Puppets and Players

Adam walked into the bustling academy cafeteria. The air was filled with chatter and silverware clanking as his eyes scanned the crowd until they landed on a raven-haired beauty. Her dark radiance was demanding attention wherever she went.

Her indifferent gaze was always something that stood out to him. It was like she was some vast enigmatic creature in the body of an attractive young girl, masquerading in this role that never quite suited her, yet was impeccably performed. Sometimes Adam felt like he was the only one who noticed it, and the only one who could truly understand the one who was hidden behind that façade.

He took a deep breath and made his way toward her, weaving through the crowd of students and trying not to draw too much attention to himself.

'This is my chance.'

As he got closer, Adam could feel his heart racing in his chest. He knew that approaching her would be a bold move, but he couldn't resist the urge to try.

At the most popular sophomore table, the lively atmosphere quieted as his approach raised a few eyebrows, especially when it became clear that Elena was the direct target of his attention.

"May I have a moment of your time?" he politely asked the girl sitting next to her boyfriend.

Her lazy gaze met his eyes for a moment.

"And you are?"

"Um…" he was caught off guard by her question, then quickly composed himself. "Apologies. My name is Adam Blair. We had lunch at the same table before, but of course, I wouldn't expect you to remember."

Elena and Keith exchanged glances and whispered something between themselves, before she stood up and stretched.

"Alright. Make it quick."

He followed her a little further through the dining hall until she sat at one of the abandoned chairs near the window, offering a view of the beautiful academy gardens.

"Talk."

With her attention directed at her nails, and her sitting on the only free chair around, it was clear she didn't care about making him comfortable. At least the view was something. Adam stared at her for a second longer than necessary, before pinching himself to focus and began talking:

"I'm just going to get straight to the point. What's your opinion of Maya?"

Elena looked at him with a raised eyebrow. The question seemed unexpected, but he couldn't gauge much else from her expression.

"Are you trying to mark your territory or something?" Elena narrowed her eyes, answering his question with another question.

"Goodness, no. I was just wondering if she was important to you."

"What does it matter to you?"

It seemed she wasn't going to give him a clear answer, so he decided to give her something to break the ice.

"I think I just saw Maya with Pricilla and Hailey earlier."

His preliminary questions were an attempt to feel out if the information he had held any relevance to her, but her piercing deep blue eyes did not show any change in emotion no matter what he said. Adam sighed softly and continued:

"Oh, those two are the ones I saw harassing Maya at Elemental Practice before. Maya was alone with them at the west wing, so I was a little worried."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"I—I just thought you should know."

Elena cocked her head to the side, but her expression was still unreadable. She was tough to figure out; enigmatic and mesmerizing, like a dark elf.

"Is that all?"

Adam felt a little flustered. Throughout the whole interaction, he felt as if he gained nothing.

"Sorry for wasting your time."

"Certainly."

🜺🜺🜺🜺

Looking somewhat dejected, Adam retreated as Elena continued to sit there, escorting him with her cold suspecting eyes. Of course, she knew who Adam was from the start. She rarely forgot faces, especially of ones lurking around Maya. However, she pretended not to know him after seeing his drooling face as he approached her.

'What rotten luck…'

Elena glanced at the table where their squad usually sat, seeing Andrea, Linda, Isaac and Sarah in their usual setting. Maya could be in trouble, and this puppy walked right past their table, straight toward Elena to alert her. She couldn't help but feel suspicion about it.

'Was it a trap?'

With many enemies, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary. But who would think of using that gullible Maya to lure her in? What an interesting strategy.

Elena returned to her table where Keith readily embraced her. Clearly, her boyfriend was unhappy she agreed to talk to another man right in front of him. In Elena's eyes, this wasn't even worth the effort to quell his jealousy.

"What did he want?"

"Nothing in particular," Elena dismissed it.

This could be an obvious trap, but Elena couldn't shake the thought of it. Those two girls were already known to Elena as Maya's bullies. Maya was meek in most situations, but when pushed to a point she does retaliate. Why would Maya fold to them when she was daring enough to stand up to Elena—knowing her hobbies and aggressive tendencies better than anyone?

It did make her wonder but it was ultimately none of her business.

The moment Elena entered 'the world of equal chances' she was met with the hypocrisy of that statement. From the beginning, she was playing at a disadvantage. Their sins weren't of equal weight.

Elena envied those who came here for naive and foolish reasons. Their sins were simple and easily forgiven. They remained blissfully unaware, deceived by the illusion of choice.

Just looking at the Zeta class, it was clear as day they weren't randomly assembled. The group was a carefully curated collection of misfits, troublemakers, and students from the lowest social standings—all conveniently clustered together for easy monitoring. And then there was Maya, sticking out like a sore thumb. Her role was crystal clear, even if she remained oblivious to it.

The initial plan was to keep her close so she could control what gets relayed to Amanda through her little informant, but Maya turned out to be very strange. Sometimes she knew things she wasn't supposed to—almost like she had eyes outside of her body.

At first, it seemed by design, but Elena soon concluded Maya simply had the same rotten luck.

Stopping her fingers from tapping impatiently, Elena silently cursed and borrowed Keith's ear.

"He was being suspicious. Can you keep an eye on him while I go check something out?"