Chapter 14
Nicolas found himself walking to the next class alone, remaining silently puzzled about why Azure had deserted him for his estranged sister. He felt lost, aimlessly strolling around the halls in solitary. He knew that he shouldn't have trusted so easily.
As Nicolas traipsed into the Science classroom, he made one attempt to glance upward to what he felt was a pointless hope.
He glimpsed Azure, quietly conversing to Elise in their adjacent seats. He didn't aim to stop walking and fuel the dead expectations that sat limp in the bottom of his heart, going all the way to the window seat without a thought.
Science wasn't all that exciting at the beginning. The teacher, Professor Hasen looked freakishly like Einstein with his untidy hair and fluffy moustache, something that was also very fitting given the subject. He was full American, had a slight southern accent that only came out when he said certain words, and he had a bit of an oddness to him.
Firstly, he led one to believe he was the calmest, most collected professor in the cantonment. But one couldn't be more wrong, as he would be the same professor to start a live flame in the classroom and stare at it with a stable grin on his face while the children shriek in revelation. "Calm down, calm down!" he'd command over the noise. He had goggles on, which suffered virtually nothing but a slight blackening, due to the airborne ash.
Nicolas didn't express any true emotion during the spark, instead his eyes were just widened. He found a certain calm in the flickering light, how it could demonstrate its fury in one fell swoop, how it could strike fear in others when not even at full power. It was admirable. The Mad Man, nicked straight from Nicolas's noggin, then took his goggles off and explained what caused the fire, obviously being ignored by the mentally recovering children. Nicolas scoffed as he thought of how cowardly the others were with just sighting a feeble blaze.
"Mr. Myre, you should take a hand at this, yeah?" summoned Hasen, coaxing the fearful Jackson Myre over. The child slowly rose from his seat, taking slow steps towards the teacher. Nicolas could already tell by the air of Hasen that he wasn't the most patient professor in the school. He had one hand on his hip and the other was holding on to his desk. He began to tap his foot in restlessness of the stalling boy and finally shouted, "WOULD YOU COME ON ALREADY? THIS CLASS WILL BE IN THE ACADEMY BY THE TIME YOU GET UP HERE!"
Alarmed more by the hastening of Hasen's voice, he immediately sped up and got there before Hasen could even finish his sentence. Nicolas watched in boredom as Jackson had to be repeatedly told to calm down when his hands were getting to unstable to safely hold anything. "And don't forget your goggles, boy!" Hasen reminded him, grabbing the nervous boy's arm to stable it. With his other arm, almost knocking over a flask, Jackson wearily grabbed the goggles and attempted to put them on his face with one hand.
Nicolas had to bite his tongue to prevent laughter, standing corrected at his doubt of finding anyone stupider and more anxious than Zachary. Hasen's face portrayed a reconsideration of calling him up there.
After a great deal of trial and error, Hasen ultimately discarded the boy and asked him to sit back down, frowning when he saw that the boy ran much faster this time going away. Sighing, Hasen asked if anyone else wanted to take a turn, by which the room filled void with silence.
Hasen turned back around, crossing his arms behind his rear. "You all are no fun," he muttered, "I've dealt with braver cowards."
Lunch came, something that Azure didn't mention earlier and yet still exists. Nicolas rather not think of Azure right now, rather ponder on how he's going to eat the lunch he didn't bring. He didn't see any lunch staff anywhere, or any open cook room where you had to stand in line and get your food. He assumed that he didn't get the memo of bringing his own lunch, so he went to sit down at an isolated table.
He sat back with his hand extended out in front of him, laying on the table while he gently fiddled his hand. He wasn't upset anymore; further void of thought more than anything. He was just letting the moment pass by, along with the people who could care less about him and the mutual feeling he had for them. He closed his eyes, laid further back in his chair, letting it lift slightly off the ground before holding it in that position, and then let his head go limp.
He found a deeper silence within himself, finally finding that tranquility that was taken from him multiple times on multiple occasions.
There was a sudden thump on the table, causing Nicolas to flick open his eyes. It was Azure, grinning at him with utmost content. Nicolas stared at her. "I've got good news, Nicolas!" She told him, seating herself opposite. "I talked to Elise, she gave me more information on the punishments she read on them having here... Nicolas?"
His eyes would look like they were closed if one didn't bend down to see them. He tapped his finger on the table as he vaguely acknowledged Azure's good mood. She quieted, now looking down herself. "Did I cross a line?" she asked, not getting a reply back.
"Why don't I just tell her how you feel? I'm very good friends with her, I didn't even know she had a brother in our first few encounters—"
"That's the point!" shouted Nicolas, drawing unwanted attention to himself. He didn't even care at this point. "I... Don't... Exist. She doesn't have a brother, let alone a twin as far as she's concerned. She's grown up virtually an only child. She probably didn't even know why she had to go in the other room every time there was a certain visitor, because that visitor was me! I should have never told you and your dumb brother how I felt, this it always ends up. Betrayal." He glared at her while she sit dumbfounded at his response.
She went to open her mouth when surprising company arrived at their table. It was a boy, with mahogany, slightly messy hair and those unmistakable piercing blue eyes.
"Hey guys," said Zachary tiredly. "...I'm back."
End of Chapter
LONG AS ALL GET OUT BUT IT'S FINE—
You may ask, what's so different about this other than its length that makes it so advanced?
1. It was made with a bunch of help from the side bar thesaurus that I looked most of these big words up from x3
2. IT WAS MADE ENTIRELY WITH COMPUTER :D
Anyways, hope you enjoyed!
Love ya'll,
nobodyimportant out—
