I didn't even remember waking up. I was sitting in my Uber at the airport, pulling on my seatbelt and trying to figure out how to make small talk with the driver without making him think I'm an idiot, and then suddenly I was picking my head up off the desk and pulling stray hairs out of my mouth. There wasn't any gap at all, just like I blinked and I was suddenly in this classroom, disoriented and nauseated and cold.

The classroom was clean, sterile, bright, and modern. I quickly realized that I must be at the University, that my Uber must have gotten me here and I walked in and sat down without remembering, and I would have been impressed with the setting if I wasn't worrying my loss of memory meant I had a brain tumor. I became more convinced that I had a brain tumor when I got my ahold of myself and noticed that at the front of the classroom, covering its mouth with a fluffy paw and bouncing, was an animatronic bear.

A giant, moving, teddy bear. Like the kind you see at Chuck E. Cheese, but much more lifelike. It was half black and half white, with simultaneously a blank and evil expression. It was terrifying. I'm not sure if I screamed or not.

"Attention, new student!" bellowed a cartoonish voice from the bear as it waved its arms around. "It is now time for orientation! You are free to take notes, but all information will be provided to you in your handbook!"

"Um," I said, looking around the room numbly.

"Due to the high student-faculty ratio here at New Hope University, all students' orientations are one-on-one with your assigned adviser! I am Professor Monokuma; welcome! It's my job to help you adjust to life here."

I tried to think of a reply, but the bear suddenly whapped its paw down onto a small remote-control that was on a table in front of it. A powerpoint slide projected on the wall behind him, showing several smiling teenagers with backpacks. Words at the top of the screen read, "A School For Ultimates. For You, For Society."

He smacked the remote control several times, shuffling through a series of pictures: a bookish-looking man, a woman waving to a crowd, a man grinning on a stage accepting an award, and a woman standing confidently in front of an office building. "Gareth McGregor, podcast star, comedian, and actor," Monokuma said officially. "Selena Waytz-Gomez, congresswoman. Actor, writer, rapper, and Tony Award winner, Romeo San Marcos. Adena Hyatt, founder and chief CEO of Omicron Systems. What do all of these people have in common?"

I raised my hand. "Uh, how did I get here?"

"Right!" Monokuma barked. "They're all young, and they're all successful! But they're something else you may not know: they're all graduates of the School for Ultimates, here at New Hope University. And they're not alone."

He cycled through more pictures: an MMA fighter with her hands raised in victory, a pop star in a music video, a professor giving a TED talk, various rich-looking businesspeople, and finally a box that contained the word "YOU?"

"You should be proud of having made it made it this far, and the sky's the limit from here on out!" Monokuma's silly, high-pitched voice was oddly professional, which was somehow the most disorienting thing about this whole experience.

"Are you... the school's mascot?" I managed to ask.

"You've seen my work!" Monokuma spun around and posed like a bikini model. "Yes, I do moonlight as mascot at our school's athletic games. You bring a blush to an old bear's cheeks." He straightened, pounding his paw into his other paw. "But my main job... my passion... is helping you Ultimate students make the most of your time, here. Please, don't mind my appearance! Like all the faculty here, I've been chosen because of my skills as an educator!"

Despite everything, I began to relax. I knew college would be an adjustment... maybe it was just more of an adjustment than I'd thought?

"We just have a couple of bookkeeping issues to take care of!" Monokuma bellowed. He grabbed a stack of paper I hadn't noticed before, speedily waddled over to my desk, and plopped it down in front of me along with a black pen. "It's the standard enrollment agreement for the School of Arts and Sciences, saying you consent to our grading procedures and pedagogical methods, you agree to abide by rules set by the by the housing and safety office at all times you live on campus, you..."

As the bear droned on, I tried skimming through the papers before me. The text was complete gobbledygook, as far as I could tell, just pages of legalese. I glanced up at the screen at the front of the classroom: that box was still projected up there: YOU?

I could have left. Right then, I could have left, and it would have all been over before it began.

I briefly imagined myself just standing up and running from the room. I would get back on a plane and fly back across the country and told everyone I was enrolling in a regular university. I imagined their disappointed faces. I wouldn't be taking my place as an ultimate student; I threw away my chance for greatness.

Quickly, without thinking, I flipped to the final page of the document and signed my name.

"Pu hu hu hu hu..."

It was an awful sound, and it took me a moment to realize that it was Monokuma... laughing.

Very suddenly, he sprang at me and shoved something into my face. I felt damp coolness and the smell of rubbing alcohol filled my mouth and nose and I choked and everything just went dark.

I remembered waking up this time, because I had a pounding headache. I blearily pawed around; from the feel of it, I was lying on a bed. I cracked open my eyes.

I noticed the cameras first. Over a dozen cameras, sticking out of the ceiling, pointing in all directions, surely covering every last inch of the room. I sat up, ignoring the pain between my temples, and looked around.

I was in a comfortable living suite, like the swanky hotels they put me up in for tournaments sometimes. It was well-decorated and clean: soft, beige carpet, off-white walls, table, TV, love seat. But that wasn't what really captured my attention.

On the wall to my right, there were words gouged into the wall. It looked like someone had taken a knife and just carved them out; the letters were ugly and brutal.

The message said, DON'T SIGN ANYTHING

I sat there for several minutes, just breathing.

Author's note

The majority of students have been submitted and accepted. I have received fantastic characters and hope to do them justice.

I am still accepting and welcoming new characters. I hope to begin with the first chapter next week, and I'll be able to begin as soon as the entire cast is in place.