The Guild members all drained out of the hallway into their rooms, leaving Calista alone. The doors now had ‘TRAINING IN PROGRESS’ flashing across them. She pondered Belinda Adenifi’s advice as she approached the orange Kappa door, contemplating it. Belinda was right; accepting Harrison’s offer would tank her Reputation more than it already had. But would any other Guild consider accepting her? As nice as some of the SCs likely were, they wouldn’t ever invite her, and there were requirements she didn’t meet, anyway.

  No matter what she did, everyone would talk about her negatively, anyway. If she joined a good Guild, she ‘wouldn’t deserve it’. If she joined Harrison’s Guild, she’d be mocked for being his student.

  Nothing she could do would ever make her ‘good enough’ in anyone’s eyes. She’d always be a Socializer, just like how Lisa would always be a fraud, and Harrison would always be a cheater. Two professional fighters, and they couldn’t dispel the rumors.

  Calista’s grandmother would say, “Rumors are as permanent as time itself.” Even if only one person was left believing a rumor, that would be enough to revive it in other people’s memories. It was an endless debt to pay.

  “What are you waiting for?!”

  Calista jumped, a small squeal leaving her throat, and sighed in frustration, releasing Lindsay from her belt. The white sphere hovered beside her with her practically invisible wings, her blue screen eyes narrowed. “Don’t do that!” Calista snapped.

  “Why are you just standing here?” Lindsay chastised.

  “I need to think.”

  “Girl, a Student Coach offers you Guild membership on a silver platter, and you’re not taking it?”

  -2 Rel-P

  “That’s why I’m not taking it, Linds!” Calista stepped away from the door. “I don’t want anything on a silver platter. I want people to think I’m capable. That I can do things myself. That I’m not helped along all the time.” She sat on the floor and leaned against the wall, breathing out as she played with her initial necklace charm. “I’m hopeless.” She swallowed down a knot in her throat and brought her knees up, putting her head in her arms. “I never should’ve come here.”

  Lindsay slowly approached her, her eyes now softer. “Calista… you said you’re here because of your sister, right?”

  “Well, yeah. She wanted me to be a fighter so badly. Her and Quinlan. Now she’s suffering, too.”

  “Do you want to be a fighter?”

  “More than anything. Now more than ever, it’s just so important. I feel like this is the only way I can sort of… flip the program. I’ll just take the fall for Kate.” Her fingers twiddled. “Maybe I can say I forced her to work at that place… that I wanted to pay my way through the academy. Or- wait, no, I have a scholarship. Maybe I can say…”

  “Girl, no.” Lindsay landed in Calista’s palms, retracting her wings. “Listen, what’s happening with your sister— that’s out of your control. That’s something your family has to deal with; and she’s safe where she is. You need to worry about you right now. Just keep going.” She paused, as if in thought. “There’s a lot of people here that have stuff going on, but they keep training, anyway. Some people have family in prison. Some don’t talk to them at all. Some have planetary disasters near their hometowns. But in the end, they’re fighting for them. Remember, the Versus Games were created to train soldiers.”

  “I thought it was to keep the peace between planets.”

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  “That, too. But lots of soldiers go into their planet armies and deal with their own wars and conflicts. It’s to make sure you’re all prepared in case their wars spill out. It’ll happen eventually. The War of Ten is only paused, when you think about it. Back then, only ten planets were in that war. With sixteen planets now, and more to come…” She trailed off. “Planets like Hajja, Klaus, and Dnili— they’re not just going to get over the fact that Paeseo and Seeyasta were liberated. They lost billions in that war, more than the anti-slavery planets. Eventually, that resentment will bubble up again.”

  Calista never thought about that. She always thought that the Games were a permanent seal on the Utopia to prevent wars like that from ever repeating themselves. Maybe she was being too na?ve. Just because all the planets had agreed to the Games didn’t mean they were halting war. If another interplanetary war broke out, would she be called to fight? Would she be on the frontlines? That wasn’t something she’d ever considered. She wasn’t sure what to feel about it.

  “For the last time, stop worrying about what other people think about you. You’re not hurting them, and they’re not worth it.”

  +15 Rel-P

  Approaching Close Friend Status

  Shame quivered in Calista’s stomach. “I didn’t think about it that way.”

  “The best thing a fighter can do is admit when they need help. Like Rosalina, she’s training under Reilly. That doesn’t mean he’s building her career for her. She just acknowledges that there’s stuff she doesn’t know about fighting, and that someone needs to teach her.”

  “This is different,” Calista argued. “Reilly’s the best fighter in the entire school. People won’t say anything about him and his-”

  “People say stuff about Rosalina Wiasod all the time. She’s here on Versus Parole. She got arrested on Earth and she’s required to learn discipline and self-control through the academy. Then she’ll be allowed to go back to her home planet and see her family.”

  “Wh- wait, what?” Calista shook her head, her mind glitching. “Wait, you’re saying… Rosalina’s a criminal?”

  “Charged for illegal planetary entry, robbery, and assault. It’s public record, so pretty much everyone knows about it. Fighting schools are a pretty good way to beat criminals into shape. If they violate their parole, they go back to prison and don’t get another chance to leave early.”

  “There’s criminals. Here. Taking classes. Fighting people.”

  “My point is that people talk about them. They may be ‘tops’, but they’re not immune. People are just too… Makakian to say anything to their faces.”

  Like her and her mother’s ex-followers, Calista realized. They’d criticize all they wanted on the Hub, but they’d never say anything directly to Jennifer, and if they did, she’d just block their opinions. Calista didn’t think people here criticized the more ‘respected’ students behind their backs.

  In fact, they didn’t respect them; they were just afraid of them. Even their Rep Statuses said it— ‘Feared’. No one was afraid of Calista. They knew that they could mock her as much as they wanted and she wouldn’t ever be strong enough to get them back.

  Lílitha was another example. She wasn’t truly respected by most of the school, yet people were afraid enough of her to leave her alone. Her bite was terrible. Was that how she’d survived the academy so far?

  Calista looked up at the orange door. Lindsay was right. She’d regret it if she passed this chance up.

  “I’m guessing this is a yes?”

  She stood, startled, and found Harrison standing outside the hallway. Lindsay went back into her belt. “Oh… I thought you were in there.” She pointed at the door.

  “I always come a bit later.” Harrison smiled, showing his handsome dimples. “I’m glad to see you here. I want you to be completely sure that this is what you want. I don’t want to hear you’ve changed your mind later on.” He eyed her seriously with his sapphires. “You need to be committed to this. It won’t be easy.”

  She looked at him, then at the door, then back at him. Inhaling deeply, she nodded confidently. “I’ll join,” she said with finality.

  +10 Rel-P

  Achieved: Friendly Acquaintance Status

  +Interactions I

  +Association I

  Harrison smiled again. “We’re allowed to take new students every Saturday. Gives me enough time to make a lesson plan for you. So, I’ll see you the 8th, 8:00 sharp.”

  She was slightly disappointed that she couldn’t start right away, but she still felt a thrill at the announcement. Saturday couldn’t come quick enough.