"Leader"-Liam

"A leader is the one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows, the way." A quote by John Maxwell. That's the one thought that played on repeat on my mind while I sat in my seat in the silent classroom. The atmosphere inside the classroom was extremely tense. The slight friendship that had grown among the students had all collapsed in an instant. Some students sat at their desk in silence, staring into nothingness, others cried, not because they were very fond of Charles, I was pretty sure that everyone hated him. I was sure that it was because people had finally come to realize that they could be next, that things were serious, and messing around would get them killed. Jean Anderson especially looked stressed about something. Ever since the beginning of class she sat in her seat, fidgeting, and looking around the room, eyeing everybody, especially Hikaru. It must be really hitting her hard.

I sat in my seat silently contemplating as well. I was one of the last to arrive to school and to say I was shocked by what I saw was an understatement. Even though I didn't know much about Charles, he was still a classmate and therefore an ally. It hurt to seem him go like that.

But nothing made me more angry than the message.

Behind Charles body which hung from the logo of the school on the edge of a Japanese Naginata, a weapon that symbolizes honor and skill. It was an outright taunt, but there was something behind it that was even worse. Directly above the body was a message scrawled in blood I could only assume to have belonged to Charles. The message read:

This is the start of a battle, don't disappoint me.

That angered me even more. I had a pretty good idea of who committed the murder but I couldn't prove anything. The person who wrote the message also knew that, and they were rubbing it in our faces. I was so close to losing my cool and bursting out into a fit of rage, but I managed to calm myself down, using a breathing exercise I learned from one of my childhood friends.

I physically cringed.

But there was something else that was nagging me in the back of mind. It was hidden under the shock of seeing my classmate murdered, and my anger at who I suspected the murderer. There was a feeling of responsibility. I didn't get it but deep down inside I somehow felt responsible. It's all your fault. A voice inside my head said. I gripped the side of my desk tighter. It was a voice that I recognized all to wheel. There was nothing that I could have done. I replied, trying to get the voice out of my head.

That's not true. The voice said beginning to rise in volume. You could've tried to reach out to your other classmates, set up some kind of protection schedule, tried to make sure that no one walked alone, there was a plethora of things that you could've done to avoid this outcome, yet you decided to sit back and watch. You parade around with your quote on quote, high academic abilities and yet-

Now's not the time for this! My eyes were know closed, and my hands were strained as I begun to grip the desk tighter and tighter. That only seemed to invite the voice to continue. You're mentally weak. And its for that reason that why one of your classmates are dead, and the rest of the class is on the verge of collapse. At this rate, the other classes will target you and pull you apart, killing you all.

Stop It!

And yet you're still hear locked in your mind, worried about your self, instead of trying to pull the torn fabrics of your class back together.

Stop Damn It! What do you want from me.

You of all people should know what I wan-

Someone's voice cut into the mental breakdown that I was having. I opened my eyes and saw Hikaru standing next to my desk with a worried look on her face. "Liam, are you okay, your hand." She said. I looked down and just like she had said blood was dripping from my hand and unto my desk. I was so caught up in my own mind that I hadn't even noticed.

I turned around and looked at Hikaru. I was sure that she had her own problem, her own worries, and her own thoughts and feelings that she had to get in order, yet she still noticed and was worried about me. That's what brought me to do what I did next. "I stood up from my seat, the chair dragging against the floor. "Thank you Hikaru." I said as I began to walk to the front of the classroom.

"You're welcome?" She replied with a confused look on her face. I stood up at the front of the classroom by the teacher desk. I cleared my throat to gather everyone attention, which was easy seeing as the room was so silent you could hear a feather hit the ground. Most looked up in confusion, probably wondering what the hell I was doing up.

"Alright, I know that emotions must be running high, especially after what we just saw. I know a lot of you probably want to go ho-" I stopped myself before I finished the word. You're talking to a group of orphans, get a hold of your self. "I sure a lot of you don't want to be here right now, but as far as we know, were trapped on a private Island that is controlled by the government. There is no way out." That caused an uproar.

"What do you know!" One student shouted.

"How can you know any more than us." Arthur roared.

I expected this outburst. I knew that all of the students sitting in front of me right now were students of high academic ability. Heath had said so himself, for all his word was worth. Students with a high intelligence definitely made a majority of their decisions using logic as a primary method. Even though right now most students had their logical thinking clouded by their emotions, I was trying to appeal to that logic. "One of our classmate was just murdered and were stuck on an island with now way of reaching the outside world. I know that you all must be scared, I mean we don't know who could be next. But just sitting here and worrying about it wont get us anywhere. Once the first test is announced we can only assume that the other students are going to begin to make moves instantly, trying to pick apart our already collapsing class." I paused letting the implications of this sink in, hoping I managed to get to some people.

The next person to speak up was Jean, her eye's puffy red from crying. "Even if everything that your saying is true, are you saying that we should do the same? That we should seriously consider the paused of killing our peers? You, a stranger, seriously can't be asking that from people you've never met before." I knew that that was going to be big push back against my idea, and I blanked, trying to think of something to say, trying to defend my position.

Just as I was about to fail and give up, Hikaru walked up to the front of the classroom and stood right next to me. "That's not what he means at all." All eyes turned to face her, including me. "What Liam is trying to say here is that if we continue to sit around her complacently, the other classes our going to pick us apart pretty easily. He's not asking anybody to comprise their morals, in fact I think the whole premise behind what the school director had said to be completely ridiculous. He's asking us to make an effort to make a united stand as a class, so that no more of your classmates have to die. We need to stay together if we want to have any hopes of getting this situation."

Hikaru spoke the words with a passion, and they seemed to reach the hearts of most of our classmates. I looked at her in awe. She had managed to take everything I had wanted to say and say it way better than I could have ever. She put so much emotion into the words that everyone had no choice but to listen.

There were still some doubts about it all but the amount of passion that Hikaru spoke with along with the connections that she had formed with everyone on the first day of school, and the fact that most of the students in the class were looking for some ray of hope to believe in, made is so that My proposition was widely accepted. As I began to walk towards my seat I turned around to face Hikaru once again. "Thank you so much, if it wasn't for you, my whole idea would've fallen apart."

"No, no, I don't deserve the thanks. If it wasn't for you having the courage to stand up, I'm sure that I wouldn't have been able to actually go up there myself." Just then the door of our classroom opened up, and Ms. Yukimura staggered into the classroom, looking completely disheveled and on the verge of collapse.

"Quiet down, class, quiet down." She said, even though the class was already silent. She fumbled around her desk before finally finding a white remote. She continued to mishandle the remote before finally finding the power button, and turning on the monitor. As the monitor booted up she very drunkenly said, "Quiet down while I explain the rules of the first trial."