“Father! I made it to the Privileged!”
“What’s the Privileged?”
“It’s… it’s like a student’s committee here.”
“…Stay out of trouble. And keep praying to Abiel and the creator.”
“…Yes father.”

Michael heard the line go blank as his grandpa cut the call. It's not like Michael called him every day. No. This was only the second time within a month that Michael had called him. Grandpa would ring him about 10 times, once every week that Michael had so diligently avoided.

He had seen how Anya and Thomas excitedly called up their families to let them know of their achievement. Michael had wanted to try to do the same.

Michael gave one last look into his almost empty wooden trunk, the identical one that everyone had provided by school, before he locked it with the key.

“Michael, we are late for class. Come on,” Thomas broke his chain of thoughts.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Michael said, a smile immediately on his handsome face. He grabbed his bag, threw his arm over Thomas’s shoulder and made way to class.


“Michael! Thomas! Sir Antonio wants to see you,” Leila told them after class. Michael wondered why she had come, out of the blue, to greet them.

“Okay!” Thomas replied excitedly and Michael solved the puzzle.
“It's because you two got into the Privileged. We just met with him,” Anya added.
“My boys!” James came out of nowhere and greeted them, “Ladies.”
The two girls waved back at him.

“What are your plans for today? Shouldn’t we celebrate our win?” asked James.
“We need to meet Sir Antonio right now. Should we go to his office?” asked Thomas.

“No. No. If you want to meet Sir Antonio, you go to the prayer hall. That’s where he is most of the time, praying,” James replied.

“You sure know a lot about Sir Antonio!” Leila intervened.
“I am very smart,” James smiled as he raised his eyebrows comically.


Michael waited outside as Sir Antonio took his time with Thomas. He pulled out his phone and revisited a text he got earlier that day.

+92 7***9***5*7: Hey. Sia here. Save my number.
+92 7***9***5*7: Also let me know what you think about my offer.

He rolled his eyes and put his phone back into his jean pocket. Just then, the door swung open revealing Thomas at the door.
“Go meet him. Go. I’ll be at the cafeteria with the others,” he said as he walked away.

Michael pushed open the door and walked in. The door led him into the balcony from where his eyes skimmed through all the seats until he found him. The prayer hall being dimly lit, made it difficult for him to descend the stairs and reach the center, the lowest level, where Sir Antonio stood, watching the almost dead fire pit.

“Michael Adriel.”
Michael cleared his throat and replied, “Yes sir.”

Sir Antonio turned around to face him, and said, “Congratulations for making your mark in the Privileged.”

“Thank you, sir,” Michael replied.
“I have seen the Privileged perform greatly over various years of our school. That includes your senior; Grace. Such a good boy. He sees the potential of a diamond in a rock!”
Michael nodded as Sir Antonio continued speaking.

“It's a position of great power Michael. Abiel gave you this amazing opportunity. The Creator gave it to you. Use it well, and you’ll rule. You under utilize it, and everything falls apart.”
Sir Antonio stepped closer to him and said, “Don’t let it fall apart.”

It was a simple statement. But the darkness around, the reflection of fire glowing in his eyes and the eerie echo inside the prayer hall, made Michael vigilant.

“Michael Adriel. Michael, the ‘servant of god’. Prove your worth.”
Sir Antonio stepped away as soon as Michael nodded.

“Use the library well. We have a great collection of books.”
Michael nodded again.

“Submit a handwritten 20-page report on the history of our school by tomorrow evening. Don’t let me down,” said Sir Antonio as he walked out of the prayer hall into his personal cabin.

From the prayer hall, Michael went straight to the cafeteria. As soon as the others saw Michael approach, they started roaring with laughter.

“Did he scare you too?” asked Thomas. Michael nodded. Everyone laughed again.
“He also wants me to write a report on the history of our school!” Michael said feeling frustrated, “A 20-page report!”
“All newbies have to do it Michael,” said Grace, “You guys should start right away. Else, you won’t be able to complete it on time.”

“I can show you my report from last year if you want,” said Sia as she sat with James’s arms around her waist.
“I think I’ll do this on my own,” said Michael as he walked away, followed by Anya and Thomas.


Thud!
Anya dropped 2 more books onto the table.
“These have the roles and responsibilities of the Privileged and Honoured. Sigh…” she said, sitting down.

“Apart from just telling us that being in the Privileged and the Honoured ‘holds a lot of power’, they should have told us it's a lot of work too!” Thomas added.

“Would we have tried so hard to get in, then?” asked Anya. Michael shook his head.
“I didn’t even try,” said Leila, her chin resting on the back of her palm as she rested on the library table.

“We don’t have information on the how the Privileged and the Honoured were formed, or the founder members,” Anya said skimming through her pages.

“Let me find it,” said Michael. Anya watched him stand up, walk and disappear behind the bookshelves.

“You know you are gawking at him,” said Thomas which caught Anya by surprise.
“I am not!” she flat out refused.
“Can you blame her?” Leila defended Anya, “He is too handsome. How much does he work out to get a body like that?”
“How does he look, shirtless?” Anya asked Thomas.

Mouth agape, Thomas looked at either of them and replied, “I can practically see hearts flying out of your eyes!” the girls giggled and Thomas continued, “Firstly, I have never seen him shirtless, and I don’t want to. And second thing, I have never seen him work out.”

The girls were disappointed. Rolling her eyes, Leila said under her breath, “Well then you should pay more attention.”

Oblivious to this conversation, Michael walked deep into the library to find more books. He already had found two books but wasn’t satisfied. He wanted to ace the report and impress Sir Antonio.
While browsing through the spine of a few books, a sound caught his attention. It sounded as if someone was whispering. He ignored it and resumed his book search.

But the more he tried to overlook it, the louder it got. Soon his feet started moving towards the whispers and as he moved, the whispers got louder and louder. His eyes searched all around and yet couldn’t find the source of the sound. The volume of the whispers was at its highest and yet, nothing was decipherable. A voice then stood out. It was hazy at first though it kept getting clearer. It said-

“Michael!”

Anya’s voice broke his trance and he noticed that he was standing amidst two large shelves filled with old books. He looked around to find anything out of place. But it was normal. The whispers had disappeared.

Seeing him bewildered Anya said, “What?”

He took a second to compose himself, shook his head and said, “Nothing. You caught me by surprise.”

Though initially she did not look convinced, the books in his hand diverted her attention, “Have you got two books? That’s more than enough! Let’s go and finish this off.”

He nodded and watched her leave. After looking around one last time, feeling utterly confused, he followed her.