Call Me Echo

The Little Lost Island

        Our boat was small, a lonely pebble in a lake full of rocks. It rocked back and forth as the island drifted into sight, causing a sickness-inducing sinking feeling in my stomach. Not from the rocking of the boat, but from the nerves. I had no idea what to expect, and my stomach felt as though it were tied in knots. Knots that would soon be physically torn out and replaced with inhuman capabilities.

As we entered the school, each student was handed a pre-assigned schedule that consisted of order of classes, as well as group assignments and a few necessary bits of info. My schedule was as follows:

Student Schedule
GROUP 13
1st period history 10:00-10:55
2nd period English 11:00-11:55
3rd period Obstacle agility training 12:00-12:30
Lunch 12:35-1:15
Freestyle field combat 1:15- 1:55
Math 2:00-2:55
Curfew is at 9:00; all students must be in their dorms by 9:00

I was in group thirteen, the thirteenth on the rank board in terms of skill. The rank board was constantly changing, depending on the groups overall combat skill. However, the first assignment was completely random, not depending on skill.

Searching for my group mates, I ran into Millicent, the one who had convinced me to accompany her to this poor, lost academy, on this poor, lost little island. Not only that, but she was also my best friend; though, I suppose that was just a less pathetic way of saying she's my only friend.

Bumping into her gave me a brief spark of hope, and I looked at her expectantly. I didn't normally speak, only to Millicent; not even to those whom I felt the need to insult.

I cocked my head to the side, non-verbally inquiring what group Millicent was in and trying my best to keep my growing hope at bay. She met my deep gray eyes with her electric blue ones, sympathetically, and shook her head.

I turned away, my pathetic spark of hope had immediately vanished. There was nothing I could do, except for trying my best to find my group mates. Little did I know, they would be the ones who found me.

In every class, I sat at at able with my group mates, as did everyone else; it was mandatory. Group thirteen currently consisted of 5 members, Trey, Adrian, Kristine, me of course, and our group leader; Calcifer.

Calcifer was a good leader, he commanded the team well, and he wasn't terribly bossy. He was also quite handsome, and if I didn't know any better I might say Millicent has taken quite the liking to him.

Our group aced the days classes with ease, gradually moving up the leaderboard, and, soon enough, the lunch bell rang.

The lunch area was large, but it was in the middle of the school, surrounded by large buildings with doors; connected to corridors that lead to individual classrooms. There was an enormous field on the far left of the lunch area that had three metal storage buildings against the fence that surrounded it, obviously storing something alive, or at least extremely important.

On the other side of the lunch area, the far right, there were a series of practice courses that the students could use in their spare time. In fact, as soon as the lunch bell rang, a majority of students dedicated their time to exploring the practice courses rather than actually eating.

I simply decided to find a bench and eat; I needed some time away from my group. Just as I began eating, Calcifer just HAD to drop by and try to have a conversation with me.

I didn't listen to any of his flirtatious remarks; or any of his other comments, for that matter. I was to busy watching as Millicent was bumped into by a boy from her group just a couple benches away. I couldn't hear exactly what he said, but whatever it was, it made Millicent feel the need to act.

I continued to stare as she tackled the boy to the ground, shouting insults and continuously slapping him in the face as she did so. Yeah, that's just like her.

Raising an eyebrow, Calcifer looked at me, failing to make eye contact through my heavily tinted sunglasses. "What're you looking at?" He inquired, receiving an unenthusiastic gesture from me in Millicent's direction.
"You know her?" He asked, observing Millicent's display of hostility towards the boy.
I nodded.
"Why don't you go talk to her?"
I shook my head; I didn't want to be around the crazy boys in Millicent's group.

Calcifer only looked at me curiously for a moment before taking my hand, trying to lead me somewhere. I flinched and pulled my hand away, but followed him nonetheless.

He lead me to the practice courses, where he cupped his hands around his mouth, magnifying the volume of his voice, and called three names.
"Trey, Adrian, Kristine! Get down here!"

Three of the students that were practicing techniques on the obstacle course hurried over and stood before Calcifer and I, saluting as they did so.

"This is Trey, this is Adrian, and this is Kristine." He said, introducing me as he gestured to each student. Trey was tall, taller than me, and skinny, with shaggy brown hair. Adrian was shorter, with dirty blonde hair, and Kristine was taller than both of them, had a full face of make-up, and shoulder-length platinum blonde hair.

I waved hello, but not with a smile. "Hey uh, Boss..." Trey began, prepared with a question to ask Calcifer.

Calcifer responded with a simple, "What?"

"Well umm...you never told us what her name was. But she won't talk, and she won't smile..." Trey continued.

Before Calcifer could respond, I just left. I wasn't offended, I just left; I was done talking to these people.