"Theodora Paré?"

  "Ah, she's great!"

  "Such a lovely girl, isn't she?"

  "She's a real beauty..."

  "Bit of a wallflower, isn't she?"

  "But doesn't that just add to her allure?"

  "I'm sure all that money adds to the allure to?"

  "Money doesn't really matter if the person attached to it won't share."

  "But Theodora's a good girl, isn't she?"

  "She's the type of person you'd want to share your life with?"

  "Can you really say something like that when you don't know her?"

  "Details like that can be saved for later."

  -

  For most people, the first day of school tends to be the day you make friends, find your clique, and hope to survive.

  For Theodora Paré, school took on a different meaning entirely.

  The people who could have been friends suddenly all became enemies.

  Every clique seemed to decide that she wouldn't belong.

  And even the idea of surviving the first day, or even the first hour was now a pipe dream.

  Actually, she wished this was a dream. At least a nightmare would end at a particularly scary part. At least when her own nightmares were too much, she could force herself to awaken, catch her breath, and sneak into the kitchen to get herself a midnight helping of cotton candy ice cream.

  But she'd already reached the scariest part of this dream, and she wasn't suddenly in her bed, all the running made it hard to catch her breath, and the sweet flavor of cotton candy was so far away that it might as well have hopped aboard a plane and started heading towards the Bahamas.

  Her lungs were on fire, her uniform was starting to get stained with sweat, and she must have looked like a blur of gold and chestnut with how she was sprinting across those halls.

  Right now, her mind was a swirling mess. A pantheon of random thoughts interspliced with a simple command. Why is this happening to me? Keep running. Why did I grow my hair out so much? Keep running. Thank God for my middle school track coach. Keep running. No matter what popped into Theodora's mind, she knew that she needed to keep going as fast as she could, because the second she stopped, she knew she was going to be in a world of trouble.

  How much trouble, by chance?

  Let's just say that one little turn around would greet her with the sight of what must have been close to a hundred teenagers, all going fairly ballistic in an attempt to reach her. Some screaming her name, others being trampled underneath the designer shoes of other elites, some getting their ankles grabbed and pulled down so it'd be their turn to be trampled underneath.

  Was Theodora Paré a celebrity? Technically yes. Mostly by proxy. And not any more than anyone else at Apollo High's Primary Education Course would be. Pretty much every single kid within that course was connected in some way to greatness, whether their own or their parents. Theodora fit into the later.

  But this hoard of horror wasn't chasing after Theodora for her autograph or a selfie or even to ask her out on a date.

  Instead, every single student that turned every hall she ran down into a black hole where everything that was sucked in was lost forever had one singular goal in mind.

  To beat the ever-living crap out of her.

  "COULD YOU ALL PLEASE STOP!!!?" Theodora would cry out, with absolute horror in her voice. She'd slow down for a moment, only to widen her hazel eyes and speed up even more, her legs felt like they were on fire right now. Not only did her words fall onto deaf ears, but that hoard seemed to get faster.

  The five stages of grief were playing on repeat. There was no way this was happening. How could she be set up like this? Maybe if she gave them money, they'd leave her alone. Her own life was about to end in the worst way. Maybe it was okay to just slow down and-NOPE KEEP GOING!!!

  Over and over again it'd play in her mind. She was seriously sorry to her legs right now for working them overtime like this. She promised she'd put a compression patch on them and hug them and tell them that they were the best legs a girl could ever want, but right now she seriously needed them to keep her from getting dogpiled from the biggest swarm of boys and girls she'd ever laid her eyes on.

  As Theodora turned the corner down the hallway, she'd barely avoid crashing into the wall, bursting with adrenaline as she'd rush down the hallway, panting as she'd turn back and visibly wince as more than a dozen of her pursuers would slam into that same wall. Some ramming themselves side first, while others tripped up and imprinted their faces right into the wall.

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  Theodora wanted so desperately to run back and help those who just got taken out of this race in the worst way, but she knew that if she broke her stride for even a moment that she'd be figurately eaten alive. So, she'd look forward, closing her eyes as tears stained the corners. "I'M SORRY!!!" It was the only thing she could do for them right now.

  But the bouncing of steel against her collar would cause her eyes to open once more, her hand reaching up to set upon what kept pattering against her. Her breath would hitch as it caught sight of a whistle that was tied around her neck. Of course, she did remember the consequences of blowing it, but right now, it was the only option she could think of to help those who got caught up in her dash of destiny. A part of her told her that the consequences of blowing would have been too much to bear...though at the best, she could have gotten aid to those students, and at worst...she had no idea because the more she thought about the worst-case scenario, the more melodic it got. So, the best thing to do was just to shut her mind off like a bad sitcom and just commit to this action, consequences to her be damned, she was already about to get sucked into a living, breathing pit of quicksand.

  Even though she was barely able to keep her own breath in her lungs, Theodora would press her parched lips onto that whistle and blow as hard as she could. It wouldn't slow down the crowd, but soon, a drone with a TV screen on it would appear right next to her, hovering at a pace to keep up with her.

  Once the screen cleared away its static, it'd tune in to show a serene and beautiful lady sitting at her office table, one leg draped over the other, sipping a cup of tea without noticing that she was live. With professional business attire, a clear line of authority was drawn, but her golden ascot also gave her a sense of style, and even grace, a calm and collected smile on her face.

  After a second, she'd notice that she was on screen, she wouldn't break her stride at all, pushing some of her aureate blonde bangs from her face as the rest of locks draped over her front shoulder. Despite the situation that Theodora found herself in, the ladies' gilded eyes gave an apathetic glance in her direction, and her voice held the same amount of indifference, though no less alluring.

  "Have you decided to surrender, Miss Paré?"

  "Principal Delphi!" Theodora would almost stumble before realigning her feet, so she didn't end up going face first into the floor. "Some of the students have been getting hurt!"

  "Ah..." The authority figure would comment as if she'd been told about the weather. "Did you fight back?"

  "N-No!" Theodora would close her eyes for a brief moment before looking forward, making another sharp turn into another hallway, followed by another crashing sound behind her that made her wince. "I'm not fighting anyone! Can you please send some nurses to help the students who keep getting hurt!?"

  Principal Delphi would casually sip her tea, not even blinking, though her smile would give way to a bit of a frown. "If you're not fighting, does that mean you're surrendering?" She'd set down her cup onto a plate before resting her fist to cheek. "You do know it was made quite clear that you're not supposed to blow that whistle until-"

  "I KNOW!!!" Theodora already felt like crap for raising her voice like that, wincing for a moment as her hands clenched tight, her fingers almost slipping against the sweat on her palm. "I know..." Her words would be interspliced with hard panting as she tried to keep up her pace but felt herself slipping more and more. "Please...please...I don't want any of them to get hurt..."

  "It'd be to your benefit if more of them retained injuries."

  "I..." Maybe the Principal was correct, but that didn't make her feel any better. Why should it? She was the reason that this was all happening. She was the reason that people were getting hurt. "Please..." Her eyes felt heavier. Her feet were on fire. Her legs were close to cramping. Her lungs were on their last puff. "Please...help them..."

  A few more huffs would follow as her vision almost went black...

  "Very well...if you insist."

  Theodora would almost instantly perk up, her cheeks reddening with a mixture of exhaustion and joy. "Y-You mean it!?"

  "Of course." The principal's expression would remain fairly neutral, all things considered. She didn't seem annoyed by the prospect or bothered in the slightest. "We wouldn't want you to be distracted while you're running now, would we?"

  Theodora wished she had a moment to even wipe her brow, but right now her legs were pretty much on autopilot. A dry gulp would follow. "Th-That would be really, really bad..."

  "You sure? I've heard marriage is a wonderful thing."

  Theodora would go pale once more, while the principal would correct herself. "Maybe not when it's taken by force..."

  Even if it was clear that the principal's reasoning was an entire stratosphere away from Theodora's reasoning, she was still happy. It actually felt like a weight that was tied around her ankles had been severed and she'd be able to pick up the pace a little more. She felt like she could run forever now. She felt like she could focus just a little more on her own situation now that she knew that the others were being taken care of.

  So...maybe it wouldn't hurt to take a small peak back.

  Except that now the hoard was literally right behind her. So close that she could see the whites of their eyes, the sweat of their brows, and the leftover crackers that hadn't been brushed from their teeth.

  Theodora would let out a scream that'd make a banshee retire. Somehow, the adrenaline that had almost run empty had hit a second wind, a phoenix-like renewal of the fight or flight response that would cause her to zoom forward like she had a rocket attached to her skirt, propelling her right towards a wall.

  "Ah, it looks like you're about to cra-" Theodora's ears would pop as she left the ground with a leap, putting her left foot to the wall, followed by her right, through the sheer willpower that could only come from hysteric strength, managed to literally run on the walls for about two entire seconds. Which was two seconds more than the average girl her age could do. Somehow, she'd manage to hop back to floor-sweet-floor with only a small stumble and a tiny loss of her speed.

  As for the drone. Well...the reason why Principal Delphi never finished her sentence was because it crashed right into the wall, exploding with an array of colorful sparks.

  "I'M SORRY!!!" Theodora would call out from across the hall. "I'LL PAY FOR THE DAMAGE!!!" Though she'd need to focus more on the damage to herself rather than to a drone...but it seemed like she'd go right back into that cycle. Run, question her life choices, run, wonder what she did to deserve this, run, question whether to stop for the sake of others, run, get another burst of speed, run, feel like she was about to die, and then run some more.

  But Theodora had to keep running...she couldn't allow herself to just become a pawn in whatever sick game her mother was playing with her.

  And even with her entire body begging, screaming, demanding, and urging her to stop, Theodora would continue to run with every single once of strength she could muster out of her own body.

  "I'M SORRY EVERYONE!!! I DON'T WANT TO GET MARRIED!!!"