High school experience varied from people to people. To some it would be filled with memorable moments and good friends. Something you would hold dear for the rest of your life. While to others, calling it a hell on earth would be an understatement. A period of time some people would rather bury under time to never see the light of day ever again.

For Nami and her small group of friends, it was the latter.

While they were in no way stupid or bad looking, it was hard to see or even notice that when almost everyone else in their school was just much smarter, good looking, and definitely richer. The group was basically always at the bottom of the social structure. And the reason behind that was simple. They simply didn't belong there.

The school they had enrolled in, Granite Bay High School, was known to be the best of the best. They were supposed to be out of the reach of regular people like Nami and her friends. But they were so unlucky that they barely passed the entrance test.

In addition,they didn't enroll in that school out of their own volition. It was because of their parents' wish. The reason of respective parents may differ, but they all wanted their children to enroll there. For Nami's case specifically, it was because her parents thought she had the potential to be great. They thought that all she needed was just a push in the right way to unlock that potential. She tried arguing with them, but they persisted.

With things out of her control, Nami tried looking at the bright side. When she graduated, she would do so from a very famous school. It would be easier for her to apply for famous universities. But from the very first day, she already had her hope crushed by her classmates. Their mockery hurt her so bad to the point that she considered killing herself. But that thought vanished when she realized there were others like her. It didn't make the situation any better, but it helped keeping her spirit up.

The group consisted of: Lucas, probably the strongest among them all and also the natural leader of the group. Kiara, a video game fanatic who almost became an esport player if not for her parents interference. James, the smartest among them but still had different social status with the others. Liam, a shy guy who wanted to become a  writer. And lastly, there was Nami herself.

When the whole world felt like it was against them, they had each others' back.

For a whole year, Nami and her friends had to endure mockery and pranks thrown at them. Being thrown a bucket of water in the toilet. Shoved into trash cans. Nothing that would really hurt them physically, but it really humiliated them. Turning to the teacher for help was pointless too, as they didn't seem to care about anything bad done to the group.

Until one day, just as the second semester started, something happened to them that would change their life forever...

It was 9 AM in the morning. The corridors of Granite Bay High School was crowded with students going to their first class of the day. Among them, there was Nami, a girl wearing a blue jeans accompanied by a brown cardigan and white shirt. Her ginger hair was cut shoulder length.

Like a slippery eel, Nami made her way through the crowd while avoiding any form of contact with the other students. Not everyone in the school was evil or mean toward her and her friends, but it was better to just stay away from everyone and not risking it. She shifted her body around numerous time to fit into the empty space between students. When she finally arrived in front of her class, she let out a sigh of relief. She managed to start her day peacefully without having some student picking on her.

Nami walked into the class and saw her friends already sitting in the corner. However, not all of them were there. As she walked toward the group, she noticed that James was missing.

"Morning," Nami said as she sat down in her chair, putting her backpack on the small wooden platform under her chair.

"Morning. Nami, did you see James on your way here?" Lucius, who was sitting to her left, asked. He was wearing a red sport jacket with white shirt underneath. His short blonde hair was a mess, which was nothing new considering he said himself he rarely comb his hair.

"No, why?" Nami asked back as she turned to face Lucas, who had his eyebrows furrowed

"He said he was going to come early today to help me study. But I haven't seen him at all," Lucius explained as he leaned back onto his chair.

"Maybe he is stuck in traffic?" Kiara, who sat behind Nami commented without lifting her eyes from her phone. Her fingers jumped around on its surface, undoubtedly playing a game. Her long brunette hair was tied into a ponytail and she was wearing a shirt with a picture of a game character and some quote, accompanied by a long blue pants.

"Doubt it. He would message me if something like that happen."

"Well... Let's just hope he is safe..." Nami said with a shrug. Its not uncommon for one of them to late for class. They just assumed someone got hold of them and hope for the best. Usually they would appear before class started.

"He will be fine," Liam, who sat in front of Nami, suddenly commented. He was wearing a black jacket that went all the way up to his chin and to the tip of his fingers with long black pants. Like Lucius, his short black hair was a mess and his eyes underneath his glasses seemed to focus on the paper before him. His hand didn't stop writing on the paper as he said it.

Lucas finally relent and sat back down, still furrowing his eyebrows. Not long after, the school bell rang, and students started pouring into the class. Lucius started tapping onto his table with his fingers, watching closely all of the students walking in. Yet even after the teacher closed the door, there was still no sign of James. Lucius stood up from his chair and was about to rush out but Nami held his hand. Lucius turned his head toward her.

"You will get into trouble if you leave now," Nami warned him with a low voice.

Lucius leaned in toward Nami and whispered back, "But what if something bad happen to him? What if that Hank guy drag him off again?"

"Is there a problem, Lucius?"

Nami could feel her heart skipped a beat and froze in place when she heard the teacher's voice calling Lucas's name. Lucius, on the other hand, seemed unfazed and immediately straightened up his body. There was a brief silence before Lucius finally answered, "No sir. I was just straightening my leg."

"Then sit down. We are going to start class," the teacher said, a bit annoyed that his teaching was interrupted.

Lucius sat back down and the class started. 15 minutes passed by. Nami glanced at Lucius and found him now tapping his foot to the floor repeatedly. His eyes seemed to focus on the door instead of the teacher, hoping for James to walk in sooner or later. Until finally, he couldn't hold it in anymore. He was about to stand up again when the door suddenly opened.

A black student walked in. His black hair was in the style of buzz cut. His green buttoned shirt was soaked completely, while his long blue pants was only partly wet.

It was James. Nami and the others were horrified at the sight, while the other students laughed. The teacher stopped writing on the whiteboard and turned his attention to James. With an eyebrow raised, he patiently waited for James to explain himself.

"Sorry sir, I had a stomach problem earlier," James said shamefully while looking down.

"I can see that... Go sit down," the teacher dismissed him and continued writing, ignoring the fact his shirt was soaked to the brim.

"What the hell happened to you?" Lucius whispered to James as soon as he sat down behind him.

"The usual, you know how it is," James answered while putting down his backpack and pulling out his books.

"So its Hank... One of these days, I will bury my fist into that guy's smug face," Lucius said.

"You kept saying that, but none of us are going to do anything," Liam said.

"Shh, all of you! We can talk about this later!" Nami hussed them. The teacher already threw a glance at them a couple of times, and she was worried they would get into trouble. Luckily, the others stopped talking and they safely finished the first period.

It was finally break time. Everyone kept their question back and instead talked about some other casual stuff. In the cafeteria, the group sat down with their food in the corner. Away from prying eyes and ears of the other students. They could finally talk freely.

"So what did Hank do to you this time?" Lucius immediately asked.

"Well, I wasn't lying. My stomach hurt so I was in the toilet. Hank must have saw me go in. But I didn't pay much attention to it and went on with my business. The next thing I know, a bucket of water was splashed onto me," James explained before shoving food into his mouth.

"It is unfortunate, but there is nothing we could do, unless we want to get expelled," Liam said.

"Can't argue with that," Kiara said right after Liam.

"I know that... But goddamn it pisses me off," Lucius gritted his teeth, barely holding back his anger. It took all of his power will to not slam their desk with his fist. It was the first time for Nami to see him this angry. While it wasn't something new, it felt to her like Lucius was starting to reach his break point.

As for Nami herself, she was just numb of it all. Not only of how they were treated in the school, but also of her parents' words. She barely got sleep the night before thanks to her parents. They quote-on-quote gave her advice for hours on end. Of course, the whole thing went by faster since Nami just shut her brain off.

"Now, now. You said you and James was going to study for today's test," Nami reminded the two, hoping it would calm Lucius down. Thankfully, it did.

"A-Ah, yeah! That's right. We should finish our meal and return to class ASAP!" Lucius said.

"Luke, calm down. We still have a lot of time," James said.

"... Please do what James says. You look disgusting eating like that," Kiara commented after throwing a glance at James.

Liam leaned in and whispered to Nami, "Nice save."

"Thanks," she whispered back.

Later that night, Nami was having dinner with her family. Both of her parents and older brother joke around, livening up the mood. She, on the other hand, stayed silent. Her parents tried to make her participate more in their conversation, but she just answered with short sentences before going silent once more. She knew something bad was going to happen. It made her so anxious that she barely ate, and she instead played around with her food.

When her brother finished eating and left the dining room, her parents turned their focus to her. The time for her judgment had come.

"So Nami, do you have anything to tell us?" Nami's father suddenly asked. Her heart immediately skipped a beat. She knew exactly why his father suddenly ask him. She kept her head down, unable to bring herself to stare at them directly.

"I..." Nami struggled to even make out a sentence. It felt like something got her in the throat. She couldn't come up with any excuse. Even if she had any, no matter what she said, it would fall on deaf ears.

"We received your grade report. Can you tell us why there are a lot of red marks on it?" her mother asked.

Internally, Nami wanted to scream out a lot of things. She couldn't catch up with the lesson. She wasn't special like the other students. She just... didn't belong there. Any attempt of her asking the teacher to slow down would be met by mockeries and snickers. But she still had some self-control. She kept all of her emotion inside, and only shook her head as an answer.

"Honey, you know how hard it is to get into that school. And its not cheap either. Your father and I work very hard to make sure you can stay in school. Even your brother is working hard for you," her mother continued. She stared worryingly at her, but it wasn't a motherly gaze, rather a scolding one.

Her brother, William, was 8 years older than her and landed a good job even before he graduated from university. Not only that, he also graduated from Granite Bay High School as one of the top students. The only reason he was still in the house was because he hadn't find a good place to move out to.

Compared to him, she felt like an ant to a dragon. Minuscule and unworthy.

"I know..." was all Nami could mutter.

After an hour of her parents rambling on and on about how she should behave, they finally let Nami return to her room. When she arrived at her room, she immediately slump down on her bed. They talked about the same thing like the other times before, so she just shut her brain off the whole time. Still, it tire her.

Just as she was about to drift off, she heard someone knocking on her door. "Hey, sis, got some time?" she heard the voice of her brother asking from the other side.

"Yeah... But be quick..." Nami replied weakly while sitting up. She stretched out her body.

Her brother entered the room and walked up to her bed.

"They scolded you again, didn't they?" he asked worryingly. Nami nodded, and her brother let out a frustrated sigh.

"Sorry I can't help. I tried talking them out of it, but..."

"No, not, its okay bro. I know you tried..." she said understandingly. She remember the time when her brother got into an argument with her parent about Nami entering Granite Bay High School. The last thing she wanted was for her brother to be estranged by her parents.

"Look, I think I found a good place to move out to," her brother said as he sat down beside her.

Naomi's heart skipped a beat. The thought of living alone with her parents terrify her. Her fear didn't last long though as the next thing her brother said was: "If you want, you can move out with me. Let me talk to mom and dad, I will convince them."

"But... I don't want to be a bother to you..."

"Please. You are my little sister, and it breaks my heart seeing you like this. You need to be as far away from them. You can start new in another school. With my paycheck, I can pay your school fee. Though, you will be one year older than your classmates."

All of it sounded like heaven to her. Starting it all from the bottom. She wanted to say yes. Her heart wanted her to say yes. But she couldn't. She had to think things over. Leaving her current school meant she had to leave her friends. She just couldn't convince herself to do it.

"I... will think about it," she said, looking down at her fiddling fingers.

"Its okay, this is a big decision. I will give you some time. Sorry for disturbing. Night sis," her brother pat her in the head before he left the room.

Nami slumped back down onto the bed when she heard her phone on the table ringing. She groaned as she stood up to check her phone. It was a message from James to the group chat she and her friends made. They hadn't decide on a name yet though.

"Come early tomorrow! I got something really cool to show!"

The first one to reply was Kiara, "Its not another book right?"

"No! This is much more awesome than that!"

There was another reply, and this time it was from Lucius, "Just make sure you come early this time."

*"If its not cool, then you owe us ice creams," Nami typed.

"Deal. I'm confident this will blow your minds!"

Nami noticed that Liam was missing from the conversation even though it said 5 person read the message. In the beginning, Nami thought Liam was being distant with them. Like he didn't want to associate himself with the others. He rarely appeared in group chat and a lot of time kept to himself. But when something piqued his interest, he would be all over it. He even talk more than the others. So she and the others just brush it off as it being his thing.

Since there was no more replies, Nami decided to sleep. Of course, she couldn't help but wonder. What James wanted to show them?