Entering the Competition (5) - Evan's POV

"People from the first district are really different," a friend of mine commented.

He stared at them not touching any of their plates. Instead, it appeared that they brought their own food with them. It was almost the same yogurt that Luke brought to my house to feed Rika for breakfast. None of my friends believed me when I told them my sister went to school in the first district.

This was why they froze when Rika ran to greet me after the first presentation ended. We didn't resemble each other as they started to admire her beauty. When her friend, another beauty in the same uniform called for her, she ran off after a short greeting.

"Your sister is really pretty," he couldn't stop staring at her back.

My sister had really changed a lot. It was hard to find traces of her old appearance where I could find the similar features we inherited from our parents. Only her orange-speckled eyes remained with her same personality.

I looked around for her during dinner time after I went to explore the nearby area with my friends. When I asked the staff, it appeared that they already took their dinner before the rest of us. Everyone knew that the organizers usually stuck to the schedule like it was a lawbook. From the stories I heard from my seniors, nobody was an exception to this rule.

However, it seemed to not apply to people who came from the first district. Instead, I decided to visit their rooms when I heard they came back from their break with my friend. I froze in shock as it appeared like they were removing all the furniture in their rooms with new ones. Could they do this?

"People in the first district don't live in the same world as us," my friend also appeared surprised.

"I heard those rooms are actually a double suite. Two people share one room and that room is double the size of ours," my senior recalled.

All the abandoned furniture looked like they were swimming in luxury. It was nothing compared to the rooms we were given where four people had to share one room. I gulped as I wondered if we could use them instead. However, there was no way the organizers would help move them as they did for the people in the first district.

We decided to visit them another time since they looked busy. My friend's phone vibrated to show a message sent by one of the organizers once we settle into our rooms. He read the message out loud, "the event is being deferred an hour since they're switching the location to outside."

"Someone from the first district went to check on the location and they got sick," my senior entered our room.

"They got sick from entering a room?" My friend appeared stunned.

"Apparently this year's contestants from the first district mostly come from powerful families," he explained as if it was an open secret.

This explained the separation between the contestants in their school. There were a few people from their school that did join us for dinner. Rika must have been part of the group with a large amount of influence. A few months ago, she visited our house to soon leave to stay in Luke's villa. You could tell that Luke came from a wealthy family to how he talked to every one of his actions.

I walked to the location of the outdoor event with my friends. However, Rika was nowhere to be seen. The organizer waited to start the event and eagerly greeted them when they arrived a bit late. She looked tired like she had just woken from a light nap.

"Evan!" She ran towards me while clinging to her friend's arm.

"It's a pleasure to be able to meet you again," Luke followed her.

"We noticed you were a bit busy when we tried to visit," I mentioned.

"We had to replace all the furniture to make that room livable," Rika explained.

"I can't believe the rooms weren't properly cleaned. We had to make a complaint to switch the location outdoors," she frowned.

I continued to smile, ignoring the fact that we had also visited the previous location of this session and felt that the organizers worked hard to make everything perfect this year. I didn't know that my sister was the source of most of the complaints. She also ranted about how bad the food was when we were almost drooling over their untouched plates.

"We didn't know how poorly the competition was planned this year," my friend commented when he felt it was better than last year.

"I'm sure the organizers tried their best," Alex seemed to have the same opinions as Rika.

I only knew his name since he tried to take Rika back to school before I transferred schools. It was strange how Rika introduced me as her cousin-in-law. This was why I remembered him. The four of them appeared to be close to each other, sometimes whispering among themselves.

"You can come visit our rooms after this event!" Rika offered.

My friends appeared eager to visit, wondering how their rooms looked like after the big changes. This was why after the event, we followed them to their door. When Alex opened the door, I realized the rumors that the senior told me about were true.