Chapter 2

Looking at the frenzy that had consumed my classmates, all I felt was the absurdity of it all.

Babble had merely generated a meaningless block of text, yet an entire class of high school seniors believed it wholeheartedly.

When the excitement hit its peak, Gavin jumped onto the podium. Eager to show off in front of Phoebe, he shouted out a suggestion so reckless that it bordered on deranged.

"Listen up! Since Phoebe's already used AI to lock in our spots at Pemberton, that official government application portal is completely useless to us now!

"So, to prove we trust Phoebe, and to celebrate the fact that our entire class is about to walk through Pemberton's gates together, I say we do this!

"Every single one of us will change our application to Pinewood Vocational College in the official system!"

The classroom went dead silent for a second.

The official system was serious business. Once a selection was changed, there was no taking it back.

Phoebe saw the room’s hesitation and immediately typed a question into the chatbot.

A few seconds later, she held up her phone and yelled, "Babble says it doesn't matter what you put in the official system! It won't affect their backdoor operation at all! In fact, the worse your choice looks, the better. It's a smokescreen, so Babble can work its magic without drawing attention!"

Between Babble's ‘expert confirmation’ and Gavin fanning the flames, the last shred of reason in the room disappeared.

"Let's do it! I'm with Gavin!"

"Yeah! We're basically already Pemberton students. What's wrong with sticking a vocational school in the system just to mess with it?"

"This is incredible! Imagine showing up to Pemberton on the first day with vocational school paperwork. Everyone's jaws will hit the floor! This is our graduation blowout!"

One by one, the students pulled out their phones, logged into the official application portal, and deleted their first- and second-choice universities without a moment's hesitation. Every last option was replaced with the lowest-tier diploma mill they could find.

I stood quietly in the corner, watching them howl with laughter as they hit the ‘submit’ button.

It was like watching a circus act performed by people who did not know they were the joke.

They had destroyed twelve years of hard work with their own hands and still thought they were rebels ‘breaking the system’.

Out of the 43 students in the class, 42 had already changed their applications. Every pair of eyes in the room landed on me, the only one who had not.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and headed for the door. I wanted out of this asylum.

"Stop right there!"

Gavin lunged forward in a single stride and planted himself in the doorway. A few boys fell in behind him and boxed me into the corner against the wall.

"Maren, where do you think you're going? The whole class has already changed theirs. Do you think you're special?"

His eyes were vicious, the exact same look he wore in my last life when he shoved me down the stairs.

"We're a team! If you don't change your application to a vocational school today, you're not walking out of this classroom!"

Phoebe strolled over in her little white sneakers and looked down at me, her tone dripping with condescending generosity.

"Maren, I know you care about your pride. Are you scared I won't use Babble to submit your enrollment? Is that why you're clinging to your official application?

"If you change your selection to a vocational school right now, in front of everyone, I'll do you the enormous favor of putting in your Pemberton application too. We're classmates. Of course I'd bring you along for the ride."

The rest of the class immediately chimed in.

"Seriously, Maren, don't be ungrateful!"

"Phoebe's being this generous, yet you're still making a fuss?"

"If you don't change it, that means you don't trust Phoebe, and that makes you a traitor to this whole class!"

My so-called best friend, Keira Beckett, sidled over, putting on her best show of concern. "Maren, just hand over your login and password. Gavin's only doing this for class unity. If you're the odd one out now, how are you gonna fit in with everyone once we're at Pemberton?"