Chapter |3|

After half an hour of Sharpay showing her around, Eden was officially impressed. The academy was evidently well-resourced, all their facilities state of the art, and the enormous structure was almost flawless.

Eden could hardly pick her favorite part about it. There was the butterfly garden at the back of the school with its vibrant, picturesque shrubs. There was the lovely pond fountain in the shape of a swan right in the middle of their sizeable courtyard. There was their ultra modern sports complex.

They were admittedly worth every penny of their outrageous tuition.

"Before giving the final verdict on whether or not you made the right choice, you have to meet the deciding factor. The students," Sharpay explained at Eden's puzzled face. "Classes start soon so the hallways will be crowded by now."

Eden thought it through. It sounded much more appealing to head to class now, she'd avoid social interaction until absolutely necessary. But, much as it galled her to admit, Alicia had been right. Eden didn't completely hate her Peer Guide. Sharpay had been nothing short of friendly and accommodating, merely content to show Eden around and answer her questions. However, the major reason she was considering this was that Sharpay was the only person she knew in the entire school. Eden would at some point be navigating these hallways on her own—Sharpay had given her schedule a look and seen they had very few classes together—she'd rather put it off until the last moment. That settled it.

"Let's go meet my new family," she muttered dryly.

They ended up back in what Sharpay referred to as the main building, close to the school entrance, and Eden saw her and Sharpay had different definitions of crowded. At her old school, this would have just been the early risers. But for a school of approximately two thousand, this could qualify for a lot. The sight of all of them moving about in their matching, pristine uniforms made Eden think of robots again. Except these robots were drowning in expensively cloying body spray and designer accessories.

"So, what do you think?" Sharpay asked her from the corner they stood taking everything in.

Before Eden could provide an answer though, the school doors opened rather abruptly, causing silence to fill the hallway. Eden's brows furrowed into a frown, wondering what was going on. She understood when almost immediately a group of students came in standing in a row next to each other.

From the way all other students left what they were doing to become fixed on them, they were obviously the top dogs at the academy. How wonderful Eden got to see them on her first hour at the school.

She was curious though, watching the group advance. They were an equal mix of male and female, with one particular girl walking a couple inches ahead of them, a move that seemed deliberate. She commanded the most attention with her strikingly graceful features, and her slender but curvy frame. From the way she walked to the way she held her handbag, she screamed poise and elegance. It could only mean one thing.

Hello, Queen Bee.

The entire school population continued to observe as these eight people, all garbed in stylish and costly accessories to go with their uniform, strutted down the hallway like they were in their own personal runway show. Up until they turned the corner.

"Wow," was all Eden said once they were out of sight and everyone returned to how they were.

"I know. Those are The Gems."

"Good Lord, they name themselves," Eden groaned incredulously.

Sharpay released a chuckle. "It's hard to tell whether or not they did, but the name's been around long before they showed up. According to legend, the first set of elite students to walk these hallways since the late 19th Century liked to think of themselves as the academy's blessed gems. They not only had the means to get a prestigious education back when it was extremely rare, they were also top of their classes and the wealthiest ones around. Now they might still be the richest among us, but the group's made up of awful, self-absorbed jerks."

Uninterested, Eden's mind had already moved on. "The school's been around since the 19th century?"

"Yeah. I think it was first owned by a very wealthy merchant before in the late 1900's, Tomas Brixton bought him out and remodeled."

Now things were looking up. She got the chance to attend an architectural building from a notable time period. "Is there any way I could see old pictures of the original structure?"

"Sure, you could always check the library. I gotta warn you though, it's usually a shit-show in there."

"Warning received." But she didn't really care so didn't ask Sharpay what she meant.

A moment later, at her request, Sharpay began to lead her to her locker. "Anything else you think you need?" she asked after.

Eden spoke as she put in the combination. "Not really. Thanks to you I can locate all my classes for today."

"Okay then. We have the same class before lunch so we could go get lunch together."

Eden nodded her agreement.

"Do you want me to walk you to your first class, just in case?"

She read Eden's mind. "Yes, please. Let me just put my things away."

In the process of doing so, she realized the hallway had gone quiet again and wondered if the same group had returned. However, there was something tense and awkward about this silence that had her looking up. All she saw was people tripping over themselves to get out of the way. Sharpay was also tense next to her, her eyes focused on the entrance. While Eden couldn't see due the crowd forming right across her, the lanky blonde could probably see who it was. All Eden knew was everyone seemed to hold their breath, as if breathing too loud would have disastrous consequences. It unnerved her a little, especially when she was the only one who couldn't identify who evoked the reaction. She caught a glimpse though before it was too late, seeing the muscular back and really tall figure of a guy in his uniform before he turned the same corner as the other group.

Like last time, the students got back to what they were doing though quite tentatively this time around. Instead of reverence, they seemed to fear this new individual. Was he perhaps King Lion, male counterpart of Queen Bee?

The bell rang that moment. "Lunchtime I'll get you the full subscription on the academy," Sharpay told her.

Eden nodded, accepting even though she couldn't care less, and swung her bag over one shoulder.

"Ready?" Sharpay asked.

"Let the shit-show begin."