COMPETITIVE (SAMPLE)

Episode #3:

About 15 minutes later, the four of you met up at the dining hall, eating your lunches until Allura and Coran had shown up and ordered some food for themselves. The three of you sat down at the table together and ate quietly before Allura and Coran both began asking questions about what happened at home. They asked how everyone was doing and how life had been so far. As the four of you talked and laughed, a few other students joined our table, including a new student named Krolia, who sat across from Keith. She was the exact opposite of him in every way imaginable. She was beautiful. She wore her dark hair in two high ponytails that reached past the middle of her back, her bright blue eyes shined with confidence as she looked directly at the person sitting across from her. Her skin tone was a beautiful mix between darker brown and white. She was short, with tiny features. You had no idea what kind of genes she was getting, but you liked her.

You also couldn't stop staring at her when she suddenly turned towards you, catching you off guard when her icy blue eyes landed on you. Keith shot you a curious glance, wondering what you were looking at so intently while you blushed at being caught staring, causing your blush to deepen. You turned away from Krolia with an embarrassed expression as you quickly diverted your attention elsewhere.

After lunch was finished and most of the group was done packing up their belongings, you decided to make your way towards the library and study. You needed to work extra hard this week because you had a big test coming up tomorrow. This was the final exam you had before graduation, and you hoped that it'd go as smoothly as it did the first time. You grabbed your phone from your purse before heading out of the library. On the walk to the building where your last class is located, you decided to message Shiro once more.

[7:13 AM] [To Shiro:] Hey, have you seen Keith around campus?

It wasn't uncommon for you to text your brother before going on a trip since he lives pretty close to the university. It was rare that your siblings didn't visit you often. However, lately, things have seemed a lot different than before. Before he was always spending lots of time with Lance or hanging out with Lotor and his little gang. Now whenever he was with you, he mostly stayed glued to your side unless it was time to eat dinner.

You checked your phone once again before making your way into the building with your classmates. You were greeted by the old lady standing in front of the doors of the library with her arms crossed. You approached her slowly, hoping not to get scolded by the librarian. When you got closer, however, you noticed that she wasn't alone. There stood two other women with her, both of whom appeared to be about your age. One of the women looked like she could pass off for someone else, but there was just something that stood out about her. Something about her appearance reminded you of an older version of yourself, but without any scars, or any visible facial deformity. She also had a slightly longer hairstyle, but it was shorter than yours. Her features were quite attractive as well.

Before any of the two women could say anything to you or ask questions, the older woman stopped them both. "Please don't bother her right now", she commanded. She turned towards you and pointed to the table across from hers. "You can sit there if you wish, but I'm afraid you won't be able to study" she informed. "But I'm trying to catch up!" You protested. Your sister would give you the same speech if you tried to skip another quiz. The older woman simply shook her head before replying, "I'm sorry dear, but if you study, you'll ace the exam."

You gave up on protesting and simply sat down in the chair, knowing that it wouldn't do much anyways. The woman smiled at you warmly before leaving the library and walking down the hallway. Once she left, you opened your laptop and searched for the book about Hunger Games. You found out that it's supposed to be a classic, which surprised you considering that they usually don't publish books about popular books anymore. After reading all of the chapters and finding nothing that you weren't expecting, you closed the laptop screen and shoved it back under your backpack, ready to read the book.

Once the last bell rang, signaling that lunchtime had finally ended, you all piled into your assigned pairs to make your way to Altea High School. It has been your home school for a long time, and many of your friends live nearby.

Lance, Hunk, and Pidge arrived first, chatting happily amongst themselves. You and Keith entered a second after them. Keith and Pidge immediately rushed to one of the tables near the wall to discuss their assignments. Once you arrived at your table, you quickly put your laptop bag down and pulled out the stack of quizzes. As you opened one, you could hear the sound of Hunk and Lance's conversation about their homework. You were too busy reading to care about the two of them at the moment.

Keith walked over to the corner of the table and plopped himself down on a wooden chair, looking around the room for any sign of his friend. It was a fairly quiet cafeteria today since almost all students had packed up their books and were leaving, so the only people around were a couple of older guys eating lunch. The boys soon left as well and were about halfway through their homework. You finished the first test before putting your computer away and starting on the next.

You were only half done with this test, and you still hadn't heard from Matt. Not only that, but it had been a couple of days since the fight in the arena. You haven't heard a single word from Matt.

Not knowing what else to do, you decided to check your phone and see how things were going back home. Surprisingly, Matt's mom sent a message that he called it quits about 2 hours ago. At least he isn't dead, you thought to yourself as you stared down at your phone. You decided to send him a message to tell him that you're okay and that you miss him.

[8:00 PM] [To Matt]: Hey, I'm fine. Just finishing up my last test. How are you doing?

You waited for a response for a few minutes, but none came.

[9:20 PM] [To Matt]: Matt, answer me, please. I miss you :(

When you received no reply yet again, you started to worry. What if Matt never responded? What if he was lying unconscious somewhere? No. That can't be... Matt can't lie to you... Right?!

Suddenly, you saw the notification pop up on your screen indicating that Matt had replied. You held your breath in anticipation as you opened up the conversation.

[9:25 PM] [Matt]: Hey babe. Everything okay there? Sorry, I wasn't responding earlier :( but I know u must've been worried. And yeah, I'm okay!! I'm at home now actually. :) thanks for worrying tho! I feel better now that I'm back home!

Your face broke out into a smile as you saw his reply. You replied to him as fast as possible.

[9:27 PM]: Oh my god, I'm so glad!!! Are you alright though?? Did you find somewhere to stay? Does anyone know that you're home safe?

[9:29 PM]: Well I guess I can't blame you for being worried haha. But don't worry about it. I took care of myself.

You waited anxiously for his reply. He replied very quickly, almost too quickly. You weren't sure how he managed to type that quickly with one hand, but you knew he had to be typing with his injured arm because he had told you about it when he was talking to you earlier.

[9:31 PM]: I'm okay, don't worry. I'm just taking it easy today. It takes some time to get used to everything. It doesn't hurt that much anymore anyway.

[9:33 PM]: I hope that's not a bad thing. I'm sure you want to rest and recover from everything that happened. Do you need me to come home early? I can take a break from my classes and meet you at the gate.

[9:35 PM]: I'll be a fine babe. Don't worry about me :(

As you continued texting, you could faintly hear Hunk's voice approaching you. You placed the phone back underneath your backpack before turning to greet him with a smile. "Hey!" you greeted as you waved at Hunk. Hunk returned your smile briefly before asking you if you were feeling alright.

"Mckenna, I thought I saw you leave with Keith and Shiro just now. I wanted to talk to you about your exam later if that's alright...", Hunk trailed off. You nodded, telling Hunk that you would gladly explain the answers to him once you were back inside. It wasn't too hard of a question to answer given that most of the teachers here at Altea High knew who you are, especially since you were in your grade. As soon as Hunk left, you started answering Hunk's questions again.

By the time lunch finally rolled around, you could tell that everyone else was tired from the day's events. Everyone was exhausted and you really couldn't blame them. After waiting outside the building for a while and receiving your lunch trays, you all made your way to the cafeteria. Everyone sat together at one of the tables while you and Keith sat at another.

"So, how did your test go?" Hunk asked you. You shrugged your shoulders and replied, "It went okay. I think I passed".

"That's great!", Hunk exclaimed. "I'm proud of you!"

"Thanks" you replied. After lunch, you and the others split up to go back to their classrooms. Although you were happy to have passed and be free from that dreaded class, it didn't mean that you would ever look forward to returning to that awful place every year. All you wanted now was to finish your exams and move on to another subject.