Knights in Versace

FIVE | NORTH VIEW ACADEMY

North View Academy had everything, from preschool to University. A top-grade elevator school. He had joined the Academy in his last year of middle-school, only to now miss the first month of high school. Way to go, daddy Ben. You’re truly the idol of all functional families in this world. 

Flow wasn’t that bothered though. He was more than capable of teaching himself most subjects, while the rest he could catch up on easily. He had always been extremely sharp, with a freakishly good memory to booth, so he was quite intelligent. He did, however, have one little flaw...

As he passed by the entrance and entered the student-flooded hallway, he lowered his hoodie. He walked forward like no one else existed. 

He simply didn’t give a sh*t. 

To be fair, why should he be bothered by a couple insects scuttling about? No one entered his eyes, as no one was worthy of interacting with him!

...Flow’s arrogance was truly earth shattering for most. Just how could someone be this arrogant?

Unless you were a teacher or it was for school purposes, Flow ignored everyone. Legend has it that he wasn’t always like this. According to some rumours, he was actually a decent guy when he first arrived at North View. Then, some big incident happened, which resulted in him and a few other students missing school for a few months. Some even said therapy was involved.

When Flow came back he was like this. Cold, detached and arrogant. Viewing every human with disdain, and in particular every woman with strong disappointment. Of course, this was also related to some issues of his in the past. As a result, Flow had a serious dislike for women. It was not that he was not attracted to the fairer s*x. His homework folder was plenty heavy. He just felt that the more women talked, the lower his tolerance became, to the point that after barely a few minutes, he’d feel as if knives were digging at his ears. It was only natural he’d come up with a simple policy not to waste time on chicks. It sounded simple enough at first.

Indeed, ‘at first’. Flow discovered that the less interest he showed, the more females would flock around to bother him. It just didn’t make sense. 

As he went straight for his locker and ignored yet another suitor, he couldn’t help but ponder this one truth of the world...

It was then that he looked up. Now, Flow had a strong dislike for women, a couple of them in particular he hated a lot, sure. Nonetheless, there was an even more ‘special’ spot in his heart that was actually held by a very much male youth. In fact, if looks could kill without leaving a trace, Flow would have killed the man in front of him a thousand times over. 

Blonde, chiselled jaw, handsome with intense blue eyes: Virgil Williams. The boy was also a high school freshman, but he was already the first team quarter-back. He was a huge sensation. But he had a grudge with a certain someone... And it all started because of the girl in his arms.

Flow ignored her existence, as if she were air. He stared straight at Williams. The two in front of him had ruined his already broken life. And unfortunately, as punishment, the trio shared lockers next to each other, to improve their ‘friendship’.

Virgil and his sweetheart opened their lockers, and Flow mirrored them. Flow didn’t even bother sparing them one more glance as he greeted, “Big Virg.”

Virgil, or Big Virg as he was more commonly known in his group of close friends, responded just as drily, “Flow.”

The two big men, who existed on two complete opposite sides of the spectrum of life, slammed their lockers shut at the same time.

“Flow, bud, I believe there is someone else who you need to greet,” remarked Virgil as he crossed his arms. 

Flow fiddled with his phone and snorted, “I have no clue what you mean, fam.”

Incensed, Big Virg stepped to Flow. Naturally, the latter merely stood there, as if to flaunt that he was untouchable. Almost to confirm that, a small, dainty hand rose from his arm and gently hooked around Virgil’s waist, holding him back before anything serious could break out. The owner of that hand admonished him with a whisper, “Stop.”

The lady would have been quite the head turner. But alas, in Flow’s world, she had long since ceased to exist. The youth turned around and pulled his hood up. Any and all noises behind him started to disappear one by one, until he was in a world of silence. 

His world.

A landscape where no more insignificant insects would bother him.

…

Flow walked home by his lonesome, but he had a bright smile on his face: as it turns out, with american schools being the way they were, he was not actually that far behind. It would only be a week or so before he caught up in class. That had been his biggest worry, mostly because his pride wouldn’t allow him to just lose to a class of rotting meatheads.

Now to deal with the other important thing. His life.

Flow entered his house with a deep frown and went to his room while dragging his feet like a bound lion. He plopped onto his gaming chair and snapped his fingers with his left hand.

Suddenly, within his vision, numbers and words popped up from nowhere

Quest 1: Get rejected by at least 3000 women in four months.

Reward: System Upgrade.

Penalty: Genital Modification.

Progress: 2999/3000 women.

Quest 2: Run at least 15 miles a day everyday.

Reward: One major plus one minor improvement.

Penalty: Death (strike 1 out of 3)

Progress: 1785/1800 miles

Deadline: 1 day left

These odd words in bright blue were floating in front of Flow. 

It had all begun when summer started. At first, he thought he was going nuts and simply refused to run. Running 15 miles as a 260-pound chubs? Ridiculous. And even more ridiculous was the aftermath.

His body had started burning from the inside out and a fire had lit on him, and this as he was showering and under running water! The pain had been so intense he had felt like gouging his own eyes out. He had screamed and screamed, but no one had come, as if he were alone in an empty world. This had gone on for about ten minutes. The longest six-hundred seconds of his life.

Needless to say, he had learned his lesson. Since then, even with his immense pride on the line, he hadn’t dared ignore the floating words since...