13. Wallace

I went downstairs that night to have dinner with my father. Jon was at the front of the table, on one side of my father, with his hypocritical smile pretending he was the best son in the world and appreciated everything father did for us.

When my eyes met my father's eyes, I began to remember that I was weak and it would be hard for me to speak that night.

My father was a serious person in the eyes of others. His hair was white even though he was close to fifty. His head was square and he had a wide chin. He almost always wore a suit or something that made him look elegant. Mr. Frederick, the most important congressman in Solar City.

I approached his side and a servant brought me a plate of food.

"How are the classes going at the academy?" my father asked with a certain pride in his eyes.

"It's going well, we saw about the Glutarros today" I replied, causing my father to reminisce about his days at the academy wistfully.

"How does Professor Dolph behave with you, is he tough in training?" my father insisted.

"It's going well," I said, remembering that I had missed hitting my partner that day.

"I'm glad to hear that."

"I have something important to tell you," I said, steeling myself, not because of my father, but because stupid Jon would hear everything.

"Speak" he said as he ran the knife over his freshly cooked steak.

"I plan to move, I've already found an apartment and I have some saved up..." I started to say as I closed my eyes, only Jon was the one who interrupted me.

"Move out, what will you be able to do on your own, you don't even know how to boil water, you'll be crawling back in a week" said Jon with some envy.

"Stop it Jon" said my father patiently.

"if you want to move out of here that's fine, but you know you can move into one of my buildings in town, you didn't have to look for an apartment" my father said making me feel more guilty.

If I moved into one of their buildings, it would mean that there would be people watching me for every step I took; that I wouldn't walk away from my father's money, I didn't want that, I wanted to live my own life.

"I'll be fine" I said with pleading in my eyes.

"you know I trust you and thank you for telling me" said my father looking me in the eye, showing that he was giving me permission to move, much to my pleasure and Jon's surprise.

That night I couldn't sleep because I was so excited. I spent the whole time playing video games. That night I must have collected about ten thousand Jolts.

Everything seemed perfect and to my good fortune, Kyle hadn't shown up.

It had barely started to get light when I pulled my Kat 77 up to the mansion and started loading my stuff into the trunk.

My father had already left for work, so I didn't have to say goodbye. My brother Jon was still asleep, probably incapacitated by the substance he must have consumed that night.

I was happy, elated and full of energy as I loaded my gear onto Kat 77. I said goodbye to the dome one last time as I passed through security and headed for the academy.

It was so early that there wasn't even traffic in the city, which allowed me to arrive early. Fortunately the academy was already open and I was thankful that the cafeteria was as well.

"Wallace" said Master Dolph when I was about to devour my bread with a cup of chocolate" I see you are eager for study, I wish there were more students like you".

Professor Dolph sat at my table with several officers I failed to recognize, they must have been the teachers of the other classes, perhaps advanced grades, which made me uncomfortable, being surrounded by the seniors.

"I am the worst student in combat" I said embarrassed, making Professor Dolph and his classmates laugh.

"you don't have to worry about it. If you're in the academy it's because you have a plan set aside to contribute to society" said one of the teachers, making me feel even more uncomfortable.

I finished my bread and cup of chocolate quickly and left the cafeteria as soon as possible. Apparently Professor Dolph was talking about a new law that would give them certain authorizations to investigate various suspicious clubs. I didn't pay attention, I wasn't interested in those laws at the time.

My body moved on its own to the classroom and I sat down on my bench. I leaned back on it, closed my eyes and waited for class to begin.

Aaron arrived after a while, his body moved next to me. He seemed uneasy in a way. His hands didn't move to take gadgets out of his backpack and start disassembling them, rather he was looking ahead with trepidation.

I got up from the bench and waved at him, that seemed to disturb him even more.

"Hey, Aaron, good morning, everything okay?" I said.

"hello Wallace, good morning, all good" said Aaron showing me that he was a lousy actor when he was unfocused, " only I couldn't sleep well last night".

"I bring my stuff in my car, I'd like to go drop it off at the apartment and then go get some food and where I can sleep" I said trying to snap him out of his thoughts.

"That's fabulous Wallace. We'll go to the local market where I'll show you how to shop for the best prices. We can get Glen to lend us a mattress because it will look suspicious if you arrive with a bed on the first day and I can sell you a small refrigerator to store your food" said Aaron, coming out of his trance for a second.

Aaron's joy was not enough; while he was telling me how he could save a lot of money, Carter appeared in the living room. When their eyes met, they both seemed to blush. Carter went to sit in the corner, Aaron seemed to hide in the pew, wanting to find a place to go.

Something had happened between Carter and Aaron, something that had caused the two of them to pretend not to know each other. I knew I should stay out of their business, but I couldn't help but throw coals on the fire.

"I thought you had already worked things out with Carter " I said, Aaron seemed surprised by that question.

"What do you mean? It's all settled between us," said Aaron apologetically.

"then I can call him..." I started to say as I stood up.

"listen Wallace, I know you are afraid of Carter for no reason, but I will give you a reason a real reason to be afraid if you decide to do something stupid and keep meddling in what you don't care about" said Aaron coming back in his real personality after feeling threatened, he held my wrist tightly and his eyes showed madness.

"wow Aaron, I'm really sorry, you know it was just a joke, it's just that you share yourself in a weird way" I said.

Something had happened between the two of them, something that made them blush with embarrassment and avert their eyes from each other, I knew I shouldn't interfere, but it affected me that Aaron was acting stupid.

"I swear it's nothing, don't ever meddle in my business with Carter again" Aaron said after releasing me.