Security had flooded the school,
Guards were standing at all entrances and exits, morning bag checks were being done and teachers were holding students under constant surveillance.
The calm atmosphere was lost and replaced by a silent tension which nobody dared to express.
Even the hallways were subdued,
It was as if everyone had mutually agreed to speak in hushed tones, as if making too much noise would break the thin veneer of normality.
Roman walked past a pair of officers standing by the cafeteria doors with helmets gleaming in the fluorescent light who stood as rigid as statues, as if waiting for something to happen.
He ignored them and kept on walking, adjusting the strap of his backpack over his shoulder as he made his way to the next class.
The memorial service was held during his third period and the entire school gathered in the auditorium,
where on the large screen projected a photo of Brandon Lutz, the dead victim during the party.
There was a speech by the Chancellor on tragedy, loss, and of the reality that they were all one community of humans that needed to keep caring for each other.
He closed with a minute of silence for Brandon, stepping away to let people and social and extra-curricular groups take the stage.
A few were actually crying during the ceremony, and Roman hoped that they actually had a relationship with him and were not just doing it for show.
The rest appeared to be uncomfortable, fidgeting in their chairs as they wiled the minutes away.
The others murmured softly to one another, their words whispered but not secret.
"I don't know why we're forced to come to this depressing thing, It's not like we even knew him," He heard someone behind him whisper,
"Still, it's messed up." The person's companion replied in a low voice.
Roman sat in the middle row with his arms crossed, not particularly sure about how he felt.
He hadn't known Brandon personally, but he had been there when it happened.
That counted for something, didn't it?
He glanced at Charlie and Damien who sat two seats apart, not speaking.
Now, that was definitely new and confusing.
They'd been acting all strange and distant since the night of the murder.
If you thought the ceremony was quiet, then lunchtime was a graveyard.
The usual energy of the cafeteria had dimmed and was replaced with murmurs and the occasional clatter of trays.
Charlie barely touched her food as she stared at the table while Damien played with the zipper of his jacket, avoiding eye contact with anyone.
Roman looked at them carefully; "uhm... are you two okay?" he asked,
They both jumped in their seats, startled by his voice.
"What? Yeah? pssh, we're fine! Right, Dami?" Charlie chuckled as she forced an awkward grin his way,
"Uh... Yes, we're fine. Totally fine" He whispered.
Roman narrowed his eyes at them before raising his eyebrow,
he knew something was wrong and even a blind person could tell that they were lying,
but he didn't want to push them,
They were best friends so they'd tell him soon, right?
"Alright, I believe you, I thought you were just acting a bit strange,
it must have been my eyes" He smiled as he shot them both an unconvinced look with his eyes before letting the silence fall among them.
"Hey, um… I was thinking maybe we could all hang out tomorrow? At my place or something. Just-" Damien hesitated.
"Just to, I don't know, get our minds off things." He shrugged.
Charlie looked up at him.
"Actually," she said in a hoarse voice,
"let's do it at mine. Saturday. My parents won't be home."
There was a pause before Damien shrugged again.
"Yeah. Sounds good." He mumbled.
Roman nodded and Charlie gave him a small smile.
It wasn't much, but it was something.
They were trying to make him believe everything was fine when it clearly wasn't.
The rest of the lunch period passed with scattered conversation, none of it touching on what they really wanted to talk about.
Every now and then, Charlie would glance at Damien, like she wanted to say something, but never did.
That evening, Roman sat cross-legged on his bed, a holographic display flickering above his wrist.
Ethan had fallen asleep on the game. Again.
For the thousandth time this week.
His dopamine receptors were definitely fried from the constant usage of his screen.
The projection pulsed before stabilizing to reveal his grandmother's face and her crimson hair featuring a large white streak that was pulled into a tight low-bun.
The connection flickered slightly, but her voice came through warm and clear.
"Roman, my silly goose," she greeted, as a fond smile touched her lips.
'"I heard about what happened, how are you holding up?" She whispered as her smile morphed into a saddened frown.
"I'm alright." He assured her as he forced a small smile to his face.
"Are you?" She pressed on as she shot him a disbelieving look.
"It's weird. School's weird. Feels like nobody knows how to act. I mean... It was the first time a villain had breached the campus, if we were to put aside the fact that someone lost their life."
"Tragedy does that to people. Makes them forget how to be normal." She sighed as she rubbed her temples tiredly.
He suddenly studied her face.
She looked exhausted.
Or even more than exhausted, she looked as though something was draining the life out of her.
"You've been busy with your enforcer stuff? Do you get rest?" He asked as concern blanketed his tone,
Her expression shifted slightly at his question, the warmth was still there but laced with some kind of tension.
"Yeah. Work's been a lot. I sleep when I can" She smiled softly, but the tone in her voice ensured finality and no further discussions.
"Good, take care of yourself, Nana" He said with a nod, immediately remembering where the boundaries fell at the tone of her voice.
That was code.
Corporate enforcer business.
He didn't ask for details,
The less you knew as a human, the safer you were.
"So what have you been up to? How's school?" His grandmother asked,
"It's been there really, nothing new until that night of course, and it became even more boring, I'm hearing there's a petition being passed around to ban parties" He mumbled.
"You gonna sign?"
"Fuck no" He groaned as he stretched,
The older woman immediately bit her tongue when she realized her little boy was not really a little boy anymore.
"Why not?" She inquired, a smirk tugging at her lips as he raked a had through his dark hair,
"You, of all people should understand that it's a useless petition, Nana, The villain didn't come because it was a party, it could have happened anywhere, and if they wanted to, They could burn the dorms down, would you ban dorms then?" He explained while holding back any derogatory remarks about Selenites, after considering the fact that she was one,
And she had risked her life to save him and raised him in the new world after.
"You're right, sweetheart, I, of all people, understand that" She smiled,
"I didn't even want to go, Charlie set me up" He mumbled.
"You sure know how to stay out of trouble… and that's so very unlike me which is weird because I raised you, apparently" She playfully complained with a sigh as she shook her head.
"Well, someone has to be the responsible one... Apparently." Roman deadpanned with a chuckle.
"Guess so." She said as she huffed a laugh, her eyes crinkling at the corners.
A beep sounded from her end, and she glanced to the side, picking up a pager before her lips curled into a frown.
"I have to go right now. Call me if you need anything, alright?" She said as she looked up at him.
"Yeah, be safe." He nodded in understanding.
"Love you, silly goose."
"Love you too, Nana."
The hologram flickered off, leaving him alone with his thoughts as he stared at the empty space where the projection had been, before exhaling sharply and rubbing his face.
He threw his legs off the bed and packed up his stuff into a bag before making his way to Lisa's apartment for their usual tutoring session.
The walk over was quiet and the streets were dimly lit by overhead floating lamps.
He passed by a group of security drones hovering near a checkpoint that scanned pedestrians as they walked by.
No one paid them much attention.
It was just the life they led.
He wove through the streets full of high-tech buildings.
When Roman finally reached Lisa's apartment building, he glanced up at the sleek, minimalist structure.
Unlike most places owned by students outside the campus, her complex had noticeable upgrades, courtesy of her corporate-backed parents of course.
He stepped up to the entrance that was guarded by an automated security panel,
Its glowing interface scanned every person that passed by.
A soft mechanical hum filled the air as a hover-drone floated lazily above the entrance as its camera lens tracked every movement with an almost sentient patience.
Roman approached slowly, putting his wrist where his ID chip was embedded under his skin on the paneled table.
The scanner pulsed blue before reading the identification signal and flashing:
[UNAUTHORIZED – STATE YOUR BUSINESS]
Right.
Lisa's security was extra.
A hidden speaker crackled to life and he rolled his eyes playfully,
"Roman?" Lisa's voice filtered through, slightly distorted.
"Yeah," he replied, leaning against the panel. "Let me in."
A short pause followed.
Then the screen of the panel flickered before it displayed her face,
She furrowed her perfect brows as she pouted her full lips at him.
"Confirm security question: What embarrassing thing did I do last semester?" she asked with a grin as she leaned back with her arms crossed.
"You got blackout drunk on synthetic wine and ranted for an hour about how 'Gravity is just the planet hugging us.' Before falling asleep on the roof of Brittany's car" Roman sighed as he glanced at her expectantly.
"Yeah, okay. Get inside, loser." She grinned as the screen flickered off.
[ACCESS AUTHORIZED: PLEASE STEP INSIDE]
There was another wave of silence, then a quiet beep and the doors slid open.
Roman smirked as she saluted him with a raised glass of juice,
Her table was covered in papers with equations scribbled all over them.
The sight of it made his head hurt by just looking at it.
"I swear to god, math is out to get me," she muttered as she swiped off a large pile of paper into an electric bin that silently turned it into dust.
"Lucky for you, I speak its language." Roman smirked as set his bag down.
"Marry me then." She groaned as she downed her juice,
"Synthetic?" He asked as he eyed the drink, immediately steering away from that topic.
"What do you take me for? It's natural"
He just shook his head and grabbed a pen.
"Alright, let's get this over with before I say something that makes you start throwing things at me like last time," he said as he flipped open his notebook.
"Good times" Lisa hummed contentedly,
"You didn't do the assignment I gave you on Monday, did you?" He sighed.
"You act like I haven't suffered enough today." Lisa groaned dramatically as she slumped herself against the table,
"Trust me, math isn't the worst thing you've had to deal with recently."
"Debatable." She said as she gave him a pointed look.
Roman chuckled and started working through the first problem, tapping his pen against the notebook as he explained.
"Alright, so this one's pretty straightforward. You just-"
"—Hate everything about it?" Lisa interrupted, groaning as she dropped her head onto the table multiple times.
"Because I do. With my whole soul."
"You say that every time then proceed to ace every math quiz after I explain." Roman smirked.
"And yet, the pain in my heart never stops." She dramatized poetically,
He shook his head and continued explaining, pausing every now and then to make sure she was following along.
Lisa grumbled under her breath but managed to keep up with him, occasionally tapping the end of her pencil against her forehead in deep thought.
His eyes would often wander to the high puff she styled her long, full, curly afro into, which balanced on her head like a crown,
Then it would drift down to her perfect facial features and brown almond eyes.
The silence between them wasn't uncomfortable, but it felt like an invisible weight pressed down on the room.
Every so often, Lisa would sigh and glance at her phone, then shove it aside like she was waiting for something that wasn't coming.
"You're zoning out again," Roman said after a moment, tapping her paper with his pen.
"You good?"
"Yeah. Just... it's been a weird day." Lisa said after she blinked twice, like she had forgotten he was there for a second.
"I see."
Neither of them said anything for a moment, the quiet stretching between them.
Then Lisa huffed as she forced a smirk.
"You know what? Screw math. Let's talk about something else. Anything else."
"Alright, what do you wanna talk about?" Roman chuckled as he set his pen down
She thought for a second, then grinned as she leaned forward cheekily.
"How about how much you suck at picking good conversation topics?" She whispered like she was telling him a secret in his ear.
He rolled his eyes as he pulled away from her.
"You literally just said you wanted to talk about anything else, and that's what you go with?" He smiled,
Lisa laughed as the tension eased just a little.
And for a little while, things almost felt normal.
Almost.
"Let's take this to the roof, I'll get the drinks" She whispered as she got up with a yawn as she stretched out her sore arms,
"Is this your way of bribing me?" He smirked at her,
"Maybe, come on" She giggled as she dragged him by his hand, intertwining their fingers as she pulled him up and dragged him towards her refrigerator.
"What are you-" Roman asked as she buried her head inside the appliance as she checked for something,
"I'm looking for the one with the highest alcohol percentage" she mumbled,
"Why don't you just ask your a.i to get it for you?" He asked as he leaned against the counter with his arms crossed,
"Hardwork-" she paused as she put two expensive bottles of wine in the table,
Roman raised an eyebrow at her as she stood on the tip of her toes to reach her glass cabinet,
"Makes everything sweeter" She smiled as she grabbed two wine glasses from the case,
"Is that so?" Roman chuckled as she walked past him with the glasses in her hand,
"Yeah, so be a darling and grab the wine glasses in the way up, ay?" She said before running towards the staircase,
"Why are you even-" He said as he picked up the alcohol.
"Last one to get up kisses the floor!" She yelled as she got to the final steps,
"That is NOT fair, Lisa!"
"Hate the game not the player, hunny" She grinned,winking at him as she held open the hatch for him to climb through,
He joined her on the floor of the roof and handed the bottles to her,
She took it from him and looked at him expectantly,
"I am NOT kissing the floor" He scoffed as he looked away from her,
"Oh, Come on" she grumbled, "you're no fun" She complained as she popped open the bottle and turned him a glass,
" I agree, and I'd like it to stay that way, thank you" He answered as he accepted the drink and downed it in one gulp,
A few drinks later,
They were laying down on the rooftop,
Lisa was whoozy and kept on rambling, jumping from one topic to another enthusiastically,
Suddenly, she propped up herself with an elbow to look at him,
"If you were to rob a bank, how would you do it?" She asked curiously,
"I'd rather not, so no, thank you" Roman answered sternly, unlike her, he wasn't a lightweight.
'You're too serious, Rome" She giggled,
"I'm not"
"Alright, how would you rob a bank... Hypothetically" She asked, placing an emphasis on her last word.
"I'm not a.i, you can't use words to bypass barriers in human conversations, Lisa" He smiled as he turned his head away from the sky to meet her gaze,
"I can't?" She pouted drunkingly,
"Uh-huh" He nodded,
She groaned before taking another sip out of her cup, "remind me to never drink with you again" She grumbled.
"I will" He chuckled,
"Do you think I'd make a good criminal?" She mumbled as she rolled over and rested her head on his chest,
Roman's muscles tensed but she didn't seem to notice,
"Lisa... I" He mumbled as he swallowed hard,
"Hmm?" She mumbled drowsily,
"You'd make a horrible criminal" He whispered quietly, scared that talking loudly will chase her away,
"Ouch, you have no faith in me, whatsoever"
"You're too kind, It's not in your nature"
She raised her head and stuck her tongue out at him playfully before returning it back to his chest,
"The stars don't feel right" Lisa mumbled as she joined him in stargazing,
"Because they're artificial" Roman answered,
"I don't remember the real stars, do you?" She whispered with a yawn,
"I... do"
"That's cool really, most people don't remember anything before the crash" She sighed as she started to trace his jaw with her fingers,
"What are you up to?" He chuckled as he looked down at her,
Her eyes seemed to be closing slowly and he couldn't understand how her eyes still sparkled even when she was tired.
"Lisa?" He whispered,
"You should be a model" She mumbled,
"What?"
She smiled crookedly, not hearing what he was saying anymore,
"And grow out your hair, you'd look so hot"
"Lisa, what?!" He exclaimed as her hand and head fell limp and sagged against him,
Roman just lay there, stunned as he tried to process what he had heard,
What was that thing Charlie used to say about drunk words?
"Was it drunk thoughts are sober words or drunk words are sober thoughts" He whispered to himself,
He frowned as he thought about it.
"The latter makes more sense" He mumbled after a few minutes,
When he heard her soft and steady breaths echo against his chest,
He sat up slowly and carefully scooped her up into his arms before taking her downstairs,
Her room was easy to find, and he pushed the door open with his leg as it creaked and let them in,
Roman set her on the bed and covered her up with the quilt and watched as she dragged the edge and pulled it over her head while mumbling some incoherent nonsense.
Then, he turned around and left, hoping that when he woke up the next morning,
This evening he had survived would be just a dream.
Things didn't need to be more complicated than they already were.