It’s a light misty morning as the bus pulls up to the sidewalk near a large building, then stops. Several students stand and begin exiting the bus in an orderly fashion. You notice that for one of the better private schools in the state they don’t wear uniforms. ‘Thank goodness,’ you think to yourself. ‘Uniforms suck.’
Finally, it’s your turn. You step off the bus to see many students in the courtyard. There are several buildings, one large one to your left, another even bigger one to your right, and the biggest of all directly ahead. ‘This school is huge,’ you think to yourself with wonder. ‘Why is it so big when there’s only 1,500 students?’
A sign stands outside the doors of the largest building, labeled the Coriander building, of which the entire front door area is made of thick, clear glass, the warm light of a large, round ceiling light shining through it. You read the sign. It says, “All new students, go to the Assembly Hall.”
‘There’s an entire hall just for assemblies?’ you think, slightly surprised. You open the doors and go inside. There are signs helpfully directing you through the large building until you finally reach the assembly hall.
The hall is as big as a school gym. The floor is carpeted, and several stacks of chairs stand in the corners. Besides the podium at the front of the room, the only furniture in use is a few card tables, each with other students. New students are everywhere. You see letters on each table, like A-C, D-F, etc. You find yours and head to that line.
The line moves quickly, and then you’re assigned a number. You take a look, and notice that it’s number 34. You sigh, thinking it was a pretty high number, as you wonder what all of ths is for. After a while, everyone lines up by number. You see some students coming and shaking hands with the newbies, then leading them away to explore the school. After a few minutes, two girls come your way.
“Hey, are you number 34?” one of them asks. She has long brown hair with lots of gold in it hanging loosely around her face, and brown eyes which are slightly darker. Her skin is light but clear. She wears a dark red t-shirt, a pair of deep navy-blue jeans, and white sneakers.
“Yeah,” you say, showing the number.
The girl next to her smiles, her eyes a grey blue, light skin, and her hair a dark blond. She wears a blue shirt with jeans and ankle converse. “Great! We are your guides today!” She shakes your hand. “My name is Hannah.”
You shake her hand and introduce yourself. The first girl also shakes your hand and says her name is Kayley.
The two then lead the way out of the hall and down the school corridors. They stop at an extra large room, with Hannah opening the door.
“This is the gym,” Kayley says as they walk inside. “Our school plays plenty of sports.”
“It’s so…big,” you marvel, and indeed the room is gigantic, with more than one sports court painted on the ground, including basketball, volleyball, wrestling mats, et cetera. The bleachers stand on both sides of the room, with two balconies up top. Even with the bleachers out the room is still amazingly huge.
Kayley grins. “Yeah, like I said, our school plays multiple sports, and often practices are at the same time. So while the basketball team is practicing, the volleyball team will have their practice going, as well as the wrestling team, the tennis team, and all the rest.”
Hannah nods. “We have a few gyms, but this is the biggest. If you get lost it’s fine. Most of us did our first day here. If you do get lost, ask a teacher and they will point you the right way.” They take you to every room that is on your class list.
You marvel at the size of the school, how rich it feels, even how kind your guides are, answering every question you pose. Finally, the tour ends.
“Any other questions?” Kayley asks.
You shake your head. “None about the school, but I’d kinda like to know what you two do in your free time.”
“Well, we do a lot of story writing,” Kayley smiles. “Hannah and I have been writing this awesome superhero story for, like, forever. For real, since our sophomore year of high school.”
“Wait, you guys aren’t in high school anymore?” You say surprised.
Kayley shakes her head. “Nah, we just came back today to help the newbies settle in. We’re actually going to college soon. Or at least I am. Not really sure about her.” She points her thumb at Hannah and smiles teasingly.
Hannah chuckles. “Oh shush!” She turns to you and adds, “If you want you can read it. You might enjoy it.”
“Yeah we post it on a blog. Here’s the site name.” Kayley writes it down on a piece of paper and hands it to you. “Just click on the page titled ‘Chapters’ and you’ll be able to find all of them easily.”
“Okay,” you says. “Is there anything else you guys do?”
“Sometimes we read comics,” Kayley shrugs. “I read DC, she reads Marvel. And of course we go shopping like normal girls do.”
“Now don’t go to classrooms after hours. They have the early mornings for questions, not after school. That’s very important to remember. Any other questions you have?” Hannah smiles.
“Uhh, why is that?” you ask. “Why can’t we stay after school?”
“You can,” Kayley nods. “But only until four. After four the doors lock and nobody is let inside.”
“But what about after school activities? Like, yeah, you mentioned that sports is all done at the same time, but what about, I don’t know, drama or something?”
“That’s all done while the sports stuff is done,” Kayley shrugs simply.
Hannah nods. “They’re able to fit all the activities in at the same time so that at four everyone can leave the school.”
“But…why four?” You insist.
“It’s so that students have plenty of study time,” Kayley answers. “Or at least that’s what we’ve been told. Anyway, we need to get going. Have fun here, and don’t wreck the place!”
Hannah chuckles. “Yeah, it’s been repaired many times already.”
The girls walk off, leaving you standing there, still thinking it’s odd all students are required to vacate the school by four every day. You shrug, thinking not much more of it, and continue through your day.
A few days pass, and your questions about the place begin to boil over. Why does this school have so many giant gyms? Why is it so big for only 1,500 students? And why on earth does every single person leave at four every day? So you resolve to answer at least one of those questions on the next school day.
You wait in a small corner of the library, reading and studying and texting. There’s some quiet chatter coming from some students at a large table. You check your watch. It’s five minutes to four. The announcement comes over the loudspeaker for all students to begin exiting the school. But you ignore it. You look over at the other students, who don’t seem at all phased by it.
Four o’clock arrives and still those other students didn’t move. ‘That’s a little weird,’ you think to yourself. Five minutes pass and still they haven’t gotten up from their table. Then finally, another announcement comes over the loudspeaker: “Attention Star Core students, training will commence in ten minutes. Again, training will commence in ten minutes.”
‘Training?’ you question. Those other students finally stand and take their things out of the library. You follow from a distance. They head to the locker rooms. They re-emerge a few minutes later, each dressed differently than they were before. Then they go to the largest gym. You follow them there.
At the gym, you hide up on one of the balconies. What you see, you can’t believe. Students who you had class with earlier somehow control all sorts of things, from telekinesis to lightning to speed. Each of them is practicing something, whether it’s fighting technique or control.
‘Whoa…what kind of school is this?’ you wonder.
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Hello and welcome to Star Core, new students!
So as you’ve already read, this is a story blog, all about students in a school with a secret superhero program. We update and add to the blog every now and again, so feel free to check back. We hope you enjoy!
***PLEASE NOTE!***
This story is at least a PG-13 rating, for violence and some relationship things. Please keep that in mind!
Star Core 