I woke up later than I meant to. The light coming through the window felt too clean, like it didn't belong to a school dorm.
I sat up and the first thing I noticed was the other bed.
Empty.
I stared at it for a second, then longer than that. The sheets were still messy, but Simon's bag was gone.
"Oh," I muttered. "Guess he left early."
People wake up at different times. He probably had something he wanted to check out.
Julian was already awake, sitting on his bed scrolling through his phone like he was trying to kill time instead of use it.
Francis was leaning against the wall near the window, arms crossed, looking outside like he always did. Calm. Not bored. Just there.
"So," Julian said, not looking up. "Holiday, right?"
"Feels like one," I said.
"No classes today," he continued. "No alarms. No one telling us where to go."
Francis nodded. "Orientation day without the orientation."
Julian laughed. "This school is weird."
We didn't rush. No reason to. We got dressed slowly, talked about nothing important, then left the dorm when we felt like it.
Outside, the campus felt alive but not loud. Students walked around in small groups or alone. Some looked excited. Some looked like they already regretted something.
We passed a few buildings. Sports facilities.
Study halls. A cafeteria that looked way too clean to be trusted.
"Feels like everyone's pretending they know what they're doing," Julian said.
"Most people are," Francis replied. "That's how systems work."
We ended up near a public terminal after a while. A few students were crowded around it, tapping screens, arguing quietly.
"What's that," Julian asked.
"Schedules," someone said without turning around. "You make your own."
Julian leaned in. "Like fully?"
"Pick your classes. Times. Gaps. Whatever's still open."
I looked at the screen. A grid filled it. Course names. Time blocks. Some empty. Some already gone.
"So if you wait," Julian said, "you get stuck with leftovers."
"Yeah."
Julian laughed. "That's messed up."
Francis stared at the screen longer than any of us. "It's efficient."
Julian looked at him. "That's not comforting."
Francis smiled a little. "It's honest."
People around us were already taking it seriously. Whispering about which classes filled fast. Which ones were easy. Which ones sounded dangerous.
Julian stepped back. "I'm not doing this today."
"Same," I said.
Francis shrugged. "Random works too."
Julian raised an eyebrow. "You'd let a system decide your life?"
"I'd let other people fight over control first," Francis said.
We walked away without touching the terminal. It felt like something had started the moment we left. Not classes. Not rules. Choices.
That's when a girl stepped into our path.
She looked normal. Student uniform. Clipboard in hand.
"Hey," she said. "Casino registration is open."
She handed us a brochure like it was nothing.
"Sign up bonus is five hundred points," she added casually. "First day only."
Julian blinked. "Five hundred?"
"Yep."
"What's the catch."
She smiled. "There's always one."
She walked off before we could ask more.
Julian flipped the brochure around. "Five hundred points is not small."
"It's not," Francis agreed.
I folded the paper and stuck it in my pocket. "Not today."
Julian nodded. "Tomorrow maybe."
We kept walking.
It still felt like a holiday. Like the calm before something real started. No one was forcing us. No one was guiding us. We were just moving through it, one choice at a time.
And somehow that made it worse.