Teaser 1: Autumn Leaves Layout Credit It was still the last few days of the summer, though the leaves were beginning to turn from bright shades of green to warm hues of oranges, deep reds and dark browns, indicating the passing seasons. And just like the crisp leaves that held onto their last strand of hope, to wither away and fall from the trees, students felt the last strand of their own freedom melting away as a new term of the school year neared.

A small figure clad in a simple burnt orange oversized t-shirt that almost swallowed his tiny frame, a pair of faded denim shorts clung to his pale legs, and worn out white sneakers that had seen better days stood alone in front of Pledis University’s Clubs and Activities board. On first inspection, it would seem as if he was casually glancing over the numerous lists of sign-up sheets posted in row after row to the basic cork based board, pondering what to involve himself in. But on closer inspection, one would see the stack of freshly printed papers gripped in his left hand and a small plastic, unopened box of tacks folded into his other fist.

The boy eyed the lists one by one until his eyes scanned over to the only available space at the very end of the row of papers. He bit his lower lip as a little tiny bundle of anxiety tightened in his chest. Negative thoughts ran through his mind, looping over until he was back to square one. He couldn’t chicken out now, not when he already went to all of the trouble