It was finally the day where Lucas and Novis would experience their first day at t.i.tan University, just as they said they would do. They had sent out instructions to each of their addresses. There wasn"t much said on it, other than for them to pack a lot of clothing as if they were going on holiday, and to meet up in front of Westgate School.Just before leaving the house, as Novis was putting on his shoes, his mother and brother had come down to see him off.
"Wow. So you really got into a top university. I really can"t believe how quickly you"ve improved, even if you did have outside help," Bill said as he gave a wink.
"Will you really not be back until the term finishes?" his mom asked.
"Yeah, I mean that"s what they said in the letter. They must have some boarding program or something else. Anyway, this is a step closer to becoming a pro player."
Novis then stood up and waved one last goodbye as he went out of the door.
"Bro, show the whole world how good you are. Don"t let them bully you around!" Bill shouted. By his side, he seemed to notice that his mother was crying.
"What"s wrong, mum?" Bill asked.
"Oh, it"s nothing. It"s just that all you boys grow up so fast."
Just outside the Westgate School, several students were outside waiting. This also included the three that had pa.s.sed the test with Novis. There was Phil, the baseball hat boy, Bob, the fairly large man, and finally Yaz, the female tank.
Just from looking at the others around them, they seemed to have gathered not only students from their area, but from all around the country.
"Hey. Do you see who"s here?" Phil questioned them. "I think I know nearly every single one of them by their names."
"Yeah. Also, don"t forget that only ten people can be put on the regular university team," Yaz said.
Every university team was allowed to enter ten players into tournaments. This was because games at the university and the professional level were played best out of three. Not only that, but in the middle of each game, teams were allowed to subst.i.tute players in.
But looking at the compet.i.tion in front of them, the three felt out of place, as if they didn"t deserve to be there. Thinking back to the last game they partic.i.p.ated in, they had only gotten through thanks to Novis and Lucas.
Just then, Novis and Lucas spotted the three standing at the far back, behind all of the others.
"Oh! There they are, Novis," Lucas said as he pointed at them.
"Well, you guys don"t look as confident as you did the last time we saw you," Novis said.
Three buses soon pulled up onto the field after that. Not long after, an old man wearing a fisherman"s hat stepped off, with a large man with forearms bigger than his biceps standing right next to him.
"Alright, everyone. It"s time to get onto the bus!" the large man shouted.
The students lined up and one by one they would slowly get on. As they went on, each student was undergoing through an inspection of their belongings. It seemed like any form of entertainment, be it books or phones were being confiscated.
"What the…this is worse than an airport," Novis could not help but say.
Just in front of the two of them was Yaz. As the large man went through her belongings, he noticed a teddy bear and pulled it out from the bag.
"And what is this?" the man asked.
"That"s my teddy bear. My mother gave it to me as a gift," Yaz replied with her face glistening like the stars.
"Trash, then." The man then picked up the bear and threw it onto the floor behind him.
"But my mother gave me that!" Yaz complained in response.
The anger in Lucas that was rising had reached its peak, thinking that he had had enough. In his mind, he felt like they were treating them like criminals, and not a bunch of students. "What do you think you"re doing?!" Lucas said as he pushed himself in between the man and Yaz.
"Wait for your turn and wait to be called!" the man shouted angrily in response as he went forward to grab Lucas by the collar.
Lucas could see all of the movements and leaned barely enough just so he could avoid the grab, but unfortunately for him, as if the hand grew all of a sudden, it managed to grab onto him and threw him down to the floor.
Lucas"s feet were spread out as he tried to stabilise himself, but the force was too strong, which meant he still ended up on the floor.
The other teacher with a fisherman"s hat, who had been standing by his side this whole time, had finally come forward. "Listen. All of you. In the place you are going to, you won"t have time to think about home, or play your games. In fact, some of you will wish you never came to t.i.tan University. But all I can say is that, those of you who stay will become the elite of the elite."
After the incident with Lucas, there were no more complaints. No one wanted to be embarra.s.sed and schooled by the teacher like Lucas had been. So, everyone got on the bus without a fuss, allowing the large man to get rid of whatever they wanted.
As they rode on the bus, Lucas couldn"t help but think about what had just happened as he dazedly stared out of the window.
"What"s wrong?" Novis asked him. "Come on. It wasn"t that embarra.s.sing."
"Well, the teacher did go too far," Phil said, sitting just opposite from the two with Bob. "Well, I mean, it"s not like Yaz can play with the teddy, or it"s going to be a distraction or anything."
"Can we just forget about the teddy?" Yaz asked them, folding her arms.
"Well, you guys are lucky. I brought my Switch with me and it got taken. How am I going to look after my island now?" Phil complained.
But what Lucas and the others were thinking about was not their things that had been taken away. Instead, they were thinking about the movements the teacher had made when knocking Lucas over. They replayed the scene in their head, yet they still couldn"t figure out how it was done.
"Well, if the teachers are as good as that, it looks like t.i.tan university might have been the right place for me after all." Novis had a huge grin on his face waiting for what was to come.