Wolf Dé Roses is officially inside Prestige Performing Arts Academy, High School—but nothing about “first day” feels normal.
After spotting Lexi and Jax near the Art Wing, Wolf notices something fall from Lexi’s pocket: a dented metal box labeled CANNIBAL FRUIT™ — BANNED FLAVORS ONLY. He pockets it without thinking… and spends the rest of the day feeling like the school noticed.
On the way to campus, Wolf gets tested at a gas station by students from a rival school. A quick fight breaks out, and Wolf handles it—clean. But the moment turns stranger when an older, sharply dressed man silently observes the scene and acknowledges Wolf like he’s been watching his story unfold.
At Prestige, rumors of “The Incident” still haunt the halls. Wolf is placed in the wrong class, abruptly corrected by the front office, and sent to Art—where the welcome is colder than the marble floors. He draws anyway, creating a graffiti-stained Mona Lisa that catches attention… including from a polished Apex student whose stare feels like a threat.
Minutes later, Wolf’s work is ruined in front of everyone by a sudden crimson paint spill. The sabotage is treated like “clumsiness,” but the message is clear: he’s being sized up, and the school is already trying to break his confidence.
Shaken, Wolf escapes into the hallway—and runs into Maya Williams, a student who seems to be documenting glitches in the building itself. She reveals her own Cannibal Fruit box… and when Wolf pulls out his, the moment shifts from coincidence to warning. Maya gives Wolf a secret meeting location—Room 117½—and a password: “CANON.”
Before Wolf can ask what any of it truly means, Maya disappears—leaving Wolf with a glowing box, an invitation, and the uncomfortable realization that Prestige isn’t just watching him…
…it’s recruiting him.
Lexi Delgado gets called to the office for a very specific reason… and somehow walks out less punished than usual, which only makes her more suspicious. Ms. Harris cuts the noise, issues a hall pass, and sends Lexi back to class—no detours, no games.
Principal Gray watches it all like a man performing himself. Because he is.
On the walk to Conference B, Gray’s internal “am I doing this right?” spiral hits hard: Would the real Gray have handled Lexi the same way? Would he have been colder? Cleaner? Crueler? Gray keeps the mask on anyway—perfect tie, perfect posture, perfect lie.
Waiting for him: Mrs. Brinkley.
Cafeteria power. Quiet menace. “Cafeteria mafia” energy—polite, calm, and way too comfortable holding leverage. Gray takes the head seat like it’s oxygen, reminding himself that Prestige runs on optics, timing, and silence.
Everyone in this building has secrets.
But no one’s carrying one bigger than his.
Ends on: Gray entering the meeting, locking back into “Principal Gray” mode—while the real story stays buried for another day.
