Award Ceremony (Part 2)

Over an hour has passed when the first set of students finally received lunch tickets. Alice and Ricardo seemed tired from just handing out hundreds of tickets. The sweat on their faces were clearly visible along with their panting. Ricardo was especially tired, he moved most of the furniture inside the auditorium and sorted the rewards in sets. I went up there, looking to see if they had any replacement ready.

Nope, they don't. Ricardo and Alice are the only ones in charge of distributing rewards. If that's truly the case then I'll give myself responsibility. Impressing Alice every chance I get, that's my objective. Do actions you never thought you would do in the past, in the present. That's how people can change.

"Victor?" Alice called my name when she saw me walking on stage.

"Ricardo, take a break".

...

It took a while for him to respond. He seemed hesitant at first but he eventually said "Thanks man, this means a lot. My hands feel like they're getting numb". He handed me his sheet of paper. The paper was the list of students from every class, it also states who will be getting what reward. Out of curiosity I looked at the student who got the number one spot among the first years. "Sayaka, how disappointing. I didn't claim top spot. I even went out of my way to give those teachers advice on structuring exam questions. Damn it" I screamed in my mind. After I replaced Ricardo on stage, Alice introduced me to everyone.

Though I'm sure I don't need any introduction. I'm still relevant in the newspaper as the kid who took Leo's picture. Plus there's the underwear incident. "This freshman is from Class 1B. Victor Cruz is his name. Be nice to him kay" she told everyone.

The second set of rewards were envelopes holding cash inside. There was no way of knowing how much cash is in the envelope until a student is given one. The table also had application forms for different subject courses. Name, age, class, hobby, name of school, address signature and favourite subject. Those sections are necessary to fill out when receiving one. "Alice, are they going to fill the forms up here?".

"No silly, that would take too long. They will receive them today and return them filled by the end of the week".

Once again Alice started with Class 1C.

"Saihara Hosen"

"Chiba Oboyono"

"Kevin Lionheart".

These three boys from class 1C all got the up exact same grades on their tests. Something about that feels fishy to me. It is possible that they cheated under the teacher's noses. Since all three of them were guys, Alice rewarded all three of them. It took a while but my anxiety finally kicked in. Watching Alice congratulating the students gave me the realisation that I have to do the same thing. Chills went up my spine when imagining myself in her position.

Crap!

"Ricardo is still exhausted....I brought this on myself". Wanting to impress Alice and Ricardo on how responsible I am sort of backfired. I am not fit for small talks, holding hands of the opposite sex and smiling for a long period of time. Something about me today is going to either change or break.

Class 1B was next. Alice started by calling Fugo's name. His classmates failed to hide the surprised looks on their faces. Fugo shows little interest in academics. He's mostly been seen bullying the weak from other classes and sleeping during lectures. For him to receive a average between 70 and 80 knocked many off their seats.

"Good job Fugo. Just don't go snatching anymore phones ok". She was refering back to when Fugo stole my phone on the second day of school.

"You're not my mom" Fugo told her as he took the envelope and fillable form with him.

Unfortunately, it was my turn to distribute presents and to girls no less. Have to be least awkward as possible. Rohana was first to approach me. "Hey Rohana. Congratulations".

That felt good. No stutter, no pause, I spoke perfectly. YEEEESSS!!

I said those words fluidly without any problems. I imagined myself messing up but that's no longer the case. Perfect, I just have to speak like that to every girl who walks here. This might not be as hard as I imagined it to. A simple task of saying congratulations and a handshake suddenly looks reachable now. With a slight chuckle, she held my hand.

"Full of surprises". She told me those words while she parted. The girls in my class gave me an easy time. I was not nervous around them, probably because of Xavier's party. It broke the ice a little between everyone. "Nayeli Horohoro".

She ran on stage with her phone in hand. She was streaming the ceremony live on her phone. She happily accepted her two rewards then aimed her camera at me. "Say something funny" she told me out of the blue.

Think Victor Think, her video has a good chance of going viral. Say something that doesn't sound lame.. Jeez I got nothing.

"Egg Comes before the Chicken they say but who laid the egg...."

...

"Wow, that was so lame it actually made some of my viewers decrease" she said shockingly.

"Sorry".

"Don't sweat it, next time I know to not ask you for a joke". Nayeli hopped her way off stage while still streaming.

Class 1B was dealt with in no time. Everyone made it on stage fairly fast and collected their rewards immediately. Class 2C was the next class to collect rewards for the second set. "Class 1A is skipped again!? That's blasphemy". Even when on stage, I could have hear Fugo's loud voice. He was not the only one who became puzzled by this turn of events. None of the students in Class 1A seemed to be surprised. They all had a confident demeanor that sets them apart from the rest.

"Wonder how they cheated?". It didn't take long for me to arrive at this conclusion. Every class always have at least one dummy who scores little on an exam. Some of the class A students don't strike me as all that intelligent. I know I mustn't judge a book by it's cover but ...

For every student to score over 80 in one class. There is something fishy going on. What study method did they use? Or was is a cheating method? Hmm, I have questions for my puppet after this. Similar to Takeshi, there is a guy I went out of my way to attain by blackmail. He is in Class 1A, I have zero trust in him and what he says but his influence in the class cannot be overlooked. That's why I chose him as puppet no.2.

Shaking girls hand repeatedly was surprisingly easy to get used to. Every girl who approaches me, no matter what the expression they display. I shake their hands and hand them their envelopes and fillable form. Some looked like they didn't want to touch me all together. For girls like those I used a little force while maintaining a innocent smile. They eventually gave in and did the right thing.

Class 3A was the last class to be announced for the second set.

"Stephano Souken!"

The president was not present for the reward ceremony. He was the only student in his class that scored in the 70s. An average like that is not a good look for All Star Academy's Students Council President. For regular schools, that average is excellent. No complaints whatsoever. However here is very different, scoring 70 means you are barely above average.

....

The first and second year students gossiped about Stephano's low average grade while the seniors stayed silent. They understood the situation Stephano is actually in and the pressure he is under. To them, scoring above the pass rate is impressive while having dozens of other things to do.

The third set of rewards was a sheet of paper. There was nothing special about the paper. Just a five digit code written at the top of the sheet. Before we gave out these rewards Alice explained the sheets of papers.

"Alright everyone, see this sheet of paper? Anyone with an mid-term average over 80 and less than 90 will receive a five digit code. Everyone will receive a different code that only works for you. Be sure to memorize the code you get and keep them until final exams in December. That's when you'll use them to gain answers". Her explanation had some holes in it. She did not say anything about what if the student lost their paper and forgot their five digit code. If another student uses someone else's code, will they have access to exam answers as well? How are they even suppose to use the code they are given? Is there a website built for them?

"Ouch".

Alice pinched my right shoulder.

"Pay attention Victor. Students are approaching" she told me. Looks like I dozed off on stage, Class 1C was skipped and now we were at my class again.

"Xavier Foster".

And the crowd goes wild. The biggest, loudest and happiest cheer engulfed the whole auditorium. As he walked up on stage, Xavier waved and blew kisses to all of his classmates who were cheering for him. "Thanks everyone. You're the best".

After Alice handed him his paper with the five digit code, Xavier tried hitting on her.

"Thank you gorgeous".

"Your welcome, move along now".

"You reconsider my offer yet? We'd make a great couple if you give me a chance".

"Do you really want to get embarrassed in front of all these people? Back off, you don't like me. You don't find any woman attractive except for that psycho. I see through you".

....

I wished Xavier had denied Alice's statement but he didn't. He jumped off stage with a straight face. Alice once again rejects him on point. A deep sigh of relief came out after seeing Alice rejecting him. It's good to know a guy like Xavier won't be competition. If he was then I would not stand a chance. Once again, my classmates gave me an easy time. Next was Class 1A, so far the students from that class has not been call on stage.

The list I held in hand showed that 80% of the students from 1A are about to receive awards.

"August Cole" Alice started the list. First thing I noticed about this students is that he's blind. His sense of direction is very poor and he's wearing shades. By just standing, it looked like he was about to collapse. Not only is he blind, his legs are trembling severely with every step he took. Weak legs and no vision "This is painful to watch". It did not take long for one of his classmates to assist him. Along with August, there was a girl next to him that followed him on stage. She was holding August's hand the entire way, guiding him to his award.

While Alice gave him his five digit code, I could not help but wonder. How does a blind person score this high? Whatever method he used, it must have taken him a considerable amount of time to learn it. I don't recall any students receiving orals exams during midterms so it's safe to say he sat the written exam like everybody else. It could be muscle memory.

"Good job August, continue to strive" Alice gave him words of encouragement.

"Strive? Unfortunately this is my limit. Don't expect anything better, it will save you the disappointment" August answered her. The girl next to him stood in front of me while staring at August. She did not take a liking what he said. "I told you to stop that habit of yours. If we weren't in front of a crowd I'd bash your head in".

"Morgiana Francis".

"Here". Surprisingly the girl who came on stage with August was the next student on the list. Coincidence? Or maybe she suspected this to happen. Morgiana, that name sounds too familiar.

"Hurry up, I gotta help August get down from here".

"Right, Congratulations" I told her. After receiving her paper, she helped August back to his seat. August and Morgiana, two students I know nothing about but at the same time it feels like I have heard of them. This is my first time seeing though. Yesterday when I did reconnaissance on the other classes they weren't present. These two might be the type who skips school often.

"Kaede Oda"

It's Kaede's turn already? I thought she would be higher. Come to think of it..... Kaede's crush is a guy named...August. The blind fellow who just left the stage has that name, plus they are in the same class.

Everything came together. August and Morgiana are the ones Kaede spoke with on my phone the other day. That means that blind fellow is loved by Kaede. How many people know of this? Today is really shaping up to be a strange one. I did not claim the top spot among the first years and my plan for tomorrow's Treasure Hunt is being threatened by so many new faces. "Hey, how are you doing?".

A pleasant surprise, Kaede initiated a conversation with me. "I'm fine, why did you ask?".

In response to my question she pointed at Fugo while touching my right shoulder "Many of us still remember the panda pattern underwear Fugo posted online, we just choose to ignore it" she said.

"I'm not being picked by him for the time being. No need for worries" I told her.

"Kay bye" she said walking away. As soon as she left Alice laughed at me. She was not even trying to hide her laughter on stage. "You're too easy Victor".

"What do you mean? Did she do something that I missed?".

"You'll see soon enough. She didn't take anything tangible just now but I advise you not to do anything embarrassing".

We continue to distribute the awards to all the classes. After two long hours, almost every student received their award. Some students names were skipped like Sayaka's and mine. Worst part is that I can't even find my name on the list. I asked Alice what this meant but she gave me no comment.

"We're at the Final Stretch boys and girls. Only thing remains is announcing the supposedly top 3 from each grade. Some of you probably already know yourselves".

"For the first years, the student who snatched third place was a student from Class 1C believe it or not. This student is the pride and joy of her current class. What's her name guys!?".

"Sue! Sue! Sue!". The boys from 1C were riled up. Their cheer outclassed Xavier in every way. As they shouted her name, a brown haired girl with pigtails stood up. She was roughly 5 feet, wore ginormous headphones covering her ears. Sue Fong, the daughter of Ashura Fong. The founder of Human Evolution Program. The organisation that deals with technological advancement, I despise them with passion. We have laid eyes on each other multiple times before attending this school. Would be nice if she does not remember me.

"Sue! Sue!"

"Sue! Sue!"

The boys did not let up with their cheering. They continued to scream out her name while she walked on stage. For the third place winner, she earned many things. First off the title of Class Captain is hers to take. Secondly she will receive every award. That includes lunch tickets, free subject courses, cash and a five digit code that will be used for December exams. The school year has just began and this girl has already started off with a bang.

Unfortunately since she is a girl, I am the one who had to give her awards. At this point my hands are extremely tired, it felt like I gave Ricardo more than enough time to rest up. I did a quick look around the whole auditorium and surprisingly he wasn't here.

"You tired?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, I would prefer not to make contact with Sue" I told her straight up.

"Fine, I'll deal with her for you". When Sue arrived on stage Alice called to her. "Come here, I'll distribute your awards".

....

Sue stood before me, giving me her full attention. For a couple of seconds, she stared at my face intensely. She is most likely wondering where she has seen this face before. "Victor, you're Victor Chris if memory serves" she said pulling on a strand of her hair.

"It's Victor Cruz".

"Cruz, it's been a while. See you've changed a bit".

"Go get your awards, you're wasting time here".

"Hehe hehe, you mustn't talk your old classmate like that. I'm sure you wouldn't want me to expose your past to the school now would you". Her threat had no malice behind it. Only a gentle smile that would infatuate any man. The main reason I came here was because I thought no one from my middle could attend here. Sue was never involved with the bullying directly but she definitely played a part.

She regularly uses the guys in her class to do her bidding, her beauty, personality, fortune and intellect. Guys just could not resist her back then. Guys would fight, lie and even embarrass themselves just for her affection. They were complete idiots, was it not clear that to her hugging and kissing is not a big deal? She does not truly love anyone besides herself . Sue Fong, is known for seduction and manipulation of the heart. Now she's in a class filled with only guys at high school no less. Most people who gang up on me normally associates with Sue one way or the other. In addition she's the daughter of the man I loathe with every fibre of my being.

"Please leave me alone. I'm trying to change from the person I was then".

"Yes I can see it clearly. Keep doing what you're doing, I like it. The old Victor would never be on stage like how you are now. Hehe this is perfect. Let's have a nice chat before tomorrow's big event kay".

"If I'm free ". In the end I was the one who gave Sue her awards. She will most likely be a thorn at my side throughout my high-school life. It's best to deal with her quickly.

"Sue! Sue! Sue!"

Oh right, she has plenty of minions now. Can't afford to rush anything then. Once she took her seat, the boys went quiet.

Alice continued on to announce first year's second place student. "The battle for first place was very close. Anyone of these two could have gotten number 1 because of their perfect scores. However one had a better attitude than the other "....."

The student's whispers covered the whole room. Some found it hard to believe that freshmen got perfect averages while others were happy to hear such a thing transpiring. It is rare for one student to score so high much less two. "Second place goes to a boy from Class 1A. Hu Almon, get up here".

....

Surprisingly the student was not present. Today is an important day for the student but yet he's not here. "Moving on, the student who claimed the top spot among the 84 first years is none other than Sayaka' Souken from Class 1B"

It took a while for Alice's words to process in the minds of the first years. Most are unaware of who Sayaka even is. Those who knows Sayaka only saw her as a Xavier fan girl. Xavier jumped off his chair excited to see his friend walking on stage.

"Well done Sayaka" he praised her.

"Thanks dear".

After Xavier's applause, everyone started clapping and cheering for her. She stood before me looking dizzy. "Congrats Sayaka".

"Yeah but what about you? I haven't heard your name yet and I'm probably the last student who'll get called amongst the first years". Frankly, if I did not claim the top spot then it does not matter what average I received or even the awards I could have gotten. I failed Alice miserably by not taking no.1.

"I don't know, surely they haven't forgotten about me so I'll be patient".

"Sure hope so" Sayaka said counting her lunch tickets. After she returned to her seat, Alice moved on to the second year students. Like Hu Almon, there is a student who was not present to receive his award. His name was Cj Amagi of Class 2B. He earned third place among his pairs.

"Cj, I know I heard that name before".

"Well of course, he's a member of the newspaper club" Alice responded. After we were finished with the second years, it was now time for the seniors. It is already known that Stephano Souken won't be getting the top spot this year so it's anybody's guess.

"Well do you know, Isaac came in third. Get up here brother". Alice called for Isaac but no response. One of the senior students stood up and told Alice about Isaac's whereabouts.

"Isaac left after hearing his brother's score. He's mostly on the school roof as we speak".

"Fine, let's leave that peasant alone then".

While Alice moved on to the second and third place students, I checked the entire list again to confirm if my name was on it or not. Weird how I did not claim any of the top 3 spots, I know I did extremely well on those tests. I should at least be in the top 5 of my grade so where's my name? Could it be that they didn't mark my papers? That might explain how I did not get first place.

....

Right next to me is the girl of my dreams. Wonder what she thinks about my predicament. With a little focus, I could smell her perfume and also read her breathing pattern. "I'm sorry Alice". Those words did not reach her, she was busy speaking to the first place student among the seniors.

"Hold up, Alice's name hasn't been called either! I can understand my name but Alice's, that's insane" a quick thought occurred to me. In fact there was another name that was neglected to be mentioned. Aphrodite Giovanni, although he is not present today, his name should have still been mentioned. After searching for his name on the list before me, I confirmed that Aphrodi is in the same position as me. Now what does this mean?

All Star Academy is not known for stupid mistakes, surely something is going on that I'm unaware of. Once Alice was finished with the students on our list, she bowed her head towards everyone. Giving me a glance, I did the same and bowed my head. "Our time is up now! Please take care of your earnings. You all deserve them".

"THANK YOU"

Most student thanked us on stage. I did the unexpected today by helping the Student Council, in the future I will officially be apart of it. "Let's go Victor". Alice and I left the stage once we saw our Principal Mr. Raihan making his way. Alice gave him the microphone which he immediately announced.

"It is not over yet!"

"My young boys and girls, how many branches do you think All Star Academy have across the world?". This was an easy question for any student to answer but nobody did. They all remained silent, confused by what is happening. To them the award ceremony is over and they just want to leave the auditorium. Some students' legs are cramped while others are starving.

Alice answered the principal. "Five Sir, why do you ask?".

"Four students from the European Branch are selected as Star Observers. Star Observers are students that are given a pass to enter in any branch around the world. These students will visit the different branches and give us data on them. Other branches will do the same, they will send Observers to our school too".

"Why though? What is the purpose of this?" some students asked.

"Competition, this is bigger than some Class vs Class event. All the Branches naturally compete with one another to determine the best of the best. Observers are highly useful, they get to do regular classes in any branch they like. There was an time when a Observer came to our school and blackmailed our most capable staff members to retire from work. There is another time when Observers were used to brutally injured highly athletic students before a Sports Festival. You get it now?".

What the principal said reminded me of something I saw on television when I was a kid. Two All Star Academy students were racing against other schools but for some reason those two students did not get along. They were too focus on each other, the other schools beat them. Looking back at it now, those two may be from the same school but are in different branches.

Foolish, Who's idea was it to cause bad blood in All Star. Competition is good and all but injuring students and openly spying on the other schools is going overboard.

"Alice Souken, her family has a big influence on our school. It's a no brained to chose a Souken"

"Ricardo Quilge, this man is like a shadow. Hides his true abilities from others until the big moment"

"Victor Cruz, the junior who goes out of his way to make things happen"

"Aphrodite Giovanni, a person you either love or simply hate. No in between"

Hearing my name at long last was a relief. Glad to see I was not forgotten after all. Being a School Observer is great and all but I still want to know is my average on these midterms. There is little doubt in me that I scored higher than 90%. I failed to claim the top spot so the promise Alice gave me is going to be wasted. "Alice, do you know your score?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I was the one responsible for removing some names".

"Seriously! Then you know my average then right? Tell me please".

"Like Hu and Sayaka, you scored 100. Sadly you won't get any recognition for it" Alice told me.

"That's fine by me. As long as you know. So I got an 100 eh, this is the first time I have ever scored so high and its all thanks to you Alice.".

"You referring to the promise I gave you? If you scored the highest or received a perfect score I'd grant one of your wishes. Just so you know, I won't be hesitant to tell you no if your wish is something I hate" said Alice.

"Of course, that's OK with me. I'm heading to the bathroom. Soon be back". Leaving the auditorium and entering the boy's bathroom. The instant I closed the door, a vast amount of emotion sprung in me. My chest felt like it was on fire while I breathed heavily.

"ALRIGHT I DID IT!!".

Screaming in the bathroom as if I was mad was out of character for me but who cares. I succeeded in getting a perfect score. Alice must be impressed by my performance, she has to be. "Sweet Alice, what shall I ask of you?".

"Hehe hehe, nothing sexual is fine. We can just have a date, depending on how it goes we can get closer to each other".

"Alice sees me as a Junior who's attached to her. I need to be more than that. Alice, standing beside her on stage for hours almost made my heart stop to momentarily." I am not even kidding. I have a condition where my heart will stop if I'm filled with too much emotion. I've met death in multiple times because if it.

"PERFECT SCORE! EASY! ALL THAT IS LEFT IS TO MAKE THE GIRL I LOVE, LOVE ME BACK. THAT PART IS NOT SO EASY UNFORTUNATELY".

After five minutes of celebrating and talking to myself, I went back to the auditorium feeling embarrassed. Imagine Iif someone had seen me jumping around and swinging around my hands. The Star Observers received blue and white badges with AS logo on top. This badge is a pass to enter any branch of our choosing.

"You decide when you want to visit another school. I'll pay for your travel expenses so don't be shy" the principal told us. After receiving the badge it felt like a big responsibility just weighed on my shoulders. Feels like I already have a lot on my plate and now this. When the ceremony was finally over, Mrs Emi called to me.

"Yes Mrs Emi".

"I'm just wondering, since you and Sayaka received perfect scores. I'm supposed to choose one out of you two to be Class 1B Captain. I prefer it to be you than Sayaka, are you up for the task?".

"No way, just give it to Xavier. Class captain sounds like a---"

"I would love to be the Class Captain for 1B. Thanks for the offer Mrs Emi". The teacher looked at me confused. The way how I changed my statement midway must have been a shock to her. I even spoke loudly for others to hear, that also must have been a shock.

"Why the sudden change of heart?".

Mrs Emi turned around and caught a glimpse of Alice and Ricardo buying soda from a vending machine. They walked away never looking my direction. "Alice is the Class Captain for her class. If I want to be a worthy husband to her, I should have responsibility too".

Curse myself for having a big mouth. I already gave myself plenty of responsibilities. Why give myself more? Alice.... This girl is the first one I felt this way over. The hole in my heart will only be filled once I have her in my life.

"A fun fact for you Victor. Alice and Ricardo used to date each other. They were boyfriend and girlfriend for two whole years until suddenly they broke up during last summer. I don't know what happened but I advised you to be patient. Alice still might have feelings for him".

...

"OK, thanks for that piece of info".