The Academy (3)

Oliver watches as the council members stare at the President after specifying he will personally back the application of Oliver and their faces tell the same story, annoyance. The President lingers for a moment before making his way towards the side of the stage as the council members give Oliver dirty looks on their way out. The Vice President is the only one that stays a little longer and looks Oliver in the eyes who unflinchingly smiles softly and bows deeply before turning away as Vanessa goes in for a hug but stops herself remembering everyone watching them.

The huge smile she had on her face fades away watching Oliver walk past her towards the stairs, but before he could reach it she grabs his wrist and pulls him back slightly causing him to look at her, "Oliver, do you actually have that video? Why have you been torturing yourself for all these years?"

The expressionless look on Oliver's face fades as he looks at her hand before looking up at her and sighing softly replacing it with a smile, "No, I don't. I am so glad I don't because I don't think I would ever stop watching it. The explosion wiped out everything in the lab that could give me answers, and no matter how long I worked nothing was recoverable. The only things that were left from around the area they were at are those chunks of metal that were in the box I showed you. I had to come up with something because I nearly ripped that guy's head off and if I gave in to that aggression then I wouldn't be able to keep my word to my parents or to you."

"Well that's good to hear, but still I can't imagine how you must've been feeling all this time and then for him to ask that in such an insensitive way was too much. I was about to go over there myself, but you had this look in your eyes like I could feel the pressure you were exuding and I just wanted to comfort you, because I hate to see my friends in pain." Oliver looks at her and tilts his head slightly as she looks at him confused.

Oliver puts his hair up into a ponytail and smiles softly, "Well I'm glad to hear you consider me a friend after only knowing me for less than a day. Elijah sure does hang out with some strange people."

"Of course, you don't seem like a bad guy, just a little antisocial but there's nothing wrong with that. You have to know how ironic that is coming from you." She laughs causing Oliver to look at her confused by her response as she heads down the stairs.

He hangs back on the stage and stares up at the lights above him, pain etched onto his face. The stage is slowly being cleared out as the student council are giving him dirty looks and whispering among themselves loud enough that he could hear, but his mind is somewhere else. 'Shit. Shit. It always hurts so much more when others accuse me of the incident than when I blame myself. How could anyone do something so horrible as to cause the death of their parents? It doesn't make sense to me.'

He looks around the room and watches as the students are leaving their seats and the building as he collects himself and makes his way down the stairs, and when he looks up he notices a girl standing next to the seats he was at earlier. She is slightly smaller than Vanessa, but with blue eyes, and blonde hair. She is wearing a dark blue Elextrian Basketball hoodie with black boots and jeans. He notices the black on her hands and light grease stains on the cuff of her hoodie. 'She has a basketball hoodie, but those stains and the black on her hands is telling. She must be one of the members of the Robotics Club.'

Oliver looks at her his nerves starting to spike, but he controls them as she sneaks around and gives Vanessa a big hug. He does his best to mind his own business by watching the other students grouped together and sneaking peeks at him. He can hear some incoherent hushed whispers but that's all he can make out. He overhears the conversation between Vanessa and her friend. "Ness, you looked so good up there I was impressed. It was especially fun to watch you make the VP angry. I was a little worried about you saying something crazy, but you seemed to be very confident up there. I need to hear all about Chicago, and you better not leave anything out."

Vanessa looks over at Oliver from the corner of her eye, who is doing his best not to look their way as she smiles softly. Her eyes return to Claire as she reaches for her bag sitting on the chair, "Are you kidding, I look hideous. I haven't even showered or changed my clothes since coming back, but maybe we can save the Chicago talk for later when we're back in the room. That stage is so scary, but for some reason I felt calm and that everything would work out, you know."

Claire looks over at Oliver and nods softly to Vanessa before making her way over to him with Vanessa in tow. Claire takes a deep breath as he turns and looks down at her while she extends her hand with a smile on her face and introduces herself. "Heya, my name is Claire Thompson and I'm currently a Junior in the Robotics club. Any friend of Nessa is a friend of mine, so I hope we can get along, Captain."

Oliver looks at her and gives her a slight nod as he takes a deep breath and reaches out his hand and shakes it as he looks over at Vanessa. "Nice to meet you. I am Oliver Watson as you already know. Are you here to escort us to the lab or just catch up with Ms. Davis? Uhh, by that…I mean both are okay. I was…I was just curious."

His face is red as she laughs and looks back at Vanessa who is trying not to laugh, "Wow, you weren't kidding he really is rusty on this stuff? It's kind of both, but if you don't mind you can follow me out those doors there and we can head to the lab. Nessa, has some stuff to take care of in the front office, so you will be hanging out with me for a little. When she is finished she will take you to your meeting with the Dean."

Oliver watches as she hugs Claire and grabs his arm slightly before walking past him and making her way out the side door. Claire glances his way and notices that he is still lingering at the door, before he turns and faces her. She smirks as she walks close to him and whispers something. "She has a boyfriend you know, so please don't cause her any problems."

Oliver looks at her for a moment before realizing what she meant, and his face gets red as she smirks and smacks him softly on the arm. "I swear that's not what that was. Ms. Thompson I am aware of her relationship with Tyler and I believe we are friendly at the very least. Let's just head to the lab, if you please."

She looks at him as they walk out the back door, "Yeah I know he has a big ego, but as long as he's not hurting her or making her feel inferior I don't mind him. I hope this doesn't seem random, but Elijah and I are dating. I just wanted you to know because you don't need to be so formal with me, Claire is just fine. He has told me alot about you, and I hope we could be friends."

Oliver looks at her with his eyes wide open as he stops in his tracks, "Wait, you're Eli's girlfriend? Woah, I didn't see that coming, but that makes sense. The whole time he was constantly on his phone, so I guess you must've been on the other end. I haven't treated him great these past few years but he's still one of the only family I still have left, so I hope we can be friends as well. Wait, did he say anything nice, he has a tendency to say things he means to be nice but they are my biggest regrets."

She smiles at him as he starts to walk again. She runs her hands through her hair as she keeps looking forward and says, "He told me you're a genius through and through. You have the innate ability to read a person with a single glance, and you have a massive heart. He said that's why you don't let anyone in, because in his words it's hard to let them go once you let them in. Oh, he also said that if you were ever able to open up again you could change the world in ways no one has ever seen. That one is my favorite, because I would love to see that world."

Oliver looks at her as his eyes are getting watery, but takes a deep breath and adjusts the goggles on his neck and looks at her. "Hey, thank you for that…Claire. I still can't believe I walked away from him and he still says the dumbest things. Damn, am I a shitty brother or what? I'm just glad he was able to find people he can trust, so thank you for taking care of him."

Claire looks at him and places her hand on his shoulder, "You aren't a bad person in the slightest. He understands what you went through and why you did what you did. He only blames himself for not staying there and for leaving you all alone. So, buck up Captain, we are about to enter the Technical Facility."

Oliver opens the doors and sees some students grouped up here and there, and all their eyes fall on him. Claire walks a bit in front of him as she says, "Don't take it personally they are friends of the former Captain who was expelled. Most of them were pretty close to him, so seeing you here doesn't sit right with them."

One of the students scoffs as he makes his way over to Oliver. He is trying his best to ignore him, but as the student tries to brush up against him Oliver adjusts his body to miss the oncoming shoulder. The guy turns around and aggressively grabs his shoulder and stops him in his place. Oliver turns around and looks at the guy. He is taller than him, and has brown hair and brown eyes.

Oliver sighs softly as the guy doesn't let go. "You think you can just ignore me, huh? That video was obviously fake, and the special effects were clear as day. What gives you the right to be the next Captain? Is it because you and that annoying manager have something going on behind Tyler's back, huh?"

Oliver has an angry look on his face as he aggressively shrugs the guys hand off, and keeps walking separating the guy from Claire who also has an angry look on her face. "You're right, I'm no Captain. I'm just some kid from Chicago who loves working with machines, and if you doubt my abilities then just watch my back because I will take this club to places the former captain was unable to do. One more thing, there is nothing going on with me and Ms. Davis, but if I hear you say anything to her or about her I will personally deal with you. That goes for your little group too. If you bother her or anyone in the club then I will deal with you, because I don't have to be here to achieve my goals."

Oliver has a stoic look on his face as the guy backs down and takes a few steps back, almost like he can feel the intent behind his words. All the eyes stay on him as he follows Claire through the hallway to the lab, but everyone is too scared to say anything after what they just saw. Claire looks at him and doesn't see a trace of doubt on his face which makes her smile.

She keeps walking until they reach a closed door as she turns and looks at him. "Before we go in there are two things I need to say. The first thing is I wanted to thank you for defending her even though you didn't have to. I hate it when people are rude to her just because of her dad's position, but to assume that she's the kind of person who would cheat makes my blood boil. The second is don't be alarmed at what you see, okay? When the seniors were expelled most of the members left, so there are only about 7 people on the team not counting you, 5 engineers and two managers. A regular team will have about 15 people, so we will barely meet regulation. Are you ready to go in?"

Oliver looks at her and laughs softly, "I understand the need to protect your friends it's a skill I learned a long time ago from Elijah, and I just hate when people speak of things they know nothing about. If she wasn't up there on stage with me I would have jumped that table and attacked the council member that accused me of something like those articles did, so no need to thank me."

She smiles as she looks up at him, "Elijah was right, you're a very strange guy. You don't care if they make fun of you but insult a friend or a family member and you are ready to go to war."

Oliver looks back at the group who are obviously whispering about him behind his back, but he just smiles at them and looks at Claire again. "Of course, it's just something I have picked up from a number of people in my life. She has helped me crawl out of the hole I dug myself into, so if anyone has a problem with her then they have a problem with me."

She laughs as she reaches for the handle, "You're a very kind person, I respect that as her best friend. Let's go, Captain."