“Is this seat taken?” He said, as he pulled down his mono blue hoodie. I replied “No.” with a delayed sniffle. With that sniffle, the air smelt leathery. His emerald eyes glanced at me, then his black snout turned away from me as he said “Cool.”
Surely, he saw my crimson notebook. Yet he was as silent as the wooden wall behind us. We sat all the way at the mountaintop of the auditorium. A few others had the same idea as they filled the seats like clockwork. Boots stumped the sturdy and clear marble floor at the same time as the projector came alive. Some classy people strolled up the front of the room and below the projector. Their lips opened and sounds came out. Words, probably.
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The wide and grand room combusted into chatter when the orientation speech was over. Both on topic and off-topic. As if we were twins, me and the panda waschbär guy coiled out of our chairs simultaneously. The first one to make uneven eye contact was me, but he returned the favor. He said “So, how did you get here? Super smart or super rich? Both? Oh wait, that implies I'm smart…” in a sheepish tone. He towered over me like a dim street lamp, but barely casted a shadow as the yellow lights above prevented that.
“I work hard.” I uttered with masked shame. I had all these grammatically and high quality sentences stored in my brain. Yet when it came time to speak orally, BLANK. To be fair, it wasn’t blank since three words were expelled. He didn’t seem disappointed as he replied “Same here. I hear that most people here are super rich so they barely studied,”
He paused briefly as we made even more eye contact. His head tilted downwards while my head tilted upwards. He said “I don’t want to come off in a bad way. But I think we should be friends. I don’t know anyone here. I heard that most people here are super snobbish and hate people like us—people that worked hard to get in rather than being rich… No offense but I don’t know if rich people dress like you.” He was oddly accurate with that last part. I said “Yes.” in a flat tone.
I hate myself (present and past). As retribution, I stated “My name is Hanna. Hanna Santana.” He replied “Hanna. Huh, That’s a cool name. My name is Ortwin Polster. Wonder if we share some classes together? We probably have a few core classes together.” in his usual reserved yet jittery voice. It sounded less awkward and less ‘I-don’t-want-to-be-here’ than my voice. Shoes shuffled out of the auditorium and I planned to become one of those. I said “If not, then we should use the same lunch table. A lot of people are in this school and you’re the only person I’ve literally talked to. Today… For the most part.”
Ortwin replied “Sure” and everything looked like sunshines and rainbows until a group of students pointed at me. A cow-like girl with a green and red fur coat yelled “That’s her! That’s the crazy little girl who screamed on the train earlier! She even looks crazy, with her LONG pink hair and PERFECTLY symmetrical bangs.” Any chance of a friend made at this school went into charcoal smoke. Her friend group laughed heartily at me as I fled the scene. Ortwin must have stood there and reconsidered his decision on befriending me.
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I scooted into an available chair, away from everyone. A man with yellow fur, orange face, circular glasses, and a suit taught my history class. He stated “I’m sure that some of us know the history of spannung. To recap: Spannung is plasma-like energy that complex organisms such as the students in this class all possess. We can use these inner powers to aid us in combat or make life easier. That is why we are here in this military college environment—to cultivate spannung for protecting the world from threats like malicious spirits,”
He scanned the glass and saw all eyes on him. He continued and said “Anyone looking to use spannung in any way more advanced than simply sending a tiny sizzle at the tips of your fingers needs a plasma weapon. Don’t worry, your first plasma weapon is paid by the school. A plasma weapon is a tool that allows soldiers to use advanced spannung techniques like construct attacks, summon a powerful beam, heal wounds, and more. Plasma weapons instantly teleport into the user’s hand! For that, a soldier needs to engrave their plasma weapon with a personal plasma signature. Think of it like signing someone’s autograph.”
“Tomorrow we will take tests to determine what proficiency you are naturally high in. These proficiencies determine your talent in four ways. There’s a lot to be covered but a lot more will be explained tomorrow. I want to at least explain the history of how spannung came to be. Do we have any takers?” He asked, then saw a raised paw. For a second I thought it was Ortwin since all pandas have the same complexion—black and white. Definitely wasn’t. Not sure where he was?
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“I shall make this short. Animals or people didn't always have spannung. We believe that a gamma ray burst named ‘Spantzen’ struck Earth in 1924—causing plasma matter to merge with organisms. Some animal species merged with each other due to the radiation, which caused complex species like us to exist. Some 200 years later, current evolution made spannung more controllable in complex species. However, translucent entities named spirits came into existence after the gamma ray burst. Yes, the same spirits that exist between complexity and simplicity in nature and intelligence aren’t that old in all honesty. No one to this day knows exactly why they try to kill every complex species on sight; especially since they are incapable of speech or cognitive processing.”
“They also caused the Spirit Realm or ‘Realm of Toselä’ to come into being. Only a dumb person or someone who tries to rob banks would enter the Spirit Realm. It’s full of powerful spirits and doesn’t abide by normal rules of reality. That or they died since the dead go to the Spirit Realm as well. I’m pretty sure we’ll only deal with Spirit portal sites since they usually roam these areas exclusively. But spirits can and definitely will float around in other places and possibly kill someone. That is why we exist, to protect the living from the spirits.”
The marble and milky room filled with applause and claps when the student was done. To be frank, I sort of knew this stuff already. Merely forgot the entire details, that’s all. The electric clock above us was near the time for my lunch period. I scooted out of the loud chair and walked towards somewhere for a while.
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“Sorry, is anyone sitting here?” A brunette girl with bunny ears like mine and shoulder-length coily ivory hair and lips asked me. Ortwin sat down next to me with a tray of bamboos covered in ranch dressing. I said “No.” and smelt her lavender fragrance from across the table. I wondered if she was cold since she wore a pink skirt with a red sweater. Guessed her dark brown leg warmers provided her warmth. Also eyed a blue and yellow bead necklace that reminded me of the beach. Not that I had ever seen the beach or sand in person before.
She threw tissues away in the bin, then plopped down, across from me and Ortwin. Me being me, I looked at the tissues and said “Did you get down crying?” in a blank tone. Color me surprised when she nodded. “I was supposed to sit with my friends but they… They don’t love me anymore… Just like—“ She abruptly stopped herself, then sighed. “I’m sorry. I doubt you need that negative energy when you’re just eating carrots and strawberries… Do you ever just feel like your friends don’t actually like you?” she said softly. “I don’t know. I don’t have friends. Oh WAIT, Ortwin said he was my friend a few hours ago. Hey Ortwin, try to forget about that thing earlier.”
She asked “What thing?” with a raised eyebrow. Ortwin stated “Some people said that Hanna started laughing out of nowhere for a while on a train earlier. She then screamed something out like “I’m not crazy” and ran away to the bathroom. I don’t know if it’s true but one of the people said that Hanna made moaning sounds in the bathroom for a while.” without regard to what I just said. She replied “Umm… Oh… OH… Okay…” as her eyes widened. I needed to act and disprove that moaning thing which I never did. I accidentally screamed “I DIDN’T MASTERBAIT ON THE TRAIN!” without thinking about the consequences of free speech. Only one group of people turned to our table, which probably meant that only they and my table heard me. She looked backwards for a while. Once she saw that all the tables were filled, she looked forward but refused to gaze in my direction.
I somehow ruined my entire school life for the 2nd time today. She got up and walked towards Ortwin and leaned in his ears. Ortwin got up and they walked a little bit away from my table. A few moments later, Ortwin sat back down and the red sweater girl did the same. A little smirk was pasted onto her lips. She got up and stated “I am superior to you otherworldly ne’er-do-wells!”
“You know who this person is?” Ortwin turned to me. “No idea.” I said plainly. Red sweater girl fell to her chair and had a multitude of gears turnt in her head. Ortwin got up and said “Do you eat bamboo? It’s good!” I replied “Tried it. I prefer celery though. Oh you got water as well? I should drink more water instead of drinking strawberry milk all day.” as I got up to empty my tray. Ortwin began to walk away from our table and said “Lunch is about to end. Let’s hope that we share the next class together.”. I walked next to him and said “Let’s hope so. I Wonder if clubs are mandatory here?”
As Ortwin replied with a casual “Don’t know”, I heard taps behind me. These taps continued even when we stepped out of the cafeteria. We looked behind us and saw the red sweater girl from earlier. She looked oddly amused.
“Sorry about earlier. But I like your blunt honesty. It’s rare for me to find someone who seems to be that blunt with how they feel about me and care little about my popularity. It hurt a lot but it was interesting. Most importantly, please don’t leave me behind. Okay?”
Ortwin nodded and I said “Sure… I’m sorry for… Whatever I am…”. She chuckled and said “It was funny in hindsight. Even if you did do the deed or didn’t do the deed. I get a good feeling from you two. Especially you,” she pointed at me. “Not sure why though. Maybe because the two of you seem interesting. I doubt you two are snobby rich kids like my “friends.”
Me and Ortwin nodded in agreement. She then softly said “Hanna and Ortwin huh. I’ve heard more about Hanna’s infamy and Ortwin’s “fleeing the fire” incident. I suppose that I’ll tag along with you secluded individuals.” with a smile.
I had no idea how to respond to any of what she said. Not sure what my “infamy” was. Much less any idea how she knew about our names. As I looked at her again, her soft smile turned into a grin.