A train was on a bridge far above a forest that was showing early signs of autumn. The leaves were slowly changing from green to orange and red, while others were falling onto the ground below. The sky was cloudy and dull like the bronze and gray train. The train had very few people in it, giving everyone room to themselves. They were mostly spread out, with a couple of groups between the passenger carriages, while others were by themselves.
In the middle carriage, near the middle, were two nineteen-year-olds sitting together. The one on the left was blonde with a round, sharp face with blue piercing eyes. He had white, warm skin and was quite tall. He was leaning over slightly, peeking at the phone of the guy next to him. This was Keith.
The one next to Keith was of an average height with short brown hair, with calmer features and dark brown eyes. His skin was slightly paler than Keith's. This was Dirin, and he was actively tilting his phone away from Keith with furrowed brows and an annoyed expression. "Stop peaking, cheater."
Keith immediately put his eyes back on his own phone as he tried to play it off. "I wasn't peaking. Are you just mad you're losing?" He conveniently moved his screen and hit Dirin's character in-game through a wall.
"Explain what you just did step-by-step, if you aren't cheating, then? Because there is absolutely no way you pulled that off without cheating." Dirin persisted in his accusations against his friend as he paused the game to turn his head to Keith.
"Gut feeling. You of all people should know how much it helps, right?" Keith said, trying to suppress his growing smirk.
Dirin's eyes started to twitch, and as he was about to speak, the brakes on the train started to bring the speed down. Keith used the opportunity that was granted to him to change the subject. "Dirin, you got-"
"I don't want to."
"Good thing it wasn't a question. Close your eyes." Keith didn't even try to hide his grin at this point.
Dirin looked at him with a deadpan expression before he reluctantly closed his eyes. "How many features?"
"Four. Not including the gender of clothes, but you still have to guess those. Only the first person." The train was now slowly entering the next station, which was filled with people. Keith's eyes glanced at all entrances repeatedly, not wanting to miss the first person to enter.
Dirin held back a groan of annoyance as he fell deep into thought. "Male. Same blue blazer with a dark black shirt, just like us, except they have beige pants on. For the four features, he has his student badge slightly tilted on his left shoulder, a broad build... he has a relaxed demeanor, and to top it all off, he's bald."
Keith kept glancing at all entrances to their carriage before landing on the first person to walk in. He chuckled a bit as he got all the details. "You got the badge right with the tilt and placement. But it was a girl who's slimmer and more feminine instead of built. She's the opposite of bald. Her hair reaches her lower back. Though she was relaxed."
"Was relaxed?" Dirin repeated back to him.
"Yeah. Now she is glaring at me."
"Stop looking then. You're going to come off as a creep. Probably too late though." Dirin didn't hold back his smile as Keith turned his attention to his phone, even though it was off. "I hope it starts a rumor."
"I hope you get caught up in the rumor."
Keith sneered as he turned his phone on and started to play a game, trying to keep his mind off the constant glare he was feeling from the girl.
The train went on smoothly towards its next destination, which was the academy that everyone on the train was going to. The students and staff were all marked with a white star badge that they had to have on their person or belongings in order to enter the academy. Dirin's was on his shoulder while Keith had it in his pocket with a single point sticking out.
After the previous stop, the passenger carriage got more crowded, causing the seats to be cramped and leaving some people standing up. Dirin and Keith didn't say anything to each other as they were both more interested in listening to other people's conversations and occasionally glancing at each other when they heard something weird or checking up to see if they heard the same thing.
Dirin was listening to a conversation between a mixed group of five people talking about the academy.
"Wait. How long do we get to stay there again?" the girl on the edge asked.
A man who was taller than almost everyone there looked down at her. "The website said till Rank Two. So, it depends on how much you're studying and practicing."
A shorter boy in the middle grinned as he heard that and spoke up. "Yep! And I plan on taking full advantage of that and leech off them as long as I can."
"You have to attend three classes a day or spend two hours training under a supervisor." The taller one replied.
"Wait!" The girl on the edge stopped the conversation again. "Does that mean I can stay there as long as I want or leave whenever I want?"
"Unless you reach Rank Two, then yeah... they prefer it if you stay there longer." The taller one answered again.
"I wonder if the dorms are coed." The shorter boy wondered out loud.
Dirin and Keith looked at each other. "There are dorms?" Dirin whispered.
"I should probably tell the landlord we aren't renting the apartment, huh?" Keith opened his messages and scrolled to find a contact.
"Let's check and see how much the dorms cost first. Maybe we can get a good deal?" Dirin said. They both nodded and started to listen to different conversations again.
As the train kept going, eventually, a huge building came into view as the forest cleared. Multiple lakes, paved paths, and roads ran through the city. Many big buildings and apartment complexes were scattered around. "Looks like we arrived. I wonder where the campus is." Keith wondered out loud.
"It's near the center of the city. It has a pretty big amount of land dedicated to it, from what the article online said about it, at least." Dirin commented as he also stared out the window, trying to see the campus, but the buildings blocked the view.
The train eventually led into a station outside the town, where everyone got off while some others got on afterwards. When Dirin got off, he took a quick look around the station before noticing that Keith wasn't near him. Turning his attention back to the train, he saw Keith barely making it out before the doors shut on him, mumbling about people being spiteful. "You good?"
"That girl was more aggravated than I thought," Keith mumbled under his breath. "I'm pretty confident she orchestrated for me not to get off. People kept pushing me down, my shoelaces were untied, and people kept bumping into me."
"Sounds too elaborate for it to be wasted on you, so I don't believe it. Let's go." Dirin didn't wait for Keith as he went towards the exit to the station, following the crowd with the student badges.