Alodia Darreth:
"Ahhh," Sulien moans. His head falls onto the table, making a loud thud that echoes throughout the lunchroom. "I can't believe we actually did it."
"Ahhh," Renee groans, his head on the table with Sulien.
"We did it," Eimear sighs. Her head isn't on the table like the boys. Instead, her head is resting between her hands.
Even I can't help but whine. Every part of my body is drained of all energy. Honestly, I don't even know how I'm still sitting right now.
"I still can't believe your plan worked."
Feeling myself start to smile, I turn my head and look away. Forcing the smile away, I turn back to everyone.
"Yayyy," Sulien moans. He raises a shaking hand into the air. It stays in the air before falling back down. I hear another loud thud, and Sulien cries.
"Ouch."
As all of us rest in the lunchroom, trying our hardest to regain some energy, I hear an unfamiliar voice behind me.
"Hey," the voice starts. "Hey. Hey!"
"What," I shout, turning around. "What is it! What do you want! Can't you see I'm trying to rest here!"
Breathing in and out, my teeth grinding against each other, I look at the person bothering me. The person, another student, had short black hair and tanned skin. He's wearing long pants, a short-sleeved shirt, and has a pair of blue goggles.
While looking at the student with red eyes, I slowly realize something.
"Everyone is looking at me."
My eyes dart left and right, and I see everyone, including my own team, looking at me.
"Oh, man. I can't believe I just did this."
Mentally, I slap myself in the face.
"This isn't what Father taught you," I told myself. "You are a Darreth. This is not how a Darreth acts."
Taking a deep breath, I exhale through my nose and calm myself down.
"I am sorry for screaming at you like that," I say. "It wasn't polite. How can I help you?"
"It's fine," the student replies, raising his hand. Strangely, the student doesn't seem bothered by my outburst. Or my apology. His voice stays neutral, almost cold.
"You and your team look tired. Sorry to bother you and all, but I just wanted to ask you a quick question. You're Alodia Darreth, right?"
Surprise, when I hear my name, I pull back.
"Yes. Do I know you?"
"No," the student answers, shaking his head. "No, you don't. My name isn't as famous as yours, Ms. Darreth."
"Ms. Darreth?"
I couldn't help but blush a little at the name.
"No one had ever called me Ms. Darreth before. It feels like an honor."
"Yes. Your father is Soren Darreth. He owed the biggest weapons manufacturing company in the world. Oh, I'm sorry. I just wanted to say hi, hello. A pleasure to meet you."
The student nods before turning around. As he starts to walk away, I reach out my hand and stop him.
"Wait. Before you go, may I ask what your name is?"
The student stops and turns back to me.
"My name is Finn Dedalus. I'll see you and your team around."
With that said, Finn shoots me a wave before walking away. Feel so much better and even a little happy, I smile and sit back down.
"Did you guys see that?"
"No," Sulien answers, his head still flat on the table. "What? What happened? What did I miss?"
"You miss all of that? Are you kidding me?"
"My face is planted on this table. Do I look like I'm kidding?"
"Honestly. You and Renee both look like idiots."
Finally, Sulien turns his head and looks at me.
"So what did we miss?"
All of a sudden, the happiness I have disappears, and I feel dead again.
Finn Dedalus:
Walking out of the lunchroom and into the hallway, I look left and right. When I see that I'm alone, I pull out my phone.
Again, I check to make sure there's no one around before tapping the screen. The screen shoots out, and I tap a number on the holo-graphic screen.
"Hello. This is Finn."
"Finn! Finally. What is taking you so long? We have been waiting for your phone call for almost a month now."
"I'm sorry, but this is Yellow Sun Academy. The 'most prestigious blab, blab, blab in the world'. Listen. I found her. I found the Darreth daughter. She's right here."
"She is?"
"She is. That's what's important. I was able to get a picture of her, too. Here."
Pulling the phone away from my ear, I tap the screen again and send the pictures of Alodia Darreth.
"Okay. I got them. You're going to have to wait a little bit, though. When I give you the signal, sabotage the generator again. Understood?"
"Yeah, understood."
As I put away my phone, I hear voices and footsteps approaching.
"Come on, come on, come on," a girl with short orange hair sings. "If we don't hurry, we'll miss lunch! And after all that homework, I am starving!"
Running down the hallway, a trail of dust following closely behind her, she shoves me into a wall before charging into the lunchroom.
"Honey," another student, this one a boy with white and brown hair, says. "Hold up!"
Without even stopping, the boy walks right past me as I slide down the wall and onto the floor. He ignores me and walks into the lunchroom after the girl.
I growl as I look at the stupid "gifts".
"Just because I don't have a gift. Just because I don't have any powers. It doesn't mean I am nothing! I'll show you. I'll show all of you!"
Slamming my fist down, I hit the floor. Breathing in and out, telling myself to calm down, I stop when I see a pair of feet beside me.
Turning around and looking up, I see another student. Funny enough, this one doesn't look all polished and fancy. His skin doesn't look shiny but rough, and he's wearing a jacket with torn sleeves.
The student, whoever he is, drops to a knee and offers me a hand. Looking at him and his hand, I slap it away and push myself up.
"I don't need your help."
While I dust myself off, the student brings out his holo-display. He does something on it before turning it around and showing me a message.
"Are you okay?" he asks.
"Uhhh, yeah. I'm fine."
The student nods and turns his head. Waving his hand, I see another girl slowly walking toward us.
"Sorry," a tall girl with long black hair says. "You don't have to wait for me. You can go ahead."
The student shakes his head. He spreads out his arm and points toward the lunchroom's door.
"Thank you," the tall girl says. As she heads for the lunchroom, she sees me and stops.
"Wait. I know you. I remember you. From Professor Hadley's class."
It takes a few minutes to realize what the girl is talking about.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
I put up my hands and back away.
"Are you sure? Like I said. I remember you. You did something to that jerk's seat and made him fall off. Usually, I wouldn't laugh at something like that, but still. I've been meaning to tell you thank you."
"I think you're thinking about someone else. That wasn't me."
"Are you sure? I mean--"
Stopping the girl before she can go on, the student with the jacket taps her shoulder. She looks at him and he points to the lunchroom's door.
"Oh, right. Lunchtime. We should hurry. We only have fifteen minutes left before lunch ends."
As the girl rushes inside, the student with the jacket brings up his holo-display again. I watch him type a new message.
"The strong, silent one, uh?"
As the student types, he nods. When he's done, he flips his holo-display over and shows me the message.
"Thank you for watching out for my teammate. I really appreciate it."
Wiping the message from his holo-display, the student nods at me before entering the lunchroom with his team. I watch him for a little bit longer before walking down the hallway.
As I walk, I can't help but be a little curious. I reach into my pocket and pull out my holo-display. Hacking the academy's records, I search for that student's record.
"Who is that?"
It takes me a bit longer than expected to find that student. I can't just go by pictures alone, but that girl gives me an idea. By cross-referencing the students' schedules with Professor Hadley's class, I learn his name.
"Corentin."