《Pioneer Grounds Hallway Above》

"What do you want, Eros." Ally asked, ice and disdain dripping from her voice as she raised her chin higher in the air to meet his eyes.

The man looked away first with a hard scowl gracing his face, before he let out a breath through his nose and turned back to her, "I need you to pick up Donovan." He revealed, his lips pressed into a hard, thin line.

"Why? He can drive himself for all I care."

"Father's orders." He said, his eyes carefully searching his sister's and watching her carefully.

Ashley pursed her lips as she watched these two. It became clear that they weren't the closest siblings she's seen in her life, but there seemed to be something more to them. She looked around the cafeteria and at the different faces that all seemed to be watching the conversation unfold in front of them. She turned back to the others in her table and tilted her head to the side with curiosity.

Casey was the only one uninterested in the two of them, which was saying a lot because the girl lived for drama. Jason had a burger in his hands as he kept his eyes on Ally, who had her shoulders slightly hunched forward, despite the hard expression on her face. Blake had his eyes on Eros as he sat leaned back on his seat with his arms crossed on his chest. His eyebrows were scrunched up and close to each other as if he couldn't believe he was actually in front of him.

"Why can't you do it?" Ally asked, straightening her back and taking a huge gulp as she kept her eyes on him.

Eros' frown left his face and was replaced by a dull, expressionless mask, "I will not bother you again." He answered, his jaw pulsing as he reached for something in his pocket and stretched out his hand towards his sister, "—just this once." He finished as he handed her a bunch of keys jumbled together with a black, simple key ring.

Ally looked at his hand, then followed along it, up his black sweatshirt, to the tattoos poking out of his collar, his chin, cheeks and finally stopped at his eyes. She pulled back the corner of her lips before she snapped her gaze away from him and rose to her feet.

She roughly swiped the keys off of his hand as if wishing she had the strength to take his hand with her and stormed out of the cafeteria with almost every single pair of eyes watching after her.

Ashley raised and lowered her eyebrows, perplexed by the thick air that still choked the room even after their conversation finally came to an end. She pursed her lips and turned back to her food, questions swimming in her mind about them. She couldn't help but wonder what could have possibly happened between the two siblings to make them so tensed around each other.

She herself had a brother, and he was nothing like him, and she like Ally. If anything her brother was the complete opposite. She frowned, rethinking her deduction as she remembered all the times he'd bully her.

Never mind, all brothers are the same, she thought, shaking her head.

After a bite or two, Ashley felt eyes on her, piercing her forehead and she instinctively looked up. She met Jason's emerald green eyes looking at her, before he blinked and nodded his head to her right. She frowned and slowly turned to his left, only to immediately drop her eyes and stare at her food as if it was her first time seeing it.

She gulped as her heart pounded in her ears at the unexpected encounter she had just faced. Eros' hard, calculating eyes were suddenly fixed on her and she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

"We have met before." His low, alluring voice said, willing her to look up at him once again.

Ashley pressed her lips together, not liking how her body reacted to this man. She absolutely could not look up at his eyes again. They were the sharpest she had ever seen and had her submitting to him without her realising.

Could it be because of their colour, or was it just him in general?

She wondered before she took in a deep breath and eventually looked at him again. He was still watching her and took the chance to let his eyes pierce through to her very soul. Ashley wasn't sure if he knew he had such an effect on people, or if it was just her own reaction to seeing such a handsome, powerful man in front of her; after years of staying in an all-girls high school. She cleared her throat, realizing that she was yet to answer him.

"I don't think we have." She said, having decided to look at the spot between his eyebrows instead out of fear of him uncovering her deepest, darkest secrets with nothing but a glance.

Her father was a detective, so she knew its better than anyone.

Eros stepped closer, as if wanting to get a better look at her. His body was slightly bent towards her and he towered over her with his chin lowered. Ashley gulped and pursed her lips when his own parted as if he was about to say something. A soft buzz was heard around the dead silent room making everyone aware.

Eros straightened back up and fished for his phone from his pocket with his eyes still on Ashley; who looked everywhere but at him. He peered down at the device and frowned before he put it back and lowered his gaze at her once more. She sent him a tight smile despite the loud banging on her heart now at her throat and watched as he lingered his gaze on her and turn.

Once he was out the door, Ashley let out a breath she had no idea was trapped somewhere along the way and shook her shoulders to ease the tension. She turned back to her food, grabbed her burger and took a huge bite out of it. She then looked up at everyone at the table and nearly choked on her food at the look on their faces.

Casey looked like her usual unbothered self, but Blake and Jason were staring at her as if they just found out that she had offered them a lifetime supply of millions of dollars every day. She tilted her head to the side and took another bite before she asked them what was up.

"You're absolutely certain you haven't met him before? Like maybe lived in the same neighborhood perhaps?" Blake asked, his hazel eyes bright and hopeful as he watched her eat.

"Positive. I would definitely remember eyes like those." Ashley answered before she dared to look around the moderately quiet cafeteria once again.

Her stomach nearly dropped to the floor when she found almost half of everyone watching her as the other potion talked among themselves with occasional glances their way. She scrunched up her nose and sunk on her feet, her shoulders pulling up and forward intuitively.

She realized then that she had failed to start off with a low profile on her first day and nearly cursed herself, despite the fact that it wasn't her fault. She grimaced and grumbled to herself.

"What's with the staring?"

Casey turned to her and shrugged, "Well I mean, for one—," she began out of nowhere, "—you're new. We rarely ever get any newcomers because, you know, everyone already knows each other since like primary school, so of course people will be interested," she paused again, holding up her pinkie with a serious look on her face, "—and Eros Huxley looked and talked to you, something he never does to anyone he doesn't know, which is like about—six people in this hell hole. It's inevitable that they would stare. Doesn't really help that it's your first day either." She finished and sent her best friend a genuinely proud smile on her face.

Ashley, Jason and Blake blinked at her, perplexed at her deduction, "Case, your criminal law self just jumped out." Jason teased with a snicker.

"You do realize that was a rhetorical question right?" Ashley asked, a soft smile playing on her lips as she shook her head at her beaming bestie.

"Oh I know. I just like messing with you." She answered, "—don't worry about them. They'll be something else to gossip about in no time and you will be old news, my friend." Casey finished as she stood up with her empty tray in hand.

Ashley nodded and followed after with Jason and Blake doing the same and they all marched towards the service station where all the staff stood behind the counter waiting to serve.

Ashley took the chance to appreciate the beauty of the room once more. The counters, seats and tables had a black and maroon design to it where the seat cushion, cutlery and table mats were black, while the whole table and the rest of the seats were a nice matte black.

The walls were painted black as well as the counters below the glass that allowed people to see what food were there. The surface where the food was placed inside the counter was maroon. The door that lead both in and out of the room, however, was dark with a grey painting of an acacia tree at it's left side, that almost stretched to the other side of the door.

The floor itself was maroon to match the whole aesthetic of the room and the employees wore black aprons with a golden tag that showed their name and position in the kitchen or by the counter.

"What class do you have after this?" Blake asked, smiling at Ashley as he opened the door first and held it open for Casey who was behind him and in front of her.

"I have business math. The horror." She said, adding a dramatic sigh for effect.

"Yikes. Let's hope you won't have Heine as your lecturer." Casey said, an actual shudder causing her shoulders to shake subtly.

Ashley frowned and stared at the back of her head, "What's wrong with Heine?"

Jason shook his head beside her as Blake turned to her from behind her and almost collided head on with a student rushing to get to him class. The guy saw it coming and stepped aside before Blake ran into him.

"Oh, you'll see." Blake said, clueless as he let out a low, slow chuckle that did nothing to ease Ashley's tensed back, "—you'll see indeed."

Ashley gulped and looked at Jason for help, but he only sent her a smile and shrugged, "It takes out the fun of the experience if we told you." He revealed, "—it's nothing bad though. I like him." He added with a shrug.

"I am officially scared." Ashley said, looking behind her at where they came from, "—is it too late to go back?" She asked, pursing her lips and looking back down the hallway at the other students around them looking panicked and stressed out.

She scrunched up her nose and let her shoulders sink in defeat.

Just what have I gotten myself into?

🔱🔱🔱

"Alright, sit your assess down!"

Everyone quieted down and jumped to their seats at the sudden voice. Ashley lifted her head from her phone under the desk and bit her lower lip to suppress stop herself from laughing.

A mean looking, tall, balding man who looked to be in his late twenties strode to the front of the class. He was dressed in a bright blue polo shirt and black fitted slacks, accompanied by black official shoes. In his hand he held a dell laptop tightly tucked under his beefy arm.

On his neck was his lecturer ID dangling on his chest supported by a black strap that was clamped behind his neck.

Ashley was finally able to find her first class with the help of Blake and Jason since they said they didn't have any other lesson to attend. If it weren't for them she wouldn't have known that Elite grounds was different from the other grounds, let alone that it was a different building all together. She was yet to understand everything, but made a mental note to ask them about everything later.

She tilted her head to the side as she stuffed her phone in her pocket and kept her eyes on the lecturer

Mr. Heine was his name. Kenneth Heine, judging from his I'd card.

So I have him as my lecturer after all.

"I understand that there's a new loser in my class. Protocol suggests that I have to ask her or him to stand up and introduce it-self—." He continued with a scowl on his face as he finally reached the stand in front of everyone and set down his laptop on it.

Ouch, it has been offended.

"—please, feel free to announce your existence and do take your time, it's not like I have a class to teach." He finished without looking up once. He sighed and prepared his equipment silently as everyone watched with amused looks on their faces.

Ashley blinked.

"I wonder what stick he has up his butt today." An unfamiliar voice said.

Ashley looked at her right side to see a live Greek god staring back at her with beautiful brown eyes and the most beautiful smile she had ever since. She parted her lips to answer him but someone beat her to it.

"What was that, Mr. Takashi?" The teacher said, eyes narrowed. The guy simply shrugged and leaned back on his seat, a smirk still playing on his lips. Heine then in turn directed his glare at Ashley and raised a long, somewhat crooked finger at her.

"You, what are you and what do you call yourself."

Ashley's immediately felt compelled to look away from the rage burning in his eyes as a part of her wondered why almost everyone in this school had the same look in their eyes. Some even more than others.

Why is everyone so angry here?

Ashley grimaced to stop a comeback from slipping past her lips and plastered a smile on her face, "I am a person and my name is Ashley."

Heine eyed her for a moment, blinking expectantly.

He raised a brow, waiting.

She blinked.

"What?" She said, freaked out by his gaze; feeling an odd sense of deja-vu that caused a cold shudder to trickle down her spine.

"Do you not have a second name or should we call you Ashley the Dog."

She scrunched up her eyebrows and pressed her lips tightly together. She couldn't help it when an answer automatically left her lips.

"Pretty sure that's what they called your mother when she was in high school." She paused, smirking, "—preferably the female version." She retorted.

The class suddenly burst out into laughter, but stopped when Heine's eyes narrowed into even more tiny splits. He looked back at her once there was pin—drop silence, smiling and sending a sudden shudder of fear down her spin that almost had her hiding under her table and away from his god damn eyes.

"Welcome to Grudgeford University. I hope your days here are filled with misery like everyone else's." He gruffly then turned to the white board behind him.

Ashley grimaced, remembering a certain string of words someone with a heavy accent had said to her before.

'Good luck out de're. Thy're monsters.'

Was it still to late to turn back? She wondered.

Suddenly, a large, pale, veiny fist appeared in front of her, making her drop her gaze from the back of Heine's head.

What the—

She followed the fist with her eyes up the slender arm, halfway across the broadest shoulders she had ever seen, up their neck, lips, tiny nose and stopping at his hazel eyes.

She blinked cluelessly at him, raising a questionable eyebrow.

"Come on, don't leave me hanging." He said. Ashley pursed her lips and bummed her fist with his, halfway expecting there to be something more, but their wasn't. He retracted back to what she assumed was his original position; leaned back on his seat with his elbows on the table in front of both of them.

He kept his eyes on her.

"I'm Akira, Akira Takashi—as you probably heard. My friends call me Aki." he paused, sending a beautiful smirk her way, "—you included." He finished.

Who was thinking about leaving?

This place had so many interesting individuals as far as she could tell. She might as well try to co-exist with the future elites of her town or even country. Hell, maybe she would be able to walk out with a rich husband and not have to work a day in her life. She turned back to the lecturer but this time, there was a newfound determination shining in her eyes.

If that didn't work, she might as well get connections instead and even learn from the best. She couldn't let such a huge opportunities pass her by when it was right in front of her.

She whipped her head back to Akira, realization shining in his eyes.

Wait, did he just friend zone me? She thought, well, never mind finding a rich husband. She concluded, crying on the inside while sending him a fake smile when he caught her staring.

I forgot I was ugly.

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