Endless Vertex 20 Chapter 19: This isn't a school. This is a castle!

Atlas had his head down, staring at the grave before him. Flower and letters stockpiled in a circle around it.

{ Here lies the kindest soul: Nam}

Flower petals fluttered in the gust of wind.

[You weren't my Father. But you took me in as your child. You never acted like a father, instead you played your role as my good friend. The dream that I had. One afternoon for you went on for years in my case. And from the three years we spent time together, I believe that here is the best place to honor your soul.]

Atlas inhaled deeply, and exhaled a mist of melancholy.

[You were truly a very, very good friend of mine and I will repay you, by finding your girlfriend if I have a chance. I will become stronger. And I will never let a tragedy happen again. I will not let the people I care leave me. I hope you're all right in my pendant. Maybe we'll meet again in the future.]

He prayed profoundly. The heftiness that weighted against his heart has been discarded.

"That felt so much better." Atlas's teeth chattered, his chest feeling a lot lighter. "Why is it so damn cold?"

He hurried home. There were friends waiting.

"Atlas! You're finally back!" Like a radar, Kristine immediately jumped up the moment Atlas stepped in the mansion. "I was so worried on the day you ran out like that. You looked like a crazy maniac who didn't sleep for days."

"Calm down! What do you want from me?" Atlas backed up a step, making a dejected expression. "Don't try to cheat my money. I'm bankrupt just from buying groceries for you guys. You guys eat so much."

Kristine laughed friskily, pinching Atlas's belly. "From the looks of it you're definitely all right. School is almost starting. Don't forget about your duty. I'm a student and you are an undercover student."

"I mean technically we're the same age. You're 17, I'm 17. So I'm pretty much counted as a student, not an 'undercover' student."

"Yeah yeah. Just go get ready. I'll be ready in 5 minutes."

Atlas saluted. "Yes boss!"

Cold shower for 2 minutes; Brushing teeth for 1.5 min; Picking clothes for 1 second; Changing clothes for 10 seconds; Tidying hair for 1 whole minute; He was all set and ready, single and ready to mingle.

[5 minutes... 10 minutes... 20... Urgh...] Atlas almost fell asleep snoring on the sofa.

30 minutes has passed.

"I'm done!" An angelic voice travelled from upstairs, and the drool Atlas wiped off began to drip again.

Kristine glided down the stairs elegantly, her amiable and pure presence dazzled before Atlas's eyes. Beautiful black hair tied into a youthful ponytail, she has transformed from an elegant swan into a lovely campus belle.

She waved her gorgeous hand. "Atlas? Are we ready to go?"

"Yeah of course certainly definitely." Atlas stumbled over his words as he ran towards the garbage. He drove his Byzantium-coloured Ferrari out the front gate, and Kristine rolled her eyes as she entered the car.

"Didn't you say you were bankrupt?"

"It was to enlighten the atmosphere. I'm a jolly person."

"If that's so, are you willing to go shop with me after school?"

"Yeah sure. Why not?" Sadly, what Atlas didn't know, was that he has admitted to experience the cruelest torture he'll ever encounter.

"Oh no! Atlas look at the time I'm almost late for school!"

Atlas glanced at the time on the monitor screen.

{7:49}

Atlas ran his hand over the wheel. "School starts at 8:00 right?"

"Yeah?" Kristine answered suspiciously. Watching his odd actions and that mischievous smirk, she wailed. "Oh no please don't tell me..."

"Yes I am!" The engine roared wildly as Atlas turned up the radio. It was playing soft piano music.

"Oh when you smile¥$€ The whole world stops and stares for a whaaa#@£&" In a flashy yellow Bugatti, a 18 year old young man sang to his heart's content, not aware that his driver was grimacing in pain, holding the wheel extremely tightly to suppress the monstrous screeches coming from the backseat. He thought if time went on, he could get used to the singing that was even worse than his wife's, but he was terribly wrong. He had endured this mental torture for nearly two hundred and eighty-seven days. It was a disgrace for a former race car driver like him. The salary offered was irresistible, but the so called singing always gave him second thoughts.

He heard a roar from the right side and a shout from behind. "What's that?"

A violet figure zoomed out from a narrow alley, drifting perfectly onto the street and raced off with a beautiful vroom.

"What the hell? Is that Kristi? Kristi is in another man's car! She's my exclusively mine!" The young man whined. "Go chase him Berto! Do whatever you were hired to do!"

"Ok. No problem." The Bugatti accelerated.

"Atlas, I think someone is following us." From the rearview mirror, a car was gaining speed, hot on their trail.

"No worries. It's just a spoilt brat who's probably jealous of my good looks. Jokes aside. Anyone in school chasing and disturbing you? It's my duty to beat up kids like that too."

Kristine counted her fingers. "More than you can imagine."

"Hang on tight. It's gonna be an epic rotation."

"Wait what?" The traffic light at a crossroad just ahead was turning yellow. She grabbed Atlas's arm.

The engine roared wilder than before as the piano music intensified. His foot remained on the gas pedal, mind concentrated on the cars still crossing the road horizontally. Controlling the momentum of the car with complex movement of the brake, the car felt like a boomerang, rotating as he manoeuvred the Ferrari through the snug gap between two speeding cars in a 45 degree angle, millimetres away from scraping the paint off the car. The Ferrari drifted back into its stable position, heading its way towards the school.

"God damn it! You suck!" Waiting for the red light to pass, the young man nagged ferociously, pointing his finger at Berto, who had a dumbstruck look from Atlas's godlike performance.

"We're here!"

"We are? Why so fast..." Kristine murmured. She kinda enjoyed Atlas's warm muscular arm.

Atlas has driven into the parking lot, occupying last parking space. They got down.

"BeiLing School huh?" Already expecting the unexpected, Atlas still couldn't process what he was witnessing.

[This isn't a school. This is a fricken castle!]

Chapter end