The Odd Ones

002. Youngblood

Jacob has mixed emotions when he finally received the letter of admission from Faircastle High School. He knows that he is supposed to be happy, but somehow, he felt peeved about it. He doesn’t really want to go there, but since his mom wants him to, then he has no choice. In the end, he felt relieved that he passed the entrance examination. He doesn’t want to disappoint his mother, knowing how much she wants him to get enrolled at Faircastle High School.

His mother cupped his face and pinched his cheeks playfully. “I’m so proud of you! I knew you’re going to pass… I knew it!”

Jacob understood why his mother was overjoyed. Faircastle High School is known to have a strict ruling when it comes to their students. The entrance examination is hard, and not a lot of youngsters are able to get in. Everybody knows that Faircastle only takes the best and produces the best people suited for different careers.

Aside from that, they also have a very unique setting for their students. Instead of dividing them by grades, they are grouped based on their intelligences. The entrance examination results will determine as to which intelligence division they shall go to.

Jacob looked at the bottom of the admission letter, and read what was written on it. “It says here that I’m going to be placed in the Interpersonal Intelligence Division. What’s that?”

His mom chuckled and placed an arm on his shoulder. “That doesn’t matter. What’s more important is you’re going to go to Faircastle High School!” she said proudly as she squeezed his arm gently, “And because I’m in an excellent mood… What do you want for dinner?”

Jacob’s lips curved into a smile, and there is obvious excitement in his eyes. “Fried chicken. I want fried chicken.”

His mother smiled and poked his cheek. “Fried chicken it is, then…”

She then went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for the both of them. While his mother was busy, Jacob went up the stairs with the admission letter. As he read the contents, he noticed another piece of paper inside the envelope. He took it out, and noticed another letter along with the first one he took out.

It was a thicker piece of paper, and the letters are all written in a more refined font.

“Placement Examination?” Jacob murmured to himself as he raised his eyebrow, “The exams never end, I guess…”

Not much was written on the letter, but it did mention the schedule of the examination, and his room and seat number. It was just a typical letter, nothing mysterious about it.

But because of his curiosity, he immediately hopped towards his computer and searched for the placement examination of Faircastle High School. The search engine brought him to a webpage full of results, but he clicked the link at the top.

It led him to the official website of Faircastle High School, into the webpage about something called the ‘Paramount’.

As he read the contents, Jacob finally understood that the placement examination is the way to determine who will become a member of the Paramount. Only the ones who will top the series of tests from each intelligence division will qualify and become their section’s representative in the so-called elite group in the school.

The examination is only open for eleventh grade students, which is probably why he received the invite. The test is conducted before the beginning of the second half of the school year, and the students of the Paramount will graduate from the program the moment they graduate from the Faircastle High School.

“…Being a member of the Paramount also comes with benefits and privileges, as well as supplemental after-school classes.” Jacob scoffed and shook his head, “Why would I want to stay in school after classes? I’d rather go and play video games…”

He hissed as he smirked, before closing the website and staring at the placement examination letter.

“Well, I’ve got nothing to lose anyways…” He shrugged, and placed the letter inside his backpack before going downstairs to help his mother in preparing their dinner.

********

Jacob leaned his head on the car’s window pane as his mother drove him to Faircastle High School. It was the day for the placement examination, and a week before the new semester begins. He did not give much thoughts for today’s examination, since it was just something that everyone is required to take.

“Just do your best in that exam, Jacob…” his mother reminded while she drove, “It will be really awesome if you manage to become a member of the Paramount.”

Jacob chuckled, “Mom, it’s already a miracle that I passed the entrance exam for that school… This placement examination might be way harder than that.”

“Well, maybe a second miracle is on its way again…” Her tone was hopeful and full of expectations, “Come on, honey… Just try your best. I think it’s a good thing to be a part of the group of student. They say you get a lot of nice things once you’re a member. You get to have your own dorm room, too.”

Jacob just wrinkled his nose, before leaning his head on the window again. “Alright, I’ll try… But don’t expect too much, Mom. Like what you said before, I’m not stupid, but I am no genius either.”

“I know I said that the other way around… But either way, that’s still true…” she replied as she pulled over by the unloading area in front of the campus gates, “I’ll drop you here, Jacob. I need to go to work now. Good luck.”

Jacob smiled as he nodded, “Thanks, Mom. I’ll see you later.”

When he got out of the car, he noticed that most of the students entering the school premises are wearing their uniforms. He then remembered that among the contents of the letter is a rule that all returning students shall wear their uniforms to take the examination. Since he is a transferee, there is no need for him to follow the rule. There are a few students entering the campus who are wearing casual clothes instead of a uniform, so he felt a little comfortable as he went in.

As Jacob walked past the guard, a running girl passed by him. As she moved further, Jacob noticed that the girl dropped her wallet. He immediately picked it up from the asphalt pavement and rushed towards the girl who is starting to slow down her pace because of exhaustion.

He reached for her shoulder and tapped on it multiple times. The girl finally stopped and looked back at him. She looked exhausted, and a thin sheet of sweat is now forming on her forehead.

“You dropped your wallet…” he told her, as he secretly admired her face for a few seconds.

She was definitely attractive, and her features are striking. She has ash blonde hair tied into a bun, with some hair on the front hanging loose to frame her face. Her eyes is a warm shade of gray, and her long lashes made her gazes look soft and gentle. She has wonderful bronze skin, and a few freckles are scattered underneath her eyes and over his nose.

The girl took the wallet from Jacob’s hand, before slightly nodding her head to apologize and thank him. After that she started running again, but perhaps because of embarrassment, since he noticed a slightly humiliated look on her face.

Jacob just chuckled and shook his head, before walking again as he watched the girl from earlier disappear from his sight.

When Jacob reached the main building, a loud sound from an engine reverberated all over the place. He, along with the other students, looked towards the direction where the noise came from. They were welcomed by the sight of a guy riding a big bike and halting right in front of the school building. He was wearing black all over, so some of the teachers that caught the sight of him are now shaking their heads in disapproval.

The guy removed the helmet on his head, revealing caramel-colored hair. He has fair skin, and light, ash brown eyes that look distant and disinterested. He has multiple piercings on both ears, and one on his thin, pale lips.

Jacob couldn’t care less about him to be honest. But when he saw a male teacher walk towards the guy with the big bike, he stopped on his steps to watch what is going to happen next.

He cannot overhear the conversation between the two, but Jacob is certain that the student is getting a scolding early in the morning. The latter then rolled his eyes, before removing his black leather jacket, as well as the piercings he is wearing on his ears and lips. The teacher took it away from him, so he ended up wearing just his uniform and looking like an annoyed student that is forced to follow the rules for that day.

Jacob smirked at the sight, realizing that not everyone in Faircastle is as perfect as they seem. He just shook his head, before approaching the massive bulletin board where the room and seat numbers are displayed. A map of the school is also placed for the transferees who are stepping on the Faircastle campus for the first time.

As Jacob looked for the location of his assigned room on the map, he felt a quick but sharp pain on his foot. He hissed because of it, before realizing that a massive guy with golden blonde hair and blue eyes stepped on his foot. He had a cocky and peeved look on his face as he blocked the other smaller students while he looked for his assigned room and seat number.

Knowing that he wouldn’t stand a chance if he picks up a fight, Jacob just distanced himself from the big guy and focused on looking for his assigned room.

After finally locating the room he was looking for on the map, he started walking towards the edifice positioned on the right side of the main building. On the building’s entrance two teachers are collecting the placement examination letters given to students, and are replacing them with pencils, erasers, and a black card where their room and seat number is written. The intelligence division where they are admitted to are also written on it.

During the examination, the students will receive a test question that counterparts the intelligence division they are in. All of them are mixed up with different students in different rooms, but their examinations will still depend on the intelligences where they excel the most.

While Jacob waited on his line, another girl wearing casual clothes was standing right beside him. She has long, dark auburn hair that matched the color of her eyes. Her towering height seemed to intimidate the other guys behind and in front of her.

Jacob felt comfortable seeing somebody like him on the line, and he stopped feeling out of place. “So… You’re a transferee too?”

“So you’re a transferee, too?”

The girl looked back at him and nodded. Jacob was startled for a few seconds, since he was fascinated by the girl’s height. The top of her head almost reached his eyes.

“What intelligence division are you assigned to?” he asked again after finding some more confidence in him.

“Intrapersonal,” the girl replied as she waited on her line, “And you?”

“Interpersonal.”

She nodded, before grinning at him. “I think we’re going to see each other in some subjects. See you around, then.”

Jacob nodded as they finally got their turn with the proctors in front of them. When he gave the male teacher his placement examination letter, he was given three pencils, an eraser, and a black card where his room and seat number is written. Written at the bottom is the term, ‘IntraID’, which Jacob presumed was pertaining to the Intrapersonal Intelligence Division.

After taking what was given to him, he proceeded to go to the third floor of the building, and went inside Room 035. He looked for his seat, which is positioned at the last row, on the rightmost corner of the room. A smile escaped on his lips when he realized that he is situated by the window, which meant that he would feel comfortable while taking the examination.

While he is arranging his pencils on top of his desk, he felt a tug on his black hoodie. When he looked on his side, a bespectacled guy with a wide smile and optimistic aura greeted him.

“You’re a transferee?” the guy asked him energetically, “From what division are you?”

“Intrapersonal…” Jacob stated as an awkward smile graced his face. He felt burdened by the guy’s cheerfulness.

The bespectacled student nodded as he smiled, “I’m from the Visual-Spatial Intelligence Division, so I don’t think we’ll see each other a lot. But hey, you’ll never know.”

Even though he is both startled and confused, he just nodded and smiled at the enthusiastic guy sitting beside him. He partly thanked the heavens that his seat mate did not engage into a longer conversation with him because he definitely doesn’t know what to say and how to keep up with his high spirits.

As the room started to fill up with more students, a tall and cynical-looking guy entered the room. All the students fell silent when he came in and approached his seat that is stationed right in the middle of the room. He had silver hair, purple eyes that give off a cold and piercing stare, and thin lips that that make him look like he has a sharp tongue.

It was like everyone in the room – except Jacob, of course – held their breaths as he entered. But since he doesn’t know the guy, Jacob didn’t really care and just minded his pencils and the black card that will be given to the proctor before they begin the examination.

When the students in their assigned room are now complete, the male proctor closed the door and started explaining the examination to all of them. Jacob, despite being disinterested with the placement exam in the beginning, started listening intently.

Once the explanation and the brief introduction to the Paramount Program was done, the proctor distributed the specific exam questions to each student. Jacob did not waste any time, and immediately started with his.

The placement examination lasted for three hours, and after the proctor signalled the end of the exams, the students started vacating their assigned rooms.

When Jacob got out of school building, he saw his mother waiting for him at the parking area positioned on the right side of the school.

As Jacob ran towards his mother’s car, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, causing him to halt from moving. He pressed his palm on his forehead, as he tried to regain his balance. He shook his head and blinked fast, before trying to walk instead.

But when Jacob focused his vision on his mom, he was sure that he was seeing double. He felt like the land he was standing on is shaking, and he tried so hard to find his balance. As he tried to take another step, a loud, piercing sound suddenly went through his ear, and the pain he is feeling just worsened.

He looked around, and noticed that the people around him are just walking normally, like nothing is happening. His mother seemed okay as well, just like everyone else.

At that moment, he felt confused. He slowly realized that it was just him hearing the shrill noise that made him lose his balance and caused him immense pain inside his head.

As fear and tension surged inside his system because of the agonizing pain inside his head, all he wanted to do was to go to his mother and hold her so he can help himself. But when he took another step towards her, he heard another strong, ear-splitting sound that lasted even longer than the previous one. His knees became week, and as his mother rushed towards him, his vision slowly turned to black.