Tear
Tearing open the Envelope, revealing its contents that had been hidden away for too long from the naked eye. Cale raised an eyebrow
"Oh?"
An ordinary piece of paper that somewhat betrayed expectations with bold writing on it
What was written on the piece of paper was Information, Information that was needed In order for Cale to know what I have to do In order to survive.
[If you are reading this, then you must have completed and passed the trial In order to enter Gardenia High School with little to no difficulty]
"..?"
'Trial? no difficulty? Is this bastard insulting me?'
Continuing. Cale reluctantly read it again though feelings of frustration started to well up within him
[Do not do the mistake of underestimating Gardenia High School thinking it will be easy to survive, because Gardenia as a whole gets more and more difficult to survive in as time passes, you however will not notice the spike in difficulty]
"Not notice it?"
Cale didn't understand what the person who wrote the letter meant by saying that 'you however will not notice the spike in difficulty'
It could mean many things but Cale, deciding that he was likely wrong stopped dwelling on it any longer and continued reading.
[If you desperately wish to survive like I did, then you must do one thing that will directly affect your chances of survival In Gardenia]
"!"
Eyes lit up and sparkled with excitement at that moment
'Obviously there would be a guide!'
After all. What kind of person would send you to hell without a survival guide?
[Consistently gain high grades]
"..?"
The hopping string of thoughts stopped, as if the gears inside stopped altogether
"Uh...what?"
Cale's wide snake like smile faded and was wiped away from his face entirely.
It wasn't that It was hard or Impossible
'If the only thing I needed to do was get high grades then I would cut myself completely from the outside world and become a full on nerd If need be'
Were things ever that simple? That was the real question to ask in this situation
[You have to become the 'Top Student' In Gardenia High School In order to Ensure your survival]
"I knew It!"
'Why couldn't they just keep it simple and just make me get just high grades In order to survive!'
Cale blew up, complaints came ushering from his mouth in a steady-never ending stream
'Getting High grades? sure it's a bit tedious and hard but it's still easy If I'm dedicated In my studies, but becoming the Top student of a High School that's teeming and full of monsters? No thank you, I would double it and give it to the next person that was on the chopping board'
"Not only that"
Cale would have to get almost perfect scores across the board on almost every subject to make sure he could even be considered as a Top student
Not to mention he would need to consistently keep those grades up and keep improving them as time goes by.
"It's Impossible"
Doable and within the realm of possibility? He would agree and say it's possible
But for a first year who happened to be Cale? Who was considerably lacking in studying properly? Not even worth mentioning
Cale fully believed that the spot for Top student was always reserved for those who were born special, smarter and simply better.
However even those kinds of people sometimes gave up and Instead were satisfied with were they were now, leaving only those brimming with ambition to reach the top of the food chain and born special.
[Gardenia High School values It's top scoring students and might even bend it's rules to make sure you are safe, however the opposite also holds true]
His eyes hovered on the words 'top scoring students '
[You will have three years to become the Top student of Gardenia. Do not stay satisfied with your current self if you do not wish to repeat the same mistakes I had made]
'To tell me this....just what mistakes did he do to even have to tell me this'
"Wait did this guy use to go to Gardenia High School?"
From Cale"s perspective
It was as if the person writing the letter were speaking this from experience, no it probably was experience.
"...."
The quality of the writing on the letter started to drop
Clearly, the one who wrote the letter was rushing
Cale continued reading the old parchment
[Do not try to find me because even if you do, you won't get the answer you are hoping for]
Cale was a bit disappointed hearing that, but this could also mean that he didn't know much about Gardenia either
[Tomorrow will be the only day except weekends where you will not get transported to Gardenia, after Tomorrow you will get transported to Gardenia every time you have school]
Clenching his jaw, beads of sweat formed and trickled from his damp forehead right down to his cheek
[A doppelganger will also appear and do whatever people believe 'you' would do as provided by the school committee of Gardenia whenever you get transported as well]
"...."
'I guess I got my damn answer of where my lock went'
"That doppelganger better have locked my locker with my lock...But"
His brows furrowed into a ponder
"....How was something like that even possible?"
This was a very genuine and important question to Cale
'A doppelganger who could mimic me perfectly? that was already insane but this also meant one more thing.'
"Gardenia...It can affect my own world too..can it?
If the so called 'school committee' could provide a literal perfect imitation of yourself, then shouldn't it be natural that they would have some influence on his world?
"...."
The thought sent shivers down his cold spine, his eyes continued tracing the words on the letter
[If you have been sent to Gardenia you must have also realized by now that your eyes are different from before]
"...."
'He is right... my eyes are different ever since coming back from Gardenia'
Widening his eyes. Cale focused at the things only he could see In his little world
Black lines so thin that could barely be seen unless one squinted their eyes, they seemingly lead to nowhere, but they started appearing in Cale's line of vision frequently
'I didn't think much of it since I thought I was hallucinating...'
[Your 'eyes' are unique only to you, but do not blindly have faith in their 'abilities', understand them in order to make full use of them]
That's where the letter cuts off and ends abruptly
"...."
Cale stared blankly at the letter for a few moments contemplating on what to do with it now that he was done reading it.
'I won't get sent to that place tomorrow'
"Is it so I can get organized first?"
He didn't know, but it seemed to be the case
Putting the letter at the table filled with stacked books on top, he went to his checkered closet to change into regular casual clothes
Changing his clothes swiftly. Cale went to the kitchen
"Should I cook something simple while I'm at it?"
He knew how to cook, his mother was after all busy and his sister was on a business trip and his father was working in a restaurant almost every day without break
'In other words, there was no one here who could something fresh for me'
With the exception of Cale of course, he was basically free 24/7 after all
"Hm?"
Stepping inside the kitchen he eyed at the steaming pot that looked to have soup in it
"Should I?"
Cale had wanted to cook something simple for himself but if there were already food then he didn't see any reason why he should waste time cooking when the food was right in front of him
'Let's at least check if it is warm first'
If it wasn't. Cale would cook for himself, simple as that
Touching the pot, a jolt spread from his fingertips to his body
"It's warm"
'So my mom made this before she left for work huh?'
A fuzzy feeling in Cale's body started to well up uncontrollably, an itch formed in his foot
Ignoring the succulent itch in his foot, he took a plate from the cupboard,
Cale filled it with soup, also taking a spoon and bread with him
He turned diagonally to the chair on the broad tablethat let him see the view outside his house
Sitting down at the metal chair with a soft padding on it. Cale started eating
As he was eating, his thoughts drifted towards to what happened in Gardenia after leaving classroom 17, there had been something, a being or phenomenon that made every single one of those monsters turn their attention from him specifically
'Did it die?'
"Well if it did die then is that what happens when you go against the rules?"
It made sense when he thought about it like that
Trrrr
The phone rang with a low hum
Trrrr
The longer the phone rang, the more perplexed Cale's expression grew
"...?"
'Who in the world is calling me at this hour?'
Cale first looked at the contact that was plastered onto his phone like an add and was calling
"..!"
His eyes widened, forgotten memories from yesterday flooded in his foggy mind like a rushing impatient river
"Shit! I forgot!"
Catrina Rouge, such a name was prominent on his phone
Why was she calling you may ask?
'The reason Gabriel and Catrina had left was because we had made plans to hang out after School!'
Yes, that's right, they made plans to hang out and Cale completely forgot about it, along with the movie he was supposed to see
---2 minutes before calling Cale
"Hey"
"What is it Catrina?"
Catrina looked at Gabriel, waving her phone in front of him
"You got cellular data?"
Gabriel's expression twisted slightly at her words
"Why?"
"Do you or do you not?"
Catrina ignored Gabriel's curious filled question
"Yes..."
However he wanted to know what she wanted, so he answered her honestly and curiously
"Ok call Cale then"
Narrowing his eyes, Gabriel voiced his naturally made question
"Don't you also have cellular data? you call him"
"You're being difficult for absolutely no reason"
"I'm just saying, you also have some"
"Don't wanna"
"Why?"
In the end, Gabriel voiced the question he had done at the start of the conversation, making Catrina feel a sense of Déjà vu for a few moments
"Why should I waste them on calling him?"
She answered, no hesitation in her voice
"Ouch"
Catrina narrowed her eyes, lowering her head slightly
"You say that as if he hasn't said anything worse than me"
"..."
He...couldn't argue with that, Cale did have a slightly sadistic side to himself,
Wanting to tease his friends any chance he gets
Every time they asked him about it, he'd always say "I just can't help myself"
"Whatever, shouldn't you call him?"
Catrina urged Gabriel
"Last time I was the one who called him"
Her body shook slightly
"It's your turn now~"
Her face slightly reddened
Gabriel pressed for more
"I know yo-"
"Fine"
But Catrina cut him off before he could finish his sentence
"I'll call him"
She grumbled silently under her breath
'He's going to tease me so much because of this...'
Catrina didn't want to call him, she knew for long enough to know that he'd make fun of her for a while if she did this