"My parents might have reached here already," Timothy said while glancing around him. He noticed Ermand wasn't listening to him at all, instead his eyes were focused elsewhere.

"What are you doing?" He asked, frowning.

"Searching for Jack," Ermand replied.

"You're a baby, aren't you?"

"What?"

"I mean," he chuckled before he continued. "You've been to schools before, why are you acting as if it's your first day at school?"

These words left Ermand shocked. Oh no.

"It's because I'm new to this."

"We are all new to this." 

"Uh, not like me..."

Ermand's eyes scanned around him to spot a tall and dark auburn haired boy. 

I shouldn't have ignored him while he left with his friends. How am I supposed to find my family among these huge crowds everywhere?

"What do you mean?" Timothy enquired, edging toward Ermand.

"Never mind..." Ermand said in a low voice without taking a seconds' glance at him.

"Uh--"

"Jack!"

Ermand walked in the direction of a tall and slender figure dressed in his maroon uniform. Timothy followed Ermand with the strap of his backpack clenched in one of his hands.

"Well, mum and dad will be here any minute. Have you seen Jason?" Jack said, noticing his brother walking toward him.

"No. You shouldn't have left me." 

"Come on, man. It's the place where you'll be studying, not somewhere where you'll be cooked alive," he guffawed. "Anyways, I won't be there with you during the admission registration."

"Okay."

"Have you prepared for the interview?" Timothy asked Ermand, who was listening to the brothers' conversation.

"There will be an interview?" Ermand was startled, his eyes widening.

"Of course there will be. Don't tell me you don't know about that."

"Relax. It's just an interview. Just bring out the Chisel in you. Professor Zaugustus Lewcent and Professor Philip Chisel might be interviewing you, I guess," Jack consoled him with his usual carefree smile.

"You're carefree, but your little brother seems a bit tense… he's kind of-" Timothy wrinkled his brows.

"Unsociable. Actually he is unsociable. He doesn't have much experience interacting with people, very reclusive," Jack replied, chuckling.

"Oh. That's actually not right. I mean, you should hang around with people and get to know them," Timothy nodded. "Hey, can you tell me who will interview the Chestnuts?" 

"It's Professor Alexander Chestnut," Jack winked. "He's funny." 

"Nice!" 

"I'm not exactly sure, it changes every year. By the way, what was your colour at school?" 

"Yellow."

"Terrific, man!"

Jack nodded his head with an appreciative look upon his face. Ermand had never seen him like that before. It was rare to see Jack being impressed by others.

"Well... a little bit of cheating is all it takes to get a good grade as yellow," Timothy snickered.

"Tried doing that at school, and it worked really well. Not here, though."

Timothy wrinkled his nose just as those words rolled out of Jack's mouth.

"Oh! There are my parents. See you soon, Chisels."

Timothy ran as he waved his hand in the air, toward his parents who looked remarkably like him. Both had blonde hair and wore the same posh clothes like Timothy.

"What are these colours you guys were talking about?" Ermand whispered.

"Listen. The colour grades are the final grades you receive in your senior year at school and it descends like this. First the Golden, second, the yellow, and third, the blue. The average ranges from white to pink, pink to green, green to orange, orange to black. The low grades range from violet to red, red to brown, and finally, the lowest colour range is gray. I've got red and Jason's got blue. He's such a nerd," he rolled his eyes.

"And what am I supposed to tell them when they ask about my colour grading?"

"Don't worry. Mum and Dad have got it all under control."

"You mean… lie to them?"

"No. Even if you lie, you can't make an original certificate stating your score. Just make sure you're selected."

Ermand nodded. He wasn't sure what was waiting ahead of him, but there was always hope. Perhaps...

"Mum! Hey, little Ermie feels taut here," he laughed, waving at the couples. 

Ermand nudged Jack, but he continued laughing.

"There you are," Mrs. Chisel said with her usual tone after she got close to them. Mr. Chisel was behind her. He carried a paper bag with him.

"Mum, Ermand is telling me about him not going to school, the grades and stuff.”

"I'm worried. How am I ever going to attend the interview without a school certificate?"

"You don't have to worry, Ermie, we have a specific reason for whoever is interviewing you. Now cheer up!"

She smiled after placing a kiss on Ermand's cheek. Ermand turned red. He prayed nobody noticed him. For Mrs. Chisel, Ermand was still a kid.

"Now, let's get going. Jack, off you go!" Mr. Chisel interrupted after taking a glance at his same, old bronze watch.

"Fine. Fine. All the best, Ermand!"

He slapped Ermand on the back before strolling toward the entrance with his group of friends, whom, Mrs. Chisel calls a 'notorious company'.

As Ermand waved goodbye to Jack, someone hit his left arm, nearly knocking him to the ground. Ermand quickly turned in the person's direction. 

A girl. He got a glimpse of her brunette hair and dark outfit in a flash, but the only thing that caught his attention was her eyes. A petrifying glare.

Her eyes reminded him of an owl's. They held an eerie glare, unblinking. She held his gaze with a challenge, challenging Ermand as if to let him know she was not ready to break her stare. Her glare shook something in him. Her lips were formed in a thin scowl as if it were Ermand who hit her.

"Ermand?"

It was Mr. Chisel. Ermand turned back slowly.

"Yes?"

"Shall we go?"

"Yeah..."

The campus were spectacular. The walls of the building were made of a special white stone of Tawarn. The Rougiatum stone, the most expensive stone in the magical world because of its indestructible nature. It was said that the college had been established six hundred years ago. The Rougiatum stone had stayed the same since then. No crack, no stain. It was shiny as ever.

Little creatures about the size of a bottle were hurtling between the crowd. Ermand watched a clumsy creature trying not to get stomped by the people who scurried toward their classes. They had long cone hats of assorted colours and wore large matching shoes. They were in their most perfect suit and carried a thin stick in one of their tiny hands. It was the exact size of them.

"What are these? I've never seen one in Tawarn..."

"These are the Coocoins, Jack told you about," Mrs. Chisel replied.

"Coocoins? He never told me anything about Coocoins."

"Well, he had made sure to give you some surprises then," Mrs. Chisel giggled.

"A rare creature that only works for one university in the whole wide world. And this is where it works!" Mr. Chisel pointed straight to the entrance of the building.

After entering the spacious facade of the building, Mr. and Mrs. Chisel waited for their turn to submit the admission application.

They sat on one of the benches in a large hall, with hundreds of students accompanied with their parents. All looked nervous, except one.

"I'll go to the protectors department!" A boy sitting with a plump woman beside him spoke. He didn't seem to be nervous at all. 

"No, you will not. You know the job vacancies for failed protectors these days!" his mother insisted.

"That's because they failed. I will not fail!"

"Says the boy who scored gray in his school. I'm not sure whether they will accept you or not."

Ermand leaned to his left to check who it was.

**********

Editing credits ~ sticklady2015