Alkalians by Caleb S. Bugai

Looking
back to Sean, she asks, “So, is Dante a boss student?”
    “ Hmm, a good guess, Rose,
but not exactly. He’s got a small group of guys loyal to them, but
he’s not as, oh, motivated as the other boss students. He’s
more laissez faire .”
    Matt tries to repeat the words. “Lay,
lay what?”
    “ It means he’s lazy,
nonchalant, unmotivated. He’s not into the whole deal of trying to
‘rule the school.’ ”
    “ Is that so?” Rose asks.
“Well, then, just who are the boss students?”
    “ Ah, yes, now I can tell
you! Where to begin? Okay, from what I’ve noticed already, and
remember from last year, there are a total of five boss students at
the college this year. Probably the most popular, and notorious, of
them is Cain Incarein. He’s rich, spoiled, and cruel. He’s so
bad-natured and hot-tempered, even other seniors, as well as the
other boss students, stay out of his way. So, if you see this guy,
with brown, gelled hair, a nice, expensive green suit, and evil
green eyes, either be as unnoticeable as possible or get as far
away from him as you can. Oh, and you’ll want to watch out for his
goons. The most of them act as volunteer officers for the college,
which gives him all the more power over the student
community.”
    “ Wait, you mean he can use
the school officials to bully other students around? That’s awful!
Wouldn’t the college’s administration do something about
that?”
    “ Eh, well, believe me,
they wish they
would. However, the student community is so affected by his
influence that they don’t fess up to the scandals he and his
cronies commit, nor could anything be proven if someone told on
them. Plus, he’s from a noble, wealthy family up in Tirez, so the
school staff and actual officers have to be lenient with him.
All-in-all, he’s got control of the student community through
collaboration and intimidation.”
    “ Uh huh. So, I guess we’ll
just have to avoid causing trouble with him,” Matt complies. “What
about the other boss students?”
    “ Well, let’s see. Then
there’s Cain’s cousin, James Iroshen, another noble from Tirez. In
fact, he’s got a higher place in the family than Cain does. He’s
the son of Tirez’s prime minister, and his good looks and charm get
him much of the women and school staff’s support.”
    “ James Iroshen?” Rose
asks. “Blue suit, long purple hair, blue eyes?”
    “ Yep, that’s the one!
How’d you know?”
    “ Because Matt and I have
already seen him. He’s in our alchemy class.”
    “ Alchemy, huh? …Oh! Yeah,
makes sense he would be in that class again. What, with his
reputation in the community.”
    “ Reputation?”
    “ Yeah. See, with his noble
background, looks, and charm, he has a way of infatuating the
ladies. He could hook up with a girl one day, dump her for another
the next day, and then pick her up again the day after! Oh, and
you’ll also want to know that he likes going after the, uh…” Sean
directly nods at Rose to include her as he says, “Pretty
ones.”
    Smirking at his attempt to get on her
good side yet, Rose replies, “Of course. In other words, he’s a
womanizer, right?”
    “ Exactly, so you in
particular gotta watch out for him, especially since you both share
a class! Anyway, another boss.” Sean thinks a moment. “Ah yes, then
there’s Cynthia Volvaron! While James gets all the ladies, she’s a
temptress of love for the men. Red hair, red dress, pink eyes,
tanned red skin. She’s the living incarnate of a ruby, beautiful
and priceless! Oh, and she comes from the same family who owns the
famous Volvaron Resort down in Saratu, so that gives her some perks
as well.”
    “ The Volvaron Resort?”
Matt asks. “My parents and I have gone there on vacation a few
times. I wonder if I may have seen her there before.”
    “ Oh, trust me, Matt, if
you’ve seen her, you’ll have not forgotten her! Now, my advice for
you about her is to not make the same mistake I did.”
    “ Oh,