First of all, I don't know how I got here. Second, I don't know how to leave.

  "P're, look at those melons, damn."

  "They must be so tasty."

  "Gosh, I really want those~"

  And no, we are not in the market. We are at a cafe, seated in the very corner of the room, and...

  "Oh sh— look away! Look away!"

  I watched silently as the three boys in front of me collectively diverted their gazes to the menu right up the counter. They put their hands beneath their chins as they squinted their eyes, trying to—awkwardly—pretend their eyes were not on the women who entered a while ago. I can feel the women's gaze upon us, and when I've made eye contact with one of them, I can feel their suspicion and disgust.

  "Damn, I really want that melon, bro! I wonder how much that is?" One of my companies, Gerard, said in an obviously loud manner while pointing to a mango shake.

  "Y-yeah, let's buy later!" Mernard, also one of my company, tried to make a response, yet the anxiety was very evident in his voice.

  I sighed as I closed my eyes in embarrassment. I heard a click of tongue from one of the girls as they proceeded to the counter, but not before giving us a disgusted look.

  "P're, wala na ba sila?" I looked towards Jacob beside me as he asked if the girls are gone.

  "Yes." I answered, which made him sigh in relief.

  "Hays. We almost got caught, grabe." I don't really think they are still not caught. I can feel the side glares of the students around us, after all. Are these guys really insensitive or are they too blinded by their 'melons'?

  "Bakit ba tayo nandito, exactly?" I proceeded to ask them why we're here. After all, they dragged me here right after the early dismissal of our last subject. Me, Gerard, t

  hat Mernard, and also Jacob, the four of us now in this cafe for a reason still not clear to me. I really want to leave. Aside from I don't know my purpose here, us four are the only boy students in this place.

  "We're doing a scavenger hunt, of course. We need to find prospect subjects for our high school life. Subjects that will motivate us to rise from the depths of hell." Jacob spoke with some unique passion in his smirk, giving emphasis to his last sentence. He raised his glass of water to the air, making an imaginary toast. The other two made the toast with him, their faces quite emotional like they were touched by the speech.

  Seriously, I want the ground to just swallow me whole.

  Also, don't you mean 'melons'?

  "C'mon, Zero. Make the toast with us."

  I'd rather not. But the three looked at me, as if waiting. Are they serious? I sighed again and closed my eyes. I grabbed my glass and raised it a little from the table. The three gave an excited cheer.

  I wanna leave.

  "But nakakaano naman. Hayst, it's been like thirty minutes and still no one was talking to us." You mean 5 minutes. Is Mernard sure he was above average?

  "Yeah, I feel ya, brotha'. Bakit ba tayo walang naaakit sa pagka-attractive natin?" Gerard spoke next, as if sympathizing with Mernard's dilemma. How about you three stop acting like creeps? Or trey could try to flirt with the gay in the counter, instead. That would work.

  Though, these three really are kinda attractive. Maybe not the ideal man of every woman, but enough to attract some girls. Too bad almost everyone here has their standards raised.

  "Especially with you zero. You have the face. Maybe not the intellect, but you have the face." Am I supposed to feel better because of that? I feel insulted. And also, when would this zero thingy end?

  "Uy pero infairness, Ma'am Maldita seems to like Zero."

  "Ehh?"

  "Yup. Do you all not feel the stares? Ang lagkit kahit break time pag nakita niya si Zero, nagbabago bigla ekspresyon." I feel like her 'flirtatious' stares were more like death threats, so are her changing expressions.

  "Man, You're lucky, Zero. Sexy ni Ma'am Maldita." Jacob spoke as he nughed my arms. "Smashable."

  "Nah. Pass ako, bro." Gerard commented as he drank his glass. "I don't want bottom."

  The group erupted into a laugh from Gerard's words, successfully getting the attention of everyone else here. Yet they acted like they couldn't feel it as they proceeded to talk about girls. Seriously, can't these guys be sensible?

  "Ahem."

  I lifted my gaze when someone cleared her throat. Beside us was one of the girls serving on the counter. She looked at us with an obvious annoyance. She cleared her throat again, only then did the rest of my company look up at her.

  "Are you planning to buy anything?" The girl asked us, her voice full of impatience.

  "Uhhh..."

  The corner of the girl's mouth twitched.

  - - -

  "Man, sayang. Nobody gave us their number." Jacob sighed with discontent as he stared at the passing cars. We are now walking on the sidewalk after being thrown out from the cafe. The two other boys also sighed right after.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  "Hayst. Sayang yung mga melon." Mernard also remarks, his hands squishing the empty air.

  "Puro ka melon, puro ka melon. Y'know p're, it's not always the melon that matters."

  "Ehh?" Mernard looked to Jacob with confusion. I also did, so is Gerard. Did this guy finally have some enlightenment and maturity given to him?

  "Yes, there is something else you should pay attention to."

  "What's that?"

  "This!" Mernard almost jumped in pain as Jacob slapped his bottom with full force. That action had the three laughing out loud. I just sighed.

  Nevermind. Boys will be boys.

  "I'll go ahead na. You three take care." I bade my goodbye as we approached an intersection. The three looked at me simultaneously.

  "Ehh? You're not coming with us to the dorms?" The dorm that Jacob says is to the left. It was beside the academyz and serves as a lodging for most of Cretborne's students. Galing sa iba't ibang parte ng Pilipinas ang mga estudyante rito, so karamihan ay nagdo-dorm. Only the ones within the vicinity or has a relative in here can live in this place without dorm

  "No. I still have to go somewhere." Speaking of which, my phone kept vibrating since we left the cafe. They asked me again if I was sure and I just said yes. They bid me goodbye and eventually I was alone again. A sighed as I opened my phone to check for the notification. I then closed it again and looked towards the gates of Crestborne Academy.

  What does that person need of me at this moment?

  - - -

  The school faculty was just like the student's classroom. There were desks everywhere as well as a whiteboard scribbled with plans and schedules. The only difference of this place is that there are partitions everywhere.

  At the afterglow of sunset, this place almost looks like an abandoned business office with the papers and folders everywhere.

  I knocked on the door. The room looked empty, devoid of life. Is she really here?

  "Good afternoon." When no answer came back, I decided to use my voice. I waited for a while, yet still no. "I'm coming in." I entered the faculty and walked around a bit. She said she'd be here.

  It wasn't long before I found a woman at the very edge of the room. She had her eyes closed while her head while resting at her hand. She is in this pose where her elbow is on the table and is vertically positioned. Basically, she seems to be sleeping, but with her face leaning on her hands.

  I wonder how I could...

  I grabbed the book on top of her desk. It was just the right size. I raised it up until it was above me before letting go.

  "Oops. my hand slipped." The book made a loud noise when it hit the floor. I was about to reach for it when the woman spoke.

  "I know what you did, Heiden." The teacher's eyes were now open, and they were gleaming with darkness as the sunset covered them. They were full of pure killing intent.

  "Sorry po." I reached for the book and placed it back at her desk. "You asked for me, miss Irene. Why?"

  "I want to see the boy I admire. Is that wrong?"

  "Eh?" Eh? Ehh?

  The woman then scoffed.

  "What's with that reaction? What's on your mind no'ng sinabi kong 'admired'?"

  Well...

  Suddenly, Jacob's remarks about this teacher staring at me frequently... man, don't poison my mind.

  "I admire your audacity, Heiden. Where did you get the idea that getting a zero was a good idea?"

  "I don't get what you are saying, miss."

  "You know, with an exam like that. Zero won't be much of an issue. In fact, even two to three zeros will be expected in normal circumstances. Or in simple terms, zero is a nice score to blend into while keeping everyone's expectation of you away." The teacher kept goin, ignoring my words. "But you flopped, Heiden. This is Crestborne Academy, there is no record of anyone getting a zero here with that pre-test."

  "Should I feel honored then to be the first?"

  "Fuu... you have a weird humor, Heiden." I guess we have different humors? "Did you also find it funny to intentionally aim for a perfect zero?"

  "I don't get what you mean."

  "In denial still, eh." The teacher grabbed the book I dropped and opened it somewhere in the middle. From there, she retrieved two pieces of paper and raised them for me to see. The two papers are answer sheets to be exact. "Take a look at your answer and Iona's answer. Don't you notice something?"

  "Uhhh... I got it all wrong and she got it all right?"

  "Wow, I really admire that audacity." Then why does your voice feel like a few steps away from full-fledged wrath? "At the questions in which the answer is A, you answered C. For those with B, you answered D. Then C became A. And D became B.

  "Your answers, Heiden. They were perfect. Perfectly wrong by two places."

  I remained silent as she explained all of those to me.

  "Is that why you asked to see me? To get a confession?"

  "I don't need a confession when I have all the evidence."

  "So you did have another agenda."

  The teacher squinted her eyes, as if trying to size me up. She did that for about 10 seconds before finally releasing a sigh.

  "Say, ever heard about the Phoenix's Grace?" The teacher asked suddenly. I looked at her with confusion. "Probably not."

  The teacher breathes in heavily as she looks towards the window. I followed her gaze. The Academy was surrounded by either cityscapes or mountains. And this room's window faces the mountain side.The sun was setting there over the horizon, at the middle of a valley between two mountains.

  “There were four birds who sought shelter—Raven, Macaw, Falcon, and Vulture. An old bird welcomed them in, gave them lodging in exchange for help.

  “The Raven worked with devotion and cleverness. The Macaw helped while entertaining the elder. The Falcon was lazy but did pest control. The Vulture gave back too, but did little work. The elder gave to all, proportionate to their effort.

  “One day, the elder burst into flames and turned into ash.

  “They mourned her for days as they argued on what to do with the ashes—Raven wanted to keep them in a jar, Macaw wanted to scatter them, Falcon wanted to throw them in a river. The Vulture stayed out of it.

  “They fought so long they didn’t notice the ashes gathering on their own. Then, the flames rose. A Phoenix appeared, her voice the same as the elder.

  “She had been testing them, aiming to give each of them rewards based on their contribution.

  “The Raven got unmatched intellect. The Macaw—charisma and performance. The Falcon—hunting skill and adaptability. The Vulture... survival. The ability to thrive alone.”

  The teacher looked back at me after retelling the story, her eyes were now back to their uninterested manner.

  "That's the summarized version. Basically, the phoenix gave them grace, but her grace is not equal. It varies from the bird's efforts." The teacher then stood up. "That is the system of this school, Heiden. The Phoenix's Grace. Four sections, four birds."

  He pondered upon the allegory she narrated. Logic and circumstantial evidence suggests that the teacher was indeed telling the truth. And he remained quiet thinking about the story.

  A scavenger amongst intellectuals, huh?

  "So you mean we are the vultures?"

  "Not exactly." The teacher walked away from me and stared back at the window. "The status of the four birds only applied to you bunch, right at graduation. Your class might be the Vulture at that point, or you could be the Raven. Or the Macaw, or the Falcon." The teacher chuckled by then. "But your zero is very bothersome. I don't think a Raven status would be possible with your current convictions."

  "So what are you trying to say?"

  "I suggest you start taking things seriously, Heiden. At this point, due to Class 1-D having the lowest class average, you are behind the batch. If this thing kept on, graduating as vultures would not be a fictional story." She looked back at me again. "And trust me, those phoenix, those elites... they only mostly care if you are of the raven status. Anything lower, you won't have much privilege outside the campus. And vultures, they are basically forgotten. Sometimes unrecognized as graduates from this school."

  I pondered at her words. This is genuinely a shock for me. I never expected such a cutthroat system in this school.

  "Of course, all class graduating as raven is also possible. But that is just not plausible in this school system."

  Suddenly, the image of Zyrus appeared to my mind. everyone tries to balance the score system for the Phoenix's Grace, there are still wildcards like him which may affect the overall goal of the student. And to unite four classes...

  "Have you come back to your senses now?"

  I looked at the teacher again. She was still looking at me with her eyes uniquely illuminated red by the fading flame of the setting sun. Her amusement bounces off upon the blazing reflection of the fragmented light rays along the office's surfaces.

  This teacher is sly...

  "May hindi ka sinabi, Miss Irene."

  "I believed I said everything, Heiden."

  "You said that the bird status is by the class as a whole, right? Then how about individuals who excelled on their own? I don't believe a school like this would neglect that fact."

  "You mean you can't accept the idea of someone being dragged down because their classmate cannot swim up."

  "I mean that there is a way to bypass the class restriction in case they see their own class sinking. Perhaps... through switching class."

  And then the teacher was silent. She seemed to have run out of words to say. Or rather, she doesn't know what to answer.

  "I'll ask other teachers if you can't answer, Miss Irene."

  "No. No need." The teacher scoffed, as if laughing at her own inside joke. For the first time this afternoon, she crossed her arms. "Yes, a class transfer was possible." And then the teacher's face became serious again. "You need, however, the approval of the homeroom you are transferring to. Basically, you have to be a favorite of that teacher."

  So there is really favoritism even in this system, huh? Let's see, if someone gets close with Class 1-A, then they could—

  "And..." Miss Irene raised her voice when she noticed me thinking. "That class also needs to be less than 30. Basically, there must be at least one expulsion sa pagta-transfer-an mo before you can transfer to that class." Ohhh... okay, now that's a plot twist. "Can you handle the guilt of having someone expelled from this school just to have a secure place at graduation?" Wow, that's some great approach to attack someone's morality. This woman really is a manipulator.

  I thought about her words for a while. An expulsion... and the favor of the system. Does that remain an open choice up until graduation as long as the circumstances allow. If yes, then the longer the time it takes to decide, the more guilt an expulsion gives to a transferring student. That is saying that a class doesn't have any expulsion for the past two years, to begin with.

  "Isn't it more appropriate if it is Iona whom you talked with regarding this?"

  "So you admit that you are deserving of trust, even if Iona was the much better choice?" Beat. this teacher is really sharp. I really want to wipe that smile off her face. "I really admire the way you manage and handle things, Heiden. But you can't fool me that easily. I am an English major, and syntaxes are my forte.

  "You are hiding a lot of things. And I think that will be very beneficial to your class." Just then the teacher started walking towards me again. "I don't want you to change class, I don't want you to be a weight they have to carry either. Raise the class to Raven status

  , Heiden. Whatever it takes."

  The woman stopped right in front of me. She slowly curved her mouth to a sly smile; a smile of a lion who had found her prey.

  "Work for me, Heiden. Be the one to take the Phoenix's Grace."

  - o - o -