C H A P T E R 7

E A G L E R E I N F O R C E M E N T

( Part II )

Author: Raven Orthodox

"Nah, I'd rather have revenge." The darkest and most beautiful smile draw straight upon my reflection. "Breathe, queen, breathe. . ."

I'm not backing down like a draggy deadbeat princess.

The door opened, and there were a bunch of girls giggling. When they noticed me, they stopped and realized they are in the presence of Alexis. "Oh, Alexis." A golden-skinned girl initiated.

"Exactly, that's her!" - "Talk to her."

I smiled at her and sighed with relief. "Hello, do I know you?"

"No, although we do know you. But girl. . . you've got some real bad news." She picked up her phone and did a few clicks and taps. She showed me the latest post on Arkbook, for which I haven't seen yet since it was just eleven minutes ago. "It's getting rather crazy out there, you know it. And I know insane things happen every day in Arkskye, but this time, you've got bigger problems. Look."

Two logos, typo-graphed as The Spartans and All-Alpha Hounds, with my pissed-off face plastered on the post. I read, "Two powerful groups are about to conjoin with The Champions and oust Alexa Frostfyre's delicious tooshie."

"Did they really mean ousting her delicious a-"

"Alright, that's enough." I hushed her other friend up.

"Seems like a challenge. And they didn't even manage to spell it right." I joked about it, and the look on their faces when I just smiled upon a disastrous news was priceless. "Oh come on. I'm grasping at straws, I don't care whatever fireball they throw at me; I'ts fine, I'll handle it all."

"You got it." She smiled on her full lips. "And I know you've been through a lot.But if you need anything, we could help you, okay? I promise, we will have your back."

"Thank you, you have no idea how much that means to me."

After sharing each other's numbers for future contact, we made our respect-bounded goodbyes, and I wandered off the halls to find the exit from this hellhole Den of the Lions.

I've got three enemies now, including the Champions, and they're willing to stop me from schooling here at all costs.

I saw a bright technicolor poster about minority group empowerment called Misfits and Oddballs. There were tiny descriptions about where and when to meet, so I slid up my phone to take the quickest snapshot ever and left the Lion House.

Good, that last step from the lion's den was a legitimate terrorizer. I better start calling my sister.

"Ugh! They were seriously attacking a cornered cobra just like you said. I'm now the precise definition of an outcast." I talked to Raven on the phone. She said she was done with her US History, and she just left the Ark Literary and Publication Faculty. It wasn't a primary area, so it's safe to just leave out and receive a study objective as a group-sent email afterward.

"I've got a big surprise for you, sister. I know you're going to love it." She got along to squeal in her highest voice range. "Ow, Raven. You're too loud."

"Sorry. By the way, Dominica told me about the party, and I'm already inviting my best friends and the. . . and the uh,"

"Finish your sentence, Raven."

"Nevermind. Let's meet at the public Drama Arts Club. Follow your map out, it's near the Ark Arts Faculty."

Rhaegal, the guy who gave me the VIP card and a chance at booth modeling, texted me.

Him: Hey!

Me: Hi, how's it going, Rhaegal?

Him: I'm sorry there's been quite a misunderstanding, Alexis.

Me: What do you mean?

Him: The assemblage on our booth favored something which was not what we expected.

Me: Seriously? Wait, let me guess. Are they cutting me out of modeling?

Him: I'm sorry, Alexis. The majority always wins. They voted on ousting you out without even me knowing about it.

Me: Who has replaced me?

Him: It's a girl named Vulture.

Me: Seriously, my ex-best friend? What about Diana?

Him: Diana intentionally chose her instead of casting herself.

Me: Thanks.

Him: I am sorry.

Me: It's all fine. You chose me in the first place, so I'm glad you did.

Rhaegal made an apology, yet I finished him since it is okay. So I hold no hard feelings for it. I didn't necessarily need the modeling anyway. Although, deep down, I would have had enjoyed it. Unlucky me. . .

"Hey," I grinned at Raven as I stood with my shoulder pressed on the door frame, hands crossed. "Looks like we have a storm to brew up."

Raven gasped. "Oh my, she's here!"

"Seriously, where are you going?"

"Just wait here!" She suddenly went to the other side of the room and disappeared. What the hell is going on with this little bird?

A young professor silenced me. Her strict demeanor told me she was typing something important on her laptop. "My students are learning acting on the other side, so try not to be too loud, darling." She spoke while she typed, making me gasp in guilt and disgrace, so I apologize. "I am so sorry, miss."

There was no staff on the other counter and Raven was still up to something that would strike a definite surprise for me, so I decided to check out the marvelous masks and glassy-material accessories displayed on the glass counter. There was a ten-inches trophy as flawless as a finely-cut diamond, although it was made out of pure gold. In its university sigil, was written Athenian Student Of The Year.

"Out of seventy-five thousand people on Arkskye, only one will be able to achieve that trophy." The professor spoke.

I felt a sudden intense force towards the trophy, a magnetizing compel. My competitive heart raced as if it's about to run an international marathon. "How do I achieve this?"

"The rules will be given soon enough, so you have to keep updated."

"Any other prizes?"

She finally gave me a glance, and as her head tilted, her curious face questions my fighting spirit. "I see that you're very ambitious."

"All my life, I revel in accomplishments."

"What about your failures."

"Failures only fuels my need to win more." I touched my lip from inward shock. I shouldn't have said too much, especially to a respected professor I do not know. Damn it.

She stood up and searched for something in the upper cabinet. it was a matte card designed like the usual business card with an encoded description. Perhaps it wasn't a business card, but it looked as slick as a Lamborghini's hood "Here, take it."

"Thanks."

She handed it to me, and there was a smile across her face. "I like you. Although, you're not the kind of darling anyone would not dare to pick up on. But that's because when you enter the room, you feel like your own place." She joked on my breezy self-confidence just a while ago, so I chuckled too. "-but we need more sturdy girls like you. And that trophy can get you free of all of your tuition from your freshman year to senior. Plus, you'll be rewarded merit-based cash and the latest Macbook Pro."

"When will the competition start?"

"I'm about to find out too. They're almost done working on it, and you will be surprised how much money you'll receive. If you're determined enough, you might win. Thousands are expected to participate, so it's tough luck."

"Thank you, this means so much to me."

"Don't thank me yet. You still need to win." She got back to her seat.

"Yes!" I made a victory fist.

"Alexis, look here." Raven entered the room and grabbed my hand, leaving me to wave goodbye to the professor. I haven't even asked what's her name yet my sister already pulled me out the door.

She had the red box with her, and since we couldn't open it public, we went to her secret hideout where only a few students would even care to hang out:

The old Physics Laboratory.

Raven had a friend who was the daughter of Eagle's Haven's Dean, who had a key to the idle laboratory. Raven used it as their camping grounds sometimes. Sharing and exposing gossips and newfound Arkskye-related revelations surrounded by these physics testing machines and weird-looking lab flasks.

She put the box on a large table near a drop tester. Her hair was tied into a ponytail when she grabbed a hair tie from one of her wrists. "Okay, I'll just press a video call on Domi."

"Raven bird? How are you, girl?" Dominica appeared on her phone after a few seconds. She was still on the car seat, waiting for her destination to the airport.

"We're opening your gift. So I think that you should be with us as we open it." Raven winked.

"Haha, yeah. That's sweet." Dominica was still doing her lipstick. "Okay, okay. Just do it while I do my makeup.

Rushed in excitement and nervousness, I reached out to the box. "Okay, so here it goes. One, two three!"

By opening, we saw a bundle of tiny cameras as small as keys."Wow, you bought a hundred of these babies?"

"Uh-huh. I figured we need more to surround the school 24/7. They have the battery life for at least four days, so we don't need to keep and recharge it every day."

"I love these so much." Raven cried in a burst of happiness that she shook my shoulder to my surprise. "We'll have it to our own advantage. You can use it for recording those narcissistic lions and also as evidence for their insolent evil deeds."

I agreed with my dark grin forming again like the venomous python Kaa. Vengeance!

Dominica told me there are also voice recorders underneath. My hand dug into the hundred of cameras and found an object that feels like it's something slimmer than a Samsung smartphone.

Dominica was done with her makeup. She showed us a burnt picture of Vulture, hinting us that she'd take care of that cheater's hard-as-a-vulture-egg balls. "I'm gonna character-assassinate that ex-best friend of yours, watch me."

"Certainly, though. I hate that punk, too." Raven agreed. She took the recorder device, and turned it on, "-use it when you're talking to them. And then when the bomb comes out from their savage mouths, you know what to do, sister. . . let their own words destroy themselves."