Olivia's spoon clattered on the tray.
The sound slicing through the low cafeteria hum.
Heat crawled up her neck as she sat stone dead on the bench.
"Hey Iris, chill out." the tallest of the trio said as she held her back by the left arm.
Iris Beamed. Her face, holding a bright smile, revealed the twin dimples on her cheeks.
she drew out a chair and sat by Olivia.
"I'm just kidding, although my mum's friend did mention an accident happened there not too long ago…" she chuckled.
Olivia managed an awkward laugh.
Scratching the back of her neck, she adjusted her chair a bit. Iris was sitting too close, bored in her face.
"Haha… it's just a little accident, nobody died." Olivia faltered.
"Oh. That's great then. I'm Iris, from the sapphire class. grade 12". She stood up. Extending her hand for a shake.
"Sapphire class…" Olivia muttered. Arching her brows.
"What's yours?" The third girl with brown curly hair.
Iris eyes were searching her face, she retracted her hand before Olivia could take it.
"She's not in a class… yet." Beverly whispered, avoiding eye contact from the trio of girls.
The air became tense in an instant…
Iris' face went cold as she scoffed.
"Oh, see you around then." she whisked around and left, her friends eyed Olivia from crown to sole, and proceeded to leave.
Olivia tried picking up the spoon. But her lunch had grown cold.
"who are they?" she sighed and turned to face Beverly.
"I don't know, I haven't seen them before, since they are sapphires." She adjusted her glasses.
"Sapphire? What's that again?"
"Well…your social status determines your class here." Beverly reluctantly replied.
"social status?"
"Yeah? Wealthy people, nobles, ordinaries, we are not all the same."
"Excuse me? Ordinaries?What does that have to do with high school kids?" Olivia's face puzzled in disbelief.
"The Wealthy ones keep the school running, the nobles Are our future rulers. They can't be compared to you. A scholarship kid. That's the way the orderliness is being ensured here Olivia."
"I'm not here on scholarship." She took a sip of her Apple juice and exhaled.
"Oh. so you're not like me…"Beverly dropped her head and muttered under her breath.
"Huh?"Olivia leaned in trying to pick what she had said.
Beverly smiled without showing her teeth. Her eyes fluttered.
"It's nothing… Can I have some of that?" she pointed to the untouched plate of green beans on Olivia's lunch.
"Yeah, sure. You can have it all." Olivia moved the plate in front of Beverly, who smiled brightly.
"y'know, I only get to eat these in school here." she grinned. staring at
the heap or beans before digging in.
Olivia watched her through the blue tinted glasses hanging on her button hub nose.
What exactly goes on in these four walls?
Sapphires and whatnot.
Olivia was definitely not interested, all she needed and wanted was to graduate school without the rumors and go somewhere faraway to get a degree.
Footsteps increased in the hallway across the cafeteria entrance, suddenly all the students raced over to the hallway, pushing and falling over themselves to get to the entrance.
"what's going on?" Olivia's curious eyes peeked from above Beverly's shoulders.
"Oh.." Beverly looked up from her meal.
"The diamonds are heading over for their lunch. That's the only time we get to see them on a regular day." She explained and picked up her spoon to continue her meal.
"Wait, the diamonds are like the sapphire class, right?"
Beverly paused and took a deep long breath. She wondered why the Principal didn't give Olivia the orientation about this school's hierarchy as much as she did to her when she first came to Oakswoven high school.
There are five classes in this school… The least popular class is the Beryl class. This is where ordinary people and those who came into the Oakley's sponsorship scheme are classed.
Next is jade. Jade students are regular people too, just that their parents are doing better businesses outside the state than us.
The 3rd are the Emeralds. Somehow, the Emeralds are mostly the guys in school sport teams. Their parents are the rich Alumni of this great school.
The second are the Sapphires, yep, iris and her friends.although they barely hang around here.
Their parents are stinky rich. Owners of huge global companies, big celebrities.
The last and mighty is the diamond class.
The diamond class only consists of four members.
Prince Vladimir rozanov. A Russian prince.
Olivia's mouth flew open. What's a Russian prince doing all the way here?
"Next, the only son of the director of this academy. Kelster Lynn.
The next two are the twin roses. Althea and Ulthea. The
Future rulers of the Oakley Empire.
Wow. Was all that left Olivia's mouth as she fell dumb.
She had no idea this school held such prestigious people, and somehow managed to keep away from the rest of the world and its internet.
Beverly finished her plate almost the same time Olivia was squeezing the empty apple juice box. As her mind processed everything she's heard Beverly say.
They left the cafeteria after the chatter from the hyper
students had died off.
"How come everyone looks normal?" she whispered to Beverly as they walked down the hallway heading to their class.
"That's because everyone you've seen, apart from Iris and her crew, are beryls and jadeites."
At the far end of another classroom block.
In an empty classroom, Iris and her friends sat together for a chat.
Cheshire pulled out a cigarette, lit it and handed it over to Kimberly, the tanned and tallest of the trio.
"You rushed over cause you heard a new kid arrived Iris, aren't you forward these days?" Kimberly lit her own cigarette.
"Oh please…" she giggled.
"Spare me the Ted talk… I only rushed over because I heard Mrs Deen let her keep her hat on." she searched her glittery purse and brought out a matching lipstick and a mini mirror.
"Did you see her hair colour?" Cheshire eyes beamed with . She puffed out a line of smoke and smiled.
"Not sure, don't do anything stupid and wait for Althea's Verdict, what if she's a sapphire like us? Also Iris, you should take that off, you know the rules…" Kimberly crushed the butt of the cigarettes and tossed it away.
"I know, just gimme a second…" she smiled at her reflection with satisfaction and continued.
" I'm trying out the new product my dad's company is launching soon." She smiled at the glittery fuschia pink lipstick with pride.
"Really?! Oh my God it looks great." Cheshire squealed and tossed her cigarette butt aside as she stared at the lipstick with admiration.
"Guys, let's get going… it's past 12pm already." Kimberly stood up from the bench and trotted towards the doorway of the abandoned class.
After school, Olivia bade farewell to Beverly who was going in the opposite direction. She headed for the bus stop, since her sister won't be off work to pick her up.
She stared at her wrist watch, it was 6:35pm, as she walked towards the lonely alley that led to the bus stop.
The moment she stepped into the dimly lit alley, she heard a loud thud. The bloody body of a young man fell to the ground before her eyes.