Forever Young (The Forever Land Chronicles)

by Sawyer Bennett

  "There's no use hiding it, Charlie," he teased. "Everyone can see it. And you are rocking that bikini, girl."

  His eyes roamed my body appreciatively and I was suddenly self-conscious. I felt my face start to flame. I had never before dressed in a manner that showed much skin, so the bikini was a huge step for me.

  "Oops. I see that I embarrassed you. But do not fret, dear girl. I don't swing your way." He looked at me with an apologetic smile. "I absolutely pose no threat to your womanly sensibilities. Just making a comment that you have a great body, the same way I might say Michelangelo’s David had a great body. It's more of an appreciation of art."

  I just stared for a few seconds at Justas. He certainly spoke what was on his mind and liked to wax poetic. Then I giggled. "That's such a relief."

  "Glad to make you feel at ease. But just because I'm gay, don't go thinking that as best friends, we are going to get manis and pedis every weekend together. I'm very manly. I drink of the manly beer, like to watch football and despise designer clothes."

  I put a serious look on my face. "Got it. No manis and pedis. And I like football too. Oh, but I don't like beer, so that could be a serious deterrent to our friendship."

  "Continue to fear not, my new BFF. For I am willing to let you drink wine coolers if you need. I will not make fun of you for that."

  I laughed. Justas was a rockin' dude. "Then I think we can agree to be friends."

  The rest of the day, Justas and I stayed on the beach, taking a bit of a break to grab lunch at Café Syreni. I told Justas my background and learned a lot about him.

  Justas came from an insanely wealthy family of retired Annihilators that were in their Second Life. He had been raised with knowledge of Semper Terra and had decided he wanted to become an Annihilator, like his parents, early on. Their only stipulation was that he wait until he graduated high school and turned eighteen. He had graduated the previous June, but then spent some time with his parents traveling around the world before he entered the Academy.

  Justas was indeed gay, which wasn't anything new to me. Plenty of gay kids in my high school in New York. He was not in a relationship and was quite adamant that he wasn't looking for one. "Been there, done that", he'd said. I got the feeling he may have suffered a hurtful breakup but I didn't press him on that. His parents were apparently super cool with his sexual orientation and fully supported him. I'm ashamed to admit I was a little envious that he had such loving parents.

  Justas was incredibly easy to talk to. I had never before had a close friend. Most people in high school avoided me...the girl who liked to bash heads. I found myself immediately opening up to him, telling him about my life. While I didn't go into the details, I did tell him about my parents' murders and what my life had been like until that point.

  At the end of the day, we both trudged wearily back to the dormitory. Justas' apartment was just a few doors down from mine. We exchanged cell numbers and said our good-byes.

  "Just to make sure you understand," he said before opening his door, "there is never, and I repeat never, any girly air kisses with me. We can bump fists, or even do the manly pounding of each other on the back. I absolutely refuse to succumb to stereotypes. Got it?"

  I snorted. "Got it." I held my fist out to his and we bumped them together.

  As I walked down to my apartment, I heard him call out. "Hey Charlie...I'm really glad we met."

  There was such genuine warmth in his voice, I suddenly felt tears spring up in my eyes. What was that about? I realized that it had been a really long time that someone had genuinely liked me for me.

  "Me too, Justas," I rasped out. "I'm glad we met, too."

  Chapter 10

  Monday morning I woke late. I had set the alarm on my iPhone but had forgotten to charge it, so it was completely dead when I finally rolled out of bed. I was just throwing my clothes on when I heard a loud knocking at my door. I ran to open it while tying my hair up in a messy knot. Justas stood on the other side of the door. He walked right in, looking completely cool and confident in his casual beach ware. He took in my appearance, including barely brushed hair and grimaced.

  "Geez, girl. You are a mess. Is that what you're wearing today?"

  I looked down at the frayed shorts and wrinkled t-shirt I had on...and, of course, my new flip flops. "Yeah. But what's it to you? I thought you despised designer clothes."

  "I do despise designer clothes. I don't despise fashion sense."

  "Thanks a lot. My ego is taking a battering here."

  "Well, on our first payday, I'm taking you shopping. But we don't have time to worry about it now. Let's go or we'll be late."

  I snagged a blueberry muffin off of my counter to take with me. The dormitory had a cafeteria but we had no time to get a good breakfast thanks to me forgetting to charge my phone. Oh well, I was new at this! I followed Justas out the door and we headed to the main auditorium for our orientation.

  When we got there, most of the seats were taken. I had to admit, I was so thankful to have met Justas. At least I would have one friend. There's nothing more terrifying than walking into a room of strangers for the first time. The auditorium was huge and there had to be close to a hundred recruits talking nervously.

  Justas grabbed my hand and led me up the side stairs to two open seats. I noted with some dismay that Payton Daugherty was sitting right behind our seats, and she appeared to be laughing and joking with the girls that sat to either side. They were all beautiful and dressed to the hilt, makeup artfully applied. When she saw me walking up, she appraised me disdainfully. As we sat down, I heard Payton lower her voice and whisper something then all the girls started snickering. I turned around in my seat and shot her a glare. She just looked at me innocently and blew me a kiss. Great! Looks like I definitely had an enemy.

  The doors to the auditorium opened and our headmaster, Sarah Longchamp walked in. Everyone grew quiet. She was followed by several more people I assumed to be instructors. Some I recognized from the night of the trials. And then my skin started tingling. Caiden walked in looking as amazing as ever. He was wearing nothing more than a white t-shirt, a pair of jeans and brown leather flip flops yet he stood out like a bright beacon in a storm.

  Justas leaned over to me. "Who is that yummy treat who just walked in?"

  I didn't have to see where Justas was looking to know he was talking about Caiden. "That's Caiden Gallagher. One of the instructors. And don't get your hopes up...he doesn't play on your team."

  "Ouch."

  Sarah walked up to the podium and I watched as Caiden leaned up casually against the wall behind her. He was scanning the recruits and he stopped when his eyes rested on mine. He gave me a warm smile and I thought my heart would burst.

  "Oh...seems Mr. Yummy has his eyes on you," Justas whispered.

  "Shut up," I hissed. "He's an instructor for goodness sake."

  "Who cares? He's not much older than you."

  "He's over four hundred years old. He has a few years on me."

  "But, that doesn't mean—," Justas stopped talking with an oomph as I elbowed him in the ribs so he'd shut up.

  Although it was difficult, I managed to pull my gaze away from Caiden and focused on Sarah. She was just as beautiful as ever. Today, she was casually chic in a pair of khaki linen pants and a silk sleeveless shirt. She had on rhinestone encrusted sandals and looked like she'd just walked off a fashion runway. I wondered again if she had anything going on with Caiden, thinking of the lingering kiss she'd given him on his cheek. He certainly didn't seem interested in her that day, but what did I know. I had never paid attention to these things before.

  "Good morning, recruits. Welcome to the Alliance Academy. Today you embark on an amazing adventure that will test your courage, your strength and your will to survive. Over the next few months..."

  I tuned Sarah out and thought about Caiden while I snuck covert glances at him. Justas didn't seem to think that it was an issue with Caiden being an instructor. Or that he was
four hundred years old. But I didn't understand how it could not be a problem. He was an authority figure, right? That type of relationship was forbidden in the First Dimension. And besides, I was only seventeen. But soon to be eighteen, my inner goddess reminded me.

  I mentally shook my head. I had no right to even be thinking about Caiden in that way. He had done some harmless flirting with me, sure, but that didn't mean he had any interest in me. He admitted to me that part of the way he treated me that day was something he did to all recruits...a test so to speak. Still, I couldn't deny that I felt an intense connection to him. Otherwise, why would he plague my thoughts all the time?

  "...so what do you think about that. Let's get someone's opinion. Charlie Wright. Stand and tell us what you think?"

  Huh? I was broken out of my thoughts by Sarah calling out my name. She wanted me to stand and given an opinion? On what?

  Justas nudged my arm to get me to stand. I saw that Sarah was looking at me like the proverbial cat that had caught the mouse. I pushed my chair back and stood on weak knees. This was so humiliating.

  "Um...I'm sorry...what was the question?"

  Payton and her friends started laughing behind me, and I noted a few other students around the room snickered. My embarrassment manifested and I felt the temperature in my face rise about ten degrees. A thin sheen of sweat broke out on my forehead.

  "Miss Wright...if you can't pay attention on orientation day, how do think you will manage to handle your studies and training?" Her tone was condemning and I had no defense. I was busted. I risked a glance at Caiden and he was staring at me impassively.

  Despite my mortification, I cleared my throat and tried to sound strong.

  "I'm very sorry, Miss Longchamp. Could you repeat the question for me?"

  Sarah regarded me for a moment. "No. I don't think so. You may sit. Miss Wright just demonstrated my point. You have to be willing to die for our cause. Miss Wright wants to be handed a second chance. You won't get a second chance on the battle field when death is coming your way. You must always pay attention. You must always be vigilant..."

  I sunk back down in my chair completely defeated. To be publicly embarrassed on my first day in front of a hundred other recruits was painful to say the least. I kept my head down but my ears open, not putting it past Sarah to catch me day dreaming again. I never looked back at her and I never looked back at Caiden.

  When Sarah's speech was finished, everyone clapped. I lifted my head to see that Caiden had already left the room and the other instructors were filing out.

  Justas put his arm around me and gave me a little squeeze. "Shake it off, kiddo. She's a troll."

  I gave Justas a weak smile and was grateful for his words of comfort. We waited for most of the other recruits to file out and then started down the stairs. As Payton passed by me she gave me a thumbs up and brilliant smile. "That was awesome, Charlie. Thanks for the entertainment."

  I couldn't even think of a retort. I was still buzzing from the public beat down I had just taken from the headmaster. As we exited the auditorium, I kept my head down as Justas chatted with another recruit. I came up short when someone grabbed my arm. It was Caiden. Did I mention how glorious his green eyes were?

  "Got a minute, Charlie?" Without waiting for an answer, Caiden released my arm and walked back into the auditorium.

  I looked at Justas who gave me a double thumbs-up sign and waggled his eyebrows at me. I rolled my eyes at him and turned to follow Caiden. As the auditorium doors swung shut behind me, I noticed Caiden was standing at the first row of tables and had leaned a hip against one. His arms were folded across his chest. There were no other recruits left in the room.

  "Are you okay?"

  I was looking down at my feet, not wanting to meet his eyes so fresh off my recent embarrassment. "I guess. I can't believe she did that to me. I mean, what right did she have—.”

  Caiden cut me off. "You deserved it." His tone was hard and chastising. I flinched even as my eyes flew to his. He was looking at me with apathy and I flushed with anger.

  "No, Caiden. I did not deserve that. It's our first day, give me a break."

  Caiden sighed and his face softened. His voice, though, remained firm.

  "Charlie. This isn't high school. This is dangerous and you must always be on guard and prepared. Whether it's in one of your classrooms or on the battle field. You won't be cut any slack here. At all. Do you understand?"

  His words cut me deep. I had thought I had a connection to Caiden, one where he would be giving me words of encouragement. But there he stood, aloof and reproachful. And exactly like an instructor should be. What was worse, I knew what he said was true. I could not treat this as another day in high school. That was over and that I would accept. Just as I would have to accept that there would be nothing more than a professional relationship with Caiden. The mature part of me acknowledged I should have never wondered about it to begin with.

  I exhaled my anger out and hung my head back down. "You're right."

  Caiden reached out and patted me on the shoulder. How brotherly. To make myself feel better, I told myself he could have patted me on the head. "Hey. Don't worry about it too much. By this time tomorrow, you and the other hundred students who witnessed your humiliation will have something more interesting to talk about."

  Gee. Thanks coach for the pep talk.

  Caiden stood up from the desk. "Well, I better get going. I'll see you around."

  "Cool. See ya."

  He flashed me his pearly whites and then turned to leave. I followed behind him a few seconds later and found Justas was in the hall waiting for me.

  "Judging by the look on your face, I'm taking it he didn't drag you in there for a make out session."

  "As if. No, he just wanted to chastise me some more."

  "Harsh."

  "I know, right?"

  "Well, come on. We have Introduction to Daimonology starting in ten minutes. I'd love to swing by the cafeteria and get some more coffee."

  The rest of the day was a blur. We had two more classes that day in addition to Intro to Daimonology. On top of that, I was also to continue my high school studies since I had been so close to graduation. The Academy gave me a private tutor who basically just assigned work and as I completed it, reviewed it and signed off. It really wasn't that hard but it did take up my afternoon when the rest of the recruits were free to go to the beach or do whatever else it is that kids do.

  At the end of the day, Justas collected me and we headed to the cafeteria for dinner. We made our way through the line and found an empty table with four seats. I plopped down and dug into my food. It was delicious. Caribbean jerk chicken and coconut rice. Island food was definitely agreeing with my palate.

  Threatening to ruin my appetite with a surge of nausea, I noticed Payton and her cronies sat at the next table over. She didn't notice us which was a good thing. I didn't have time for her nastiness.

  As we were eating, Dane walked by with a tray in his hand. "Hey, Charlie," he said with a big smile. "What's up, Justas?"

  Justas nodded at Dane, his mouth full. I gave him a smile. "Hey, Dane. How's life as an Initiate?"

  "Busy. I'll catch up with you later and tell you all about it." I nodded at him and he walked over to Payton's table to take a seat. She immediately pulled her chair closer to him and started talking. I guess they were an item. She glanced at me and I shot her a glare. She retaliated by putting her arm around Dane and played with his hair. So what? If she thought that made me jealous, she clearly had not gotten a good look at Caiden Gallagher.

  "Looks like the cast of Gossip Girl is all accounted for," Justas observed. He was looking at Payton's table.

  I snickered but looked at him questioningly all the while shoveling food in my mouth. What can I say? I was a multi-tasker and I was starving.

  "Yeah, they all went to high school together. Same school as me actually. Payton graduated in my class."

  "My deepest sympathy. So, are
she and Dane are an item?"

  "Yeah. They've been on and off for a long time. Appears they are on now. Payton isn't exactly stingy with her charms so I don't think Dane has a chance. If you know what I mean?"

  Rice stuck in my throat and I choked out, "You mean they're having sex?"

  "Well, duh. People have sex."

  I didn't want to appear to be naïve. "I know. Well, I don't know personally, but I know others do. You just caught me off-guard."

  "So, my little Charlie is a virgin." He put his hand to his eyes as if he was about to cry. "I'm just...so proud."

  I laughed and flung a forkful of rice at him. I continued to snicker to myself as a piece stuck to his eyebrow and stayed there while he talked. We discussed some of the daimons that we had learned about during class today. It wasn't a deep discussion so my eyes were roving around the cafeteria, checking out the other people.

  Oh, who was I kidding? I was looking for Caiden. To my dismay, I didn't see him but I did watch as a young, pretty black girl carried her tray toward us. She was scanning nervously around looking for a table. If she happened to make eye contact with me, I was going to wave her over and invite her to sit with us. Having just accumulated my first real friends, I painfully remembered what it was like to be alone.

  But before she looked my way, she happened to walk past Payton's table who I clearly heard say, "Oh girls, how quaint. They let an orphaned child into the program. At least she'll have a bed to sleep in rather than a park bench."

  The rest of Payton's group, except for Dane I noted, burst into laughter. The poor girl looked like a deer caught in the headlights as she just stared at Payton with wide eyes. I saw a glint of tears starting to form. Oh, hell no she did not go there!

  Furious, I stood up from my table so fast my chair went sliding back and toppled over. I walked up to where Payton sat, towering over her. "I suggest you apologize to her right now."

  Payton looked up at me with a fake look of pity on her face and laughed. "What's the matter, Charlie? Did that hit close to home for you too?"