Prologue: No welcome back party????

Tomorrow is the last day of our supplementary classes which means tomorrow is the start of our sembreak.

I don't have any plans for the sembreak except to waste my time on playing some random online game from the App Store.

So I decided to go home once classes are over.

I better call Dad to say I'm going home tomorrow.

He'll probably throw me a welcome back party.

He always throw a welcome back party.

Like the time when Gray came back from his five day summer camp, Dad threw him a welcome party.

Or when Brea came back from her three day fashion show, Dad threw her a welcome back party.

Dad even threw a welcome back party for Luna who was gone for a day because of a concert that she was doing in another space city.

Dad will definitely throw me a welcome back party.

I hate welcome back parties.

They're so embarrassing.

How embarrassing is it?

There will be a giant holobanner (Hologram Banner) with a big "Welcome Back” and "You are gone for..." under it.

Beside the "You are gone for..." is the exact hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds that you were away.

I dunno how the hell they were able to calculate that and it's just so creepy.

Besides the embarrassing holobanner, family and friends will treat you like they haven't seen you for ages which is really annoying.

Just thinking about it irritates me to the core.

The only upside of the welcome back party is the food.

They'll definitely serve my favorites.

That's enough ranting for now, it's time to call dad.

I pick up my cell phone from my study desk and tap on the "Contacts" icon.

After I tap on the "Contacts" icon, I search for dad in the list.

As I found dad, I tap on his name and the screen changes into calling mode.

I place my cell phone on my right ear and wait for him to pick up.

Ring* Ring*

"Yes?"

"Dad... About tomorrow..."

"It's your sembreak isn't it?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, if you're planning to go home tomorrow, I'm afraid that we can't throw you a welcome back party."

"What!? Why??"

"Because, there is nobody home except for the bots."

"Nobody home? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, your brother is currently attending his student council retreat in a resort planet, your sister is in Virgo space city doing a two week photo-shoot for a famous magazine and I'm currently on a business trip so there's nobody home."

"I see..."

"Don't be so disappointed Linel, how about we do this. I'll lend you a prototype of our company's latest battle ship and you can use it to go where ever you want. You can even bring your friends along if you want to."

"So, you're going to lend me a battle ship."

"That's right!"

"Wouldn't that attract, I dunno? Unwanted attention?"

"Don't worry about unwanted attention, this battle ship doesn't even look like a battle ship at all, it looks just like an ordinary ship. If that still doesn't make you feel comfortable, you can use the camouflage function to make the ship invisible."

"I see... So what's the catch? You're not lending this for free aren't you?"

"I want you and your friends' feedback on the ship's performance once your trip is over."

"So we're guinea pigs."

"Exactly."

"Give me a minute to think about this."

"Alright! Just call me back when you have come to a decision."

Before I could say anything else, dad hangs up.

Toot* Toot*

I place my cell phone on top of my study desk and think this through.

So, dad is going to lend me a battle ship which can bring me where ever the hell I want but in exchange, we have to give him a feedback.

That doesn't seemed to be a bad deal at all and I've been cope in this school for five months now except when we stop by for supplies or when we have to do something outside like our finals exam so I wanna go on an adventure and visit other places.

But traveling alone can be boring and lonely so I better bring someone along with me.

I also need someone who can cook.

Well, Wren can cook but I'm not sure if she wanna go on a trip with me.

You know how she is...

I know! I should bring Clarissa along, that way, we wouldn't have to worry about food.

I guess Feini can come along as well.

I should totally bring the four morons with me, they'll definitely make the trip a blast.

(Note: In case you have forgotten, Lokki, Maple, Roc and Zack are the four morons that Linel is referring to.)

As for Aeris, well... I definitely wanna bring her but I'm not sure if she wants to come along...

I should ask Ace to convince her but what if Ace doesn't wanna come as well?

Ugh! I'll just ask them tomorrow and see if they will come.

Anyways, we need someone with technical skills in case the ship is malfunctioning or whatever so I should definitely bring Kana along even though she's weird.

As for Mathias... Well, if there's so much people on board, I guess he wouldn't try anything funny.

The more the merrier right?

Who else should I bring?

Oh yeah! Eri! I'm pretty sure Wren won't come along without Eri so I should definitely bring her.

That's it for my list of people...

Am I missing anyone?

Oh well!

I pick up my cell phone and call dad.

Ring* Ring*

"Have you made up your mind?"

"Yeah! I accept!"

"Alright then! I'll send the ship right now to Sagittarius space city port. I'll give you the pass code to activate the ship via text message and I will root your phone to the ships system so that you could receive notifications if the ship have already arrived and what terminal it is docked at. If you have any questions right now, feel free to ask."

"Okay... So how do you know that I'm in Sagittarius space city right now?"

"I keep in touch with your grandfather. So I know what you've been doing and where you have been since you boarded the Silver Wing Academy."

"Wow! I thought you didn't care about me."

"Of course I do! I'm your father. Even if you are the black sheep of the family, I still care about you."

What dad had just said actually made me feel touched...

Wait a minute!

"Hey! Did you just call me a black sheep?"

"Do you have any other questions?"

"You just called me a black sheep didn't you?"

"If you don't have any questions, I'll hang up now."

"Stop dodging the question and answer me already!"

Toot* Toot*

And he hanged up...

Damn it!

(Next day)

First floor

Student Area

Classroom 1-2...

The bell had just rang signaling the end of our supplementary classes.

Finally it's over!

Ms. Diana gave us a little farewell speech which I didn't listen to before leaving the classroom.

As soon as Ms. Diana leaves, everybody got up and starts scrambling towards the door.

I stood up and shout in order to get their attention.

"HEY GUYS! WAIT!"

Everyone stops what they were doing and turn towards me.

As I look at them, I saw there expression on their faces.

Most of them have a curious look while the others, that means Wren, has an irritated look.

Well she's always grumpy so that's to be expected.

Their stares makes me nervous.

"Umm... Guys... Do you wanna... Uh... Go on a trip with me?"

I said while scratching the back of my head.

One of my habits when I'm nervous.

I mumbled at the end so I dunno if they understand me or not.

"HUH?"

Everybody shouted in unison which made me think if they practiced to do that in case somebody said something stupid.

Anyways, I explain to them.

"Uh... I mean my dad had just lend me a battle ship so I was thinking that we could go somewhere together..."

"..."

They didn't say a thing and continue to stare at me which probably means that they're waiting for to say something else.

So I did that.

"Umm... Don't worry about the expenses, I've got it all covered."

As they heard me said that, most of them has a brighten look on their faces.

I continue...

"So, do you guys wanna go on a trip with me?"

Everybody responds.

"You bet!" (Lokki)

"Hell yeah!" (Roc)

"Sure dude!" (Zack)

"It would be my pleasure to go on a cruise with you my dear." (Mathias)

"I would love to!" (Aeries)

"Sure! Why not?" (Ace)

"I call shotgun!" (Maple)

"As long as it's for free." (Kana)

"Why would I go on a trip with you?" (Wren)

Everybody agreed to come except for Wren.

I was expecting that.

Everybody stares Wren to pressure her.

"What!?"

We didn't say anything and continue to stare at her.

"Do you think that will work on me!?"

"..."

"Fine! I'll come! But I'm not going without Eri!"

"Go ahead bring her, the more the merrier."

I said to her.

She just gave me her usual as a response which is looking away while arms are crossed.

"Hmph!"

"Now that's all settled, how long does it take to prepare to go on a trip? I mean the ship is already here at the space port so we could leave anytime but I'm not sure how long does it take for all of us to prepare."

Maple shouts like a hyper active little kid.

"LET’S LEAVE TOMORROW!"

Lokki, Roc and Zack agrees with her.

"Yeah!"

The rest agree as well.

"Tomorrow is fine." (Ace)

"It doesn't take me long to prepare so I agree that we should leave tomorrow." (Aeris)

"Affirmative" (Kana)

"I don't have any complains here my dear." (Mathias)

"Whatever! Hmph!" (Wren)

"Alright then! Let's leave tomorrow."

I said to them.

Everybody responded in unison.

"Yeah!"

After that, everybody walk towards the door while talking amongst themselves.

Now that was easy.