[ WP ] In an alternate reality , a student 's GPA value floats on top of their head as a large number . All your professors , fellow students , friends , and parents can see it . How does this affect on campus relationships and day to day interactions ?

[ **Author's note** ] I figured I'd give a shot at my own prompt. But just a shout out to everyone who's posted, great stuff. I like how some people have interpreted the number as a great thing and yet there's an understanding that some people can see it as an awful thing. 
 
 I was in second term freshman year when they started. At first, a class would only have one or two. Occasionally you'd even get a few appearing mid class. Some people would `` ooh'' and `` aww'' as the light shimmered into existence. As the numbers began to appear, people noticed that the better your GPA, the brighter the light. It was simple as that. Simple. That's what school was like, before the markers. The worst part was that you could n't even do anything about the number. *chuckles* Hell, some kids even tried covering them up with hats at first but to no avail, the number would still glisten regardless of what you tried to cover it with. 
 
 First, it was just the 4.0's. You'd get high fives and cheers as they started becoming normal. There'd be shrieks coming from various buildings all over campus because friends walking through the doors were delighted see that their friend had been marked last night with a similar score. People let these numbers go to their heads. Instead of hiding, some showed them off and walked tall. I remember the first to turn of the group was Dennis. Fuckin' Dennis. I knew the kid was smart but he was never so smug about it before, y'know? He'd constantly talk how he'd get random high fives from other 4.0's in the halls. Eventually those random people started getting names and then… well, one thing led to the next. The next day he'd talk about a party he went to on the weekend and how he got invited to this club and so on and so on and… Well, to be honest, we do n't see Dennis too much these days. 
 
 There was beginning to be a lot of them. Not the 4.0's but just the numbers in general. It was n't rare to see a full table of kids with them at lunch time. By this time, the numbers did n't just glow A's. As time went on, the whole damn gradient was being worked down. 3.8's, 3.7's, you know the rest. It was n't just on campus either. If you were enrolled in a school, you had a number. Alumni even had them. 
 
 Mom and Dad were starting to get on my ass about it. 
 
 `` Yeah, yeah I'll see you later.'' I was putting my shoes on when I noticed it. `` Da..Dad.. you're marked?'' I did n't even notice over this morning's breakfast. 
 
 *chuckles* `` Yup.'' He glanced in the mirror. `` I was wondering when I'd see it.'' 
 
 He had a faded 3.7 above his head. 
 
 `` Off so soon, sweetie?'' a voice shouted down from the stairway. 
 
 `` Mornin' hun.'' 
 
 `` Ahh I see that the marks went up last night, hey?'' My mom replied. She glanced over to me and frowned. `` Not all the marks though.'' 
 
 `` Yeah, Jim and I at the office the other day were talking about how Dave's appeared, so it was only a matter of time.'' He cracked a smirk. 
 
 I never talked to my parents about my grades, simply because they never asked. That morning, would be the first. 
 
 `` You know, speaking about Jim. I saw his son at the grocery store the other day.'' 
 
 I poked my head up. 
 
 `` Yeah, first time I've seen him since you and him were in middle school. He's doing great at school from what I saw.'' 
 
 `` Oh yeah? That's good to hear.'' Dad replied. `` You know, 
 He had a 3.9. Hah, funny store actually! I thought it was his cashier number at first when I was in line.'' 
 
 `` A 3.9 hey?'' My dad looked at me. `` He must've been marked pretty early on then. What about you, sport? Where's yours?'' 
 
 I remember fuming the whole bus ride to the train station. Sure, I was n't the best student but I tried my hardest. I was the invisible majority at the time. The kids who realized they were beginning to lose friends to the upper elite students. I pretended like I did n't see it, in myself at least. The groups were n't mixed grades anymore. They were being sifted. The larger numbers stayed together and the lower values would fall through. I hated it. I hated what school had become. I thought we were done with this high school clique bull shit. 
 
 The day I cried on the train. My bus had arrived at the train station as it always did. I was at the end of the platform as I stared at the on coming train. I saw the luminescence of the numbers adjacent to me, a sea of light and numbers. They highlighted the features of the train and it's passengers as they whizzed by. I saw smiles, and frowns, all of which with their own corresponding number. And as I stared at the train in front of my face, I saw my own. A lone 2.0 began to fade into existence.
