Luminary Institute

12: Interclass Dynamics

Passing the afternoon with the four Class Zero students, Nyssa returned with them to get her bag. Even though she hadn’t talked too much, she was still quite satisfied with the bonding she had managed to do so far! Of the four, she, without a shadow of a doubt, considered herself closest to Celeste, but among the three boys, she had meshed surprisingly well with Albion. 

His humor just seemed to always land well...

Now, though, the rest of the Class Zero students had returned back to their dorms while Angelica had returned home. 

Standing alone in the lobby with her bag slung over her shoulder, Nyssa felt like a stranded potato. The sun was setting as its last rose flares dyed the sky a brilliant pink orange hue; yet, she could only see slivers as rolling dark clouds had rolled in and blanketed the sky. With the sound of rain pounding against the tall glass windows, she stood there while staring into space. 

Posing like a gremlin—with her arms in a downward ‘U’ shape and her legs spread wide—for absolutely no particular reason, she murmured an “Unga bunga” to keep herself entertained. In any other situation, this weather would be perfect for a nap! But she was at school, not at home... 

Plus, she was waiting for father dearest to text her and let her know he was ready to leave. 

Bright. 

Wait what?

Perking up, she saw as a couple jets of flame blazed to life in the distance. Disappearing as soon as they appeared, the flames were accompanied by the distant sounds of shouting. Both of them, to Nyssa’s dismay, though, came closer and closer. 

Backing away from the window, Nyssa took a seat on one of the cushioned benches and pulled out her phone while pretending she hadn’t seen anything. Concentrating for a moment, she transformed her hair into a shorter, shoulder-length cut from its usual waist length and changed its color from white to black. 

Caution never hurt anyone, after all. 

“WO~OW, that’s a lot of rain,” A gray-haired boy shouted as he walked through the automatic double doors. Wiping his shoes, he threw his bag forward onto a nearby bench. With another mint-haired girl following suit behind him, she dried her shoes before also tossing her bag onto the nearby bench. 

“So, who are you?” The boy asked while taking a seat next to Nyssa. “I haven’t seen you around. You one of those Class Zero students?” 

Blinking as she tore her eyes away from her phone, Nyssa pressed her lips into a thin line as she scooted just a little away from the boy. A little apprehensive after hearing how the boy phrased his question, she shook her head. “N-No, just... just taking shelter from the rain...” 

“Ahh, us to, us too,” The boy leaned back while laughing. “Sorry, I’m just making some conversation while my friend uses the restroom, but nice to meet you. I’m Troy.” 

Nodding back and giving Troy a fake name in reply, Nyssa made no effort to continue the conversation. Itching to pull out her phone and pretend to get a call from her father, she resisted the urge as Troy, with boundless amounts of energy, carried the conversation on his own. 

“I don’t know, it’s always nice to see new faces around,” Troy put his hands behind his head. “I’m nineteen so I’m about to enter the graduate division, but I’m glad I’ll still be able to stay around and just... see the youth.” 

Keeping her mouth shut, Nyssa couldn’t help but retort in her head. It was a weird line, but okay. He hit her with “youth” in the same way someone twenty years older might say it... 

“And, just a secret between you and me,” Troy leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “I’m glad you’re not one of those Class Zero people.” 

“Hm? Why?” Nyssa tilted her head as the urge to ask clawed its way out of her throat against her better judgment. 

“Well, okay, nothing wrong with them, but,” Troy looked around to make sure there was no one else in earshot. “I just think there’s nothing special about them. Us Class One students have just as much potential as them. They don’t need a whole building for themselves.” 

“I thought, uh... wasn’t it something about powers with high destructive potential? Or something?” Nyssa asked, trying to toe the line without exposing herself. “Sorry I’m a new student so uhm... I’m not too familiar with it all.” 

“You’re totally fine!” Troy laughed while patting her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it so much, your pretty face will get wrinkles. These are just some ramblings from an older student. To be more specific about what I’m trying to say though, the class is defined as people with powers that have high destructive potential, especially in cases where the powers can go out of control and cause destruction.” 

As if he had just delivered the most ground-breaking dissertation in the history of mankind, Troy just spread his hands. “To me, that just sounds like excuses. You can’t control your powers? Here, let’s give you a bunch of bonus privileges. Backward isn’t it?” 

Raising his hand, Troy flexed his fingers as a column of fire shot out from the palm of his hand. Nyssa, on the other hand, seeing a column of fire appear right in front of her face, backed off in panic. 

“Ah, sorry about that,” Troy extinguished the fire with an apologetic smile. “But, I just want to share that I’ve always been among the top Class One students. Because of that, I used to think I deserved to be Class Zero, especially when Titus got admitted. What’s so special about him?” 

Shrugging while rolling his eyes, Troy ignored Nyssa and kept talking. “I think, personally, we’re just as good as those Class Zero weirdos. You’ll see in the class tournament later this year, we’ve been training our asses off!” 

“I’m done, Troy,” The girl walked out from the bathroom. “Want to get going?” 

“Ah, sure!” Troy smiled while pushing himself up off the cushioned bench. “Anyway, what I”m trying to say is don’t feel bad you’re not in Class Zero. Everyone at this school has their own merits. Your position doesn’t matter. Your work will define you.” 

Picking up his and the girl’s bag, Troy gave Nyssa a mock salute before walking off. Now carrying both of the bags, he laughed as the girl tried to take hers back before running off. “I’m going to hold both, you can’t make me! Let me do something for you!” 

Watching the two disappear and turn a corner, Nyssa couldn’t help but sit there in silence for a couple minutes. 

He was... unique to say the least. Troy was a name she wanted to remember.

Interesting. 

A bit of a conflicting vibe she had gotten from him. He was well-intentioned... probably? Had a wholesome, supportive message, for sure. But there were also a few too many creep vibes mixed in there... 

Feeling her phone buzz, she looked down to see the long awaited text from her father had finally arrived. Picking up her bag and walking off, she took the same breezeway from the morning as she made her way back towards the administrative building. 

With the rain still slamming against the windows, Nyssa’s quiet steps echoed through the hallway as she stared out into the now-dark sky. 

Maybe this was a situation to ask her father about...