MY COUSINS PEER-PRESSURE ME INTO GOING TO SCHOOL

"A 7-year-old girl was found dead in her apartment in Elmhurst…"

"—Authorities are still investigating the cause…" 

Blah, boring news. Steven scrolled through his phone, before stepping into class.

He sighed. 

The classroom here? It was like waking up inside a museum display – gothic windows, dawn light, and all. He rubbed his eyes. Wasn't this supposed to be a school?

You would think he would love it here, but… 

"Look, I don't want the walls to explode again!" 

Steven blinked. He hadn't said that out loud, had he? 

No, the voice was coming from a kid with green hair. The green-haired kid, waving his arms in frustration, was arguing with a blond kid about the time they "accidentally blew up the school." Typical high school stuff, right? 

"I had to help you rebuild the school even though I didn't do anything!" The green-haired boy grumbled. 

"It was easier with your help!"

"You're missing the point," the green-haired boy said, calmly. His eyes started to flicker, like an unhappy garden snake.

As the two argued, things escalated. Blondie's head was starting to glow, while Mr. Green-Haired-Boy had turned into a giant, green snake. Why? To squeeze the living lights out of the other boy, of course.

Steven blinked. Back to his own thoughts. 

Well, it was true Steven had wanted to get into this high school. Well, actually, it was… more like he was threatened? 

His cousins were like 'If you don't go, I'mma beat your…'

He couldn't say the next part because it wasn't very nice. 

But hey, this highschool looked promising at least. The curriculum had something to do with cultivators, which meant fresher vegetables for cooking, right? Its posters talked about 'magical herbs' and 'mythical beasts', which he wasn't able to find anywhere else, so, good sign? 

Plus, the school's low acceptance rate was like a glowing sign that said: "Please only attend if you're smart or if your parents can buy us a new building!"

He was neither. So Steven should have been glad to be here, right?

The two boys fighting accidentally knocked into Steven's desk. 

Did Steven want to attend this school? Yes, he did. 

Really.

Just, not right after…"summer break," y'know?

"And I had to help you rebuild a school building over the summer," The green-colored boy… er, snake bickered, "My poor summer… Do you know how many desks we had to put together?"

"Like two hundred?" The blondie guessed. 

"dude. stop." The green snake took a breath, "THAT-WAS-HOW-MUCH-I-BUILT. YOU-ONLY-BUILT-FIVE!"

It was getting easier for Steven to ignore the two. 

See, back at his old school, each day felt like a battle. Not the fun kind, like fighting pigeons, rats, or monsters, or trying to figure out why his rice cooker didn't love him. No, it was more like…whatever the heck was happening in front of him. 

But, maybe this school would be different?

"Pst…" A voice called out, interrupting the three of them. "LoOk HerE!"

Or maybe not. 

The green snake stopped strangling the blond-kid. "Did you hear that?"

Steven also raised his head. Where was that scraggly-sounding voice coming from? 

His first thought was that a monster followed him here. Another one of those moguai-things. Apparently, they were spelled "mogwai", too? Steven didn't really know why, but Locust had said so.

Anyway, good news: more students for the monsters to eat here. 

"What's that voice?" The two in front of him said. The giant snake had turned back into a boy and was now looking around the classroom. 

"Look HERE!" the weird voice whined again.

Steven was no stranger to strange voices. Yeah, because he had gotten a child-laborer… um, part-time job at a very ethical company. There, customers typically sounded a bit strange. Talk about over-demanding, too. 

But something about that voice didn't sound human. So Steven tried not to look. 

"I'M HeRe," The voice excitedly screamed. "In THiS PoT!"

Two seconds later, Steven found himself walking to the pots. The pots were located in a glass cabinet with other historical trinkets—including an ancient-looking scroll, the first iPhone, a pair of flared jeans, and other outdated artifacts. Next to him, the two boys had tagged along.

"Made by arcaners." Steven muttered, reading the plaque above the pots. 

"According to the plaques here, pots were once used as currency." The green-haired boy said.

"So… maybe the ancient Americans used them as credit cards?" The blond kid helpfully added. "Like, before the invention of ATMs." 

"You are so dumb," The green-haired boy said.

"Thank you," the blond kid nodded, turning to Steven, "Hey, name's Lucius. You're…?"

"Steven," Steven shook Lucius's hand. "And he's?"

"OH CoME oN! LoOk HeRE!" the pot closest to him shouted. 

The three of them ignored the pot. 

"He's Snakey-boy." Lucius answered.

"Damn it," Snakey-boy said, whacking the other boy, "It's S-s-sinclair." 

They glanced at the pot again and saw the warning 'CAUTION: Do not break!' etched on the side. Steven's eyes trailed to a small gap between the lid and the pot. 

"Free me!" the voice in the pot said cutely. Inside was… 

Steven walked back to his desk. Gosh, look at the time. Class was about to start.

"Wait, so are we sure we can't break that seal?" Lucius shouted, pointing at this talisman with a bunch of weird marks. 

"Yes, definitely. Break it." His friend said sarcastically. 

The blonde-haired boy broke the seal on the pot.