KEN

Writer's POV 

Ken was taken to the same class as the Trio! The Admin, Mrs.

Marne, entered the classroom (Einstein). "Hello, students! Here is a

student who'll be joining you, so I need you all to treat him with 100%

hospitality." Mrs. Marne looked at Ken. "Find a seat of your

choice," she smiled. Ken walked over to a random seat at the back of the

classroom. The entire class began a little commotion right after Mrs. Marne

left. 

"Omg! A new student in Einstein class! Without an

entrance exam!" a random student exclaimed. "I'm as shocked as you

are! Can anyone tell me what's going on here?" another replied. "This

is hilarious. My dad is a governor in this country, and I had to write an exam

before entering this class. How is this possible?" another student said.

Every student's gaze was set on Ken. As much as they found it unbelievable for

Ken to be in their class without any entrance exam, they knew he was definitely

not someone in their league. They all strongly believed he was from a very

influential home. The commotion continued while some students awaited the

Trio's arrival to address this twist. 

Mr. Brown (the physics teacher) walked into the Einstein

classroom. "Hey! Future SciTech-ists, what's with the noise?" Mr.

Brown asked his students. "Sir, we have a new student in our class,"

Bella (an Einstein student) answered. "Wow! That's amazing. Where's the

student?" Mr. Brown searched the classroom with his eyes. "You must

be Ken, right?" Ken nodded in reply. "Welcome to Barley High School.

This is the most prestigious school you'll find in the country. Enjoy your stay

here," Mr. Brown added. The students stared at their teacher weirdly. They

sensed something was wrong; Mr. Brown seemed nervous. Some students murmured

silently. Ken didn't seem to be paying attention to the commotion. 

### Ashy's POV 

Today is Monday, the hectic moment of my life. I have to

prepare for school, but the fun thing is I get to learn about science. Woohoo!

Let me get prepared immediately. 

A few minutes later, I'm done preparing. I'm not gonna have

breakfast; I'm late already. If the Trio finds out, I'm in hell. I rushed out

of my house with my backpack, making sure my breakfast is in there. *At least

I'll still get to eat my breakfast.* 

"Hey, babe!" Mom called me. "Yes, Mom, what's

up? I'm in a hurry." 

"I was about to tell you, Joy and Basset are in the car

down the road. They're waiting," my mom replied. Damn! They're here

already. 

"Hey, chicks! Seems you guys woke up on the right side

of the bed today," I said to the girls. They looked at me annoyingly; I

knew something was wrong. "I'm sorry I'm late," I added. *The scowl

on Joy's face knows no bounds. I knew she's about to say something

annoying.* 

"The last time Basset made us late for school, I vowed

it wouldn't happen again, and here we go again," Joy said, fuming.

"It seems like we need to start going to school separately if you guys

can't keep being punctual." 

"Sincerely, I'm sorry. It won't happen again, I

promise." 

"Humph... let's go already; the time is ticking,"

Basset said with a blank expression. I can't figure out what's up with Basset;

she's quite gentle. *Should this be alarming? Maybe!* We drove out of my

compound in Joy's car to school. We drive a Honda Jazz, by the way—bragging

rights. 

"Girls, there's an update on the school portal,"

Basset announced. 

"Update? Why don't you check it out?" Joy replied

to her. I brought out my phone to check the update, but what was there was

shocking. 

"Omg!" Joy exclaimed. 

"Omg!" Basset alarmed. 

"Omg!" I said in shock too. "My school just

admitted 10 less privileged students to the science department. What the

heck!"

"This must be a joke!" Joy exclaimed. 

"A big one." 

"Why is this session filled with bad news? We had one

the previous week, now it's this week. Are we cursed or something?" I

said, gazing at the girls. They looked angry. "So we're gonna be having

some paupers in our department? Never is this happening. I need to call my

dad," Basset uttered, disappointed. 

"I need to call mine too," Joy added. We spent the

rest of our time driving to school, calling our parents to report to the

school. *I mean, our parents are the biggest sponsors of the school, so their

words carry power.* 

Finally, we arrived at school *late.* We walked majestically

to the chemistry lab, though it was Basset's idea. *We need to discuss

everything.* 

### Trio's POV 

**Joy:** *I haven't felt overwhelmed in a while. This news

made me feel like this. But why? It's definitely not what I'm thinking. I

stared at Ashy and Basset; they don't seem to be chilling. Their expressions

say it all. Could they be thinking the same thing as me?* "Hey, do you

guys think we need to challenge the school for this?" I asked the

girls. 

**Basset:** "I don't know. Would it make any sense if

we do? A part of me thinks we should let it go. For the school organization to

accept this, I think it's fair. We shouldn't bother them. On the other hand, I

just can't imagine the students have to be paupers. They should have been

someone else." 

**Ashy:** "I hate to say I agree with you. The pure

fact is we need these students. Hopefully, they'll be capable as we expect them

to be. But we can't hide the fact that they are paupers. How are we supposed to

walk with them? It's nauseating to think of it. Unfortunately, it's our

reality." 

**Joy:** "I agree with you guys totally. I think

adaptation and tolerance in biology would be useful in a situation like

this." 

**Basset:** "Maybe," *scoffed.* 

**Ashy:** "My mum mustn't hear this. She would be

mad!" 

**Basset:** "It's expected. Who'd want their kid to

contract a disease just because they're with people whose living conditions are

unhealthy?" 

**Joy:** "We all have the same thoughts. I suggest we

should let them be. If unfortunately, we get to collaborate, we should be able

to withstand them, right? These paupers survived their unhealthy lifestyle. How

about us?" 

**Basset:** "Yeah, that's true. We'd adapt or withstand

them if needed." 

**Ashy:** "I'm in for this change too." 

**Joy:** We shook hands together in unity. A tense moment

became calm and lovely. We decided to perform some practicals in the lab to

pass away time until lunch before we returned to our class. 

### Ken's POV 

This school seems weird. The students in my class caused a

nuisance *noise* upon my arrival. I'm quite curious to know why they keep

murmuring non-stop. This action by them increases my curiosity. The physics

teacher entered the classroom. He taught Wave-Particle Duality. To be sincere,

his teaching was impressive. It's time for lunch now. I have to find the

cafeteria. With the school map, I was able to find it quickly, but there's

another problem: the entrance is blocked by students causing another nuisance.

*What's up with this school and noises? Isn't this school my mom said has won a

lot of competitions in recent years? Funny!* I was able to figure my way out of

the crowd of students at the entrance, just for me to realize there are some

students *they're girls* who are being hyped by the students. The girls walked

in like they were in a beauty pageant show. I saw the faces of two of the

girls. I must say, they look stunning. They're exceptionally beautiful. Wow!

For a while, I was engrossed staring at these girls. *I had goosebumps just

staring at the girls. I must be crazy!* After the drama, I went to order my

meal at the counter. With no intention to eat it in the cafeteria, I left for

some random grassy area where there's no one to have my lunch. Everything about

this school is beautiful. 

### Basset's POV 

The girls and I went to have lunch at the cafeteria. As

expected, there was commotion from the students. The atmosphere was merry. We

left for class after lunch. Our arrival in class caused an abnormal chaos from

the students. We had our seats. 

"Are your eyes glued to ours? Why are you all staring

at us?" I questioned the entire class.

"Trio's, we have a new student in our class,"

Beckham yelled. 

"A new what?" The girls and I exclaimed.

"Elaborate, please!" Joy commanded. 

"We have a new student. He's named Ken. He resumed this

morning without an entrance exam." The entire class said in chorus. 

"Wow! Stop the prank, guys. We aren't falling for

it," Ashy replied. 

"We're damn serious, Trio's," Beckham added. 

"What's going on?" Joy said, almost yelling. "Girls,

why so much bad news this session? I'm out of here," Joy left the class in

anger. We wanted to go after her, but we stayed, knowing she needed a moment to

cool down.

"How did the student enter this class without being chased

away, huh?" Ashy said to the students.

"He was brought in here by Mrs. Marne," Beckham replied. "I

think the new student is very influential. The physics teacher was nervous on

seeing him," a student added.

"This is ridiculous! How can a student walk into the

Einstein class without an entrance exam? What level of hypocrisy is this?" I

wondered. I walked out of the classroom with Ashy. "We need to find Joy," I

suggested.

"Sure, the break we gave her is enough," Ashy shrugged.

We found her at the science library, staring blankly at

nothing.

"Hey champ! We need to study," we said to her.

"Study! Really!" Joy yelled. "Can we stop the pretense and

agree we're suffering mentally, girls! Aren't you tired of all this terrible

news we hear? It's affecting our mental health. Why are we trying to hide it?

It's not funny anymore. Our parents need to intervene," Joy continued. "I'm so

sick of this. I'm taking a break. I need to process all that has happened

throughout the week. Our morale is dampened. One minute we're happy, the next

minute we're sad.

### Ken's POV 

While I was admiring the view of the garden, I heard a voice

from behind, "Hi!" the person uttered quietly. I turned to see the person. It

was a nerdy student with glasses. He looked extremely skinny and pale.

"Hi, my name is Craig," he said.

"I'm Ken," I replied.

"Yeah, I know you're Ken, the popular new student," the guy

replied. I was shocked. "How and why am I popular?" I asked.

"You have no clue you're popular now," Craig added. "You

became popular because you are in a formidable class without writing an

entrance exam."

"Ohh… you guys write an exam to get in there?" I questioned.

"Yeah, that's why it's named Einstein class. It's meant for

the high intellect students."

"Sounds great! Everything makes sense now. I know why I felt

unwelcome."

"Yeah, they're mad at you. They're like, who the heck are

you?" Craig grinned. "You must be exceptionally intelligent too," I said to

him.

"Not really. To the students outside the Einstein class,

it's a yes, but to the people in the Einstein class, I'm a nobody," Craig

replied.

"Wow! What a privilege I've got then," I thought.

"Lunch is over. Let's head to class together," Craig said.

"Sure, let's go," I replied.

"Do you know I sit next to you? I bet you haven't realized

that," Craig kept talking until we got to the classroom.

I walked into the classroom and was met with a big shock!