Her stomach lurched at the thought of it. Axis. How unfair. She had finally found a way off this rock and they found a way to make her stay.
Orientation finally ended and the students emptied out of the classroom. Sara pushed past all the chatter and crossed the hallway, heading straight for the closest bathroom. She stood momentarily in front of the door, waiting for it to open, but to her surprise she found herself needing to push it. She grumbled her way in, hoping no one saw her being an idiot and made her way over to one of sinks along the long counter.
She just needed a moment of silence away from the hustle and bustle of the hallway. Leaning over the sink she successfully avoided her reflection and with a flick of her hand she brought ice cold water streaming from the faucet to which she applied generously to her face.
“What are you doing here?” She mumbled aloud to herself and regretted it immediately as it reverberated off the surrounding walls. She didn’t belong at REALM. It was too big and full of people way smarter than she was. The classes were bound to bore her and be way over her head. Her only hope was finding the other members of Axis and hoping to the highest Haven that they were as lost as she was.
The bathroom door swung open behind her, but she didn’t bother to look up.
“…and then I was like, ‘you’ve got to be kidding’ even though I knew he was totally serious.” The unmistakable voice of Kat scratched its way to her ears.
“Good one, Kat! Oh, that’s so funny!” The ever faithful Renna responded as she opened one of the stall doors. Kat made her way to the mirror and started fussing with her mass of hair.
Sara found herself frozen in place. Neither girl had yet to acknowledge her presence. It would have been the ideal time to quickly sneak out the door and avoid an unnecessary confrontation in such a small arena. But she couldn’t move.
“Aren’t you even going to say hi?” Kat asked while she leaned over to wipe away an imaginary smudge from under her lips and tried to catch Sara’s eyes in the mirror.
Sara trained her sights on the door. “No, I wasn’t.” She mumbled out and slung her bag back over her shoulder.
“I see manners are as high up on the Pitter’s to-do list as an honest living. I don’t know why I expected any better from someone like you.”
Sara could feel her anger rising, but she couldn’t let this small, arrogant girl get to her. She was above that. Sara headed straight for the door, not daring to look anywhere but at her destination.
“It’s a shame, really, that REALM has lowered itself to letting traitor spawn through their doors”
Sara’s vision went red. The one button she had…“If you say one more word to me, I will beat that smirk off your face.” She couldn’t help it as her hands clenched into fists.
“Who did your mommy and daddy have to sell to get you in here?” Kat’s eyes narrowed to hateful slits. “Oh, that’s right, your parents were arrested weren’t they.”
Renna emerged from her stall smoothing her jacket down around her hips. “Hi, Sara.” She chirped merrily, crossing between them to get to the sinks.
“Ohh, that got you fired up.” Kat stood hands on hips. “Too bad you can’t do anything about it.” Kat laughed and motioned for Renna to do the same, “Poor, worthless traitor spawn.”
Sara didn’t care anymore. Scholarship, future plans, none of it mattered in that moment and against better judgment, she chose pride over sense.
Chapter Seven
“I feel like my head is going to explode.” Sky shook his head. “One lecture down, thousands more to go.”
“Well, if you would have read the prep work I left for you last night, most of these first few classes would just be a recap.” Al wasn’t patronizing him, he was just stating the unfortunate facts.
“We both know I don’t read unless held at gunpoint.” He sighed, feeling the weight of his backpack increase.
“Which has happened on occasion.” Al nodded. “Don’t worry, man. That’s -”
Al wasn’t able to finish his sentence as Sara and the girl with the colossal amount of hair came roaring out from the restroom in midst of a serious looking brawl. Colossal-hair’s nose flowed a steady stream of blood while Sara had suffered a long scratch below her left eye.
“Hey!” Al shouted and tried to pull Sky out of the way, but he was too late. Sky was taken down to the ground in a frenzy of fists and nails.
The two girls thankfully scrambled apart, standing with heaving breaths, once they noticed a stranger in their midst.
“I’m not familiar with the culture that uses full-body tackles as introductions.” Sky joked, as he climbed to his feet between them.
“Pit rat!” Colossal-hair screamed, wiping furiously at the blood still pouring from her face.
Sky held up his hands slowly and tried to back away, but stopped when he noticed the commotion had caught the attention of a passing professor.
Sara lunged at the other girl with a look in her eye that he knew all to well. Sky stepped forward and took a solid punch that sent him into the opposite wall.
“What is going on here? Stop it this instant.” It was Professor Blanks from the lecture at REALM.
Sara and Kat both turned in the direction of the voice, and their reaction clearly stated that they were just noticing the audience around them.
“Come with me.” Professor Blanks said in a steady voice. “The lot of you.” He gestured to someone just out of view and two official looking adults rushed to his side. “Take them to the Director’s office.”
In a rush of hands and bodies, Sara, Colossal-hair, Al and Sky were skirted off to the upper levels. Once off the lifts they proceeded down a long, warmly lit corridor that, when combined with the light yellow walls, gave the slightest impression of walking through a stick of butter.
Blanks followed quietly behind them as their escorts secured them on either side. Colossal-hair fussed and protested the entire way and it had started to create a dull ache in the back of Sky’s skull.
“Stop.” One of their escorts barked as they reached a large door with the word ‘Director Thompson’ clearly imprinted onto its surface.
“Thank you. I’ve got it from here.” Blanks nodded politely to the other men who promptly strode off without a look back.
Blanks flipped open a hidden panel to the side of the door and jabbed at the keypad. The door clanked and he pushed it open to reveal yet another corridor, this one did not look so warm and delicious.
“It’s the only room at the end of the hall, wait there and the Director will meet you.”
Sky could tell the weight of the situation was beginning to bog the others down. No one said a word as they took their first heavy steps forward.
Blanks caught Sky’s shoulder just as he was about to follow, “You and Ms. Rekkert are to meet me in my office after this, you got that.” He said, the slightest hint of annoyance edging on his voice. It was the first time he had hinted at any sort of emotion.
Before Sky could question his reasoning, Blanks shoved a stubby finger into the pin on his jacket.
Sky nodded slightly and didn’t dare move until Blanks had left the room – that man, upon a closer inspection, was a raging fire beneath a veil of apathy. The door silently shut behind him and Sky took a shuttering breath. So that guy was in charge of the Axis program. Made sense though, since he was the one speaking about it at that lecture thing the night before.
Sky didn’t try to catch up to the others, but kept his own pace just behind them. When they got to the end of the hall a double door swung open into a large, bright room that reminded him of the blank, sterile hallways of REALM. The high, white walls carried only small, black and white photos of the building itself and upon the grey carpet sat the only furniture in the room - a row of backless chairs and a long, stone desk.
He made his way over to the chairs where the other three had already sat down and claimed the one on the end, next to Al.
Al’s fingers drummed lightly on his rap
idly shaking leg, as if keeping time to the annoying tap, tap, tap of his foot against the leg of the chair.
“Don’t worry.” He whispered down to his friend. Although such a situation was old news for Sky, Al had never had the pleasure of being sent to the office before. “I got this.” He tried to reassure him. There was no real reason Al should have been there anyway and Sky would defend him to the death.
“This is stupid.” Sara muttered on the other side of him. She fidgeted almost as nervously as Al.
“This is what happens when they let people like you in here, total chaos.” Colossal-hair replied with an arrogant lift of her chin.
Sky did not like that girl. He didn’t like her attitude, he didn’t like her voice and he certainly didn’t like her hair.
“If I get kicked out, my father will disown me.” Al breathed, his eyes dazed as he lived out what was probably one of his biggest nightmares, “He really will.”
“They’re not going to kick you out, Al. Not over this.” Sky shook his head, “Besides, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“She started it. It wasn’t me.” Colossal-hair guilt was obvious through her immediate reaction.
“Let’s just, you know, be quiet right now. Okay?” Al nodded to himself, most likely trying to give himself some sort of internal pep talk. “Nice and quiet.”
An uncomfortable amount of time went by before a stern looking man with a face like a brick finally entered the room and sat down heavily at the desk behind the giant nameplate that read ‘Director Thompson’.
Thompson leaned his massive body forward slowly and folded his hands neatly below his chin. He stared at them in an awkward silence as if waiting for something.
“With all due respect, sir, I wasn’t involved …” Al began.
Thompson held up one finger without breaking his cool and constant stare. Al’s objection faded off into the silence and he shrunk back down in his seat.
“You boys are not in trouble. From what I have been told, Mr. Regan is a victim and you, Mr. Kane, are a witness. That is all.” Thompson said as he leaned back in his overstuffed chair. “As for the young ladies, that is another matter entirely.”
Colossal-hair’s mouth dropped open at this statement and her eyes grew wide. “I’m a victim! She attacked me!” she shouted in outrage.
Thompson again held up his hand as he leaned even further towards them, a clear vision of anger reflecting in his glassy eyes. “We here at the REALM institute do not stand for violence against one another. We are a tightly knit team that works together for universal peace. How do you think it looks for you two, drawing blood on your first day here?” Both girls looked away. “I am looking to expel you both right now.”
“That’s a bit harsh.” Sky couldn’t help it as the words tumbled out, causing Thompson’s glare to shift their beady focus onto him.
“Sir,” Al successfully drew away the fearsome gaze and took it head on himself, “Expulsion would seem a bit harsh,” Al’s voice wavered, but he held strong, “given these two young women’s predisposition of prejudice towards one another.”
Sky wanted to nudge Al, but there was no way of stopping him now. Even though Al probably knew full well that he should stop talking, the boy’s mouth functioned on a completely different level than his brain.
“By their physical characteristics I assume that they are local to Archaios, specifically from the nearby town of Meral and Sawyer, where prejudice and fighting still exists between the Broken Wing and Blue Star Clans. I mean, the Clan rivalries go back for centuries, it’s hard to-”
“History lessons don’t impress me, Mr. Kane.” Thompson snapped. “The simple fact is that we can not tolerate this type of behavior.”
“Oh, come on. It was just one little fight, who cares.” It did seem unfair. “Like Al said, they’re just products of their environments.” He shrugged, “You can’t just kick someone out without even a warning. I thought this place was all about peace and understanding and all that stuff.”
Thompson stared hard at him. “You are overstepping your boundaries, Mr. Regan.”
“Well then, let me apologize.” He said sarcastically and sat up straight. “All I know is that if you’re not gonna give someone a chance to learn from a bad decision, then I might as well just go home right now, because I’m full of that kind of crap.”
Thompson stared intensely before he let his tight lips crack into a smile. It was a much longer moment then what seemed comfortable that he stayed like that - just looking Sky straight in the face with that creepy smile.
“Fine.” He said finally. “The young ladies can stay on a probationary status. Take this as your one and only warning - this kind of behavior will not be tolerated. You all may go.”
Al bounced up from his chair, “Thank you, Sir.”
“You’re not the one who should be thanking me.” Thompson remarked snidely and motioned for them to go.
Sara and Colossal-hair strode quickly for the door with him and Al close behind.
“I suggest you girls stay far away from one another,” Thompson barked after them, “I couldn’t care less about clans or tribes or whatever else people choose to divide themselves by - if I hear of either of you two causing any sort of trouble, you’re gone. This is an institute of knowledge; we don’t have the time or resources to deal with social or emotional baggage.”
It was a relief to exit the office. “Holy moldy, can you believe that guy!” Sky said to no one in particular.
“Great. I’m going to be late.” Al groaned, snapping his tablet shut.
“Aw, man, I almost forgot,” Sky switched his head back and fourth, the two girls had gone off in opposite directions, “Which one of you is Ms. Rekkert?” To his utter delight, Sara flinched at the name. But she kept walking. “Come on, we’ve got to meet with Professor Blankety Blank about Axis stuff.”
Sara’s skirt faired up as she spun around, “You’re kidding me. You?” Her voice was hot with anger.
“Good luck with that, buddy.” Al slapped him on the back and raced off to class.
He faced Sara with a slight reserve. “Blanks said to meet in his office once we were done here.” He shrugged and pointed to the pin on his jacket.
She growled and turned violently away from him. “Lead us to Professor Blanks office.” She spoke clearly to the wall.
For a moment he thought she was completely insane, but then a thin, glowing line appeared at her feet. “Come on.” She sneered at him.
“I had no idea…” He mumbled. “REALM is a pretty crazy place, eh?” He spoke to her back. She didn’t answer, not that he really expected her to.
It was just him, Sara, and the echoes of their feet against the marbled floor as they silently followed the magical little line. He kept quiet, not wanting to endure another of her vicious stares. She had seemed a whole lot friendlier from a distance. It was strange, but he had liked her the moment he saw her that morning. The way she had walked in with such confidence and utter disregard for all those around her. The way her hair looked sloppy, but was done so in such a meticulous fashion that it was also obviously purposeful. Even the way she wore her uniform, with the skirt just a little too short, the shirt un-tucked with the blazer not fully buttoned to the top – it was all done just enough for her to look rebellious, but the crisp lines and careful pleats of the fabric told him it was all a ruse. She wasn’t just a lazy slob like him, no, she was just trying to keep people away.
“How’s that scratch?” His voice came out a little too loud and was amplified by the empty hallway.
“How’s your face?” Her reply was quick and angry with a hint of sarcasm.
“I’ve had worse.” That was definitely true. “That was some punch though. I haven’t been hit like that, probably ever.”
She glanced back at him with a snarl, “I knew you were just a punk. Probably get in fights all the time.”
“Not as much as I used to ever since my dad taught me to never throw the first punc
h.”
“Well that was sweet of him.” She scoffed. “Look kid,”
“It’s Sky.”
“Whatever. Thanks and all for what you did back there, but I’m not here to impress these uptight suits from REALM anyway. The people who really matter are Professor Blanks and our assigned mentors, do you understand.” She turned and stepped towards him, causing him to instinctively back up. “If you refuse to show respect or run your mouth off like you did in there…if you ruin this chance for me in any way,” She had somehow managed to get him pinned up against the wall, “I will personally hunt you down and destroy you.”
Sky nodded slowly and held his breath until she backed away. It was obvious she had more to say, but she just bit her lip with a snarl and continued on down the hall.
For the rest of their short journey he kept his distance. When they came upon Blank’s door he was sure to let her open it and wait until she was fully into the room before he dared to enter.
“What took so long?” Blanks snapped once they were barely in the door. The room was small and cramped with piles on top of piles of books, papers and folders. Blanks himself was neatly tucked away in the furthest corner and, in his dusty colored suit, was perfectly camouflaged amongst the immense forest of periodicals.
“I apologize, Sir.” Sara reported crisply, pushing her already straight shoulders back. “We came as quickly as we could.”
“I’m sure you did.” Was his monotone reply. Blanks stood up from his desk and maneuvered around it with a grace that shouldn’t be possible for a man of his size. He stood rigidly in front of them with what was becoming his customary look of neutrality. “As a formal greeting I will introduce myself as Professor Robert Blanks. I’ve been teaching Bionamics here at the REALM Academy for over eight years, before that I was one of the head instructors of Biochemical Warfare at the Arche Academy and preceding that I was defending this galaxy as the Commander of the Tae San Phoenix Squadron. Any questions as to why I have been chosen to be your guide at this school?”
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