Starstream Academy
Alexandria Smith
Copyright © 2014 Alexandria Smith
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 1512133655
ISBN-13: 978-1512133653
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank everyone who helped me and believed in me when I doubted myself.
Chapter 1
Rumble At Jonesy Diner
I huffed slightly as I wiped another table down and fixed the checkerboard pattern cloth back to its former luster. "Stupid customer," I grumbled quietly before straightening and making my way through the maze of empty tables to the register.
"Just block it out, kiddo. Eventually you'll get used to it," my mother said tiredly as soon as I got to her side behind the long bar-like counter. I made a face, but remained silent as I fixed my uniform’s rather short red skirt. The white half apron that tied around the waist was already stained and I tugged it into its correct position and refilled the coffee pot. I unconsciously fixed my white sailor hat before tugging on the top of my red uniform and looking into the reflective surface of the counter. With no customers around, I allowed my mind to wander and I hummed in thought. I was pretty, I guess. Perhaps if I pushed it, other girls would have something to be envious of with my petite body type, but this uniform was pushing my comfort level pretty far. Shaking my head, I looked up at the sight that was going to greet me daily for the rest of my life.
With the price of continuing my education steadily climbing, I had decided to drop out and help mom and pop out at the family diner. Pop had been enthusiastic, but mom was upset. She had wanted me to eventually go off to college, but sadly that was not for me. Family was more important than school. I shook my head to bring myself out of my thoughts and watched as my only friend rushed through the diner door and headed over towards me. He skidded to a stop right in front of me and crashed into the counter while I smirked and he wheezed.
Even at 6 foot to my 5'3, Rusty was all skin and bones. He was lanky and nerdish looking with thick, black-framed glasses and freckles dusted on the bridge of his nose. Although he wasn't the strongest looking boy, he was always defending me when we went out because sometimes I spoke before I thought. "What can I do you for hon?" I drawled out, watching as he fumbled with his bag and blushed brightly, glaring down at me darkly when he managed to keep his things from falling.
"Very funny, Rose Mary," he said, his voice coming out scratchy, like he had a stuffy nose. I snickered under my breath before blowing a strand of my long, mousy-brown hair out of my brown eyes.
"I’m just messin’ with ya," I grumbled as he pulled out his homework and took a seat in front of me. I enviously watched him work for a second before looking to the door as the bell jingled. The moment my eyes hit the new customer, I was floored. She was extremely tall at 6'5’, with long black hair that was slicked back into a ponytail.
Her eyes were a bright pink color and seemed to be examining the room with excitement. Her skin was a light orange-brown and she was dressed in long black pants, a tight blue polo shirt, and shiny black shoes. She walked with her head held high, but a relaxed and curious smile had decorated her face.
"Is that a Sarkver?" Rusty whispered suddenly, causing me to jump and knock over a pot of creamer. Since the diner was empty, she instantly looked to us with something akin to curiosity and I felt my face grow hot before I leveled a glare at Rusty.
"Shut it," I hissed as I quickly began to clean up the mess I had made. In the few seconds it took to wipe up the cream, I calmed myself and took a deep breath. Turning around, I grabbed a coffee pot and began venturing over to the table she had claimed in a little corner. The chair she was seated at was rather small for her size, but she continued to smile with ease and look at the small menu she held in interest. As I came over, I quickly presented the coffee pot like a peace offering and smiled at her uneasily. "Coffee?" I asked, watching as she looked up, then contemplated it before shaking her head.
"Orange juice, if you please." she said in a low and husky voice. Her voice caused me to pause for a minute before I nodded to her and turned, unconsciously walking back to the long counter to carry out the order. I had heard that the Sarkver women had infuriatingly high pitched voices that made people want to punch them in the face. She sounded just like any other girl, well as any other girl that dressed like her would sound. I shook my head and quickly poured her a glass of juice before walking back over and placing it down and hearing the door open again.
Looking up, I almost groaned aloud seeing the toughest jock in school, Jacques Mclovell, striding in with the rest of the football team following behind him. He was tall and thickly muscled like the others, but he actually had a neck. He grinned at the team behind him before looking around the area briefly, passing over me without stopping before he nodded to a corner of the room. He and the football players walked over to it, the cheerleaders pressing up against him and the other player as the group took their seats at the tables.
They all took up various places around the table and he cracked a joke, causing loud laughter to erupt from them. He laughed along with the others before running a hand through his short, blonde hair, shooting his latest fling a flirty smile. I restrained the disgusted look I wanted to show, thankful when I saw mom head over to them. I refocused on the Sarkver and shot her a light smile when our eyes met. "Um, are you ready to order?" I asked, slightly flustered when she returned my smile. I pulled out my notepad and pencil and her smile grew as she nodded before pointing a little ways down the list to the largest thing on the menu.
"Can I have three orders of this?" she asked politely. I nodded and scribbled it down before tipping my head to her.
"Your order will be ready in a few minutes," I said before turning and scurrying off to the kitchen.
When I pushed my way through the swinging double doors, I was struck with the usual awe I felt when pop cooked. He was a wizard with a spatula and not only created delicious meals but put on a little show while doing it. "Anything you need, Rosie?” Pop asked as he finished preparing some eggs and started on some bacon.
"Three orders of the All American," I said walking over and hanging the ticket on a spinning wheel. Pop shot me a curious look over his shoulder and I looked around before moving closer to him. “A Sarkver’s in the diner," I said as softly as I could. A surprised look crossed his face before he placed a hand to his chin and rubbed it in thought.
"Well that makes sense. Ever since we struck up that deal with the Sarkver, they've been poppin' up everywhere," he said simply with a shrug. I rolled my eyes before tapping his thick arm in a disapproving manner.
"Try to be nice pop," I said. He snorted playfully before turning to his cooking and waving his spatula.
"Better go help your mom, I heard those loud teenagers come in," he said, his tone falling flat in what sounded like irritation. I grimaced and sighed heavily before adjusting my uniform once more and heading out. Jacques and his crew were now talking loudly and the Sarkver had moved over to Rusty's side, beaming at him while he blushed a bright red. He nervously ran a hand through his short, red hair while awkwardly waving towards his open math book as he spoke. His emerald eyes rolled over her in awe as I walked over with a pitcher of juice to refill her glass. As I grew close, she looked to me before shooting me a sheepish smile.
"I'm sorry I moved, but they are getting a little...too loud for my taste," she said, looking over her shoulder at the group before looking back to me. I shrugged and quickly filled her glass before setting the pitcher off to the side. She returned to her conversation with Rusty and I pulled out a rag, beginning to clean the counters while hummi
ng a quiet tune to keep myself busy.
When I completed my task, I lifted my head and noticed a small family had walked in. The family was comprised of three men and one young woman. They looked around the room for a short minute before they took a seat in the corner on the opposite side of the room, far away from Jacques and his group. I heard a bell go off and turned, walking over to the kitchen service window and grabbing two of the three ready plates. I walked over to the Sarkver and set them down in front of her before lifting a finger at her questioning look. "I'll be grabbing the last one now, give me a second please," I said as politely as I could and turned, headed back over, grabbed the last dish, and delivered it to her. She gave me a small smile before beginning to eat and I headed over to the small family. "Coffee?" I asked as soon as I got close.
The oldest of the family, an elderly man, nodded while the other three shook their heads. I poured the man a cup then returned to the counter to put the pot away. I headed back to their table a minute later and pulled out my notepad and pencil, smiling when they looked to me. "What can I get you?" I asked. They all gave me their orders and I quickly scribbled them down before grabbing the menus and heading into the kitchen. Mom was grabbing a large platter of food and I quickly put the note on the spinning wheel before helping her. She gave me a weak grin and together we delivered the food to Jacques’ table, all to their cat calls and wolf whistles.
"Look how the mighty has fallen!" Jacques taunted as I placed his plate down in front of him at my mother's direction. I ignored his jibe and jumped when the diner door banged open. A wave of silence hit the room and I looked back as the nastiest gang in the town strolled in. They were vicious and cruel, called the Psycho Cyborgs, and often brought chaos to everywhere they went. Mom ushered me to pass out the plates and I did so, keeping the gang in the corner of my eye. They took a seat in the farthest corner of the room and began to loudly talk while I finished my task. Swallowing nervously, I watched in worry as mom went over to the large table they claimed to take their order.
I quickly headed to the service window to gather up the food that the elderly man's family had ordered and looked up when the door jingled. Two more Sarkver entered the diner, dressed in military cut uniforms, and looked around warily. The taller of the two had orangey-yellow colored skin and short, crew cut black hair as well as orange colored eyes, while the shorter had brownish-yellow skin with a baldhead and golden eyes.
They were tall, probably towering over Rusty, and were fit with thick muscles and harsh looking faces. I frowned lightly, but quickly put the plates of food on a large platter and walked over to the counter to get the family's drinks. I poured the three in quick succession before placing them on the platter and walking over, passing out the food when I got to the table. They gave me their thanks and I nodded to them before heading over to the Sarkvers, who were near the first one at the counter.
"This is where you wanted to eat Princess Shi-Pluma? This...human eatery," the bald Sarkver growled out, his voice deep and gravelly. I paused when I heard him before continuing forward.
"E-Excuse me, would you like some menus?" I asked, watching as they looked at me in disgust.
"No," the larger of the two spat out, his voice higher and more humanistic. I shot them a weak grin before looking at the slightly flushed looking Sarkver, or rather Princess Shi-Pluma.
"I apologize for my...guards. They are very closed-minded when it comes to the food they eat," Princess Shi-Pluma said. I gave her a small smile and shrugged while moving around the counter.
"It's okay. Everyone has their preference," I said, pulling out a rag and cleaning the counter, which had gotten dirty in my time away. She moved to help, but I held up a hand. "You're the customer. Let me take care of this," I said with a gentle smile. She relaxed back then rolled her eyes when her guards huffed.
"Princess, let us return to our hotel. They have better food there," one of her guards pled, but she frowned at him.
"No. I want to stay here for a while longer. I was having a nice conversation on Physics with Rusty," she said, holding her head high and looking down her nose at them. Rusty instantly paled dramatically, his face going white and his body going stiff. The two guards glared at him before looking back at Princess Shi-Pluma with frowns on their faces.
"He is a weak man," one of them commented. I snorted and giggled quietly while Rusty shot me a glare and blushed. Princess Shi-Pluma blushed brightly as well before growling at him, her growl coming out like a low rumble of thunder.
I heard a loud crash and looked up quickly, gasping in horror when I found the elderly man was on the ground while the Psycho Cyborgs taunted him and his children. "Leave him alone!" cried his daughter while a thickly armed cyborg held her above the ground, his arms glowing a dull blue.
"Make us, girlie!" another cyborg taunted, one of his eyes flashing bright red while his neon-green mohawk fell over his other eye. A demented laugh came from one of the female cyborgs and she pulled out a switchblade.
"Stop messin’ around with her! Let's show this old man why you don’t mess with us!" she said with a nasty smile on her face, tossing her blue-streaked blonde hair out of her dark, blue eyes. The elderly man’s sons were being restrained by another cyborg and the elderly man looked at the gang members nervously. The female cyborg straddled him and I swallowed, frozen in fear and shock.
"Children......!" he cried in fright as the female cyborg leaned forward, the switchblade near his face. In a flash, the man’s daughter kicked off of the table in front of her and shoved back, managing to knock the cyborg off balance. He stumbled and released her, the girl landing in a low crouch. I felt my jaw drop as her eyes flashed silver before her skin seemed to melt off, revealing her true silver colored metal form. The skin of the two men melted off as well before they shoved their captor away. The taller young man revealed himself to be a gold android while the other was a brown bronze android. Both of them rushed forward with anger written on their faces, attempting to grab the cyborg girl.
The girl only smirked before rolling off the elderly man and standing, catching the golden- colored man by the throat and lifting him high above her head while laughing. "You really think you can take me on?" she asked, her voice holding a tone of surprise. He moved to kick her, but she threw him at the advancing bronze man before turning and ducking under the punch aimed at her head by the silver android. When one of the cyborgs broke a bottle, I quickly snapped out of my stupor and jumped over the counter to try to break up the fight.
"Please stop fighting!" I cried as I rushed over. Unfortunately my attempt at a good deed put me in the path of a flying bottle which nailed me in the side of the head. I stumbled and fell into some chairs, groaning quietly as the fighting progressed around me. I heard a dull growl and looked around, watching as Rusty rushed to my side along with Princess Shi-Pluma and her guards.
"Rose Mary! Are you okay?!" he cried, as I shook my head and rubbed the forming lump.
"Yeah, but my pride took a good hit. Plus, that bottle hurt like hell," I grumbled. He helped me sit up while Princess Shi-Pluma was in front of me with concern on her face. I heard a faint whizzing sound and looked up, gasping as a large table was thrown at us. I grabbed her polo shirt tightly and shoved her to the side before the table could hit her.
I was lucky that I was rather small, because all I had to do was push away from Rusty and scramble back to get into a small pocket under a booth. I sighed in relief when the table impacted and cut my view of the room, covering me in darkness. I took a moment to calm down before the table was removed and one of Princess Shi-Pluma's guards looked in at me.
"Are you alright?" he asked as he pulled me out. I nodded and received a tight hug from Rusty. I looked past him and winced as the fight between the androids and the cyborgs escalated. Jacques and his crew watched fearfully and right as the fight reached its climax, the door was kicked open and we all froze in shock. Standing in the doorway was the leader of the Grizzly Growlers, the most fearsome
gang in the universe!
Chapter 2
Catching Fate
The leader was a thick man with one Cyclops-like eye and a sneer on his face. His greasy, chin-length black hair hung limply around his face while his eye was black like coal. In his massive hand was a large gun and he snorted before walking in, well more like waddled since he was rather fat.
"Well what do we 'ave here? A bunch of fightin’ robots, some old farts, a couple a kids, and three Sarkvers? Well, well, well looks like we struck gold boys," he called over his shoulder. He chuckled as he moved to the side and his gang stalked in, smirks and nasty smiles on their face. The group was comprised of dirty men; all of them toting along pistols and guns of different caliber. I grimaced and watched as he wildly waved his gun around the room, the barrel stopping randomly on different people. "You all are getting robbed got it!?" he yelled.
He seemed to take our silence for a yes, because he motioned to his gang and they herded us all together. After that, they separated us into groups and began to take all of our valuables. I was patted down roughly and shivered in disgust before I was shoved into Rusty. I quickly took the spot on his left, sitting as close as possible to him and swallowing down the lump in my throat.
He wrapped an arm around me and we watched in fear while the men spoke to one another. Some were laughing while others gave us mean and nasty looks. Grizzly Growler was eating some of the food that hadn’t been thrown around and one of his underlings walked over to him. They spoke for a moment before the large man got up and waddled over to pop. “Tell me where you keep the safe to this place,” he growled out.
“Go to hell,” Pop snapped. I grimaced and Grizzly laughed before shoving his gun into pop’s face.
“I like you,” he said lowly before looking to mom. She moved closer to pop and looked to me briefly before looking back at Grizzly. His head slowly began to turn and I ducked my face down a bit, holding my breath to make myself seem smaller.
Starstream Academy (The Navigators Book 1) Page 1
