A Place Worth Living

by B D Grant

  Another theory is that they didn’t like that all Seraphim kids were being taught together. They considered Seraphim from certain families to be unworthy of the education and ability intensifying curriculum we get here. Their sabotage is why we don’t get to freely leave and why there are so many safeguards in place.”

  I don’t say anything. My mom was a Seraphim and my dad was one too, if Mr. Grad’s notes are right.

  Boston guesses at my silence, “It’s okay, man, all of us here believe that it doesn’t matter where you come from.”

  I change the subject, “What did you mean that it makes sense when I told you Lena talked about being on top?”

  “Girls like Lena and Abby would never talk to guys like you and me unless we were the best in our ability group. The best Seraphim in each class are the Valors; as long as they can maintain their Valor status they are ensured the best jobs after graduation. I was the Valor Veritatis in my age group all of last year until Howard had the idea to use his off-time for practicing.”

  We speed up.

  “So, I’m guessing you and Howard aren’t friends?”

  “What? No, I stopped hating him when I realized what a huge dweb he is. I will never use my personal time for crap like practicing my ability. He can be Valor all he wants. Speak of the devil.”

  We are driving in front of a group of teacher’s housing next to the courtyard when a student walks out of one.

  The guy has hair to his ears like Boston but his isn’t curly. He has a jacket on but it doesn’t conceal his skinny frame. He sees Boston and nods to him. When he looks up I can see he has a black eye that looked like mine when it first happened. Mine is turning purple and fading now.

  “Who gave you that, Howard?” Boston asks looking at the same thing I am.

  “A couple Dyna cornered me yesterday. They barely got a slap on the wrist, can you believe it?”

  Boston doesn’t get out of the cart but he leans in toward him. “A couple of Dyna?”

  “Okay, okay it was only one but once I was on the ground it could have been more than one that kicked me. Stupid Twos, they have it coming to them.”

  “Stage twos? Underclassmen got you, again? How many times do you have to get beat up before you stop making them mad?”

  Howard looks at me, “I am not going to be intimidated by any Dyna.” He doesn’t stop looking at me while he’s talking, “They are barely more advanced then apes.”

  Boston sits back in the seat and looks at me, “See what I have to deal with?” He looks back at Howard, “All you have to do is be nice to them. Being a jerk and belittling them on Competition Day is only going to keep getting you beat up.”

  “You make it sound simple dealing with those cavemen,” Howard looks at me as he’s saying cavemen.

  “Don’t be offended, he’s like this to everyone. This is Howard Ledet, Veritatis Valor in our class,” Boston tells me.

  “I only talk to morons like that, and I am the top valor Veritatis on campus,” Howard corrects.

  Boston gets irritated, “Top Veritatis student, for now.”

  Howard swipes his hair out of his eyes. “If anyone thinks they can compete then I say bring it on.”

  For a bean pole he sure is smug. I hope Boston says something good back to him.

  He smiles at Howard, “They have you babysitting don’t they?”

  Howard pulls at his backpack, mumbling about no justice.

  Boston looks at his empty wrist as if he has a watch on it, “Free period is about to start, you don’t want to keep the kiddies waiting.” We drive off and Howard continues walking to the stage one building.

  After leaving Howard, Boston drives us through the courtyard in the middle of campus instead of going all the way around the library.

  “So it doesn’t matter if you are a nerd like Howard or football player like Mase, everyone has an ego. That’s what they should have called this place, ‘The Academy of Egos’”, I say.

  A girl smiles at me as we drive past her and I smile back.

  “Don’t judge everyone based on those two. Once you achieve valor status it changes you. I wasn’t too bad but I let Howard have it before it really had a chance to suck the soul out of me.”

  “You LET him become the top Veritatis, or he took it from you?” I ask.

  “My point is don’t put the rest of us in the same category as a Valor. Most people here are cool like me.” Boston stops in front of our building, stage three.

  One of the young boys that were cleaning the welcome center yesterday with Boston walk ups. He gets between Boston and I as we are about to go to our building and he drops something on the ground. He keeps walking like he isn’t aware he dropped anything, going to talk to some other kids sitting by a tree. Boston pretends to be tying his shoelace and grabs the paper. He puts it in his pocket. The kid is still at the tree talking but he is watching Boston.

  “Are you going to give that back to the kid?” I ask.

  He gives me a half smile, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He runs his hand through his hair twice, looking at the kid. The kid smiles and turns back to the people he’s talking to. Boston points to the building in front of us, “Now let me show you my place.” He struts off ahead of me, talking to more girls on his way.

  Inside, Boston gives me a basic break down of our building and schedule. Each building has classrooms where the students attend regular classes three days a week. On the first floor there are stairwells on either end, one leading to the girls rooms and the other to the boys rooms on the third floor.

  The remaining two weekdays are for ability advancement. On these days you meet with your designated small group. Your group consists of Seraphim with the same ability. They match you with other students that have the same ability level you have. Twice a month you have the chance to move up by outshining your fellow classmates on Competition Day. For Veritatis like Boston this doesn’t mean you go against another person per se but rather use other Seraphim. The Veritatis will ask designated Seraphim questions and the one that most accurately identifies the lies being told to them wins. Since Howard is the Valor Veritatis he has a target on his head from other Veritatis wanting his position but they don’t start physical confrontations over it.

  Boston explains that Howard is regularly in fights because he has made a habit of asking Dynas the most embarrassing questions he can come up with on Competition Day. They can’t get him back immediately for the humiliation but normally by the next day revenge has been dealt.

  “He might get some laughs out of it but they always get him back for it.” Boston says matter-of-factly.

  “I don’t blame them. I wanted to wring his neck and I don’t even know him. The faculty lets him get beat up like that?”

  “They wouldn’t let things get out of hand but for people like Howard who are constantly getting on people’s bad side, they let things work themselves out. And don’t think he got early childhood duty because of the fight. He got in trouble because he asked some inappropriate questions about the Dyna’s mom who works here.”

  “How do you know that?” I ask curiously.

  “He was bragging about it after the challenge.”

  He finishes showing me around by ending at my room. It is bigger than the room I was in at the welcome center but only by a little. There are two beds, one on opposite sides of the room. Boston closes the door behind us.

  I put my bag on the bed that doesn’t have stuff all over it. Boston sits on the dirty bed.

  “I see you are too cool to pick up after yourself.”

  Boston looks around at the mess, “This isn’t my crap. Mick is your roomy.”

  Good, I don’t have to live with a human lie detector.

  “Oh. Is he a Dyna ?”

  “No, he’s a Tempero. Word to the wise stay on his good side or he might make you fall in love with a cafeteria worker.”

  Living with Boston may not be such a bad idea.

  “Didn’t you say they ca
n only mess with you when they’re around?”

  “This isn’t that big of a school so if one of them wanted to work a little warm feeling into you daily they could. Mase broke up with a Tempero’s sister once and he made Mase have an emotional breakdown in front of our class. He cried for his momma and everything. You actually saw him earlier. He was the Tempero that got pummeled on the field.”

  What happened to the nice, happy students on the brochure?

  “But don’t worry, Mick doesn’t have a sister,” Boston assures me.

  “That’s a relief,” I say sarcastically. I take the book out Lia gave Anne and I, “Do I need this for a class?”

  Boston takes the book from me, “You’re lucky, I had to take an entire course about this book but you’ll get out of it since you’re so old.”

  “Good because I didn’t get past the first chapter.”

  I didn’t even get past the first five pages.

  “No surprise there since you don’t know anything about our abilities,” he hands the book back. “It would help you to know about what everyone can do.”

  I toss the book in the closet.

  Boston mumbles, “Or not.”

  I finish unpacking and looking through the drawers. One is full of more P.E. uniforms. All the while Boston talks about girls he’s called dibs on and who he would recommend for me.

  “I thought you said we don’t date.”

  “We aren’t suppose to but there are ways to meet up for alone time, if you know what I mean,” he wiggles his eyebrows up and down.

  If I had to bet money I would say Boston isn’t as well versed in the opposite sex as he acts. “You get ‘alone time’ with girls a lot?” I ask.

  “I’m too much of a gentleman to brag but I’ve been behind the animal barn a few times.”

  “Animal barn?”

  “It’s past the field. It’s not much to look at with chickens, pigs, and a few goats. I didn’t want to get suckered in to having to work out there so I didn’t bring you by it. It began as part of an agriculture class. Now they use it as punishment along with helping babysit the stage 1 kids.” He looks at his wrist at the imaginary watch, “Let’s go eat; it’s lunch time.” He goes to the door.

  “Hold on, you make out with chicks around smelly livestock?”

  He raises an eyebrow at me, “I would every day if I could.” With that he leaves the room. “There aren’t many options besides the barn,” he continues as he walks down the hall.

  A few guys are dropping their bags off in their rooms before going back downstairs. They keep looking over their shoulders at me as we walk in their direction.

  “I’m not judging you, man,” I tell him.

  We head down the stairs.

  “That is exactly what you’re doing,” he says.

  Once outside I see a couple of guys my size, obvious Dynas, arguing. One of them pushes the other. Then, all of a sudden they both smile at each other. The closer we get to them the more I feel like smiling.

  “Do you feel happy for no reason?” I ask.

  Boston is looking up at a bird in the tree that we are passing, “There is always a reason to be happy.” He looks over at me and I can’t help but return his grin, “Just go with it. Look at everyone around us.”

  I do and find that all of the students strolling about seem to also be in good moods. A teacher sitting on a bench with a male student is even smiling proudly, looking around.

  “This place isn’t that bad,” I say winking at some girls going in the other direction.

  “Figures it would take a Temp to make you pleasant to be around,” Boston’s grin weakens.

  “You wouldn’t still be showing me around if you didn’t enjoy my company,” I can feel the happiness wash out of me. I’m not smiling anymore but I can still remember the unexplainable feeling. “That was weird. Do they do that all the time?”

  “Depends.”

  The student that was on the bench with the teacher struts up.

  “Did you like that?” He asks Boston and I.

  “That was pretty good. Is Mr. Melvern making you practice during your lunch now?” Boston asks him.

  The guy holds his hand out to me to shake, “I’m Mick, your roommate.”

  I shake his hand and introduce myself, “Kelly.”

  “I wasn’t expecting you for another day or two. Sorry about the mess.”

  “It’s cool.”

  He takes his position on the other side of Boston as we continue to the cafeteria.

  “Can he read my mind?” I ask in Boston’s ear.

  “No,” he whispers back.

  “Then, how did he know I saw our room?”

  “He saw us leaving our building and you don’t have your bags with you. It’s called deductive reasoning.”

  Mick goes on talking as if we weren’t whispering right next to him, “Mr. Melvern and I were talking about my performance in his class when two Dyna started getting ready to fight. I was going to let him take care of it but then he saw Kelly and told me to do it.”

  “Be careful or he’ll turn you into a teacher,” Boston warns him making a sour face on the last word. “He’s gotten two students that I know of agree to come back and teach if they aren’t assigned elsewhere.”

  “Why, when he saw me?” I ask.

  “To see how well we worked together. If I couldn’t make you feel happy when you’re relaxed, walking around then they wouldn’t expect me to be able to bring you down when you get D’d.”

  I get pissed fast assuming that D’d means he’s giving me crap. Boston sees my reaction and runs interference, “He means when you get mad. Dynas always get worked up. D-Dyna. When a Dyna gets mad then we call it ‘getting D’d’,” Boston explains.

  “I knew what he meant,” I say defensively.

  “Lie,” Boston says sticking his hands in his pockets.

  “You know, I kinda am happy you aren’t my roommate,” I say.

  “Ouch,” Boston says to Mick as he pulls out the folded paper the kid dropped earlier, “Dang it! Completely for got.” He pushes the paper back in his pocket. “I’ll catch up. Save me a seat,” he says running back to our building.

  Mick takes his place next to me, “You’ll get used to that.”

  “He runs off a lot?”

  “No, well yes, but I meant him telling you when you lie. Since he lost valor status he’s gotten better at not rubbing his ability in your face.”

  We walk in the cafeteria and get in the relatively short line.

  “So he was as annoying as Howard is?”

  The students in front of us try to not make it obvious they are checking me out.

  “He didn’t get beat up like Howard does because he tries to be friends with the decent Dynas. As a stage two he would let you know how upper class-men were impressed by his skills.”

  Students eating at the tables close to the food line are turning and looking at me. Mick doesn’t seem to notice the attention we are getting.

  “I figured he had the tendency to exaggerate,” Mick continues. “But he wasn’t. He was good. For a while he was advancing fast. Then he stopped advancing; kinda stalled. Soon after Howard replaced him as Valor. A rumor went around that he lost the challenge on purpose.”

  “He doesn’t seem like the kind to hand over the spotlight,” I say trying to be a part of the conversation and ignore the unwanted attention.

  We make our plates and find empty seats at the end of a table. Mick sits across from me watching the people making their plates. I get the view of everyone coming and going.

  “I know, the rumor was ridiculous. Boston was going to graduate ahead of schedule and get a sweet job out of the country before he lost valor status.”

  Two girls walk by the table. They are both looking at me. “Come on, a guy that big is not a wuss,” one of the girls say. They keep walking to another table.

  I’ve never been called a wuss before. I’ve heard meathead or giant, but never wuss.

 
“Did you hear that? I think she was talking about me. Everyone is staring too,” I tell Mick.

  He looks around as if everyone in the room just showed up. He doesn’t stop eating his salad that has more dressing than lettuce in it, “What did you expect? We haven’t had a new face in a while.”

  “I wasn’t expecting to turn every head.”

  Mick looks around again, “Don’t flatter yourself.”

  More people are starting to fill in our table and Mick has to tell some guys we are saving Boston’s seat. I finish my french fries. Everyone that passes looks at me.

  I see Mase, Abby, and Lena are eating at a table full of friends.

  “Where you homeschooled?” Mick asks me, pushing the now empty salad plate over and moving on to his burger.

  “No.”

  “Then you should know a new student is like a new pet that everyone wants to see. You’re a Dyna so people are going to gossip behind your back instead of chatting you up because they don’t know if you’ll snap at them or not.”

  “So other Dyna, like Mase go off on people regularly?” I ask.

  Mick looks at Mase’s table that has more Dyna guys at it now, “Had a run in with Ol’Mase on your first day?”

  I nod, eating some of my burger before grabbing my chocolate pudding. It’s not near as good as Gran would make me.

  “Mase shows his strength for other reasons but new students, especially a Dynamar, can snap for no reason. It has happened more than once. They will see soon enough you aren’t a loose cannon.”

  “Thanks for thinking so highly of me,” I say sarcastically.

  “I think highly of myself. I may never be the top Tempero but I’ll keep you out of trouble. Boston will help too. He’s pretty good at keeping friends happy.”

  “Thanks for saving me a seat,” Boston says putting his tray full of food down beside me.

  Mick eyes Boston’s food, “I didn’t see any pizza up there.”

  Boston grins, “You won’t either.” He grabs his biggest slice and starts eating. “Now that you’ve had some time with him, what do you think, Mick?”