Origin of the 11th

Chapter 1: Graduation

The girl was trembling behind the curtain, her bright green hair laid downward, more sleek than usual. The prying rays of the sun attempted to peer through the curtain at her, seeking to heat her externally as much as she was internally. She breathed softly and quickly, attempting to calm herself down.

"I can do this." she whispered to herself, believing it wholeheartedly. "This is what I've worked for all this time." Suddenly, she felt stronger. She had the wholehearted support of the audience behind the curtain. Even though she was one of the only girls among them and only had one friend, she wouldn't falter. This opportunity was too important to forfeit to nerves.

As the curtain raised, she was met with the sound of tumultuous applause that shook the hall. Sparkling lights shone upon her as she felt the gaze of thousands of people fixed upon her. She took a deep breath to calm herself in front of the massive crowd before her as she took to the podium.

"Class of 3150, it is my honor as the Commander of the HSFMA to present your valedictorian, Julia Falcon!" The voice of her uncle rang out, causing her to shake under the pressure. She couldn't disappoint him, not since he had gotten her into the academy in the first place.

"Fellow students. We have fought and struggled through these 10 years at the Human Survival Force Mech Academy, the greatest school in the world. And through the challenges presented to us, we are no longer students, but we are soldiers. Soldiers who will fight to our very last breath to save mankind from the evils knocking at our door. Through the strength of our bonds, we shall overcome every obstacle before us make humanity free again! It is my honor to represent this class as it's Valedictorian." Julia spoke with incredible resolve, determined not to bring any disappointment to her peers. The crowd erupted into cheers, shaking the ground with its magnitude.

As Julia walked off the stage, she was greeted with countless cheers from her classmates. She could barely hear them through her own relief that it was over. Public speaking was not her forte, her only friend was much better at it than she. She managed to evade the paparazzi and escape into the back of the audience stealthily. "I thought that you told me that it was going to be easy." Julia said to the friend who had been able to correctly guess everything that she had been thinking and feeling.

"Public speaking is easy. You just have to pretend that you are speaking one-on-one with a stranger. You do that very well." I said as encouragingly as I could in the situation while laughing lightly.

Julia pouted. "Timothy, why do you have to bully me so?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." I said quickly, trying to remedy whatever mistake I had made. Then I realized the Julia was laughing similarly to how I was, except more purposely. "Hey. That's not fair."

"That just makes us even." Julia responded happily, bouncing up and down like an oversized bunny. "Come on, you know you deserved that one. After all, you were going to be the one giving a valedictorian speech until about a week ago when you messed up in the tournament."

"Yeah, no arguing with you there." I commented, forcefully shifting my gaze away from Julia and directed it towards the ceiling.

"You're lying to me, aren't you?" She asked, trying to jump high enough to get a clear look into my eyes.

"What makes you say that?" I asked sarcastically, mentally cursing myself for making it so obvious.

"Every time you look upward, I know you are lying." Julia reminded me, giving up trying to jump over my head. "Admit it, you threw that fight against James so I would win, didn't you?"

I turned my head down to face her directly, my yellow eyes meeting her blue ones. Julia didn't back down, staring at me intensely. She seemed much more fierce and determined when in one on one confrontation, just like she had always been. We were about the same height, but she scared me much more than I scared her.