Atdonus High

Episode 21: The Year That Ended

Middle of Who-Knows-Where

Who-Knows-When

Outside of Atdonus Highschool

8:28am, Pandora was sweeping the garden of the orphanage.

She gave out a sigh, her breath turning into mist. She looked at it and continued sweeping. She wore warm clothing, with a thick scarf and a proper hat instead of her beret. She was clearing the ground of the leaves, getting the field ready for the kids to play after it snowed.

Therese, her new mother, walked up to her. Pandora saw her and told her, “Shouldn’t you go back in?”

“Why?”

“Because you’re old?”

Therese playfully smacked Pandora. “I’m not that old.”

Pandora continued sweeping the grounds in silence, not speaking a word. Therese pulled something out of her pocket and smiled, “Well, I think you’ll like what I have here.”

Pandora looked at the object in Therese’s hand. It was still in alright condition, only slightly crumpled. Pandora looked closer and asked her, “Is it New Years money?”

Therese laughed out loud. “No, no...”

Therese got closer to Pandora and opened the letter. “This is a letter from the school, the one you spent a week at. You really liked it, so I wonder if you’ll want to go back?”

Pandora looked at the letter and tried reading the content, but gave up due to the small text and her shivering hand. Pandora folded the letter and slid it into her pocket. She asked Therese, “Will you even have the money to send me to school?”

The old lady laughed. “Thankfully for us, the mayor understood our situation, so the basic school fees is subsidised.”

“That’s funnily convenient.”

“So are you going back?”

“Probably.”

Therese whispered into her ear, “Did someone catch your fancy when you were there?”

“No.” Pandora stated flatly.

She tried to keep a cool composure, not letting her emotions show on her face. Internally, she was screaming and panicking. The question was just too sudden, and Pandora had not prepared for it.

“Well, we better get you ready then.” Thereses said, stretching. “Go inside, we have hot chocolate.”

“I don’t like your hot chocolate. It’s stupidly sweet.” Pandora replied.

“I’ll wait for 12pm then.” Therese said, walking off.

Pandora swept for a little more, enjoying the weather. Her nose and cheeks were red and freezing, but it mattered not. It was the last day of the year, and what weather forecasts predicted to be the coldest period of the year. Pandora eventually dropped the broom and went back to the orphanage, the sudden change in temperature shocking her for a moment.

8:49am, Pandora entered the orphanage.

“Settle down, settle down.” Came a cheerful voice.

The one speaking was a young man, wearing an apron. He had short brown hair, and brown eyes. He usually acted friendly around people, Pandora did not recall ever having seen him get mad, even once. He wore a cheerful expression, and was handing out the hot chocolate to the orphans. Pandora walked in, hanging her coat on the coat rack, trying to go by unnoticed.

“Pan!” One of the kids shouted.

The kid was seven years old, a cheerful little girl that had entered not too long ago. She saw Pandora like a big sister, and even came up with a nickname for her.

“What is it?” Pandora asked her.

“Hot choc!”

“No.”

Pandora walked off, the girl standing there, confused. The guy handed the child a hot chocolate. “Here, here’s one for you.”

“Why Pan no?” The girl asked.

“Hm...?” The guy mused, glancing at Pandora. “Big sister over there doesn’t like sweet things, so she doesn’t drink this.”

“Okay!”

The guy finished handing out the hot chocolate and took care of the kids before helping them with going to sleep. The children, especially during the cold seasons, tend to get tired quicker. The guy then went around to help around the orphanage. Therese was able to relax because of him, he was good with his job.

8:56am, Pandora sat on her bed.

She pulled out the letter to read, wondering whether there was anything remotely important stated inside.

8:47am, Azel was seated in his living room.

“Yeah, your school opened again.” His mother said.

Azel faced the television. They had a programme on for the last day of the year, it was barely interesting Azel, but since his mother liked it, he watched with her. Azel was at the side of the couch, elbow on the armrest and chin on his fist. His mother sat on the floor for some odd reason, maybe the habits of living in the slums never left her. Instead of watching the television show she had dragged Azel to watch, she looked and read through a letter delivered through the mail early that morning.

“It say here it’s going to start soon!” She told Azel. “Soon, soon I tell you.”

She was making fun of Azel again. Normally, for anyone else, they would have retorted at that point, but since Azel was unable to do that, he just sat there and stared at the television, waiting for his mother to finish her speech.

“Very soon, undoubtedly soon, eminently soon, right upon us!” She said, giggling to herself.

Azel wanted to sigh, but thought it would be rude towards his mother. She had recently been going to a few classes, she thought she should at least learn a few things. She had learnt a few new words which were not used in the slums, so she was trying her best to use everything she knew, even if they were wrong. At least she was trying her best. Azel continued to wait patiently for her to get to the point. The fact that the school was reopening was barely noteworthy, it was expected, actually.

“Oh yeah, it’ll be your last year, no?” His mother asked. “Then you’ll be in college afterwards.”

Since Azel’s mother wasn’t looking at him, he did not even bother to nod. The television went into advertisement, and his mother was still not paying attention.

9:01am, Azel’s father walked down the stairs, yawning.

“Good morning!” Azel’s mother greeted.

“Mor...ning...” He said, half yawning.

“You woke up quite late today.”

“Yeah, there’s no work today though.”

Azel’s mother rocked on the floor where she sat. Azel’s father sat beside Azel and asked, “May, why are you seated on the floor?”

“Can’t I?” Azel’s mother asked.

His mother, May, continued sitting on the ground, undisturbed. Azel’s father, the one who adopted him, Sven, gave up on trying to convince her otherwise. Sven looked at the television screen, where it had a corny joke session.

‘What’s the similarity of strawberries and my music playlist’ one man had started the joke.

‘What? Bad tastes?’ Followed by a laugh track, the two men standing there, one smiling, the one who started the joke frowning.

‘It’s my jam.’

Azel felt himself sigh at how bad the joke was. His father looked at Azel, asking, “Why are you watching this?”

Azel pointed at his mother, enough of an explanation if Sven had ever heard one. He asked May, “Why are you watching this show?”

“I don’t know, but it looks nice. Not sure what the jokes mean though.” She said happily, still reading the letter. “Also, I don’t know many of these words.”

She handed it over to Sven. Azel say there, thinking about why they couldn’t just hand him the letter. Sure, he couldn’t speak, but at least he could read and write. He waited longer, tuning out the jokes from the television.

“It says the school will resume on the second month of the next year.” Sven summarised. “And some other stuff that I think it’s better for you to read.”

Azel reached out and tried to grab the paper, but his father pulled it out of range. He gave Azel a smile and said, let’s have breakfast first, alright?”

Azel shook his head.

“We already ate!” May said.

“What?” Sven asked, shocked. “It’s so early, what did you eat?”

“What was it called again?” May tried to think. “Azel, help me think.”

Azel pointed to himself and mimicked a stir fry action. He then put one hand with the palm faced up, put his other hand on there for a moment before pulling away and clapping his hand.

“A sandwich? And you cooked it?” Sven asked, confused.

“A chicken sandwich!” May said. “Thanks Zel!”

Azel disliked having a nickname. His name was easy to pronounce, it was just two syllables, there was no need to shorten it to one. His father sighed and handed the letter to Azel. May looked back at Azel and asked, “Are you sure you want to go back?”

Azel nodded.

“We could find a way to get you into a college, you know?” His mother recommended. “I think it’s possible.”

It was not possible. For one, Azel was underaged. For second, hardly any school would accept someone like him, with his background and past.

He read through the letter, was about to reach the halfway point when his mother rapidly tapped his knee. His father had gone to make himself a sandwich. May pointed at the screen and asked Azel, “What does the joke the other side mean?”

Azel gave her a questioning look.

“One guy said ‘what did the hero cow say to the villain cow?’. Then the other guy says, ‘you’re beefed?’. Then the first guy said, ‘See you on the other side.’”

Azel felt pain on that pun. It was a play on words, and even if he could, he would not bother trying to explain it. He simply shook his head and continued reading the letter. When he was done, he put it on the coffee table and stood up.

“Where are you going?” May asked him.

Azel pointed up, to where the rough vicinity of his room was. He went back up and pulled out his old school uniform. He sighed and put it aside, there was no longer any need for it.

7:27am, Yuki was fast asleep.

“Yuki!” His mother yelled.

Yuki sat up in his bed, surprised, his heart racing. He shouted back, “I thought I was being attacked!”

His mother opened the door, an apologetic smile on her face. “Well, how else would you wake up?”

“Shake me or something, I don’t know.” Yuki said, getting out of bed. “What’s so urgent? It’s the last day of the year, I was planning on sleeping until twelve.”

“We got mail!” She told him.

Yuki walked up to his mother and held the letter in his hand. He looked at it and threw it on his bed, saying, “I’ll read it later.”

Yuki yawned and stretched as he went down the stairs to his house. His father was already there, reading the papers and sipping coffee. Yuki asked him, “Do you not have work?”

“It’s the last day of the year, who works?” His father replied.

“True.” Yuki nodded, pouring himself a coffee.

Yuki’s mother had also gone down the stairs, and was starting on breakfast. Yuki looked at his father and asked, “So... are you going to retire soon?”

“Why would I?”

“I can support the family anyways.”

“Not when you’re in school.”

“I’ll manage.”

“Tough talk.”

They had a slight stare down before they both smiled and laughed. Yuki chugged the rest of his coffee and excused himself, returning to his room. On the way up the stairs, he could hear his father shout, “How about you retire and be a normal student?”

Yuki stuck out his tongue. “Don’t wanna!”

He walked back to his room and closed the door. Yuki pulled out his phone and dialled a number. He was unsure, but he had a feeling she would pick up.

“H-Hello...?” Someone picked up.

“Hey Eva, I got the letter to return to Atdonus Highschool, did you also receive one?” Yuki asked.

“Yes...”

“So, will you be returning?”

There was a pause. “My mom enrolled me to another school... after our school closed...”

“That’s too bad.” Yuki tried to raise the spirit. “I guess we can’t be in the same class then.”

“Yeah...” Eva said.

Her voice was so quiet, so nervous. “Yeah, it would be nice...”

“Yeah, let’s hang out some time after school.” Yuki suggested. “We can talk about random stuff.”

“Okay...”

Yuki hung up, there was nothing else he needed to talk about. The school was opening again. He had continued his writing after Scarlet had basically threatened him, so that was his main focus, really. He was still doing quite well, no one but Scarlet, Eva and his parents know of his pen name.

He laid down in bed, his eyes about to close.

8:12am, Yuki was fast asleep.

“Yuki!” His mother shouted.

He sat up.

“I told you not to do that!” He shouted, his heart racing.

“Don’t shout at your mother!” His father joined in.

“Don’t shout! It’s too loud!” Yuki shouted back.

“You’re shouting too!” His father shouted from the living room.

“I thought you were deaf, old man!” Yuki exited his room, passing his mother and to the stairs.

“Well, I’m not, so stop shouting!”

“IS THIS BETTER?!” Yuki shouted down the stairs.

8:15am, their neighbours knocked on their door.

Atdonus Highschool, after what had happened previously, had made a few changes as stated in the letter, so please pay attention.

1. Regarding the dorm system: Most students are no longer able to stay in dorms, and will have to commute to and fro their homes by their own transportation. Exceptions include those of underprivileged families without homes, those living far away, exchange students and those with special needs.

2. Regarding the school compound: there will still be a cafeteria, the second cafeteria will be closed to construct a different facility. There will be increased numbers of classroom as the school allows more students into the school. The garden, after being burnt by the fire, has been rebuilt. The previously burnt building shall serve as the classroom for the new first years. The courtyard has been expanded for certain events, and/or sports. The previous cafeteria will be rebuilt as an indoor sports hall equipped with a swimming pool, gym, basketball court and much more. All other stores like cafes, grocery stores and the likes, seeing as students are no longer required to live on school compound, are to be closed. More information will given about these stores in the future.

3. Regarding the previously allocated allowance for students: Students will no longer receive a monthly allowance from the school, and prices for school fees will be deducted accordingly. Students are reminded that they should keep their money safe in their pockets.

4. Regarding the security: There is still doubt regarding the injuring and fire that had occured in the school. There will be a stricter enforcement in the school rules. The walls of the school has been torn down to be replaced with a fence as some members of public have commented that it ‘looked too much like a prison’.

5. Regarding the uniform: A new uniform will be introduced. Symbolising the change in the school system. Students are to stick strictly to the dress code. Dress code includes the following few points. Headwear, piercings and non lethal accessories are allowed, no weapons are to be brought into school, the uniform may be altered slightly if the student so wishes to. The new uniform will be sent to every house within a week of them enrolling into the school.

6. Regarding personnel: Most of our teacher have remained with the school and are eager to start the next semester. However, we have lost quite a few teachers, and are currently just short of the appropriate number of personnel. If anyone reading would like to apply for a position, please put together a portfolio and call the number in the school website or at the back of this letter.

7. Regarding club activities: Unlike previously, club activities are to be introduced. Every club is to have an advisor that must be a teacher. Every teacher may only be advisor to a single club until the club disbands and/or runs out of members. Club activities will be initiated by the students and eventually approved by the school. Criteria to start a club includes the following. At least five students, with the permission of one teacher, a detailed plan and name for the club and how it will benefit the school and/or community. Students are encouraged to take part in these club activities. Third years are discouraged to participate actively as it will be their last year and they should be focusing on their studies.

8. Regarding certain events: Atdonus Highschool will hold events that may involve the community and/or parents. Should these events cause annoyance, we shall withdraw immediately. For activities that may seem inappropriate or impossible to be held in the community, please do send an email to the Principal via the address in the school website or back of this letter.

9. Regarding certain students: Atdonus Highschool prides ourselves in having the most eccentric and unique individuals. However, after the previous students have caused the closure of the school for the year, we have taken certain measures to ensure the safety of our students and the maintenance of our facilities.

10. Regarding the curriculum: Classes will be as per normal. More details will be given as the school day approaches. Classes will be sorted between the enrolled students. However, tentatively, we are considering shortening the school day as students are no longer living in the school. Gym classes and specialised classes will be introduced.

11. Regarding specialised classes: These classes are for those who are interested in a certain field if the school offers it. These classes will be part of their daily curriculum.

Atdonus Highschool has become somewhat of a normal functioning highschool. However, there are still twists that have yet to be revealed, twists that have yet to be decided. Even if the school became normal, the students may not. With the change of the system, the students return to school, so...

Stay tuned.