I take a deep breath and walk out. I feel as though I have been taking a lot of deep breaths today. At least I know that I am good at breathing. Stop it, I have a lot of things that I am good at. I have a lot to offer! I’m sure that the system is going to validate me.

  I walk forward, looking at all of the smiling faces below. I see my parents in the front, ready to welcome me into the world of being an adult. Okay System, show me some love.

  I wait, watching the wall with everyone else. One flash. Two flashes. Three, four five… How many times is it going to flash. Is the system thinking? Am I so talented that it must go through multiple good classes before settling on one? Words blink and flash a few times before everything stops. While all of this is happening, I feel my egg shaking in my bag. I know that my family hunted down a rare egg for me, hoping I get something unique. Why is it hatching before the announcement of my class? That isn’t something that is supposed to happen!

  My egg shakes more violently so I pull it out of the egg sling and hold it against my chest. Am I supposed to stop it from hatching? After a particularly violent shake from the egg, it hatches. Out comes a small baby lizard. It is such a tiny little thing. Its coloration is also beautiful. It has deep ocean blue scales, and a silver stomach. How precious. But what class is a lizard supposed to help with?

  After the egg’s hatching I go back to watching the System display. I count the seconds with bated breath. One second, two… Then it happens! I am assigned my Class!

  “Bard!”. Wait, bard? And why is there an exclamation point. Is it because it is such a shocking announcement? Am I supposed to be a bard? I hear a collective gasp in the room. A bard is a rare class, but not in a good way. Everyone looks down on bards. They are the butt of too many jokes to count. Some say it is better to be a court jester because then you at least get to eat good food.

  I look down at my parents and see them turn their faces away in shame. Oh. Is this the extent of their love? Will they no longer love a commoner?

  I begin to walk down the stairs and the announcer stops me. “I’m sorry, no commoners are allowed to come down and join us.”

  “Mom? Dad?” I ask.

  “You are no daughter of ours.” My Father spits and guides my mother away. Seeing them abandoning me like that broke my heart.

  “Lyra the Bard. Please leave before you are escorted out. Keep some of your dignity.”

  I turn my face away from the nobles and walk into the power room. I lean down to grab my bag and begin to hiccup, trying to hold back the tears. In all the futures I imagined, I never imagined myself becoming a Commoner.

  I look at the bag in my hands and consider just leaving it behind. What use does a bard have for fancy things. Oh. I don’t need fancy things. I need the money that will come from selling fancy things.

  I am about to strip off my dress and change into my riding clothes when someone comes into the room.

  “I’m sorry, but you can no longer use this power room.” They look at the bag in my hands and I see sympathy cross their face. “Leave… No. Take your belongings and get out.”

  I walk out of the room and see a familiar face looking over at me. It was the kind server that brought me sparkling cider.

  “I am here to escort you out of the servants exit.”

  I nod to him, feeling a coldness seeping into my limbs. My emotions are going numb. I can’t seem to feel anything anymore. I struggle to move my feet, but somehow, I keep moving forwards.

  The server seems to see that I might be about to collapse. He quickly takes my arm and speed walks with me into the kitchen.

  “Oh, you poor dear!” I hear a matronly woman say to me and see a large and kind looking woman hurrying towards me. “Please, take this food.” She says, bundling some food up for me and placing it in a basket. She moved so fast I didn’t even get to see what the food was! Or maybe I couldn’t see it because they had already prepared it the moment they heard someone become a Commoner. I also see them put a water flask in the basket for me along with the food. They pause for a moment before slipping a bottle of sparkling cider into the basket for me.

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  I give her an inquisitive look. She gives a small, gentle smile before saying, “Everyone deserves to celebrate receiving their Class.”

  Once she bundles everything together for me, she gives me a small hug and pushes me towards a door.

  The server leads me through the door and down a dark, poorly lit hallway. It is a bit of a tight squeeze with the bag that I am holding, but it would be worse if I was wearing a big fluffy dress with a cage beneath it.

  The hallway takes a couple of turns before I see a door. I feel air coming through the door and know that this was the door to the outside.

  “Thank you.” I tell him. “For the kindness that you showed me tonight.” He takes my hand, kisses it gently.

  “You are welcome. Now you really need to get off the property unless you want to spend the night in jail for trespassing. You know that is illegal for Commoners to be in the Noble District without a work permit.”

  I nod to him and do my best to run in heals. Ugh, why are heals so hard to move around in. How long do I have? Do I need to remove my shoes to run?

  I keep running, the hot tears running down my face. I don’t even know where to go. I have only ever been in the Noble District. I don’t even think that I know how to leave the grounds.

  My tears won’t stop falling, hot tears dripping down and hit exposed skin, leaving water trails when they run off me. If I had gotten a different commoner Class, would they have hired me to work for one of the noble families? There are families that owe my family. That might have been enough to get me employed. But who employes a bard? Don’t they have to wander around on their own, making money however they can? I don’t even have a lute or lyre that I can play to make money.

  I keep running through the night, running from the life that is leaving me behind, running from the family that abandoned me. The new friendships I thought I was going to have. A possible romance that could have started. I run away from everything that I have ever known.

  I run throughout the night, tripping and falling multiple times. I wasn’t sure how vindictive people are. I don’t know if people will put me in jail from just being in the Noble District. Where am I supposed to go? Why did this happen?

   a voice in my head says.

  ‘Am I hearing voices now?’ I think to myself.

   the System says, sounding offended.

  ‘Oh. I am sorry. I did not know that the System talks to people like this’. I say. I don’t know if I have completely lost it, or if this really is the System. Either way, I am no longer so alone. I have the system and the little lizard on the black of my neck, hiding behind my hair.

   It says simply.

  ‘Thank you. Do you speak to everyone like this?’ I ask, curious.

   It says in response. Ah. I am crazy. None of this makes any sense.

  I wait for the System, seeing if it was reading my mind right now. After waiting for a while I realize that it is not going to respond. Okay, I haven’t heard of the System behaving this way. Does this have something to do with this Class I was assigned and the strange behavior of the System. Was everything that happened just a glitch?

  I keep running forward, having nothing else to go on, so why not follow the voice in my head, whether it is my own or not. Distracted by my thoughts I trip and fall, tumbling a little bit. The lizard on the back of my neck lets out a little lizard type squeak. It’s cute but aren’t they supposed to be able to talk as soon as they hatch?

  I decide to think that it is cute and not just another way everything is going wrong. I pull myself up and brush myself off, wondering how much dirt is on my dress, or if there is any blood. It will be harder to sell this dress the worse it looks.

   The voice says. I run forward until I see a branching path.

  I take a left and see that I am headed down a path that is darker than the path to the right. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I’m going to guess good as Nobles like everything well lit. Leaning into that thought I keep running.

  ‘How much further do I have to go?’ I ask the System. Screw if I feel being crazy. Thinking that this is really the System talking to me will help me pull through, I’m sure. Okay, not sure but it is the best I have.

   the System tells me.

  ‘I suppose that you are right.’ I think to it. ‘But I am going to walk for a few minutes before I run again. I have never been this active in my life. Aside from the dance lessons, but this is way different from dancing.’

  Feeling a bit hungry I reach into the basket that I am holding. It’s difficult to do as I’m holding my bag in my other hand. I barely manage to rip off a small piece of what feels like bread, and stuff it into my mouth. It tastes so good I want to cry. This might be the last time that I get good bread.

  I swallow the bread then keep moving. The way that everyone looked at me gives me the energy to keep moving forwards.

  As I move forward the lights become worse quality. Worse quality means that the lights are cheaper to maintain. I must be getting close. Well, anything is closer to where I started. Each step is getting closer.

   the System says to me.

  I take a right at a small branching path. I would stop to look if there were any signs saying where I am going, but that would take too much time. I just hope this is right.

  It feels like I have barely gone this way when I hear .

  Continuing to listen to the System I run forward. I get to the end of nicer paved roads and hit a dirt path. Feeling like this was a good sign I run forward more. After a few more minutes I see it. A sign. I am out of the Noble District.