in the worn leather chair of the student council office, my fingers mindlessly tapping on the screen of my phone.

The room was a chaotic mess, papers strewn across the desk in disarray, a reflection of my neglect of duties as the student council president.

The weight of expectation bore down on me, a burden I couldn't shake off.

Another day, another round of mundane tasks.
The victory in my second campaign as the student council president had come almost effortlessly, propelled by the familiarity of the Wov name.

Yet, the title felt like a noose around my neck, suffocating me in a web of responsibilities I had grown weary of.

The memory of Miexha lingered at the fringes of my thoughts, a puzzle I couldn't quite solve.
It had been a year since I last talked to her
Flashback

"Don't you ever show your face to me ever again!" she'd shouted, her voice trembling with anger and hurt. She'd turned and run

I stood there, watching her go, my heart breaking into a million pieces. I'd messed everything up.
********

I took a deep breath, trying to quell the rising anxiety.

I'd lost her.

She had captured my attention in a way no one else ever had, and I couldn't ignore the pull I felt towards her.

But I still want to try to reach her

I couldn't let them dictate my actions anymore.
I had to take a chance, to step outside the confines of my carefully constructed world and see what lay beyond.

With a newfound determination, I straightened up in the chair, a sense of purpose igniting within me.

It was time to break free from the confines of my own making, to step out of the shadows and face the truth I had been avoiding.
It was time to reach out to Miexha, to bridge the gap between our worlds, and to unravel the mysteries that lay between us.

But as I stood up, a wave of self-doubt washed over me.
But she said she doesn't want to see me.

The thought of her rejection was a bitter pill to swallow, a fear that threatened to cripple my resolve.

I took a deep breath, trying to quell the rising anxiety.
I had to try.

But then I remembered.

Tomorrow was the International Examination-the IE-at Wayne Academy.
It was a big deal, a test that could determine the course of our lives.

If you landed in the top five, you were guaranteed a spot in the Senior High VIP section, a coveted haven for the elite.
After that, all you had to worry about was the board exam for your chosen course.

Crazy, right?

And you'd even get an international license with special privileges.

The special class was a world apart.

Only five students were selected, and they got their own dorm inside within the program of Green Garden, a sprawling complex with a pool, gym, theater room, and a private classroom.
It was basically heaven on earth.

Of course, it wasn't all rainbows and sunshine.
If you scored below 45%, you were out-automatic dropout.

No mercy.

Every year, almost half of the batch was wiped out, leaving a handful of graduates-maybe 40 to 60 students.

Suddenly, Miexha popped into my mind.
She was stuck in the last section, the one with the lowest scores. What if she didn't make it?
Even though she was a Verra, she wasn't immune to getting kicked out.
The thought of her facing that possibility, of her world crumbling around her, filled me with a strange sense of unease.

I dragged myself into the classroom, still thinking about Miexha, then I spotted her in the hallway.
She looked like she was searching for someone-probably Thyron, like always.

"Baby girl! Tara sa loob," it was Thyron, his voice dripping with that usual, annoyingly cheerful tone.

He walked right past me, grabbing her hand as they headed into the classroom.
Holding hands?
Seriously?

A sharp of something I couldn't quite name shot through my chest, like someone just sucker-punched me.