"You should try to visit us more, Isabella".

"I could if I would. I try coming here every weekend, but sometimes I'm too tired".

"Sounds like this academy is hard work".

"It sure is", I mumbled.

My name is Isabella, and I'm in class 1-A. You probably don't remember me, but that's fine. I'm currently back home with my mom and my brother. My house is about an hour's drive from the academy, so I visit home every weekend, well I try to. It's Wednesday today, so I should be in class right now, but I had a dentist appointment yesterday and decided to stay over instead of going back to the academy. I have to go back to class today; I don't want to fall behind. If I leave now, I'll reach the academy at around 10, but I still have to get ready, so it's looking like I'll reach there at 11 or later. Sigh. This academy is draining. It's also made me realise something. That realisation is that there is always someone better than you. I've heard that quote before, but I thought when they said someone, they meant a random person across the world in a different country. Not someone so close. I say someone, but it's more like people or half of Astral Academy. Sigh. I was in the top ten for a few weeks. Top three, actually. How could I forget?

3) ISABELLA GRACE (1-A) - 494 POINTS.

Alexander helped me massively, but I also worked hard. It was a joint exam, after all. I thought every challenge was going to be like that. Simple educational challenges. I thought I had a chance. Oh, how was I wrong. The minigames came out of nowhere, and I was eliminated in the second round. It wasn't the end of the world. Sure, I got kicked out of the top ten, but the point gap wasn't huge. I could make up the difference. I was sure that in the next challenge, I would catch up and close the gap. The second challenge came, and I didn't get first place. My team came second. No one was to blame; the team that came first were faster. The day of my challenge was Friday; it was known as the worst day of the week. No teams clashed or even came close to clashing. No team was close to one another; there was no competition. I tried helping the team by answering all the riddles, but finding the key was what slowed us down. So, I lost out on 200 points. Now, when I look at the leaderboard, I see people from different classes, and I'm nowhere to be seen. It shows us our own rank at the bottom of the leaderboard, but I would rather not say where I place right now. Seeing it makes me sad. Sigh.

I know we've only done two challenges, but I've seen the people in my class and even the people in other classes. They're so much better than me. Smarter, charismatic, confident, athletic, or any aspect, there's someone who shines in that. Then there's me. I know I'm in class 1-A, but I don't shine in that class. At the start, I did, but that was all because of Alexander. The duo who only lost 6 points in the first challenge. I say duo, but I lost all those 6 points. What a fall from grace. In high school, I felt untouchable. I was the best at everything without even trying, and now I have to try to keep up. I'm not even keeping up; I'm falling behind. Am I being over dramatic? I'm being overdramatic, aren't I? I'm just stressed. This academy had already got me stressed.

"Izy. Izy. Bella!"

"Huh?"

"Are you done?"

Oh, my little brother's awake. Noah.

"Yeah, here you go", I gave him my empty plate. He took it and went towards the kitchen to wash it.

He is my only sibling. He's three years younger than me, so he's 16 years old. My family's small, it's just me, my mum and my brother. My dad walked out on my mom when she was pregnant with my brother, so he's never seen our dad. I was so young, so I barely remember him. My childhood wasn't terrible, but my mom did her best to make it the best I could have. I quickly realised the situation I was in when I was in middle school. I grew up quickly in that sense. It was around then that everything else felt too easy. I used to get praised by my classmates for being mature and good at everything. When was the last time I got praised? I guess my mom gave me some praise yesterday, but does that count? My mom would praise me even if I finished my food. I'm not complaining, it shows she really loves me. What I mean is praise from someone who doesn't know me. Would that make me feel better? It wouldn't change the amount of points I have, so I guess not.

"Izy, your hair is getting darker. Are you going to dye it again?"

I grabbed a few strands of my hair and looked at it.

"Yeah. I will do it next month when I'm back for winter break. Do you want to dye yours?"

"Nuh-uh".

My mum and my brother have black hair. I also have black hair, but I dyed it silver when I was 17. I am still trying to figure out why I did it. I remember looking at myself in the mirror and thought I looked boring. Next thing you know, I'm at the hairdresser's with silver hair. It was definitely an ego thing, looking back at it. When my hair was silver, everyone paid more attention to me, and I felt more important. It's a shame it doesn't have the same effect at Astral Academy. I get looks, but that's it. My different coloured hair isn't anything special. I've seen someone with pink hair, and someone in my class has a bit of purple in her hair. I'm the only person with silver hair; if that's a positive, I'll take that.

"So Izy, are you winning?" Noah asked.

"Winning?"

"I don't know how your school works, but you're versing other people, right?"

Oh, I haven't told them anything. My mom asked me how the academy was, and I answered, "It's going good". My mom doesn't understand that my academy is a big deal. My brother understands, but he doesn't know how the academy works. It's a good thing they don't understand; that means I can lie.

"I'm not first, but I'm in the top ten".

"Is that good?" Noah replied.

"Yes. Really good".

"Congratulations dear".

"Mom, it's only been three months".

"It doesn't matter. You have to celebrate every achievement".

Sigh. I regret lying. What's the time? 9:15. I don't wanna go, but I have to.

"I need to go get ready".

"You're not staying for one more day?"

"I can't. I don't want to miss too much. Sorry mom".

"It's fine. I can't drop you off, my shift starts in an hour".

"It's okay. I'll get a taxi".

It's annoying I couldn't pay for the taxi with my credits. What's the time? 10:48 AM. I can make it to the 11:15 class. Let me check what class it is. Biology. Not too bad. Why aren't there many people outside? Oh, right, most people are in class. Seeing the campus like this is nice. I haven't spent much time on the campus. Most of the time is spent in my dorm. Sigh. I hope the next challenge is like the first one. Like, what was that last challenge? Driving, solving riddles, finding a key and climbing a net, like, come on. It's ridiculous. Even so, it has made our class closer. More people are becoming friendlier with each other.

I've heard conversations about teaming up to completely destroy the other classes. Then, once the other classes are down and out, there will be a proper competition between all of us. But that conversation was quickly counteracted when the leaderboard was mentioned. Only five people from class 1-A are in the top ten. Mr Saint, our teacher, said that was the lowest number of 1-A students in the top ten at this stage in the academy's history. He seemed quite embarrassed when he told us that. There are 30 of us in the class, and only 5 of us are in the top ten; thinking about it now, it is a little embarrassing looking at it. Mr Saint must be getting teased by the other teachers. Then again, isn't that expected? Look at the amount of points people got in the last challenge. 1000 is a bit too much. Sigh. I'm stressing too much again. Maybe going to class and seeing everyone will calm me down.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Isabella, we need your help!"

Maybe not. The minute I walked through the door, about five girls came running towards me.

"What's going on?".

"Right now, we're trying to pick class leaders", Eve said. "We need one boy and one girl. We've picked Alexander for the boy, and for the girl, Destiny nominated herself".

Destiny? Her team beat mine in the last challenge. She stole first place from me.

"What's wrong with that?" I questioned, looking around at the rest of the girls.

"None of us want her to be the leader", Anya replied, covering her mouth.

Ouch, that's mean. I looked towards Destiny's desk, which was in the back row. She sat with her face resting on her palm, looking amused by the situation. She knew what she was doing, and she loved it. Destiny had tanned skin and blonde hair, with the tips of her hair dyed purple. Her hair is tied back with a headband, and there is one strand hanging down her face. She has really nice eyes. She has heterochromia, so her left eye is hazelnut brown, and her right eye is ocean blue. That alone made her stand out, but she also wore massive gold earrings. The academy doesn't care about piercing or makeup; you're good to go as long as you wear the uniform. For some reason, they're really strict about uniforms. I don't know why.

"Hi Isabella", Destiny waved.

"Hi, Destiny".

I thought people liked Destiny, but I guess I was wrong. It looked like she got along with everyone in the class. I saw her talk to a lot of different people. I've spoken to her once; I'm surprised she remembered my name. She was nice when I talked to her; we talked about how we felt about the academy. Yes, she's extroverted, but that's not a bad thing.

"So, why don't you want Destiny as the leader?" I quietly asked the girls crowded around me.

"She's crazy, Isabella", Anya whispered.

I glanced at Destiny and she was looking straight at us. She knew the gossip was about her.

"Can't you all vote against her being the leader and then pick someone else?"

"We can, but…" Sydney replied.

"But?"

All of them looked towards the floor.

"No one else wants to be the leader", Eve answered.

I looked at the girls around me. Confused and disappointed. Is this really class 1-A? No girl in here has the balls to be the leader.

"Isabellaaa!" Destiny called out. "If you agree to let me be the leader, then this conversation will be over."

Murmurs of "no" filled my space. These girls are really against Destiny being the leader. I know she's extroverted. But crazy? I don't know. Have they seen something I haven't? What has she done?

"Destiny, why do you want to be the leader?" I asked her.

"If it's not me, then who would it be?" she replied. "I'm 6th on the leaderboard, the highest-ranking girl in our class", she proudly replied.

"You're not the highest-ranking girl, though. Maria Rodriguez is ahead of you", Bri bitterly said.

"I said in OUR class. How about you listen when I talk?" Destiny replied. Bri rolled her eyes, tired of Destiny.

Oh, she has an attitude. Then again, most girls have one. Girls are good at making arguments out of nothing.

"Luna is three points behind you. Why can't she be the leader?" Sydney asked.

"She can be the leader.... If she wants", Destiny said

All eyes landed on Luna, who was in her seat. Her seat was next to the door, so she was close to everyone crowded around me. I just realised I'm still standing next to the door. Can't we talk about this at my desk? Sigh. Anyway, Luna looked at all of us awkwardly.

"Luna, do you want to be the leader?".

"Not really", Luna slowly replied.

"Why not?" Anya desperately asked.

"I'm not the leader type", Luna replied. "If no one else wants to do it, I don't see why Destiny can't be the leader", she said, looking down at her desk.

All the girls looked at her like she told them she was going to break up with them. They hoped she would agree to be the leader. What has Destiny done for them to act like this? Did something happen yesterday? What happened?

"Sooooo, can I be the leader now?" Destiny asked with open arms, leaning back on her chair.

The girls stayed silent; they didn't want to accept her as the leader.

"Why don't we ask Alexander?" I quietly suggested.

"That's a great idea," Eve exclaimed. She turned around and looked at Alexander, who was sitting in his seat. "Alexander, who do you think should be the leader for the girls?"

Alexander turned his head in our direction. "I don't know. I don't care who the leader is", he bluntly replied.

Great. I would be lying if I said I didn't expect that response. Does he know any of the girl's names? He knows mine, I think. I looked at the girl's expressions around me. It looked like all their hopes were crushed a second time. First by Luna, then by Alexander. Now, everyone in the class was staring at us, the other girls sitting in their seats and the boys. I forgot there were boys here. Why didn't they help out? Couldn't they help nominate someone for the girls? How many times do I have to ask? Is this really class 1-A? Sigh.

"Isabella, why don't you be the leader?" Luna suggested.

"Huh, me?"

Me, the leader? Everyone's face around me lit up.

"Yess! Isabella, you could be the leader!" Ashley said, edging closer to me.

"You would be a great leader!" Anya added.

"Are you sure? I don't think I would".

"You'll be great! You're smart, calm, confident, mature", Anya hastily listed.

She said that too fast. She's definitely said that to someone else before. She doesn't believe that. She just wants someone to be the leader. Sigh. I doubt Destiny will agree.

"I'm not in the top ten. Destiny would reject me being the leader".

"It doesn't matter. If you want to be the leader and everyone votes for you, she can't disagree," Bri told me.

Sigh, let's see what she says. I looked towards Destiny, who immediately met my eyes.

"Destiny, do you have a problem with me being the leader?"

Destiny smiled at me, not saying anything for a few seconds. "You know what, Isabella? If it's you, I don't mind", Destiny replied. "I don't need it as much as you do".

Huh. What does she mean by that? Does she know how I was in high school? I was always the leader, the person someone could rely on. Now, in this academy, I'm a nobody. A complete opposite of the person I was. She's right; I need this more than she does. But how does she know that? This is weird. No one here should know how I was in high school. Who is she?

The girls around me cheered when they heard that I was going to be the leader, but those celebrations were cut short when a voice came from behind me.

"Excuse me".

I turned around to see who it was. Oh, it's Mr. White, the principal.

"Is Luna Wolfe in this class?"

Luna stood up from her desk and showed her face to Mr. White. "Yes, I'm here".

"Can you come with me please".