Chapter Text
Wemmbu was yawning, slouched over the breakfast table, his eyes barely open, while Egg sat across from him, fully awake and reviewing his schedule for the day.
“Wemmbu, hurry up and finish your breakfast! Orientation starts at 8 sharp!” Egg called out, not even bothering to look up from the papers in his hands.
“Jeez… we still have like half an hour. Chill out, bro,” Wemmbu mumbled, poking at his food.
“Wemmbu,” Egg replied, straight-faced and tired from dealing with this every day, “It takes twenty-five minutes to walk to school.”
“…”
Wemmbu slowly looked up from his breakfast, his eyes still partially glued shut.
“You have five minutes to get ready.” Egg continued.
“SHOOT-”
Wemmbu grabbed an apple from the table and shoved it into his mouth before bolting out of his chair and sprinting to his room, nearly tripping over himself on the way.
“Don’t forget to pack your bag!” Egg called from the living room, completely relaxed. He had woken up an hour earlier, meaning he now got the luxury of watching Wemmbu scramble around the house, trying to get ready in 5 minutes.
Normally, Wemmbu couldn’t care less about being late, but today was their first day, and Egg would absolutely kill him if they missed orientation. Something about “youth” - Wemmbu stopped listening halfway through.
He yanked open his bag, shoved in some scrap paper, a couple of pencils, and his lunch before zipping it up halfway and calling it good enough.
Moments later, he reappeared in front of Egg, slightly out of breath but grinning wildly.
“See? Told you to chill out bro.”
“Your shoelaces are undone.”
“Shoot!- Wait for me bro!” Wemmbu cried, dropped down and fumbling to tie his shoes as fast as possible before sprinting out the door to catch up.
“Jeez… all this for orientation,” Wemmbu panted as he jogged beside Egg. “What’s so special about this presentation anyway?”
Egg didn’t even hesitate. “Don’t you get it? It’s our first day! This day itself will set our future! It will be a day when we can look back and think of youth! It’s the perfect time to create new memories and friendships!” Egg said, sparkly-eyed and clasping his hands together.
Wemmbu just stared at him.
“…Yeah, I think that just sounds like shit.”
“They’re also announcing our groups for the year-long project,” Egg continued, completely ignoring Wemmbu.
“The haba da huh huh?”
“The year-long project. The one worth 40% of our final grade.” Egg finally turned around to face Wemmbu. “THIS WAS IN THE EMAIL THEY SENT US.”
“Hey look, that email was like, 30 pages long. I’m not reading all that.”
“How are you even passing school right now?”
“Plot armour!"
“...”
As they approached the school gates, Wemmbu finally looked up from his game on his phone.
“Woah… man, this place is huge.”
“Mmhm,” Egg nodded, already grabbing Wemmbu’s sleeve and dragging him forward. “Come on, we’re going to be late.”
After weaving through hallways and following a crowd, Egg finally found them seats near the back of the hall.
Wemmbu immediately slumped into his chair. “I’m so booooreddddd. Can we leave now?” he groaned, letting his head fall back and his eyes close.
“It hasn’t even started yet.”
“I know.”
While Egg was busy contemplating whether or not he should’ve just left Wemmbu to sleep in again, the lights dimmed, and a spotlight appeared in the center of the stage.
“Hello everyone!”
“Who’s that?” Wemmbu whispered to Egg.
“It’s the principal,” Egg whispered back. “You would know if you read the email.”
“First and foremost, I’d like to congratulate you all on making it in! I know firsthand how gruelling the acceptance process was.”
As applause erupted across the hall and Wemmbu half-heartedly clapped along, his eyes wandering around the room. He spotted a few familiar faces from his old school - Jumper, Squiddo, and Kaboodle were giggling to themselves off to the far left. A few rows ahead, he could see his older cousin Zam and his boyfriend, Pangi.
“So! You are all at the peak of your youth right now…”
Annndddd Wemmbu felt like zoning out almost immediately.
“If someone were to ask me if I would choose between 1 million dollars or my youth, I would choose my youth in a heartbeat! Nothing can compare to your youth, it's the most valuable thing in your life!”
Wemmbu's gaze drifted to the banners hanging all around the room, already bored with the principal's speech.
“Youth is what brings us together; Start your youth at Unstable Academy!; Youth is the foundation of your life!”
“Yo bro, doesn’t this kinda seem a bit cultish with how obsessed this place seems to be with youth?” Wemmbu asked Egg.
“Nope! Now shut up!” Egg snapped back, his patience seeming to finally wear out.
“Okay, damn!”
“As you all know, you are all given an opportunity to expand your horizons and your friendships. Today marks the beginning of your first chapter in high school! As a way to help you all, you and three other students will be randomly selected to do a year-long project, exploring different topics! As most of you know, last year's topic was about friendship!”
Wemmbu could already feel how much of a pain in the neck this project would be.
“And finally, this year’s topic will be youth!”
You know, that actually makes sense with the amount of youth-themed banners that were around the room.
“I think youth might be an easier topic to talk about than friendship. Friendship is an ambiguous topic after all.” Egg muttered to himself.
“Also, please note that the prize for the best report will be $80,000 split between your 4 group members.”
Wemmbu sat up instantly. Never mind. This was the best school ever. He takes back anything negative he said earlier!
The room buzzed with excitement, whispers spreading like wildfire around the room.
“So now that we have your attention,” the principal continued, “teams of four have already been assigned. You will find your 3 other group members posted outside.”
As the presentation dragged on into rules and regulations, Wemmbu leaned toward Egg, eyes gleaming.
“Bro. Do you know what I could do with $80,000?”
“You mean $20,000,” Egg corrected. “And I’m scared to ask, but go on.”
“I could finally buy a new PC, the one that has 4k graphics! Do you know how much of a pain in the ass it is trying to play Minecraft at 10 fps?”
“Yes, I know. You talk about this every day. Now shut up and pay attention, they’re planning on creating a dress code and increasing the school funding towards the arts.”
Wemmbu rolled his eyes and shifted his gaze towards the presentation.
“Rule 86: Please be considerate while living in our provided dorm rooms. While there provided necessary living utenstiles that are provided, cleaners are not. So make sure that you clean your room often, and no drinks or fruits go bad!”
“Dude.”
Wemmbu blinked awake to come face to face to Eggchan waving a hand in front of him.
“The presentation’s over,” Egg said. “I already picked up our room keys last week; No thanks to you, by the way. Let’s go check our teams.”
The hallway was packed as people crowded around the bulletin board, pushing and shoving to see. Wemmbu struggled through the mass, and yet somehow, Egg was already at the front.
“Wemmbu!” Egg called out. “We’re not in the same group. I’ve got Theo, Wifies, and Lomedy in my group. Good luck with your group, though!” He walked off, snickering to himself.
“Man… what’s his problem?” Wemmbu muttered, finally forcing his way to the front. “Alright… let’s see…” His eyes scanned down the list. “Ashwagg… Babblu… Jaden… Wato…”
...
“You have got to be kidding me.” Next to his name were three others: Spoke, Parrot and Flame.
“…Hey, you know what? Maybe $20,000 isn’t worth it after all.”