C H A P T E R   1

F I R S T   D A Y   O F   F A K E N E S S

Author: Raven Orthodox

My name's Alexis Frostfyre, and allow me to introduce myself to this grand place of Arkskye city.

If I could describe myself in three words, I'd say I'm a MAC:

Manipulative

Authoritative.

Calculative.

I wanted a fresh start, so I moved into Arkskye city, and also Arkskye University to study, which was an elite school suited only for the exceptionally brilliant and powerful students through means of wealth, intelligence, and status.

"Perfect!" I said to my mother on the phone, tying the straps of my heels. Today's going to be the perfect runway ever. A rush of ego bloomed inside me, but most definitely not butterflies.

"You are wicked, Alexis. And you know it." She whispered, to which I replied, "I know." with a sudden burst of pride.

I looked in the mirror to see my exotic face: a vainglorious set of cat eyes, a perfectly shaped dark blonde eyebrows, and platinum hair. I may not be as wealthy as a queen, but I was born divine.

We said each other our goodbyes, and she told me to take my baby dragon Austin to my dorm since this school allows pets in our rooms and the large campus fields with collar chains. Well, he was a cute eight months old, white husky.

"Oh, toaster," I said to myself, grabbing two hot bread slices and sandwiched it with scrambled eggs. I put it into a plastic wrap and packed it into my bag, with a water bottle, yogurt, bananas, and my multivitamins.

It was the first week of August, and it's the first day of school; My special first day of school as one of the newcomers in the academy. It's almost one of every girl's dreams. But now, it's my turn.

After taking a cab from my place to the university's parking lot, I opened the car door and put a first high-heeled step to the school's sweeping, marble-glazed grounds. Next step, I shooed the driver away from me since I already paid him, and so I can bring about my grand entrance.

I'm a fearless goddess, and they'll get to know it soon enough.

I've been practicing different styles of walking, and I'm using a seductive-superior strut. My clothes not too revealing but enticingly inviting. Give it a bit of a sly and fox-like demeanor, to show a complex blend of grace and danger altogether.

With this, I can outnumber several Instagram models in the school. And soon enough, this queen shall slay.

"Girl, you did it!" somebody teased from afar.

"Now that's a queen. . ." An anonymous girl's voice commented.

Plenty of young rich kids were already talking about me being new and most importantly, whispering about what was my social media accounts. But nobody dared to ask me out, either they were stunned or just scared. But I was hoping for both.

It's still hard for me to navigate everywhere despite acquiring a personalized map since I hadn't had any private visits on this campus. And since I already applied and took my ACT and SAT practice test online, I realized that it's not necessary to take tests for university admission anymore, according to the latest news.

I got myself in the nearest girl's bathroom and opened up my bag. My stepfather gave me six grand to pay for my fee here (although my non-traditional scholarship subtracted a large amount of tuition). Despite calculating, I still didn't think that this would cover up all the academic terms, so I needed lots of cash to finish this year.

I got out and reached the one-story cafeteria to buy some milk to start up my day and save my lunch for later. The cafe was inviting enough, looking like Bloomsbury from Dubai or Emporio Armani from Paris, France. Only with a touch-up of modern artistry and double the size.

But anyway, since class starts at nine, I could appreciate the gold-plated exterior and classic atmosphere which doesn't give the impression of a cafe at all. The scent of blue-bloods and velvety cushions and sofa chairs, I hate to admit the bulging wealth, but I crossed my arms and looked at my glossy fingernails, bored and waiting for my line. "Goodness me, how long are these twenty-plus students be done ordering?" I asked myself.

"Hey, miss." A dude's voice called. I looked on my behind and saw two rich-looking black men smiling in playful demeanor. Looking so buff and bejeweled with cool trinkets and flashy silver chains.

Those handsome men. Are jewelry even allowed here? "What do you want?" I asked.

The guy with the most amazing dreadlocks I've ever seen stepped closer. "See this, miss?" He holds a card, grinning with deep interest. "It can get you a yearly VIP pass for first-class foods in the cafeteria with immediate service, you get every five hundred bucks worth of tray every day and. . . without waiting on your twenty-somethin' line."

I chuckled as I stepped myself closer to him. "And what's your deal, mister?"

"You. We want you to be our grand booth model next month. You are captivating, but we figured you already know that."

"No." I disagreed as I looked bored at my fingernails. Again.

"No?" He said. Confused. "I just wante-"

"No, I want more than what you're offering." I looked around. Outside the cafe had twenty plus tables, here only consists of fifteen. And on the other side around the campus' building was another different cafeteria. "The tables were all used. I need a vacant seat and a group of friends."

"Not a problem at all, I'll take care of it." The other guy smiled and proceeded to look for a seat.

"Good, you take care of that," I said, snatching Dreadlock guy's VIP card as I walked past the people who groaned as if I had a thousand buck they wished they had. If they're so wealthy, why not bring their snacks. But I guess this card was not just for the rich but for someone undoubtedly an asset to the school.

"I need just a small milk drink, an apple, and chocolate chip cookies."

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I swept through everyone as I quickly grabbed the gold tray of my order, holding my purse firmly, on the other hand, to keep it safe, but doing it all with style.

My two guys were already waving at me to a VIP table with several snobbish, high-class students, gorgeous-looking with head held up high.

They were whispering mean crap about me, something like, "This new girl is a bummer.", "True." and "That dope hair is faker than my mum's lip fillers." A ginger girl gossiped.

Seriously? That ginger-haired sweetheart being a savage. How dare she!

As I placed my tray beside Dreadlocks guy, I put my "fake" Kerrigan Touche bag on my lap. I searched for my hair mist conditioner and sprayed a bit at the back of my head to give my hair a noticeable shine. "So. . . are you gonna introduce to me these losers or nah?"

Dreadlocks, shocked at my remark, firstly explained his name was Rhaegal and his friend, Jace. He pointed out the girls looking like the more arrogant and snobbish version of Victoria's Secret's models. And the nails, the what?

She had shattered glass nails that looked like diamonds! Or was it?

"Loving my nails, aren't you sweetie?" The ginger flaunted her nails, her aura felt like a goddess showcasing her luxury and her inner Athena. "I bet your dad's annual income can't match with these nails' expense."

Rhaegal laughed shyly, a bit embarrassed but that's fine, he continued to sway the conversation to another topic so I wouldn't shy away "-and this beautiful ginger girl was-"

"Anyways," I raised a hand to interrupt, with a genuine-seeming smile. "- allow me to introduce myself. I am Alexis Frost-"

"Well, sorry, sissy," It was ginger girl's turn to interrupt. She flexed her pearly whites which looked like the work of Damon braces, yet she continued "- but my name is Cheryl Orlando, my friends here are not that much interested in you and-"

"Alexis Frostfyre." I smiled. "Alexis. Frostfyre." I repeated. My tone soft and unoffended and unemotional, creating a cold-burn effect on her remark.

"That name sucked. I had a better one that your mom could ever wish for naming you. Hmm, how about, Alexis Trashfyre?" Another Gucci-adorned socialite, which Rhaegal introduced as Diana, made a powerfully-crafted shade and earning a good laugh from the guys on the table.

"I mean she's hot, yeah, but a strip-dump like her won't reach your level, Diana." A guy said, making a mentally-delayed gesture on comparing me to her.

"As if I don't already know that." Diana munched her pizza. "Hey, Rhaegal. Tell us why she's too skinny you even dared to invited her to our seat. Even her last name is a bummer."

Rhaegal wanted to say something, yet I immediately interrupted, "What's wrong with my name?"

"Not just your name darling, the rest of your status in the School Profile tells us you're a hapless scholar-sucking misfortune. You're too poor and too low to be here, darling. How much more on getting a free seat to the one and only Champions."

"The Champions? What is that? Some feeble-minded, retarded squad that you and your group came up within a matter of minutes?"

"Yes and no. This squad title doesn't even match your low-class family name, sissy. I bet your deadbeat intelligence is an IQ measurement of a negative seventy-five."

"This low-class family name you have snarled about contains more brain cells than the rest of your generation's ancestry could ever wish for. . . sissy! From New Jersey to the capital of California, my clan has rocked straight A's in college and excelled in the workforce." My eyes scowled at hers more intense than her hair removal lasers.

My handbag made a sharp clicking sound as I closed its lid. "And one more thing, have you any idea how cool my name actually is? No, you don't, 'cause it's cooler than the most expensive hospital your dad could ever find for your birthing place, and you know it."

I opened my milk drink and gulped from the straw, delicious. One guy with the brown hair and blue eyes talked nonsense directly on my face between the table, telling me that he was Diana's boyfriend, telling me that he was offended. That I, a lowlife, doesn't even deserve a chance in the academy. Much so to an elite academy like the beloved made-for-the-upper-class Arkskye University.

Snap! Snap!

"Excuse me, miss, is there a problem?" A waitress asked me.

"Nothing, miss." I calmly said to her, hoping to ease the tension I delightfully created. "Why don't you ask that man why he was so furious that the rest of the diners stopped eating and watched."

The waitress still wouldn't budge from staring at me. She believed I'm the highest threat around here. "I think something's clearly wrong. What have you done to our special guests?"

"Special guests?"

"You have no idea who you're messing with, ugly." She marked her words on me.

"So tell me. Are you saying I have no idea that I'm messing with the most powerful and richest group calling themselves 'The Champions'?"

"Yes, woman." This waitress was fierce! "That ugly hair of yours makes you more of a wicked hag than Ariana Grande's cheap hair extensions."

How dare she makes such a degrading statement for a freaking waitress. And how dare she messed with Ari?

"Hey, that's not how you treat a customer." Jace fought back for me, although it's clear the rest of the guys were unable to control their laughter. They're laughing at me, not laughing with me.

Rhaegal cleared his throat. "Okay, ladies, that's quite enough." I made an index point to halt him so I can finish this waitress once and for all. "It's fine Rhaegal, just let me do my thing."

"You shouldn't be so invasive with people's boundaries, and it seems to me that these people weren't that interested in you. If a customer had qualms from another customer, I suggest you find another seat or just leave. Woman." Her passive-aggressive emphasis on her last word boiled my blood from the deepest underwater volcano ever!

"Don't call me 'woman' with that annoying Prima Donna tone on your throat. I don't have a problem with aging, you know, or the fact you're a waitress. But you thought you're younger than me, although it's clear I'm more beautiful than you."

I gave a sophisticated ruby-ringed middle finger upon Diana and the rest who were trying to stop me from the fight. Freakin' dirtbag! Anorexic lowlife! Those words hurt like pricks of the spindle, but I still wasn't finished with this waitress-slash-interrogator.

"You are breaking the line miss. I could report you to the office and call the manager to kick you out. Something is quite not right around here, and it truly seemed like you're the one who started it."

My smile remained calm and poised looking at her, a smile that hinted my passive-aggressive tone and gave her a quick reality check. "Nothing is wrong, miss. Now here's what you're going to do, I want you to serve those people who are still waiting on the line who actually needed your help, don't you think? Why waste your precious time on some petty tantrum this guy started, huh?" I shooed her away, but with a fair amount of etiquette, even if just a bit.

She went away, and it's pretty clear she's reporting me to the cafe's manager. Moving on, the other girls are seething with lava heads in my direction. While Dreadlock, or should I say, Rhaegal, proceeded to calm them down. "Take it easy, guys. She's chill, and she's new. She's going to be our booth model this September."

"What!" A fair-skinned girl with a dragon tattoo on her neck exclaimed. "I thought that role was supposed to be for Diana."

Diana, turning from Frozen's Elsa to Moana's Te Ka real quick, the table shook the foods over the moment she slammed it with her fist of hammer.

"That role was mine!"

"Diana, I am sorry, but you rejected that offer the third time today. And not even a pretty face like yours could change my mind."

"Fine!" Diana grabbed her purse and started to stand up to walk away. "I'm gonna tell the Dean about this."

"Not so fast, babe. I still want you here" Diana's boyfriend demand. Diana responded quietly like a tamed puppy, yet fuming hushed words, going back to her seat as if her dad just scolded her to sit the hell down.

"Alexis, right?" The boyfriend guy suddenly turned to me. His menacing brows a bit furrowed, like questioning my very existence. "Tell you what, your dumb airhead doesn't seem to understand the whole situation. You don't even belong here, so why don't you go running back to your cobblestone base your mom could only afford to call home."

"Hey!" Jace defended, toning him down a bit.

"Ah, ha ha ha." I chuckled as I looked tired as hell, with my astonishing glossy nails. I gestured my index to prove a point. "Look, mister. I've met fools like you who think like you own planet Earth with the tip of your fingernails. But with all due respect, you might wanna stop spitting at my food as you did on your girl's mouth."

"What the hell did you just say?" The boyfriend screamed, seizing all attention in the cafeteria. "What the hell did you just freaking say!"

My legs stood up with boundless grace, quickly grabbing my belongings from this wretched seat.

Jace, Rhaegal, and the other guys were already holding him down. I re-strapped my heels firmly and stood up again, with a pageant-winning smile as I did a one-time, hand-comb on my gorgeous hair.

I said a fearless 'goodbye' to the audience as I clicked my heels out the cafe, "It's all just spectacle, my people. Don't worry about it. It's Alexis Frostfyre, by the way. And you may follow me on Twitter or Instagram however you like."

"Enjoy your day, Frostfyre, savor it. But wait till Calixon burns your ass on fire!"