"Silence isn't empty,
It's full of answers"

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'The shadow followed him everywhere he went, reminding him of his past self and the one he was going to become-'

"Oii!! Would you please stop listening to that rubbish" Arthur shouted,annoyed.

"Is he listening to that stupid podcast again?" an amused Jules asked, joining the conversation.

"No" Henry shouted, trying to save face ,but was betrayed by Adam ,who shouted "yes!"to Jules

Henry's face flushed with embarrassment as he stormed off to sulk in a corner.

The door then burst open, announcing the arrival of Lia and Emily,who excitedly gazed at the phone. They were closely followed by Alex and Danielle,engrossed in a heated discussion about a book.

"Now that everyone's here,let's head to the cafeteria" Arthur suggested, standing up.

"Ya sure" Jules agreed, dragging Lia away.

The others followed , talking about their classes.

The door to the cafeteria swung open with a soft creak , making the room fall silent.

The Elites had entered the cafeteria.

The Elites moved with deliberate calm , claiming the centre table as everyone's eyes followed them.

"Who are those people?" A transfer student asked his friends gesturing to the centre table where the Elites sat joking around themselves.

"Those are the Elites ,dude. They're, like, super rich and they basically run the school,they also made that super cool forum that everyone's on".

Amidst the chattering,The Elites were busy talking among themselves.

"Did you hear about this new guy on the forum?"Lia asked, her eyes sparkling with interest.

The others leaned in , interested to hear about this mysterious guy.

"According to his posts, he's been asking for ways to murder people"Lia answered, her eyes fixed on the forum.

"The person is being dramatic, it's probably some kid who's going through their emo phase" Henry joked, looking at Lia's phone.

"I bet lots of people have been giving him ideas already" Jules chimed in rolling her eyes.

"Should we give him some ideas too?" Arthur asked,his eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Don't encourage his madness" Alex sighed, exasperated at his best friend's dumbness.

"Don't hurt me love"Arthur feigned being hurt, earning a chuckle from Alex.

"You two are a never- ending circus",Emily laughed fondly.

"And Arthur is the main clown." Adam added, earning a small glare from Arthur and a grin from Alex.

"What did I miss?" Danielle asked finnally waking up and joining the conversation.

"We were talking about the new guy in the forum and about his... concerning posts" Emily replied, filling her in with information.

"What new guy?" Danielle asked, yawning.

"Apparently he's our new school psycho" Alex answered showing her his posts.

"You reckon we should also engage in this?" Emily asked Danielle.

"I mean it sounds risky but what's life without a bit of risk" Danielle replied nonchalantly.

"Now that's my Dani!!" Arthur shouted, earning few odd looks from the other students.

"Oh shut up Arthur, just admit that you wanted to do this" Danielle retorted, earning a high five from Adam.

"So we're doing this alright,no backing out no matter what!" Lia exclaimed, already drafting a murder idea.

Everyone followed her , pulling out their phones and typing in a response.

"Die by getting stabbed 15 times" Alex typed for fun, knowing that his idea would probably be the less creative one. He turned his attention to others.

It was clear that Arthur was typing something gruesome by the looks of his face.

They all submitted their response at the same time as they took their time laughing at other students ideas.

The bell ringed making them stop their laughter and stare at the food sitting untouched before them.

Without wasting time, they stuffed their faces with the food before rushing to their lockers.

They split into groups of two, with four people in each group.

The first group,consisting of Emily, Danielle,Alex, and Arthur, entered the biology lab ,while the others went to their maths class.

Silence filled the lab as they waited for their new biology teacher.

A young man in his mid-thirties stormed into the lab.

"Good morning ,class.My name is Frank, and I will be your biology teacher for this academic year." the teacher announced, offering them a quick smile.

"Looks a bit sketchy,don't you think?" Arthur wondered aloud to his friends.

"Don't judge everyone you see Artie"Alex said with a huff, smacking Arthur's shoulders.

Arthur pouted ,his expression sullen."I thought you said you wouldn't call me Artie again," he complained.

"Aww i totally ship them together!!"Emily exclaimed softly to Danielle, who nodded in approvel.

Their teacher cleared his throat,and all four of them turned to him.

"As i was saying before you lot got distracted, today's practical is based on the permeability of cell membranes " Mr.Frank explained, his gaze fixed on the four of them.

"Now ,divide into groups of two and collect a onion peel sample from my table",Mr Frank instructed, placing the onion peels on his table.

Arthur and Alex rushed to get a good spot while Danielle and Emily went to collect the onion peels.

They collected their samples and handed Arthur and Alex their shares before returning to the seats they had saved for them.

On the other side of the hall, Henry and Lia looked like they were bored out of their minds ,while Jules and Adam obediently listened to the class.

"Psst"Lia whispered, trying to catch Henry's attention.

"What?" Henry whispered back, only half awake.

"Maths is so boring.No offence to Mr.Johnson,though.I'm thinking of bunking the class,you in?" Lia asked, already forming a plan in her mind.

"I'm in," Henry replied, with a grin spreading across his face.

"You two had better be not planning to bunk again" Jules hissed, leaning back in her chair.

Hearing Jules, Adam turned back, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Oh,come on ,people!, it's not like you guys never bunked with us!"Lia exclaimed, rolling her eyes.

Jules and Adam considered this, before agreeing to the idea.

"We're in" Adam said, glancing at Jules, who nodded in approval.

Satisfied at the outcome,Lia and Henry high fived each other.

At the sound of their palms hitting, Mr.Johnson turned to their group.

"Is there any problem Lia?" Mr.Johnson asked,his gaze scrutinizing them,with an air of suspicion.

"Yes sir we do have a problem,I feel really dizzy" Lia answered, acting like she was about to faint.

"Oh dear, I'll escort you to the infirmary right away" Mr.Johnson said, his voice filled with concern.

"It's alright sir,I wouldn't want you to lose your precious time, I'm sure Jules is willing to escort me to the infirmary" Lia said, turning to Jules with an air of mischief.

"Yes sir, I'll take care of Lia for you" Jules informed, standing up.

Mr.Johnson nodded, after thinking about it for a while.

"Sir!" Henry shouted, clutching his stomach.

Startled by the sudden shout,Mr.Johnson turned to Henry.

"What's wrong Henry?" Mr.Johnson asked his face etched with worry.

"I think it was something I ate today sir,i don't why,but I have a sudden stomach ache." Henry explained, acting like his stomach was hurting.

"Oh dear,this is horrible,two students not feeling well,how can I continue teaching!" Mr.Johnson exclaimed, nervous at the prospect of teaching the class.

"It's alright sir,I'll take care of Henry for you! Don't worry much" Adam offered, stepping in.

"That's very thoughtful of you Adam,thank you!"Mr.Johnson replied,his voice filled with gratefulness.

The four of them exited the class room slowly, before bursting into laughter.

"Well that was fun" Henry chuckled,as the others nodded in agreement.

"Your acting deserved an Oscar" Lia exclaimed,her eyes shining with happiness.

"We make a good team, don't we?",Jules asked,as she chuckled to herself,  recalling the act they put up in class.

"Definitely! "Henry exclaimed, beaming with happiness."We should start a drama club!"

"Yeah, and you should definitely be the star actor" Adam commented,his voice laced with sarcasm.

"Oh shut it" Henry snarled back, shoving Adam playfully.

Adam lost his footing and slipped, pushing a boy behind him.

"Geez,I'm so sorry!" Adam exclaimed, offering a hand to boy.

The boy looked panicked and quickly scrambled away.

"Sorry again,i didn't mean to scare you" Adam explained,his apologetic eyes staring at the boy.

"Its alright" The boy replied, avoiding eye contact.

"That's great,I'm Adam" Adam said, offering his hand  in a friendly manner.

Behind him, Henry,Jules and Lia smiled approvingly.

"I'm Luke" Luke replied, accepting Adam's hand and shaking it."Nice to meet you."

"Hey Luke,I'm Lia sorry to rush  this conversation, but we've gotta go before our teacher finds out that we're bunking." Lia said, smiling apologetically,her eyes crinkling at the corners.

"Yeah no worries,nice meeting you all" Luke replied, smiling warmly at them .

"See you around dude" Henry shouted, dragging away the three of them.

Luke chuckled to himself as he watched the four of them run farther and farther away from him."Now's it's time to complete my task" He said to himself, before collecting the letters that were thrown to the floor before.

"Focus Luke,you can't afford distractions" Luke chided himself , before rushing off to the opposite side of the hall.

Amidst of this,four people watched him secretly, trying to figure out what the letters were about.

Luke's figure disappeared into the shadows, leaving the four of them in suspicion.

Character sketch #1

Arthur King

"Don't call me Artie again"

Made by:- sunkissed_petal

Go order from her shop to get covers and moodboards<333