Holy SHIT was Jax Martini-Richards nervous.

He'd been nervous the second he'd received the letter. He'd been nervous the second he realized what it meant. And now, standing in front of Hope's Peak Academy... he'd never felt calmer. SIKE. He was about to faint.

As if on cue, Jackie pawed at his foot to get his attention, and he bent down to stroke the fur on her head.

"Thanks, girl," he mumbled, turning his attention back to the building looming in front of him.

Hope's Peak Academy. A school for the most gifted high school students. And somehow he was one of them.  By some chance, that letter had shown up in his mailbox, inviting him to attend and praising him as the most talented high-school level dog trainer.

"The Ultimate Dog Trainer", they'd called him.

Jax swallowed the lump in his throat as he stared up at the school's emblem standing proudly against the brick and concrete.  This was it. 

"I mean, I don't really have to go in," he said, turning to leave.

Jackie growled, clamping her jaws down on his sleeve and tugging.  Jax stared down at her, exasperated.

"Really?  First mom, now you too?" He rolled his eyes before prying his sleeve out of her mouth.

The Australian Shepherd firmly planted her rump on the ground, her head high as she stared at him expectantly.  It was almost like she was saying "I'm not going anywhere" in her own stubborn way.

They stared at each other for a long, tense moment.  Finally, Jax threw his hands up in the air. "You win, you little jerk."

As soon as he took a step towards the building, Jackie stood up and trotted after him.  Jax was actually impressed that he managed to make it to the grand front doors before stopping and reflecting on everything he'd done to get to this point.  He took a deep breath in, held it, and exhaled, like his therapist had taught him to do.  He closed his eyes, reaching out and feeling the cool metal door handle before closing his fingers around it.

It's now or never.

He turned the door handle, pushed open the door, and opened his eyes.

Standing before him was the grand entrance hall, completely empty.  Was he a day early?  No, he'd definitely triple checked the date on the way over. So where was everyone?  Jax took a cautious step inside, Jackie right on his heels.   The sound of his sneakers squeaking against the tile echoed for an uncomfortable amount of time. 

Maybe I'm early?

Jax reached into his pocket, fumbling for the acceptance letter.  Maybe he'd misread the time, or maybe he was in the wrong spot, or-

Without warning, the room began to spin. Black spots threatened his vision.  And then, before he could begin to comprehend what was happening...

Nothing.

***

"Easy now.  Sit up slowly to ensure minimum dizziness."

Jax paused at the sound of an unfamiliar voice- warm, silky, and gentle.  Slowly, he opened his eyes, blinking as they adjusted to the dim light.  He was sitting at a regular school desk, in a normal classroom.  The odd thing was that the windows appeared to be boarded up, the only light coming from the fluorescent lights above.  Sitting at the desk in front of him, watching him, was a young woman with eyes like emeralds.  Her expression was soft, understanding even, but she made no move to approach him.  She simply gave him space, which was much appreciated for someone easily overwhelmed like himself.

"Wh...where am I?" Jax asked, slowly lifting his head off the desk like she'd suggested.

She smiled softly. "Hope's Peak Academy. I assume based on what happened with everyone else, you blacked out upon arrival and found yourself in a classroom, yes?"

When he nodded, she continued, "You're the last one.  Which makes sixteen.  Our whole class is here, and as far as we know, only our class is here.  Odd, yes?"

Jax nodded, then looked around the room for Jackie. She was sitting next to the unfamiliar woman, lounging on the floor next to her.

Odd... Jackie never warms up to strangers unless she knows I'm comfortable with them.  This woman really must be trustworthy then...

Jax looked back at the woman. "Who are you?"

She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Ah, yes. I am Dawn DeMacury, the Ultimate Psychologist."

Well that explains why she knew to give me space.

"I'm Jax Martini-Richards, the Ultimate Dog Trainer," he responded.

Dawn nodded, a flicker of amusement crossing her soft features. "That adds up."

She then rose, brushing her olive green coat off. "Shall we go to the others, then?"

Jax hesitantly got up. "You mean we're gonna go meet everyone else?"

"Of course.  You're afraid of making a bad impression and having to live with that for the rest of your life, yes?" Dawn paused. "We can touch on that later."

He stared at her. She gave a small shrug.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. Between you and me, you won't be the worst at introductions out of all of us," she whispered with a mischievous wink.

Jax slowly followed her out of the classroom, Jackie having returned to his side. She seemed... completely at ease. Huh.

Not even ten seconds after leaving the room, Jax jumped as he heard a voice call:

"Hey! You!"

Startled, he whirled around to see a petite blur of brown and cyan rushing up to him.  She stopped a few inches too close, her jade eyes sparkling as she smiled with a grin too big for her face.

"I haven't met you yet!  What's your talent- no, what's your name first-" Her eyes locked on Jackie and immediately widened. "You have a dog?? Can I please pet her??"

Afraid of upsetting her, Jax forced a smile and said weakly, "Sure..."

That was all it took before the girl crouched down and started running her fingers through Jackie's fur.  To Jax's surprise, Jackie immediately melted, settling down on the floor and turning her belly upwards.

Why is she so comfortable with all of these people? She's always suspicious first... does she know these people and I don't or something?

"Oh! Right! Your name?" Without pausing giving Jackie belly rubs, the girl looked up at Jax.

"Oh, uh, Jax. Ultimate Dog Trainer," he said.

"Jax! That's a cute name!" she beamed, then pointed to herself. "I'm Emile Beaumont, but everyone just calls me Narwhale. I'm the Ultimate Environmentalist!"

Narwhale?  Like the sea animal? Is what Jax wanted to say, but he didn't want to risk somehow offending her, so he stayed silent.

"Narwhale, do you know if everyone is still split up?" Dawn asked her in that soft tone, the much-preferred opposite of Narwhale's high-pitched, enthusiastic voice.

Narwhale thought for a moment. "Um... yes!  I was just finishing looking in the classrooms with Ash. They should be around here somewhere..."

She turned her focus down the hall and yelled, "ASH! COME MEET JAX!"

Jax winced, reaching to cover his ears. Dawn noticed and took a cautious step towards him.

"I assure you, Ash is better at using their indoor voice," she mumbled as sharp footsteps echoed louder and louder by the second. "I'll handle Narwhale."

She then moved to bend down next to Narwhale as Jax saw a figure round the corner and meet his gaze. Much to his relief, they waited until they got close enough that they wouldn't have to yell.

"Hi! Jax, right?" they asked, offering a hand. "Ash Wickifield, Ultimate Analyst at your service."

"I'm Jax," he said as he carefully reached out and shook Ash's hand. Cold and firm, not at all like their friendly expression.

"Nice to meet you, Jax." Ash's orange gaze drifted over to Jackie. "Is the dog part of your talent?"

"Oh, Jackie? Yeah. I mean, I don't have her because of my talent, but she helped me..." Jax trailed off, his face reddening. "I'm rambling."

"Hey, no, you're all good." They gave him an encouraging thumbs up. "What's your talent?"

"Ultimate Dog Trainer."

There. Nice and simple. But maybe it comes across as too harsh now. Too short. Like I'm not interested? Damnit.

Ash didn't seem to think any of that, though. "That's neat! I don't suppose you train cats too? My cat Keopi is a menace. I love him, but if he knocks my coffee mug over one more time, I might lose it."

"I can try," Jax offered. "I mean, I don't really deal with cats, but maybe I have a connection with more than just dogs?"

That was probably wrong and he was probably lying, but oh well. He just wanted to make a good first impression; was that really so bad to want?

Ash just smiled. "Well, once we figure out how to get out of here, I'll have to take you up on that."

"Yeah. ...so, uh, analytics?"

"You'd be surprised how much of a talent analyzing stuff can be. Graphs, data, even stuff like expressions and tones of voice. There's a lot more that comes with the title than people think. It goes far beyond just analyzing, like, the stock market." The analyst shrugged. "But hey, it comes naturally to me, and investing in stocks is important. I'll take a leg up in knowing where it's best to put my money any day. If you ever need help with any of that, I'm your they."

"Thanks," Jax murmured.

"Okay, Ash! Ready to keep investigating?" Jax turned to see Narwhale getting to her feet, still staring at Jackie with wide, happy eyes as his service dog shook herself off.

"Well, we'll see you soon enough," Dawn was saying to the environmentalist.

"Then I best stick with her, just in case," Ash said, nodding to Jax.

In all honesty, Jax didn't mind their company. But he just mustered up a friendly smile and said, "Yeah. Nice meeting you."

Well that works, I guess.

"Nice meeting you too," Ash replied, then turned and followed Narwhale away as they continued to explore.

"I hope I didn't cut your conversation short," Dawn said apologetically to Jax. "However, I believe it may be in your best interest to meet everyone, even if you don't like them all. It's important to know who you may be dealing with."

"...dealing with?" Jax repeated. "That sounds... harsh."

Dawn blinked. "Oh, I apologize. I just meant that these are our classmates, and it may benefit you to learn who everyone is."

"...yeah, I guess so."

Dawn paused, looking down a hallway and thinking for a moment. "Perhaps we should head towards the dorms and dining hall, then loop back and hit the other spots."

"Okay," Jax agreed, having no idea what she was really saying but figuring it was probably wise to go along with it.

A sudden sound at the end of the hallway caused him to freeze. Jackie snapped to attention, planting herself in front of Jax. He then caught a glimpse of a smaller figure with auburn hair up ahead. Some sort of game sound effects seemed to be coming from whatever device they were holding.

"Oh!" Dawn exclaimed quietly. She turned to Jax and simply added, "Come."

He followed without question, and finally was able to take in the entirety of this mystery classmate. They looked up from their gaming device and tilted their head curiously. While Jax couldn't see both of their eyes, their one gray eye was already judgmental enough for him.

"Rowan, I'd like you to meet Jax Martini-Richards, the Ultimate Dog Trainer," Dawn said warmly, looking back at Jax. "Jax, this is Rowan Ambys, the Ultimate Gamer."

Rowan just shrugged in response.

"Um, nice to meet you," Jax tried.

No response. Just that piercing gaze.

"Right. Jax," Dawn said slowly, "Rowan is mute. They aren't ignoring you, they just can't really respond."

Rowan shot her a dirty look before typing something on their device. After a few seconds, a robotic voice filled the air.

"We've been over this, dumbass. I CAN respond, but don't always care enough to."

Dawn shot Jax an apologetic look before clearing her throat. "Well, that's... noted. Weren't you supposed to be paired with Amy, though?"

Rowan rolled their eyes before typing up something else. "You can't tell me what to do."

"I mean, you're correct, but the whole plan was to stay in pairs to avoid getting lost," the psychologist pointed out.

"Not my fault Amy is a fucking nightmare to be around."

Dawn winced, her smile faltering for just a fraction of a second. "Okay. Okay. Where did she go, though?"

Rowan shrugged again. "Dining hall, if I had to guess. But I honestly don't give a shit."

"Dining hall? Alright, we'll head in that direction. Thank you, Rowan. We'll see you around." Before Jax could say anything, Dawn gently grabbed his wrist and led him down the hall.

"I'm sorry," she said as they walked. "Rowan is... a lot. But I promise you it's simply a defense mechanism. They have a lot of pent-up anger from being mute and going unheard most of the time, so they may act like... a jerk. It just takes time for them to warm up to people."

"And you know all of this... how...?" Jax inquired.

She smiled that same gentle smile. "I'm the Ultimate Psychologist. I have my ways."

***
(2236 words)

Ok not too shabby for a first chapter. Hope y'all are enjoying so far because this is a fun one 👍

5/16 students introduced.