“This is ultimately what united our planets. This war had gone one for too long and affected everyone massively. It was sort of like making a deal with Hajja and their allies. ‘You don’t bother me, we don’t bother you, until the Versus comes around and we can beat the glitch out of each other’.”
The class laughed at Professor Rosti’s words. Before he could continue, the AIDA bell dinged. “Period 9 has ended. All students, please proceed to the Mess Hall for your Dinner period.”
“Have a good night, everyone,” Professor Rosti dismissed them. The students stood and went down the steps to the doors. Calista hid her relief, having prayed for the sound of that final bell throughout the entire class.
Her first day at Fistborn Academy was now over. After dinner, she planned to do some more studying so she wouldn’t make more of a fool out of herself in class anymore.
But first, she’d take a therapeutic bath and a massage. She could still feel her sweat in her pores under her jacket and skirt. She desperately needed the relaxation.
Belinda ran up to her as they entered the Recreation building. “How were your classes?”
“Let’s see… in Teamwork, I humiliated myself and hit a Favorite in the face.”
“You what?” The Mearthian stopped, her jaw dropping.
“In Battle Tech, I kept zoning out and missing the teachers’ questions. And Versus History was actually okay,” Calista continued.
“Forget that! Who did you hit?”
“It was an accident,” she explained. “We were playing Weightless Dodgeball and I hit a girl in the face. She had that Favorite badge on.”
“Oh, God, who was it?”
“I don’t know. She was Hajjian… um, she had a… platinum badge? I think? And patches.”
Belinda’s face quite literally lost all its color. Calista was taken aback by how her golden-brown skin quickly turned into paper-white. Coupling that with her fully-black eyes, she had herself a creepy combination.
“Wh-what? You’re freaking me out.” Calista stepped away.
“Calista, that’s… that’s Reilly Campbell’s girlfriend.”
“Whose?”
“Ugh!” She grabbed the Earthian’s arms. “Reilly Campbell! The best student in the entire Versus school? Seriously, you didn’t follow the Versus at all before applying?! That was his girlfriend, Rosalina Wiasod. She’s the Favorite out of all his Favorites. And that’s in the top Guild!”
Realizing her actions, Calista also paled. “Oh, glitch.”
“Glitch is right! I told you, you can’t mess with any Favorites, especially not the Favorite!”
“I didn’t mean to!” she exclaimed. “It just happened during class, I-I didn’t mean to hit her in the-”
Suddenly, a lime green liquid spilled all over Calista’s uniform, dripping off the ends of her skirt. When she registered the cold sensation, she let out an ear-splitting shriek of terror. Everyone around her covered their ears.
“What is this?! Get it off, get it off, get it off-”
Belinda tried to calm her down. “Calista, relax, it’s just soda-”
Water than shot down like a reversed geyser, drenching her completely. Calista coughed and spluttered, wiping the water out of her eyes so she could see.
“You’re welcome.” A Voraxian girl sauntered over, sipping out of a bottle. “You’re lucky it’s raining outside.” She smiled at her friends.
Calista shivered, a puddle forming around her. The group of girls surrounded them, as if blocking her escape. “You should grow a spine, human.” The Hajjian girl approached them. All the girls wore the platinum Guild patches, some with Favorite badges.
The girl was tall and pretty. She could very well be a beauty queen herself. Her skin was crimson red and her hair was fixed in long, orange braids. Black lines spread out from her glabella in a triangle, signaling her age; Hajjian males had them on their chin instead of their forehead.
“I’d expect you to be the new girl’s tour guide, Belinda.” Rosalina smiled. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have any friends.”
“Let’s go, Calista.” Belinda took her hand to leave.
“Wait, hold on there. I haven’t yet met our new classmate.” She flashed a toothed smile at the Earthian girl. “Rosalina Wiasod, Alpha Favorite. Call sign ‘Hothead’.” She offered a hand.
Calista stood frozen, still shivering from the ice-cold water the Voraxian had shot at her.
“You were lucky to land a hit on me in class today,” Rosalina continued. “Although, I’d advise you to actually learn how to fight before playing a combat game.”
“Says the one pranking someone she doesn’t like,” Belinda retorted. “That’s very mature of you.”
“I’m not talking to you, Adenifi.” Rosalina smiled sweetly. “Best get cleaned up, yeah? I’ll see you tomorrow in class, human.” She left with her group, going to the Alpha Guild table.
Calista felt her limbs turn to jelly. She seriously thought the girl would kill her. If her call sign was ‘Hothead’, that said a lot.
“I’m so sorry, Calista. Let’s get you dry, okay?” Belinda led her away from the cafeteria.
“Wh-what was that stuff they…?”
“It was flakfruit soda. It’s fine.”
“But it was all… sticky.”
Belinda paused. “Calista… I don’t want to sound mean, but if you don’t want people bullying you so much here, you’re going to have to tone it down.”
“Tone what down?”
“This.” She motioned to her face. “The overblown reactions, the Socializer lingo. People are just gonna make fun of you. Remember, Socializers and fighters… they’re two sides of a coin. Your channel did nothing but mock the Versus, and now you’re going to try and compete in it. People don’t have the best impression of you.”
Calista paused in thought. She never thought about that; people saw her laugh and jeer at fighters with her friends, and now she was trying to become one of them? To the outside world, it didn’t make sense. They didn’t know she’d been faking it the whole time. They didn’t know about her hidden desire, one she would’ve continued to ignore if not for the hacked application.
Once again, the SociaLights were right. Socializers were hated in this world of war and fighting. Human Socializers were the reason the other planets looked down on Earth so much.
She couldn’t go back to them now. She could try and make her own channel… but what would she do? Danica and Rebecca were the ones who planned the material. All she did was plan their outfits.
Maybe she could try to call them… maybe not. Bad idea.
The girls reached the spa. “I’m sorry about all this. Just ignore Rosalina, okay? She wants you to lose it so she can beat you up without getting in trouble. The best you can do is not respond.”
Calista nodded. “Okay.” Her uniform was now dry, but her hair and body felt uncomfortably sticky. Her hair was no doubt a frizzy mess. “I’ll just relax for a bit.”
“Yeah, calm your mind. I bet it’s been a challenging day for you. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” Belinda left her at the spa entrance.
Calista got undressed, her hair in a bubble, and lowered herself into a soothing mud bath. Her sore muscles instantly relaxed, the pain leaving her. The spa didn’t have a Painless pool, so this was the next best thing.
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For a moment, she could forget the academy existed. She could forget about Rosalina, and Lílitha, and everyone else that despised her.
She wished she’d never filled out that stupid application. She should’ve simply reported the hack. She should’ve done worse on the tests.
She should’ve never been picked in the first place.
===
Calista’s second day was only slightly better, but still anxiety-inducing and intimidating. Like the first day, classes passed by in a surreal blur, and every pair of eyes was on her, judging her.
It was also exhausting and painful. She was able to avoid the impending soreness that morning, thanks to the spa night she took. But she had to jump right back into the torture, enduring another bout of embarrassment when she collapsed during Combat class. The coaches were absolutely merciless. The wound was salted when she crashed at a drop of sweat on her nose.
At breakfast and lunch, Calista chose to pick up her food at the cafeteria and eat somewhere else on campus. It provided her with some solace, away from the judgment of her peers. After school, she skipped dinner and went straight to the spa for a massage.
Now her third day had started with three practicum classes in a row; Combat, then two periods of Teamwork. For the present day’s lesson, they played a game called Freeze Race. Her team ran through an obstacle course and their opposing team chased them, freezing them in place when they touched them.
Calista was frozen within 20 seconds of the game and eliminated before her teammates could free her— not that they bothered. She went to a corner after her loss, embarrassed once again.
“Nice job, ‘20 Seconds’.” Rosalina smiled at the human girl after winning her team’s game.
Calista ignored her, slumped against the wall. She tried not to grimace at the dried sweat on her skin.
“Oh, I’m sorry, are you in a bad mood?”
“I’m just tired,” she responded.
“You always seem to be tired.” The Hajjian laughed and crouched to her eye level. “You’re going to need more energy than this if you want to last. It’s not healthy. What kind of diet do you have if you’re so weak?”
Calista ignored her again, drinking from her water bottle, which was packed with vitamins and iron.
“Oh, wait… you used a Thinner all the time, correct? You know, that’s very bad for you,” Rosalina continued. “You let a machine do all the work for you, then you jumped right into an intense regimen. That was stupid.”
“Just go away,” Calista sighed.
“You seem to get quite frustrated. Maybe you need some supplemental Self-Control classes.”
“Says the girl whose call sign is ‘Hothead’.”
Rosalina paused, smirking. “Touché. To be fair… that was in my first year.” She cocked her head. “Come now, human. If you really want to be in the Versus, you’re going to have to show more feistiness than that. I may be ‘Hothead’, but I’m the best Favorite for a reason.”
Calista wordlessly stood and walked away. Other students around them took notice of the conversation, watching carefully.
“As expected,” Rosalina called after her. “Socializers never have a spine. Weak little girls concerned about their hair. You probably just came here to look pretty, didn’t you? You didn’t know how much actual work goes into fighting.”
She stopped. She knew Rosalina was only trying to bait her. But for some reason, she got under her skin so easily. Did Hajjians have a way of bugging people off?
“Or was it your family?” Rosalina pouted her lips questioningly. “Did they hope to see their daughter actually become someone? I wouldn’t blame them. Having an embarrassment like you.”
Calista turned. “You’re one to talk. You’re the one who’s sharing codes with Reilly Campbell,” she retorted.
Rosalina’s irritating smirk faded. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You said you’re the best Favorite for a reason. I can’t imagine what that reason could be.” She curved her perfectly painted lips.
Murmurs echoed. Rosalina raised her brows, clearly suppressing her rage. She chuckled. “Alright, human.” She approached Calista until they were eye-to-eye. “You’ve made me curious.”
“What?”
“Coach Tostama?” She smiled politely at the nearing coaches. She then spoke in a Hajjian language Calista couldn’t understand. Coach Tostama glanced at her, then back at Rosalina, and responded, nodding. She turned to the other two coaches, muttering to them.
“Grand. It seems we have ourselves a spar.” The Hajjian girl’s fangs flashed.
Calista’s stomach dropped and she stepped back. “Wait… no, I don’t want to-”
“The Versus involves you fighting other people. Not fighting a wall. Are you willing to prove what got you into this academy?” Rosalina taunted her with a brow raise. “Unless it was a… how do your kind say it? A ‘GP’ employee of the Versus? Did your Miss Milky Way mother convince him to rewrite the code for you?”
The human girl’s anger boiled. “Take. That. Back. You glitch.”
“Make me, human. You struck first.”
The tension in the room rose, and everyone could feel it. All eyes, including the coaches’, were on the two women in the center.
Calista got into a fighting stance. Almost instantly, Rosalina shot forward. The girl was a bit caught off-guard, but managed to dodge in time, veering to the side with her fists up.
Her heart was pounding with adrenaline. Fighting Lílitha was scary enough. She hadn’t even met a Hajjian until now. Rosalina’s pupils contracted as she struck again.
Calista remained on defense, trying to follow Rosalina’s movements to avoid being hit. However, the pattern broke and Rosalina’s fist slammed into her midriff. She gasped, bending over, and Rosalina grabbed her arm, throwing her onto the floor.
“Is that really the best you can do?” she scoffed.
The Earthian girl’s green eyes darkened. She rolled over, avoiding a stomp, and got back into a fighting stance, striking before Rosalina had a chance. They went back into the dance again, their arms smacking against each other. Calista’s forearms started to ache and she cringed at the thought of bruising.
Rosalina’s strong hands locked around the human’s wrists, twisting her over. Calista yelped quite comically, causing laughter. Rosalina’s arm locked around her neck and pressed. Calista tried to reach her leg back to stomp on her foot, but she was held low, her legs spread out on the mat.
She kicked desperately as she was dragged backwards. Her fingers clawed at Rosalina’s thick skin. She looked to the other students, smirks all around, hoping there was someone in there willing to help.
Harrison watched on seriously, his expression unreadable. He didn’t react at all. Once their eyes met, he mouthed one word: “Bridge.”
Bridge? What did that mean?
She started getting lightheaded. Her feet pressed hard on the mat. She needed to stand. She needed to lift-
Oh, bridge.
She lifted her hips and pushed as hard as she could until Rosalina leaned back. Sensing her imbalance, she pulled to the side, bringing both of them down. Rosalina let go and rolled into a stance while Calista scrambled to her feet.
The laughter from some of the girls was boiling her blood. It sounded so much like…
Rosalina struck again, but Calista was ready this time. Her fist rammed square into Rosalina’s face. She jerked, her hand rising to her mouth, which now had red spilling from her lip, the blood barely visible against her skin. She smiled again.
“Look at that. You do have a bit of strength in those skinny arms of yours.”
Calista’s limbs trembled. She was dying to break down in tears from the horrible pain in her fingers, which were surely broken, but she wouldn’t dare. It was still evident enough in her face, though. Her painted lip quivered.
Rosalina adopted a fake look of pity and went up to Calista as if approaching a little girl. “Aw, did that hurt you, human? Are you-”
Calista kicked her in the stomach.
“Stop… being… so… glitchy!” she shouted in between strikes. Rosalina blocked a couple, but her guard was down. Calista’s last strike landed square in her throat, using her left hand. The aim was off, but the force was enough to make her opponent cough.
Rosalina’s skin brightened, turning from crimson to scarlet, and steam rose off her. Her fangs flashed and her rose red eyes looked up in fury.
Coach Tostama then announced, “Alright, that’s enough.”
Calista clenched her jaw, holding her shaking fist to her chest. Her entire body ached and she was dead tired. If the fight had continued, she would’ve been killed.
“What do you mean, ‘that’s enough’?” Rosalina exclaimed, unvented anger boiling within her.
“That’s enough. You asked for three minutes; that is what I gave you. Miss Medley clearly has shown some advancement.”
The students murmured. Rosalina’s age ridges furrowed deeply. A low hiss was heard as her skin simmered. “That’s not a full fight. You’re just letting her off easy,” she protested.
Coach Tostama stepped forward, her own skin brightening slightly. “Are you questioning my authority?”
A silent tension built. Rosalina finally looked down. “I apologize.”
The AIDA bell dinged, bringing students back out into the hallway. “Period 4 has ended. All students, please proceed to your Period 5 classes.”
“Dismissed.” Everyone dispersed from the circle they had formed, glancing back occasionally at the fuming Rosalina and tired Calista, who sat down on the floor, playing with her black locks.
The Hajjian dauntingly approached Calista, bending over. She tilted Calista’s chin up with her sharp fingernail. “Mark my words, human. This fight is not over.”
“My name is Calista.” Calista looked her in the eyes, hiding her fear.
“That was pathetic.” Turning, both girls found Lílitha standing a few feet away, hips cocked. A smile played with her lips.
“That’s what I tried to tell Coach,” said Rosalina.
“I’m talking about you. You were so cocky that you forgot to actually fight.”
Calista couldn’t hide her surprise. Rosalina approached the small woman, towering over her. Lílitha didn’t look the least bit intimidated, her smile getting wider.
“Don’t play with me, cailat,” she growled. “I am not in the mood.”
“I can see that. At least, in my fight, I still won. You, on the other hand…” Lílitha laughed. “If you let your ego drop as low as your beauty, you would’ve had a chance.”
Rosalina started simmering again. “You little-”
“Ow! What are you doing?!” Lílitha stepped away, pretending to cradle her wrist. “I didn’t hit you!”
A coach peeked inside. “What is it?”
“Literally nothing!” Rosalina yelled. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Ms. Wiasod, please refrain from physically confronting anyone else without permission. You know the consequences.”
“You see?” Lílitha’s eyes grew innocently. She shifted on her feet, twiddling her thumbs. “I was only offering you advice, Rosa.”
Calista resisted an ‘aw’. The Ilamikoan looked utterly adorable. Her appearance definitely gave her an advantage in the art of manipulation.
Rosalina’s skin let off a hiss of steam. She kept her scowl on Lílitha as she stormed away. Calista stood once she was gone, hesitantly approaching the small woman. “Thanks,” she found herself saying.
Lílitha frowned. “Do not be mistaken, human. I wasn’t defending you. I simply enjoy bugging Rosalina off. I don’t like you at all.”
Calista nodded. “Coded.”
“Then again, as irritating as your Socializer personality is, you’re still slightly more bearable to be around than that likata.”
“That what?”
“Look it up.” She left the classroom.
Calista stood dumbly for a few moments before remembering she also had a class— and she had to change. She ran out using the bit of strength she regained.