Henry looked at the entrance to the academy in awe. He had only ever seen videos of it, but in person, it looked much bigger.
Entering the building, Henry was greeted by a nice-looking lady at the front desk.
"Hi, how may I help you?" The woman had a kind tone; Henry was not the first person to wander into the academy.
Stiffening up, Henry let out a short, squeaky reply, "I'm Henry… the new student."
The woman smiled, looking down at her computer, presumably to search him up. Henry, however, was tense and terrified. He had never been a people person, and here he was, at an academy filled with hundreds of the most talented, powerful awakened out there. He was most definitely out of his element.
"Ah yes, Henry… let me help you get situated. You are a first-year, which means you will be staying on the Ad Astra floor."
Henry was already starting to dislike this place.
***
The Ad Astra floor was where all new students lived, named after their push towards survival and becoming stronger. Being there in person, Henry was excited but overwhelmed as well.
The receptionist led Henry to room #104, passing four others unpacking their large luggage. Thankfully, Henry had nothing to his name, so unpacking would not be a problem.
Henry's new room was spacious; it had its own bathroom, desk, and closet, each packed with seemingly upper-class brand essentials. Henry even got the chance to dress up in the academy's uniform, changing out of the poorly sized clothes he got from the police station.
Before Henry knew it, a voice had come over the intercom.
"Attention all students: With the sudden influx of new attendees, we will be hosting a welcome dinner tonight. I will be going over several important things. Attendance is mandatory."
Well, that was great. Henry had to attend a speech and had time to spare. With his best face on, Henry left his room on a mission of utmost importance: finding the lunchroom. He had not eaten in two days, so a fresh meal was mandatory, especially with the last thing he tasted being his own blood as he lay dying.
Henry had thought he would be safe from meeting people, his antisocial nature despising it. However, unlucky for him, quite a few people had completed their trial around the same time frame, which meant the academy was a mess. Each corridor he passed, he saw new faces, some even waving towards him.
'Who does that? Who just waves at a random person? That's just so creepy.'
Henry was quite judgmental, though it had kept him alive this far, so maybe he had a good reason to be. Thalor's words were still freshly carved in his head: "Rule two, you cannot survive on your own." His least favorite out of the three rules, Henry wasn't good with people. His past uncaring demeanor and sarcastic personality actually did the opposite of helping him get allies, instead aiding him in having many, many enemies.
After much trial and error, Henry made his way to the lunchroom, which again exceeded all of Henry's expectations. It was as large as two football fields, with a rustic design matching that of old movies. The most noticeable thing, however, was the smell. His body almost levitated at catching a whiff; Henry felt dragged towards the food. It smelled like a professional restaurant was cooking in front of him.
Gathering as much as he could, Henry sat in the furthest corner of the room. Four plates of food lay in front of him: a plate of fresh sushi, the smell of the ocean still on it; a large plate of tacos, which Henry had only ever had once; a very large plate of baked goods, including buttered croissants, fresh cookies, and muffins; with a last plate of nothing but mango and pineapple, which were Henry's favorite fruits.
One hour and forty-seven minutes later, Henry lay flat on the floor, the table now covered by four empty plates clean enough you could see your own reflection on them.
"This is the greatest day of my life," Henry said in between yawns. All that eating had made him very tired, either that or being awake since 3:00 AM.
"You seem to eat well," a cold but piercing voice said from across Henry's table.
Sitting up, Henry saw a young lady with bright orange hair surrounded by two others who had quite mean looks on their faces. Henry had barely spoken to many women, especially when it came to ones his age. He barely spoke in general; what made anyone think he could speak to girls?
"Hi." Henry mustered up a small wave to go along with his meek hello.
The center girl gave Henry a mean look, which put him off quite a bit.
"Do you know who I am? What it means for me to be sitting here?" The girl was quite on point, very sure Henry would answer with repentance and sorry in his voice.
Henry thought for a couple of seconds before answering.
"Sorry, I have no clue." Henry knew he was being a smart ass, but he was also quite genuine; he had no idea who this girl was, nor if he was supposed to know who she was.
"I am Adriana Varebell! The most known informant in Veiled Academy."
'Aren't informants just from cop shows and stuff?'
"Ok." Henry was not interested as he was now getting hit with the effects of eating, his body now begging for him to sleep.
Henry got up with the full intent of going back to his dorm, but the quite obnoxious Adriana seemed to have other plans, blocking his way with her goons.
"Listen here, you don't just ignore me! I will have you know that I am a valuable asset at this school."
Henry thought about it; she would be correct if she did know more than most. It could be good to get to know her a bit, but his body was disagreeing too much for him to care.
"Listen, I really just want to sleep. Can we do this another time?"
Henry began walking, trying to get past Adriana.
"No! I will not allow this. If you want my friendship, I require you to tell me your Veil!" Adriana stepped in front of Henry again, who at this rate was just angry.
"Oh, you want to know what my Veil is?" Henry spoke in quite the sarcastic tone, but Adriana didn't seem to realize, shaking her head "Yes!" ecstatically.
"Here, let me show you." Henry reached in his pocket, fumbling around before slowly pulling his hand up, which now was using a gesture commonly used to tell people, quote, "Fuck you." Adriana was stunned; that language was not common for the wealthy and elite. In her fit of shock, Henry ran past her.
***
After arriving at his dorm, Henry finally felt at ease, locking his door and slamming himself down on the bed he was given, which was very comfortable—much better than any other bed he'd slept on.
Henry closed his eyes, slowly falling into a deep sleep.