Into each life, some rain must fall
Too much is falling in mine

***

CHAPTER 11:

GREEK GOD

"Alright, let's get moving!" Ursa's voice echoed through the garden. "The fun's over here ladies and gentlemen. It's time for our classes! Yeah! Let's pack up our stuff. Erwin, grab your soulmate. Sussie, you too please. Marloes, don't leave your bag behind. Come on folks, let's hurry up a bit. No time to snooze, education won't wait!"

There was an authoritative tone in her voice, reflecting her title as a representative. Somehow, she managed to bring order to the chaos and convince everyone to turn their backs and leave. But she didn't stop there. She grabbed my arm and dragged me along the garden. She must have been afraid I'd faint if she let go. Maybe I really was about to faint. Given what just happened...

Damn it!

Could I have possibly made a bigger fool of myself? On day one, right in front of everyone, I'm like a high schooler causing a scene and making a total spectacle of myself. Those who missed the drama will hear all about it, and my rep is forever toast. How did I let things spiral like that? Threatening Mars? Seriously? I just needed to talk it out, but nope, went full drama queen. Did I honestly believe I could fix him? Ugh, epic fail!

"Please don't puke," Ursa said next to me. When I didn't understand, she wrinkled her face and tightened her grip on my arm. "Your expression is as if you just squashed a cockroach."

Not a cockroach, but it was true that I had crushed my own future, my dreams, my chance to escape from the Dorm with my own two feet. What was I going to do now? Mars's stance was clear. The rules of the Dorm were clear. I had been warned about what would happen to souls who didn't abide by those rules.

"At least you tried," Diego said sympathetically.

"At least he talked to you," Helene corrected.

"The cards say it's not yet time," Lark finished without looking up from the table.

I looked at my new friends with vacant eyes. I hadn't even noticed that we had reached the table where we had breakfast.

"Alright!" Ursa cheered, releasing her grip on me at last. "No use dwelling on the past. It's all about what's next, right?" Although she seemed cheerful, her voice had risen an octave and her piercing gaze added weight to her words, almost like a warning to the others. "Diego," she said, pointing her finger at the boy. "Which class are we having today?"

"Um..." Diego wasn't sure. He pulled out a piece of paper and read it. "Dancing."

Ursa's smile grew wider. "Great! It doesn't matter if we miss it at all." She leaned toward me. "Diego is the best dancer in this realm..." Before I could decide what to do with this information, she had turned back to the table. "And what about you girls?"

Helene shrugged. "We're not going to class today. Lark thinks we won't be productive while the energy of the full moon is still active."

Once again, Ursa clapped her hands. "Excellent! Then we can do the orientation for Olive."

"No..." I managed to say. "There's no need for this."

Mars had already made it clear that I wasn't wanted enough. I didn't want to burden others. Besides, what benefit did it have for me to know the Dorm? My future here had ended before it even began. Yet, the others seemed to think differently, Lark had started collecting her cards, and Helene had risen to her feet. In a moment, they were discussing the correct order to proceed.

"Ursa, really..." I started.

"Okay, let's start from the top floor and work our way down," came the reply. Then they would show me the garden, the fields, and the place they called the lake. The Void visit led to a mini argument among them, but Lark won. If I was going to live here, I needed to know all the corners, good or bad. With our final destination determined, we set off without delay.

I guess I was still in shock, blindly following the others even though it didn't make sense. After waiting for an elevator for a while, we split into two and took turns going up to the top floor. Now in front of us stretched a corridor similar to where our rooms were, but unlike ours, this one was pure white. White marble floors, white doors, white columns on the walls, and... white birds flying from right to left... Only the ceiling depicted a pinkish-purple, cloudy sky. It was so real that it felt like we were really outdoors. Especially with the birds...

"Administration," Ursa explained as we passed by the gilded sign that read Administration. "You won't have much to do here, but it's good to know. Soul Affairs, Accounting, Procurement, Angel Resources, Corporate Communications are on this floor. Most of the paperwork is handled here."

The white birds flying around with envelopes in their beaks seemed to be part of that paperwork. Since most of the doors were open, I could see the employees inside. They could have been any government office workers, except that they were all in white. I was a little surprised. I guess my imagination had expected to encounter beautiful nymphs in such a place.

"Are they... angels?" I couldn't help but ask. My question even sounded silly to my own ears. The others chuckled too.

"No," Ursa said. "They're just souls like us, stuck in limbo. Their lesson is to work here. They come here every morning and return to their own Dorms every evening."

Maybe dying young wasn't as bad as I thought. I guess I would prefer lessons over desk work. We went all the way to the end of the corridor and crossed over to the other side. In the meantime, I had learned that the Tower of the Principal was also on this side, but only authorized personnel were allowed access. Of course, as a representative, Ursa was one of those privileged souls. And of course, she hadn't given the slightest hint about how to reach the Principal.

We descended to the lower floor with the elevator on the other side. After all that light, I had to squint to get used to this dim corridor. Just like the floor I stayed on; this one belonged to the rooms of souls. Despite some differences in decor, the atmosphere was the same. Ursa didn't want to waste any time, so she led us all the way down to the lower floors and we skipped the fourth and the fifth floors altogether. When the elevator doors opened to the third floor, the world had changed once again.

"And we've come to the most enjoyable part of the Dorm," Ursa said, spreading her arms wide.

"Also the place where you'll spend most of your time..." Diego added from my other side.

His meerkat leaped from his shoulder to the floor and dashed forward, followed by Ursa's squirrel. They vanished swiftly as chaos unfolded ahead. The corridor was teeming with dozens of souls, each accompanied by their animals. Some clustered in front of doors, others gathered along the walls engaged in conversation. Winged creatures soared, quadrupeds raced, and reptiles slithered. It felt as though I was observing high schoolers trapped in a zoo. My desire to flee was overwhelming, especially with all those piercing gazes locking onto me...

But before I could step back, a gong sounded. Like receiving a command, the souls instantly sprang into action. As they dispersed into the rooms spread along the corridor, their animals followed suit. The transformation took only a minute or two, and bam! Soon enough, the five of us were alone again. Meer and Lola had rushed back to us as the doors closed. But now I noticed the peculiarity of this floor. Unlike the previous ones, there was no order here. Doors of different sizes and shapes were lined along the wall at irregular intervals. Some of them had such bizarre designs...

"These are the hobby rooms I told you about," Ursa said. "Most of the lessons are here. There are plenty of rooms along the second and third floors. It's worth checking the map before going to your class. You know, they're constantly changing. And some of them have multiple sections inside. Don't embark on this journey without a map."

She grinned widely, giving a scout salute. I was too bewildered to even muster a question. The existence of these rooms, which I had found incomprehensible when I first heard about them, was now even less understandable as they stood vividly in front of me. We had passed by all sorts of doors: one adorned with kites, another one carved in the shape of a clown head, one made of wax, one guarded by mummies, one hidden behind spider webs, some super small, some stretching to the ceiling, one painted with rainbows, one covered in slime, and various other designs.

When we reached the purple door framed with stars, Lark said that the Dorm had made the room for her. "Astrology and the art of reading life," she proudly explained. I guess she meant fortune-telling. I forced a smile. Helene didn't have her own room, but the Dorm had given her a laboratory in the biology department to study cold-blooded animals.

We descended to the lower floor. The strange doors with their strange designs continued here too. When we stood in front of a door made of interwoven fabrics, Ursa danced with joy in place. I had noticed her interest in fashion, but I was only now learning that she might want to be a designer.

"The atelier was already here when I arrived," she said. "But I gave it life." She slid her hands down on either side and stroked the dress she was wearing. "Let me know if you need a special design."

I didn't think I would need a special design. Still, I nodded. We continued on. When we reached the front of the art room, I thought Diego might talk about himself, remembering him dancing. But no, his interest was in cooking, and the Dorm had created a special kitchen for him in the cafeteria. I guess that's why when we went down to cafeteria, he became the tour guide.

After learning some unnecessary nutritional information about the meals provided to the souls, we headed to the library. Instantly, my insides turned to ice, remembering the night, the cat and of course... Mars. To avoid showing that I had explored this place before, I bit my lip and nodded to whatever they said. Next to the library were the common areas where souls spent their free time: a lounge, a movie room, a ballroom, a game room, and finally, a gym.

They were all great, but what caught my attention the most was undoubtedly the massive pool. I had been swimming since I could remember. After a while, I hadn't grown as tall as my peers, and I lost my competitive edge, just as my family lost interest. They couldn't understand why I bothered with a sport I couldn't excel at, just like they couldn't understand that swimming meant more to me than just a sport... Maybe they were right, but the pool was the only place where I could be alone with my thoughts and find solace. Even now, just looking at the water, I felt the awful ache in my chest easing.

Unconsciously, I started walking towards the pool. There shouldn't be any classes today; nobody was around. I realized I couldn't smell the familiar scent of chlorine that I knew better than my own smell. The water didn't look blue either; it was lilac. Still, everything else was familiar enough to make me feel at home. I wanted to get closer to check the height and temperature of the water. I shouldn't have.

At that very moment, someone stepped out of the locker room. With one foot in the air, mouth open, and a meteor exploding in my chest, I froze. A million things I could have thought at that moment, yet only one sentence came to my mind, the one Ursa had said hours ago. Like a Greek god...

Indeed, I thought recklessly. Mars, my so-called soulmate, stood before me, half-naked, with his flawless body. When he noticed me, he froze too. First, his eyebrows furrowed, then they shot up. Despite the meters of pool between us, I saw him exhale wearily and shake his head. I should turn around immediately, go back to my friends, show that I hadn't come here because of him. But...

Mars wasn't interested in why I was in the pool. He simply didn't care. His eyes didn't linger on me for even a second longer than necessary. He tossed aside his towel, then gracefully plunged into the water, executing a flawless dive. When he resurfaced, the harsh truth hit me once again.

His message was clear: You don't exist to me, Oliver.

I was invisible to him. And I always would be.

***

Luck hasn't been on Olive's side in the past few chapters. Let's not raise our hopes for the next one. Because a surprise awaits her.

But, on the bright side, she has new friends and a new school. And at that school, there are all kinds of rooms. The question of the chapter is clear. If you were to move into the Dorm, what kind of room would you want it to create for you? Put down your answer HERE pls. 

Kisses until next time sweeties, EC.