by Quil Carter
Mr. Henshaw slid his thumbs under black suspenders and nodded his head, making his double chin create an additional friend. “I can respect that, Prince Elish. Skyfall is lucky to have a prince so thoughtful and caring about his people. My offer stands however, if there’s anything you need just say it. I’ll personally see that it is done.” He looked behind me and tilted his head towards the hallway. “I’ll let you get to lunch. We have a stocked cafeteria that serves lunch to our students. It’s down the hallway behind you and to the right. Three bucks a meal, but, of course, for you it’d be free.” He chucked though. “I’d understand if you’d want to pass up on such low-class food. We also have benches outside underneath oak and maple trees. Ones our king himself planted with Prince Perish. I won’t sully your shadow with a fat old man any longer.” He bowed. “Have a wonderful rest of the day, Prince Elish.”
I bid him goodbye and debated if I wanted to go down to the cafeteria. The debate in my head didn’t take long, I thought it was a good idea and a chance to meet more people. Perhaps I’d see Todd and…
My brow furrowed as I began walking towards the cafeteria. I’d almost forgotten already that glaring look Todd was giving to Professor Britain. He hadn’t even looked at me and now that I thought back… what if him being quiet during our class was him being angry at me?
The thought infuriated me. Todd was mad at me? How audacious! I swear if it was confirmed to me that Todd no longer liked me I would cut him down where he stood. He’d have no reason to suddenly hate me. It didn’t make sense at all.
What did I do? All I did was… talk to the damn teacher.
Talk to the damn teacher…
I turned to the right and saw at the end of the hallway the words Cafeteria with a painting of the school mascot, a blue second gen carracat named Cobalt. Behind two open metal doors was a large room with scores of students sitting at round tables. They were all talking to each other with plates of food, pleasant smells and loud conversation mixing in with the electricity created whenever large groups of people found themselves in a common space.
My face was still scowling as I walked into the buzzing room, the noise and the aroma of food becoming stronger with each step. There was something I was missing in this mystery regarding Todd and Professor Britain, something that would be apparent if I just thought about it some more.
Maybe Todd was a teacher’s pet and he didn’t like the professor talking to me? If so that was an absolutely retarded thing to be upset about. I’d have thought better of that man.
But then… why would Professor Britain dodge my question and look so relieved when Mr. Henshaw unknowingly gave him an out?
I stood in line and mulled this over, then read the signs above me stating what was on the menu (chicken nuggets, potato fries, and salad, with a brownie for dessert).
There was something I was missing here…
Uneventfully, I paid for my cafeteria food and found an empty table far away in the back of the room. I pulled it up next to a window and picked up a nugget. I bit it in half but as soon as I started chewing I realized just how bad it tasted. It was rubbery and the texture was strange, like chewing on a sponge full of oil.
“Look at that, our food isn’t even good enough for him.”
I looked up, completely on a different planet from my stark realization, and my eyes narrowed into small slits when I saw that it was Tiberius, the asshole in my English 10 class that got kicked out. This idiot had a hair up his ass about me and I didn’t know what the fuck his problem was.
I rose to my feet, not a shred of fear inside of me. Tiberius glared at me, two friends on either side of him, all but one looking military. “Are you too much of a pussy to say this shit to my face?” I asked him lowly. I slammed both of my hands on the table after I said this, and a flare of pride went through me when I heard the rest of the cafeteria become quiet.
Tiberius tilted his head back, his green eyes glaring me down. Small eyes lost behind a large nose, and ears that stuck out too much. “Sit down, Prince,” he said, practically spitting prince. “Or I’ll give you a real high school experience.”
The corner of my mouth rose. “Oh? What are you going to do? Knock my cafeteria tray out of my hand? Give me a noogie? Come on, private, your prince asked you a question.”
“Okay, okay. That’s enough!” The entire cafeteria turned towards the voice. A dark-skinned man wearing a suit and tie stormed over to the two of us, not looking happy at all. “Break it up and get back to your food. Tiberius, smarten the fuck up or I’ll beat the ever-loving snot out of you myself.”
Tiberius’s face reddened with anger, the tip of his nose glowing crimson like he was Rudolph. “He fucking started it!” he said angrily. “Ask anyone here, Martin. He fucking stood up, he fucking walked–”
“You’re sixteen, I don’t give a shit. Eat your food, Mr. Crawford,” Mr. Martin snapped. He turned around, not even giving me a second glance, and stalked out of the cafeteria. Several cat calls followed and mixed laughter that came in nervous bursts. I didn’t care though, I’d gotten my point across, so I sat down at my table and gave Tiberius one last glaring look.
The look I got was dripping hatred. This asshole had a problem that extended beyond me, and I’d bet anything that he was pissed off at the entire royal family and I was just his easiest target.
I went back to my food and ate in silence. But as I looked around the cafeteria, I saw someone familiar. Todd was walking towards the exit, Mario and another friend trailing behind. I thought he hadn’t seen me, but just as he passed under the door frame, he looked over his shoulder, I deflected my gaze just in time.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a glaring look and a sneer on his lips. My heart momentarily crushed inside of my chest until it was swiftly replaced with anger.
If he wants to start something with me… I’ll fucking bring it.
CHAPTER 16
After my last two classes went by, thankfully, uneventfully, I walked through the doors of Alegria more tired than I’d ever been before. Physically I was energetic, but mentally… mentally I just wanted to escape to my bedroom and relax on my bed with my cat. I was drained from being around so many people in one day, and having social interaction after social interaction. Not to mention all of the strange things that had happened and the new people I’d met. I was overloaded and I couldn’t even begin to sort just what I was feeling about everything.
But when I was met with the inquisitive gazes of Garrett and Nero I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. My brothers were sitting on the couch with the Game Cube on in the background and controllers on their laps, both forgotten with my arrival.
“What happened!?” Garrett asked, a glint of excitement in his eye. “Was it fun? Did you make any friends? What did they teach you?”
I shook my head and took off my shoes. “I’m exhausted. It was fine but overwhelming. I’m going to go decompress in my room for a while. I’ll tell everyone what happened when Silas gets back or I’m just going to be reiterating the same story once he returns.”
Nero and Garrett’s faces both downturned. “Stupid introverts and your quiet time,” Nero muttered. “I don’t know when Kingy is coming back though. He just–”
“He’ll be back tonight. He told me he may not be here when I returned,” I cut Nero off. I was already walking down the hallway; my room wasn’t too far away now. “Get me when he comes back.”
It surprised me that my brothers left me alone after that. It was more in their personality to pester and pick until I gave up just to get them off of my back, perhaps they saw how fatigued I was, or that they knew how much school was going to tire me out. I was just drained, I needed quiet to try and process everything that happened to me.
How can so much happen in the course of six hours? How do people do this every day?
“Hello, Hugh.” It made me feel better when Hugh jumped up off of the bed and trotted over to me with his tail high up in the air. It wasn’t even because h
is food dish was empty since I’d left him heaps, my cat genuinely missed me and was happy I was home. I picked him up and gave him some attention, then threw my backpack onto the ground, locked my door, and laid down on my bed with him on my stomach.
I went to that school thinking I was going to become Todd’s new friend… but now I think he hated me. Funny though… I wasn’t upset about that. Now that I knew the reasons behind it, I didn’t really want to be friends with someone like him. Not only was he rather immature for getting his nose out of joint over Professor Britain talking to me, but he was obviously a person of low morals too.
I opened my eyes and they were met by two green oculars squinting back at me with contentment. “This is more overwhelming than I thought it would be,” I said to Hugh. I petted his head. “It would be so much easier to just be a cat.”
I got nothing in return but the continuance of his low rumbling purrs. I closed my eyes again and leaned my head back on my pillow. It would’ve been nice if I could do this every day, but then I remembered that I had been doing this every day for four years and had decided to get myself back.
And because of that drive inside of me to challenge myself, to make myself the great prince that I knew I could be… I now had the mystery of Todd and Professor Britain to figure out, I’d made an enemy with that asshole Tiberius, and I had to deal with a mentally challenged punk rocker-wannabe who seemed keen on going out of his way to annoy me.
I missed my simple life already.
My mind drifted here and there, mulling over the events of the day and trying to figure out just how I felt about everything and whether I should work on how I felt about everything, and eventually my own thoughts lulled me into a light sleep.
I woke up on my own, no one disturbed me which I found surprising. The first thing I did was check the clock on my wall and was surprised that it was six, I’d slept for several hours, this day must’ve exhausted me more than I’d even thought.
I rose, unfortunately disturbing my elderly cat who’d curled up beside my arm, and immediately my stomach growled. I walked up stairs, looking forward to ordering some dinner, and heard the television humming.
“Sup, bro.” Nero was at a desk that Silas usually used for his king work, it looked like he was doing his school work which was typical of him. He always left it to the last minute.
Garrett was curled up on the couch with a stormy look on his face. I didn’t know why until I saw a bruise on his arm. I guessed that Garrett and Nero had gotten into a fight and Nero must’ve hit him.
Nero didn’t have the intellect to express his emotions and usually hit whenever we were fighting with him. I myself wasn’t spared from this but he seemed to pick on Garrett more.
“What’s wrong, Garrett?” I said with a yawn. “Have you ordered dinner yet?”
“It’s coming,” Nero answered. “We’re fucking having cheeseburgers and potato fries, with gravy all up in that shit.”
Garrett’s dark eyebrows met. “We fucking always have cheeseburgers. I wanted something new but the behemoth wasn’t having it. And since he’s a meathead and stronger than me…” Garrett rubbed his arm. “He’s an asshole.”
I looked at Nero as he drew his hands up to his eyes and made the motion like he was crying, obviously mocking Garrett. “When you’re the biggest, you can decide on dinner, until then… deal with it, Gare-shit.”
I was tempted to get involved with this but Silas had always urged Garrett to stand up for himself. Nero might be bigger than all of us, even King Silas now, but we were smarter than him.
When I reminded Garrett of this, my brother smiled. “Yeah, I know. It’s easier to let The Thing from Planet Fucktard have his way.”
I flinched away as something small and round flew past me, before hitting Garrett in the side of the head. Garrett yelped and his hand flew up, just as a golf ball landed on the ground and bounced out of sight.
Garrett exploded. “What the fuck is your problem?” he yelled. He walked over to the golf ball and grabbed it. “Do you suffer from such low self-esteem that you have to make up for it by bullying others? Get a fucking life!”
Nero jumped to his feet. “Me get a fucking life? At least I have friends, ferret. You’re only friends are your fucking brothers.”
“Name one fucking friend you have that isn’t a family friend, retard,” Garrett snarled. His face was going beat red and his arms were shaking from rage. I was too tired for this so I turned away. Luckily for me, there was a knock on the door, that must be our food.
While the two of them snarled and snapped at each other like they were dogs, I went to answer it. Sure enough, it was our dinner. That’ll calm the beast down, Nero always got pissy when he was hungry – too bad he was always hungry.
But just as I turned around, the door closing behind me, I saw Garrett throw the golf ball at Nero as hard as he could. The white blur sang through the air before hitting Nero right between the eyes, knocking my brute brother right off of his feet. He fell to the ground with a grand crash, the floor underneath my boots shaking.
Garrett stared at where Nero had landed in shock, a terrified look on his face. And when Nero let out a bellow of rage, Garrett ran downstairs as quickly as he could. Why he didn’t run to the door so he could escape to one of the abandoned apartments was anyone’s guess, I suppose I was the intelligence chimera, not him.
Nero ran after him, and as I grabbed my covered dish of food I heard a scream downstairs, followed by several others.
“What the hell is going on?”
I whirled around and my insides liquefied when I saw Silas standing in the doorway. The king didn’t look well, nor did he look happy.
“Nero and Garrett are fighting,” I said. I didn’t know why I was so scared; I hadn’t done anything wrong. Seeing him unhappy and with that glint in his eye just drew out that reaction.
Garrett let out another scream and yelled at Nero to stop it and leave him alone. Silas’s eyes flashed and he stalked towards the stairs. I turned away from what I knew would be a bad scene, and sat down at the table with my food.
Nero’s quick talking replaced Garrett’s screams, and I was surprised that Garrett’s joined him. It looked like Garrett was in trouble as well, probably for not defending himself.
And like clockwork, Silas’s vapid voice pierced both meek murmurs. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, even with my chimera hearing, but I could guess.
“What’s happening?” I glanced behind my shoulder and saw Ellis walking in, her gi folded up in one arm and her pack in the other.
“Did you get a ride back with Silas?” When Ellis nodded I motioned towards the hallway. “Nero and Garrett are fighting and I guess Silas is giving them a piece of his mind.”
My sister’s bottom lip disappeared into her mouth, a tooth showed as she bit down on it. “He wasn’t happy at all when he picked me up. I’d been planning all day to ask him if I can… go to school too, but the moment I saw that look.” She shook her head and walked towards her bedroom. “Spend some time with him tonight, Elish… he’s been really down since that Gosselin thing.”
I gave her a pained look. “I got enough on my damn plate, Elly. You’re his daughter, you spend time with him.”
“But he’s–”
“School was complicated, Ellis. I have enough drama from that I now need to deal with.”
To my disdain, Ellis’s eyes lit up. She walked over, pulled up a chair, and sat painfully close to me. “Tell me. I have to know. Tell me everything.”
My pained look deepened to the point where my face physically hurt. I buried my face into my hands, and in response, Ellis pulled on my arm. “You don’t know what it’s like, Elish. You like to be alone with only a cat to talk to. I like people, I hate An-Mei, she’s a total bitch and you know it.”
I suppose I did know it.
“Please, please, just let me live vicariously through you. Tell me some gossip. Did you see those four ladies we saw? Are there a lot of girls
there?”
Why would I be looking at the damn girls? I batted her away. “Just ask Silas to let you go. He gives you everything you want anyway, just butter him up and manipulate him like you always do.”
“I can’t, he’s immune to me now. I think it’s the boobs.” Ellis took this opportunity to throw her arms around me.
I made a disgusted noise and pulled away. “Get away from me, woman!”
“I think that should be on our family crest,” I heard Nero say behind us. Ellis and I turned to the hallway and saw Nero walking in, rubbing what I bet was a welt on the back of his head. I’d been too distracted by Ellis’s smothering to hear what had happened down there. The usual most likely, Silas smacking us around while yelling and then threatening us. If Nero didn’t back down (because Garrett, Ellis and I always did), Silas would use his alternating touch and electrocute Nero, usually where no man wanted to be electrocuted. Nero had a scream to him that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and he only made it when Silas was hurting him.
“Master Silas…” I rose when Silas entered the main area of the house. “Can I get you anything?”
Silas stopped in the doorway. He stared ahead, a distant look on his face, before his eyes slowly travelled to mine. “I’m going to be gone for a week or two.” My mouth dropped open when he said this, and on both sides of him, Nero and Garrett’s did too. “I’ve already arranged for Skyfall to be taken care of. You’ll have nothing to worry about…” He paused, and with each second he was quiet the apprehension in the room strengthened. Silas’s green eyes remained fixed and motionless, and the four of us were too startled to dare talk.
Silas seemed… out of it. I’d seen him drunk before, angry before, depressed and sad before… but this was just strange.
Then he rubbed his nose and walked past us. “Be good, loves.”
“But… Master Silas…” I took a few quick steps towards him. “Please stay… you gotta hear about my – my first day of school.”
