Gears of Harmony

Episode 3 - Crying Skies

Loud music rang out in the dark, breaking the silence in my sleep. I sat up and reached for my phone and swiped right before the song continued. By then, my breath had turned into gasps and my heart was racing inside. I looked around my room, at the white walls closing into me. At the pile of my stuffs across my bed, stowed beneath and on my desk. Then my gaze darted to my beige blanket, and to the curves beneath it, where my legs were.

Oh, right... I thought.

Going through yet another day of... this.

I slowly got off my bed and looked at the burgundy uniform hanging in front of my dresser, then to my reflection off the mirror. A young woman with dull coral eyes and deadpan face stared back at me.

Another day of being... another me.

A few days passed with me avoiding everyone on lunch break as I continued drawing on my sketchbook. I think I'm starting to get used to life in a commoner school, as long as I didn't have to deal with the weirdos directly. During that time, I learnt the rules of Aurum, toured the whole building, and attended club exhibitions.

One day, the whole class was walking back to our classroom after hearing the chairwoman's welcome speech and tips. They formed a single file line as we walked out of the hall, slowly dispersing as the students started looking for their friends again. Just then, my ears caught a loud, bright voice from the back which stood out against the rest.

"Amy, Amy, Amy," said a girl in auburn ponytail as she repeated the name in a sing-song tune.

"What is it?" asked the girl walking by her side. She pinched the girl's nose and giggled. "Ah, I wish I could find a softer nose around..."

"Hmph!" said the girl with wavy, auburn ponytail as she shook her head.

Say, that girl... she's sitting two seats away from me, I thought, Callista... right? So Amelia and her are friends...

That's nice...

I gulped and stopped the thoughts before I went down the rabbit hole of self-pity.

Maybe I can try talking to them! I told myself, they seem nice.

...but I probably will be gone in another month, won't I?

Aren't they going to question things if I suddenly disappear then?

I entered the classroom with the other students and took my seat. However, it wasn't long until Mr. Leroy's shiny bald head had shown itself in front of the class, and so we had to stand up again.

"Good morning, sir," everyone said at the same time.

"Good morning, class. Sit down. I have an announcement," Mr Leroy said, "as you might already know, you will later choose your specialty,"

Specialty? I thought.

"You will choose between biology, chemistry, and physics as your specialty subject," he said, "you will have more hours for that chosen subject and the standard for that chosen subject will be higher as well,"

"You mean if I choose to focus on physics then I don't have to study chemistry anymore?" asked a thin girl with glasses in the corner.

"No, Verity," said the teacher, "you will all still study biology, chemistry, and physics and other subjects such as math and academic English. You just choose one subject to learn more about,"

"Oh, I'm so gonna choose chemistry," said Callista. Her flowing wavy dark brown hair in a ponytail swayed as she excitedly turned to Amelia.

"Well, I'm not. We have enough chemistry for one week," said Amelia.