I hope it lasts forever

Beep beep beep

Again that same annoying noise he hates to hear every day yet the only sound he still waits for through his nightmares. Wyatt woke up and his face looked drained. He woke up with dry trails of tears. He probably cried in his sleep. It happens sometimes, so he didn’t care about that.

He got up and went straight to the bathroom. Again this mirror, always reflecting the same guy...each day seemed worse than the day before. The nightmares were getting worse and the frequency had passed from once a month to two then to three times a week. Something was wrong.

He looked at his reflection, his eyes were bloodshot. His nose was a bit wet. Was it flu? He took out a Thermometer and checked his temperature, "37.12°C" He sighed in relief. It probably wasn't that bad. He might just be a bit overwhelmed by things he said to himself. He got under the shower.

After 15min of cleaning the fatigue away, he looked at himself in the mirror again. He was looking better. He brushed his teeth and frowned seeing his fur was seriously getting darker on his chest. He just rubbed it a bit. The fur seemed quite softer than the rest of his body. He shrugged it off and got back in the room.

Since he was kinda moody anyway, he decided to wear a white hoodie with a giant red dot on the back as long as some golden Japanese characters. He took a black cargo pant and his favorite white sneakers. His pendant still around his neck got his attention. He held it in his hands, squeezing it a bit. He stared at his window for a moment before walking towards it. He opened his curtain and met the neighborhood. This same old place didn't change much in years. He sighed and took his backpack and his phone.

He went through the notifications. A text from his father a minute ago. He opened it "Morning Wyy, don't buy lunch, I ordered your favorite sushi from that fancy Japanese restaurant you like so much, love you bye " Wyatt just chuckled and pocketed his phone.

He went out of his house and started his usual journey. After minutes of walking, he was at the Suntaste, ready to order when sirens cries got his attention to the outside.

It was the police and some firetruck. He was confused. Here in this town, there was rarely an incident wild enough to get all of this attention. He took his order and went out the café. He looked in the direction the police went. He widened his eyes, a massive smoke trail from afar.

Something was burning. He was so confused he didn't realize someone was just behind him. It was Lauren.

Lauren: "Hey ! " (*smiling*)

Wyatt jolted in astonishment and almost dropped his coffee. He turned around and saw it was Lauren before saying.

Wyatt: "Damn! You startled me."

Lauren: "yeah you were quite in the clouds (*looking past his shoulder and seeing the smoke in the sky*) okay you were literally in the clouds. What the hell happened ? Hope no one was hurt"

Wyatt: "That's weird right, like in this city, something like a building on fire is quite rare."

Lauren: "we should probably get to class, the police will do its job"

Wyatt: "yeah...you're right"

Wyatt looked one last time at the smoke that was fading, probably because the firemen were already on spot. He exhaled a bit relieved then followed Lauren in the campus.

They walked towards their first class with Pr. Baker and Lauren saw a familiar figure so she started shouting a bit "Hey Flying man" Wyatt looked to whom she was talking to. It was a dragon, the one that guided them during the tour, Akira.

Lauren: "hey buddy, how you doing?" (*greeting with enthousiasm*)

Akira who was actually in mid air, heard that and noticed it was Lauren. He stopped flapping his wings progressively to land just beside her.

Akira: "Hey kiddo. How's RASAC so far? "

Lauren: "well, yesterday was kinda great, I bet today will be as well. By the way I was looking forward to know where the literature club meets cuz I forgot to ask last time."

Akira: "oh yeah, in the room 3-B. It's on the Art building, third level, just next to the stairs, you can't miss it."

Lauren: "Thanks"

Wyatt walked towards them and Akira noticed him.

Akira: "hey Wyatt, what's up?"

Wyatt: "Akira, 大丈夫(fine)" (*switching to Japanese*)

Akira: "hey, you speak Japanese my man? "

Wyatt: "One friend of my father is Japanese, since I spent a lot of time at his restaurant, I picked up a few words"

Akira: "カッコいい (Cool)"

Wyatt: "(*slightly embarrassed*) nah It's really nothing"

Lauren: "whatever you are doing with that language right now, I don't care. Wyatt we should go now (*grabbing Wyatt by the arm and pulling him*)

Wyatt: "B-Bye Akiraaaa" (*being dragged by force*)

Akira just chuckled and bowed a bit before flying away. Lauren let go of his arm and smirked.

Lauren: "you didn't tell me you could speak Japanese"

Wyatt: "as i said, just few words"

Lauren: "Anyway, we should get going, your coffe will get cold."

They proceeded to reach the class and sat their spot. The lion from yesterday seemed to be the one of the few already there. He was playing on his computer and only the tip of his tail was moving. Wyatt went to sit and the lion glanced at him mumbling a "hello" before looking at his screen again.

Wyatt then realized something and called Lauren

Wyatt: "Hey say, how come both of us are doing the same courses but people around us are different on each course we take...are we heading towards the same major or ? "

Lauren: "Huh well, I wanted to study Psychology and apparently it's considered Art, well i guess i can understand that so I dunno, what is your major?"

Wyatt: "Animation, vfx and story telling"

Lauren: " but we both have the same courses? That's...well, i dunno i thought we all had that because it's like the basics for everyone but now that you say it, it's true the people in this course are different from the ones in the history class...well I don't usually pay any mind to people and I forget their faces so I really just realized what you said"

Wyatt: "well, maybe we should check it out"

Lauren: "ask the guy behind you, maybe he knows something"

Wyatt face went blank and his ears fell backwards. His face started getting red and his hands sweaty. He turned to the lion and waved his hand once to get his attention. The latter glanced and saw the hand wave. He paused his game, lowered his headphones and adjusted his posture to listen to Wyatt.

Wyatt was nervous and could listen to his own heartbeat.

Wyatt: "hm A-Alex was it?"

The lion seemed confused.

Wyatt: "I-I read it on your badge..."

The lion chuckled and said.

Alex: "Yes i guess. What's up?"

Wyatt: "(*calming down a bit*) well, my friend and I, were wondering if you knew about how the courses are scheduled. Like do we all have the same classes or ?"

Alex: "nope, we all have various classes but it can happen that we share some classes depending both on the major, the minor and the extracurricular activities that includes club, sports and side jobs."

Wyatt: "how do we check that?"

Alex: "On your badge you have a Qr code, scan it with the RASAC app. You will find your own schedule and you will be able to see which courses will you follow throughout the year"

Wyatt: "I didn't know all of that, thank you"

Alex: "really ? What was your guide telling you about?"

Wyatt: "I wasn't focused on his words, my mind was more like exploring the campus" (*embarrassed*)

Alex: "you're funny...(*reading the name on the badge*) Wyatt"

Wyatt: "yeah, huh nice to meet you"

Alex: "same here"

Wyatt: "hm what were you playing? "

Alex looked confused before realizing

Alex: "oh you mean this, ah yeah i was playing a fighting game from an anime with ninjas"

Wyatt: "Shinobi blades ?"

Alex: "you know it?"

Wyatt: "you bet I know, one of my favorite anime"

Alex: "Same here man, like one of the OG"

Wyatt: "Totally, so you play it on your computer ? Like against people online?"

Alex: "nah just against the computer, i have an old one, so not many people play it anymore. But I still do because I prefer it to the latest one that seemed to have nerfed a lot of mechanics"

Wyatt: "I feel that"

Alex: "Wanna play? I got another controller"

Wyatt was about to respond before Lauren came closer.

Lauren: "Huh hi (*turning to Wyatt*) You were supposed to ask just a question and give me feedback not engaging in a game"

Wyatt: "oh yeah sorry, got carried away"

Lauren: "now get your ass back here the course is about to begin"

Wyatt sighed and turned to Alex

Wyatt: "perhaps another time"

Alex: "yeah sure, I stay here until 5:45 PM usually so you know where to find me if you wanna play"

Wyatt: "sure"

Lauren pulled Wyatt's tail to sit him down as the professor walked in. His usual tall frame still impressive. Just like yesterday, he came at 7:59 AM and started right on time. He then spoke.

Pr. Baker: "Morning everyone, Today's class will be special, you will be assigned your first short story to write due for Thursday. Cheers cheers (*chuckling*)anyway, you are free to make groups as you wish, as long as you are three in there, since you are 30 for this class, you can work it out nicely. Now, I have sent to each of you the 10 topics for this little exercise. Once you are done pairing, I will affect topics to each group and you will use this 4 hours to work on it."

Just like that, people started talking and trios were forming. Wyatt turned to Lauren who just shrugged saying "I don't mind who you pick as long as they know what they're doing"

Wyatt turned to Alex and said "hey, wanna tag? " the latter just nodded happily as he got closer to them.

Professor Baker, started attributing topics and the topic Wyatt and his team received was "Write a fantasy story on a pirate going to space"

For the next 4 hours, Wyatt and his crew had a brainstorming and decided on the plot to follow according to what the lecturer has provided as explanation about their topic and organized the work then divided it. Each took a part to develop and they will meet tomorrow at noon to talk about it. They exchanged numbers with the lion and went out for the break after saying goodbye.

Wyatt told Lauren about his plan for their break, them going to eat some sushi at his father's office. She quickly agreed the moment she heard sushi. So, they went out of the campus and saw Wyatt's father's assistant parked just next to the entrance. Lauren couldn't help but express herself.

Lauren: "Damn boy, that's some great life I want, being driven where I want to by my chauffeur "

Wyatt: "He is not my chauffeur, he is just my dad's assistant"

Lauren: "well, whatever let me dream my dream, I want a chauffeur when I'm gonna be rich" (*faking to sip wine*)

Wyatt: "you are really something "

Lauren: "Your flatteries won't get you anywhere but keep praising me and I might let you have my chauffeur from time to time"

Wyatt: "oh my God, such an honor miss. I am thankful " (*laughing*)

Lauren laughed as well as they got in the car. They greeted Cassius the assistant, as he drove them to C-Tech. The most solicited company in the technology fields, know for many achievements that helped the community thanks to teams made of real geniuses from around the world.

One of those geniuses if not the most prestigious, Pr. Fael. Wyatt's father and the Tech director of the company. C-Tech building was a 70 floors complex with two blocks ellipse shaped that rose from the ground. A third block joining the two was hanging from the 57 to the rooftops above the void. This block was a special part that was able to do a full rotation on its axis while following the sunrays.

It's actually a gigantic suspended garden that served as battery for power supply and as air refreshing system for the two other parts. This garden was often used for tourism and was open to public, offering also a great view on Eastpave.

The entire structure was made of a really strong metal alloy, that has a beautiful silver color, perfectly enhancing the tinted glass.

Cassius got through the main entrance and drove in the underground parking. They walked out the car and took the elevator, "68th floor" the elevator was made for people to be able to see the magnificent view outside, so it was made outside the building but secure enough for this kind of usage.

Lauren: "Man, who is your father?! Because damn"

Wyatt: "He is a man who works in tech stuff, majorly the conception and creation of new technologies and gadgets for various other companies and for C-Tech itself."

Lauren: "Damn" (*amazed*)

The elevator finally reached its destination and they head out. They met with a dark wood door with no handles but a pad on the side. Cassius went there and placed his badge. The door opened like those from stores.

They walked in to meet Wyatt's father working with many holographic windows opened all around the room as he was standing at the center with a floating keyboard. He had his sleeves up and his tie was loosened. Lauren immediately blushed and coughed a bit. It got Liam's attention and he turned to them.

Wyatt was looking a the numerous windows and saw one with some kind of incident that happened downtown today...the explosion ? Wyatt wondered if those were just news, the title was "Evidence 106B : A recent overload of energy made a generator explode...cameras have detected fast movements just before the explosion..." Wyatt was looking at a really blurry image of smoke and a shadow behind seeming to run.

He didn't get the chance to read any further as his father shut down all the holograms and joyfully greeted him and Lauren.

Liam: "Hey Buddy, you made it quite on time, Sushi are soon to be -"

He didn't finish his sentence that his door was unlocked again and a bunch of restaurants klerk entered. They got in with several service trolleys. There, plenty of various Japanese dishes, mainly sushi and sauces. They placed it in the room part designed for dining. Then they bowed before exiting the room. Liam jolted happily and said "as I was saying, right on time".

Cassius then excused himself and got out. Leaving Liam with the kids. Liam noticed Lauren and said "Hello there young lady, Lauren right ? Wyy told me about you. I hope you are not freaked out by this?"

Lauren: (*adjusting on of her hair locks*) "I mean I was surely surprised to be invited, and I am surprised by all of this but it's a great honor to meet you. Wyatt told me as well about you and your technology. How odd that I forgot the one that invented the Ultrasonic glasses to give sight again to the blinds"

Liam: "Well, to be fair, I'm not the only one that work on these projects. It's true i do most of the work due to my fonction but i couldn't do it well without my team and a bunch of other people. Besides, since my name is something I rather not associate with the things I make to avoid fame, They're often referred as made by L.F"

Lauren: "Oh my God, so you are L.F ! Of course it was a name initials. So your first name starts with an L"

Liam: "Liam, Liam Fael"

Lauren: "you are indeed famous yet unknown because of that little trick. I totally understand the concept of not willing to be at the center of all attention but still, those are your creations, aren't you proud of them? "

Liam: "well that's a conversation we should have around some sushi, don't you think? You drink alcohol ? Wine? "

Lauren: "oo, I mean, Wine will be delightful Sir"

Liam: "you can call me Liam, no need to be so formal"

Lauren: "okay Liam"

Liam walked to his son as they got to the table, and he leant to say "She is pretty and smart, boy don't miss your chance" Wyatt just replied "She is my friend Dad, drop it."

Liam: "just kidding, I read dads usually joke about those kind of stuff with their son so I thought I could give it a try. Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable"

Wyatt: "it's okay dad, you don't have to be like the other dads, you are perfect as it is"

Liam: "oh boy you do grow up fast. (*sigh*) They would have been proud of you, I hope you know that"

Wyatt: (*gently smiling*) "yeah I know Dad, I know. "

They went for their sit and Liam started explaining his vision on fame and had an intense debate with Lauren. Wyatt would also give his opinion and the room will be echoing with their laughter, especially when Lauren told Liam about Wyatt falling asleep and almost killing her. Wyatt's tail was wagging softly, he was happy. It's been a while he saw his father this joyful.

He wanted this moment to be more often. He checked his phone for the time "1:17PM" but he guessed they had to go. He didn't interrupt and waited for "1:20PM" he decided to enjoy the three last minutes with pure happiness. He looked at his dad literally cracking Dad jokes and Lauren completely destroying them as they laughed.

This moment, "I hope it lasts forever".