by K. L. Lewis
Amy’s pointed ears sank to her shoulder—seemed that was more than she wanted to hear. And during the rest of dinner, DeMarcus sensed how unusually calm she was when she finished her plate and went to her room for the night. From that day, Amy hardly bothered him—she often poked her nose in his business, which was still annoying, but that was mild compared to the kicking and shouting she did when they first met. And when he and Yue lounged around, Amy avoided him and bothered Yue instead.
The next few days had DeMarcus get to further know Sarah’s mothers, Jelina and Adriana Tovar, two gorgeous humans that were a blonde and brunette mirror of Sarah herself. Jelina was formerly from Serali but said nothing more than that, while Adriana helped her adapt to life in the NAF before Sarah was born. After that, next they visited Mitch’s parents, Johann and Sheryl Shoa, two other humans with the same cheeriness as their son. Their past involved migrating here during the chaos that was the Crow Storm Uprising in the Atlantic Gulf Region prior to Mitch’s birth. Everyone had troubles growing up it seemed, but they made the best of their new lives despite them. It was an example DeMarcus wanted to follow, enjoying himself with what he had now.
As the weekend arrived, and the gang gathered together at the bridge before the tram arrived, DeMarcus struggled to hold in his excitement as they made a return to the Rula Megaplaza. Hopping off the tram into the city, DeMarcus followed his friends past the Iyrons Academy to the Rula. Seeing the dome, it was like the Fronties’ attack never happened, and inside the parks and gardens were restored and better than new. The warm light from above energized DeMarcus as his friends led the way to the underground level where the massive Magna-rink sat at the far end. At long last, he can finally magnaskate!
Strapping on his pair of magna-boots and gloves, he placed his foot over the rink, feeling the magnetic push that hovered him over the ground. He drifted around as if he were standing on a cloud until he wobbled and fell with his feet floating in the air. Not the best start, and it didn’t get better when he stood back up and fell again, almost doing splits across the floor. Ouch!
This wasn’t going too well.
Yue and Sarah skated over and helped him up. “Balance yourself,” said Yue. “It’s not too different from skating with wheels. Keep your weight on one leg and push with the other.”
She drifted beside him, holding him as he glided around. Then she skated up to the metal walls, clinging on the surface with her gloves, watching him wobble again as he balanced himself. He didn’t think it would be this hard, but as he kept himself upright, he pushed himself faster, feeling the air rush through his hair on his way pass Sarah and Tyrone.
He stopped before Yue, who hovered down with a congratulating nod. “Not bad.”
“Hey DeMarcus,” Mitch shouted, flying past the group. “I’ll race ya!”
DeMarcus smiled. “You’re on!”
It probably wasn’t smart to accept that challenge. In their circle around the rink, weaving around the people skating about, he lagged behind Mitch, who picked up speed and further left him in the dust. But DeMarcus pushed himself further until he caught up, and the two dashed past Tyrone for the finish. Although he lost, was still a dream come true, doing something he longed for ages.
But for every up, there was a down. Monday arrived, and grey clouds clumped in heavy mounds in the dim skies. With weather reports of a shower of rain, Jiao drove the family to school rather than having them walk out in the bad weather, and DeMarcus had a slight dread run down his spine.
“You feeling okay, DeMarcus?” Jiao asked.
“Yeah, just a little nervous,” he said.
Going to school in such bad weather seemed odd. Why not stay home for the day? He remembered days like this when he and his mother sat on the couch at home on the occasions she wasn’t working. Not a day went by when he wished she was alive, reminiscing as he watched the beads of water sliding down the window. But this was his new life, and like his mother said, it may not be easy, it might not always be nice, but he had to learn and adapt.
Now if only he was able “adapt” to his Language Arts class where he wanted to throw his tablet at his teacher over these so-called “interpretations” from ancient books they had to read in class. Every time he gave an answer it wasn’t to their satisfaction. If that wasn’t bad enough, DeMarcus had a knack for second guessing the so-called obvious answers, and Sarah’s help did little in such a mind-numbing class.
The gang met up during lounge hour, where a pale roof covered the Yard like an umbrella from the weather. They chatted over the trouble Bianca and Amy—and sometimes Yue—got into at home, and DeMarcus went on about his frustrating Language Arts class. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know the class was called ‘State the Freaking Obvious’ 101!” he ranted.
“I know. That class can be stupid sometimes,” said Mitch.
Sarah shrugged. “Hey, I’ve been trying to help you guys.”
“And we thank you,” said DeMarcus. “But the teacher is a stiff who can’t make up her mind! Reading ancient AD era books are great and all, but come on!”
“Anyway, my granddad just arrived in the city,” said Tyrone. “I can’t wait to see the vids he made.”
“About what?” Yue asked. “It’s not like he’s been up to anything new.”
Ty shook his head at her. “You’re just pretending to be hard to impress. His vids from the Sinic Republics alone are worth a watch.”
Yue’s face turned dull. “Honestly, being in the Republic doesn’t feel that different from the NAF.”
“Except the language, the history, the culture,” Sarah listed.
Yue rolled her eyes. “You know what I meant. Going back and forth to Zhujing makes me want someplace new for once.”
“Well, you haven’t been to many other places outside of Detroit either,” said Ty.
Yue rose her brow at him. “You know, for someone whose grandfather’s an Iuvian Marshal, you’d think his grandson could try to be interesting.”
“Hey, this grandson has been to other places you haven’t.”
“Whatever,” Yue scoffed.
DeMarcus smiled and rolled his eyes at all this sass. There was always something cheeky with everyone. At the sound of the bell, everyone in the yard grabbed their things and went for their last class, and DeMarcus remembered something he meant to ask Ty. “Say, you think I might be able to talk to your granddad and see if he can reach my dad in the colonies?”
“Maybe,” said Tyrone. “I’ll miss having you around though.”
DeMarcus snickered. “You say that like we’ll never see each other again.”
The gang split up, with DeMarcus, Mitch, and Yue entering their science class. Students poured inside and sat down as class began, everyone eager for the last bell to end their day. The topic on the lightboard was Cell Biology, with their teacher, Mrs. Coutts and her assistaroid, explaining the usual organelles and differences between plant and animal cells and all that other boring stuff that DeMarcus zoned out on. He already read this stuff on his spare time that the entire class seemed slow.
What kept his eyes open, however, was Crystal Shay sitting across the room with her lovely brown eyes focused on the teacher’s lesson. He began writing a message to send her from his tablets…then he deleted it, thinking it was a bit creepy.
Sneaking another glance, his eyes met hers, locked on her smile as she leaned and gave him a teasing gaze. Maybe he should’ve sent that message?
Yue snapped her fingers at DeMarcus for his attention, and her tone rose with a warning. “DeMarcus, I know what you’re thinking, and you’re in over your head.”
He grumbled and slouched on his desk. Come on, can’t a guy have his moment? Fixing his eyes elsewhere, DeMarcus saw that Mitch filled 3 pages of the lecture on his tablet. “Someone’s gone overboard.”
“I’m surprised you noticed with all those hearts in your eyes,” Mitch said.
Hearts didn’t blind him to the classwork pinging on their tablets. And it didn’t ke
ep him from finishing and submitting it with time to spare, with him and his friends sitting bored until the bell. Tapping his fingers and stylus on the table, he noticed Yue recording everything on her OmniMorph’s monocle.
“Are you really that bored?” he asked.
“I ain’t got squat to do,” she said.
The assistaroid floated by in its trip around the class, calling no attention to Yue’s monocle, to DeMarcus’s surprise. Yue let out a bored sigh. “So, we doing anything later?”
“We can go magna-skating again,” Mitch suggested.
DeMarcus’s eyes gleamed, but Yue yawned. “How about something we—” Her eyes widened, and she gave DeMarcus a light nudge. “Yo, lover boy. Crystal’s coming over.”
Wait. What? Now? DeMarcus’s head shifted to Crystal walking toward their table, and he sat erect and smiled. He didn’t want to blow this chance.
“Excuse me,” said Crystal. “I’m having some matching some of the terms. Can you help?”
Her voice was like honey to his ears. “Sure!” DeMarcus said.
Yue scoffed and turned away, mumbling under her breath. “What? Can’t read your textbook, ya prissy dwit?”
DeMarcus nudged her. “Shut the hell up,” he whispered.
Mitch laughed at the two, then turned to Crystal. “Which parts are you struggling with?” he asked, peeking at her tablet. “Oh, for this one it’s just the three stages of Interphase.”
“I know that,” said Crystal. “There’s Synthesis, where DNA replication occurs.”
“And then there’s the Gap phases, G1 and G2, where Synthesis occurs between,” DeMarcus added, “I sometimes call them the growth phases, since that’s when the cell grows as normal.”
“That’s it?” Crystal asked with a smile. “Well, thanks.”
That went better than expected. It made DeMarcus smile as he watched Crystal walk back to her table as if a dream had come true until a random “ahem” came from Mitch, watching him from the corner of his eye.
“What?” DeMarcus asked. Mitch was silent, his eyes still on DeMarcus as he tilted his head at Crystal. DeMarcus got the message and stood from his seat. “Fine,” he said, approaching Crystal. “Hey Cry—”
He felt another person’s foot stick out and trip him to the ground, and the class burst into laughter. DeMarcus growled as he looked around. “Okay, who did it?”
“Well, if it isn’t the new kid,” said a boy standing beside him. It was Vearez, the human from Rafeal’s group who short, slick black hair shined from the light of the classroom. Standing behind him was the puffy, red-haired parahuman, Chris, who’s thick arms crossed as he joined in looking down on DeMarcus.
Picking himself up and dusting off his shirt, DeMarcus stared down Vearez, curious to what his whole problem was. “Trying to talk to Crystal, runt?” Vearez taunted. “Don’t you know she’s out of your league?”
“Hey, Vearez, Chris. Why don’t you two do us a favor and screw off?” Mitch spat. “I can smell your rancid hair-gel from over here.”
“And what about the runt you’re following, Vearez?” DeMarcus shot back. “You really need to stand in for that jackass?”
Chris snickered. “He’s got a mouth.”
“He’s all talk,” said Vearez.
DeMarcus looked at the teacher’s empty desk, wondering where she was. No wonder these two were acting up. He sighed and continued past them. “Anyway, I don’t have time to deal with your little egos.”
“What was that?” Chris grabbed DeMarcus by his shirt and slammed him against the wall.
Yue and Mitch stood ready to pounce until DeMarcus kicked Chris in the groin, grabbed the red head by his shoulders, and heaved him onto the floor. But he curled to the ground from Vearez launching his fist in his stomach, the heavy impact waving through his body as his breath shot out of his mouth. His scarred stomach pulsed, and his head rose to the sight of Yue shooting from her seat and tackling Vearez to the ground. It was hard enough to keep himself from falling to the ground, and his problems only got worse when he saw Chris charge at him.
But the charge was kept at bay as Mitch jumped from his seat, pushing back against Chris only for the portly parahuman to push back and have them both tumble to the ground. It was in this brief moment that DeMarcus stomped on the parahuman, payback for pushing him into the wall and for pushing his friend to the floor.
The class grew louder until Mrs. Coutts hurried into the room. “What’s going on?”
She gasped at the five entangled in their brawl and jumped in with her assistaroid helping to separate them. “Contact the principal,” she told the assistaroid.
DeMarcus growled at Chris grinning at him. “You’re in trouble now,” Chris taunted.
If Mrs. Coutts weren’t holding them back, he’d show Chris “trouble” with another kick. But it wasn’t worth risking any more than what was already caused. As more assistaroids arrived and escorted them to the Administration Building, DeMarcus waited with Yue and Mitch on the outside of Principal Cayce’s office, their eyes knifing at the smirks on Chris and Vearez’s faces on their way inside. All bruised up and tense, the three sat cross-armed as four adults arrived, entered the office, then after a few minutes of waiting, came back out with Chris and Vearez in tow. The two looked back with smiles on their faces, then Principal Cayce called in DeMarcus and Yue, leaving Mitch outside by himself.
To think a day was ruined all because he defended himself in a scuffle. Now here they were glaring at Cayce’s brows furrowing as he shook his head from his seat. “Fighting in class?” Cayce began. “You couldn’t do that off campus?”
“You’re okay with kids fighting?” DeMarcus quipped.
“That’s not the point!” Cayce barked. “What possessed you two to attack Vearez and Chris like that?”
Yue threw her fists down to her waist. “Are you serious? They started it!”
Cayce kept to his seat as he glared at her. “And you fight back?”
“Wouldn’t you?” DeMarcus quipped, fighting to keep a straight face as Cayce’s face reddened.
Cayce rose from his chair. “Well, I’ve already contacted your parents. They should be here any minute now.” A knock sounded at the door. “Come in.”
DeMarcus’s tail jumped when Jiao and Shen entered the office, their faces stern and cold. “We received your call,” said Zhen. “You said Yue and DeMarcus were fighting?”
“Yes, they and their friend Mitch ganged up on two other students in their class.”
“After they tripped and threw me to the wall,” DeMarcus added.
He looked up to Jiao glancing at him from the corner of her eyes. “And this was unprovoked?” she asked.
“No,” Yue and DeMarcus answered in unison.
Cayce blinked at them. “The teacher and her assistaroid couldn’t confirm it, having returned from an errand. But the other two students claimed they did.”
“Clearly, they were lying,” Yue sassed.
“Clearly, the school doesn’t condone fighting, and—” Another knock interrupted Cayce. “Who is it? I’m in the middle of a discussion.”
In came a human, dressed in a steel-blue Iuvian uniform. A stout, middle-aged man of bronze complexion with a jolly smile on his craggy face, he stood a few mere centimeters taller than Cayce as his eyes switched between him and the Sun’s. The large phoenix-shaped emblem stitched on his collar and shoulders and the name IYRONS etched on his nametag had everyone in surprise. Cayce made small stutters from the human focusing on him. “M-Marshal Iyrons, sir. W-what brings you here?”
DeMarcus seeing principal’s back shoot straight up brought a brief smile on his face, only for it to shrink off his face the moment the marshal’s eyes landed on him. He kept quiet—he was already in trouble as it is. And the last thing he wanted was to make a bad impression among Keith Iyrons of all people.
The marshal’s brow rose, and his smile nearly faded, stretching back on his face as he looked back at Cayce. “Just making a brief visi
t to the city’s installations, making sure everything’s running smoothly,” Keith said.
“Keith? It’s nice to see you!” said Jiao with soft glee.
Keith smiled at her. “Likewise. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I take it things are going well?”
“Yes, sir. Just a small incident that happened involving these two students,” said Cayce. “A small scuffle that had occurred in class.”
“Really? What kind?” Keith asked.
“Apparently our children were involved in a fight,” said Shen with a stern glare at DeMarcus and Yue. “And we’re having a discussion about it right now.”
“Hopefully, it wasn’t too bad,” Keith said, his smile fading away. His eyes switched to Yue scowling back at Cayce, which DeMarcus didn’t think was helping their situation one bit.
Then Keith’s eyes returned to DeMarcus. “Well, this is quite a sight to see,” he said.
DeMarcus wasn’t sure what to say, keeping his mouth sealed as he looked back at Jiao and Shen.
“You’re not the one she fought with, are you?” Keith asked.
“No, sir,” DeMarcus said.
“It was apparently some other students they got into it with,” said Jiao. “We’ll be dealing with them at home.”
“Wait, ‘them?’ Both of them?” Keith asked. “I had no idea you had a son this old.”
“We took him in from a militant attack,” said Jiao. “He’s never been a problem with us, which is why this is a surprise. Do you have anything to say, DeMarcus?”
“No, ma’am,” DeMarcus said.
“DeMarcus?” Keith repeated. The marshal’s eyes squinted at DeMarcus as if he knew his name before. It wasn’t surprising—the man knew his mother, and no doubt she may have told stories about him. But now wasn’t the moment to go though memory lane and ask about her, especially in front of his new family at this current moment. It was all a lot to take in already, and anything more was fuel to the fire.
“Yes, sir. This is DeMarcus Maahes, one of our newer students,” said Cayce. “His scores are rather decent in the short time he’s been here. Which is all the more reason why we’re having this discussion.”
