First Day - One Year and One Day Later - 7

Night had come so quickly.  We spent the day trying to get our bearings by visiting different buildings, walking down the pathways by the dorms and watching people walk up and down the concrete paths.  We wanted to exercise caution with our ID cards, and were terrified to go to class in a time we didn't belong, so we spent the day being as inconspicuous as possible and just sussing things out.  We found out bits and pieces of information, but nothing that would lead us back to where we came from. 

 

The next morning was more adventurous.  I woke up and slowly turned my head towards the bookshelf.  I felt the warmth of Sam's head next to mine.  She made small, slow movements orienting herself as she slowly opened her eyes.  Waking up where we first began kind of reminded me of our mission for the day.  We were out of direct view in the corner of the room, and Hayden was curled up under a coffee table with his head comfortably on his bookbag.  We were all wrapping our arms around our bodies to fight the chill of the morning air as we didn't have blankets.  I took a moment to admire the hair on Hayden's arms as it stood up over the goosebumps while he rubbed his skin up and down.  Sam's body shivered slightly as she was blowing air out through her clenched teeth.  I could feel my body warm up as we shuffled around the room to collect the few belongings we could aquire. 

     "Geez.  I can't believe we're still here," Hayden said as he stretched reviving himself from an awkward slumber. He scruffed his mowhawk with his fingers and cried, "Ahhhh!" in release from stretching. I sat down playing with the ends of my dirty-blonde hair trying to straighten my long, fine curls. Sam started wandering around poking through odds and ends and browsing through some of the magazines on the tables around us. She picked up a general news magazine and started turning the pages. 

     "Hey, let me see," I said as I took a closer look at the front cover.  I smacked my lips a couple of times to get the bitter morning taste out of my mouth while leaning over to take a closer look.

     "Timerantz State is winning college ESPNU!" I exclaimed loudly as my eyes widened to read the smaller print on the page. 

     "What?"  Hayden jumped out of his fog. 

     "They've been on the bottom for years!"  Sam was shocked as she pulled her petite head back in a disgusted expression.  I read the rest of the small print. 

'The Timerantz State Mankets rose from the dead in the past 18 months as they won ten consecutive games last season alone, and are gearing up for a fireshot game against Calvary University this Saturday.  Talented sophmore, Angel McBride, streamroles across the lines in record time carrying the winning pass across the goal, and leading his team to victory.  Quarterback, Lenny Duffy, pulls out his magic passes letting the world know the Mankets are now on top.'

 

      "Geez."  Sam couldn't believe her ears.  Her knowledge of football was exquisite.  Her brother, Reidy, is a college leaguer and her father is a huge Beechal fan.  "The Mankets used to be the butt of all the football jokes when my family would watch the college games during the season." 

     "How'd they get on top so fast?" Hayden queried.

     "I guess they must've recruited some good players this year," I concluded.  Sam and Hayden gave me a quite stare for that comment.  It might have been all too obvious that I knew nothing about college sports and too much about milking the big wimmels that stood around and ate all the blue grass on our farm fields. 

     "Not as good as Reidy Matheson."  Sam winked in recognition of her brother and family pride.  She held out her hand and I high-fived her.

     "Let's get out of here."  Sam threw down the magazine and looked to her left and right. 

     "I'm right behind ya."  Hayden followed Sam and then I followed Hayden.  We went to the SBB to get some spiced roogah after and awful night's sleep.  I saw Cassie and Lori, who looked like they were deep into their gossip, pointing out other people near the food pods.  Cassie looked over at me and then turned to her friends and started laughing.  My face turned hot with embarrassment after what happened yesterday and I tried to ignore her as I followed Sam into the line to get my roogah.  Sam and I got a piece of fruit and a muffin each while Hayden piled his plate sky high.  We waited for him to eath and then went to a little convenience store where we could buy toiletries with the little money we had left.  We decided to go to the gym while it was unoccupied and take our showers.  Sam and I were lucky enough to find a couple of abandoned schoo. sweatshirts so we had a change of clothes, but Hayden had no such luck.  We gathered our clean bodies in front of one of the bleachers on our way out of the building. 

     "So, what 'a we do, now?" asked Hayden sounding bored. 

     "I say we go back in the library and hang out," I suggested impulsively out of habit. 

     "No, way!"  Both Sam and Hayden replied.  We were all sick of the library by now and would be happy never to see it again for at least another year. 

     "Let's go see what the rest of the campus looks like, then."  I suggested again. 

     "Hey, that's not a bad idea.  Hayden got up and escorted us out of the gym, one on each arm.  Sam soon became restless from all the roogah we drank and jumped on Hayden's back.  This behavior was becoming the norm and he carried her out the door without complaint.  Our first trek was to the astronomy building.  Even lost in the bowels of a time warp, Hayden was obsessed with astronomy.  We entered the building from the side and walked down the old-style hallway.  The ceilings were tall making the interior seem spacious and elegant.  There were only a few classrooms in this building.  The rest were faculty offices, a space history museum, and a planetarium.  As we walked down the hallway, we say Hayden's beloved abridged professor.  He was deeply engaged in a conversation with another faculty member.  They were hunched together and Professor Alexis was holding something in the palm of his hand.  The other faculty member seemed very interested in the object and went to touch it when Professor Alexis pulled it away.  A man approached the two and Professor Alexis quickly shoved the object into the pocket of his classically designed suit jacket.  The man looked up to Professor Alexis and started talking to him and the other faculty member.  He was holding some books and a mini-telescope, so I gathered he was a non-tradional grad student.  The man pulled his napsack off his shoulder shoving his books inside, but still holding onto the telescope.  He began to show it to Professor Alexis who was now engaged with it.  He held the nozzle bit in his hand inspecting the lense carefully.  He put on his spectacles so that he could see with better clarity.  Hayden led the two of us down the long halls of the classic, wooden building.  The walls were stained dark brown and there were red, Persian rugs on the floor.

     "In here." Hayden's voice was a whisper edging Sam and I into the planetarium. We snuck into the dimly lit room and Hayden began showing us some posters on a wall. "See, these are the southern trade routes."   Hayden pointed to a poster with a lot of red dots. The planets were mapped out little islands and there were little pictures of cargo crafts with dotted lines, to show the shipping routes. 

     "This is cool," I said while Sam was busy playing wiht an electronic planet mobile.  "I've never heard of this."  I was amazed by the idea of an interplanetary trade alliance.

     "Yeah.  It is kinda cool."  Hayden looked at the poster with the dreamy eyes of hope.  "They're looking to implement this strategy in the future."  Hayden's passion began to come through his voice.  "One day, I'm gonna be involved in these interplanetary affairs."  He looked at me with sparkling eyes.  He was captivating and I listened intently.   

     "Leanne," he turned his head to the side and back in emphasis, "I've wanted to do this ever since I could remember.  You know?  This is my dream."  He expressed himself so vividly.  Like he knew from the bottom of his heart that this was what he wanted and that nothing else. 

     "You want to run a trade ship?"  I felt stupid when I realized what he really meant.  I looked at the poster and indulged in sharing his dream.  I ran my finger down the poster and spoke gently.  "You mean the people."  I had never heard Hayden speak with so softly with direction.  The way he expressed himself was almost intimate.

     "I have wanted to pioneer relationships with those from other planets since I can remember."  His eye contact was wonderous and mesmerizing.  "This is my passion," he looked down and began to laugh awkwardly as if ashamed of his deepest desires, "And where my intense love of astronomy stems from."  I got what he was saying and I felt a deeper connection building.  Just then, I hoped desperately that Hayden would get it some day.  That he would get to live his true passion amongst the stars.  I knew it in my gutt.  How could anyone love the stars so much and not reach for them.  He looked back at the poster in awe and sighed smiling.  Hayden nodded while still indulging in his dream.  I was starting to realize how beautiful Hayden was when he talked about galactic relations, or anything to do with astronomy.  His forrest green eyes light up and there's nothing in the world that can take that dream away from him.  Sam came over to join us and tried to jump on Hayden's back.  She finally made it and he caught her slim, wiry legs while she wrapped her playful, slender arms around his neck giving him a big hug and giggling; a feat I wouldn't dare try with my sizeable figure. 

     "Shhhhh!"  We both hushed her at the same time.

     "We're not even supposed to be in here!" Hayden lectured in a strong tone.  

     "We're not supposed to be in this time!"  I added a small laugh at the endand the others followed in.  We heard a noise at the front door and we hid behind the last row of chairs, sure we would be caught.  To our surprise, students started piling into the room.  They sat in their seats and the light went off.  When the room was almost completely dark, Hayden led Sam and I into some empty seats and we joined the class.  The dim lights kept us well hidden and not even the other students recognized us.  Haydne seemed to spot a few people he knew, but Sam and I took classes in totally different departments and neither on of us were taking our science gen ed, yet.  Professor Alexis walked into the room slowly and the class settled down.  He was followed by the grad student we saw with him in the hallway.  The grad student was petite for a male.  He had brown, thinning hair and wore wire-rimmed glasses over his pale face.  He walked to the desk at the front of the room and placed some books and papers on the desk.  Dr. Alexis took a deep breath and held his blue face up high before greeting the class.  He held his hands together and rocked back and forth a couple of times before starting.     

    "Good morning, everyone."  He took a few confident steps out towards the students and made eye contact as to connect to his audience.  "I trust you have all read 'Galaxy Physical Dynamics' by now; and if you haven't, awwwwwf."  He made a grumbly noise as he held his chin down in disapproval.  "Is anyone having trouble with this material?"  He held his head up to ask the question and, no matter how sincere his question, no one wanted to admit ignorance.  Many students just looked at one another and muttered. 

     "Okay," he began.  "I get it.  That's why I brought my assistant, Dean, in to revise some of the material that was in the book.  Dean will be working with me this year in preparation for his phD in Intergalactic Sciences.  He has a wealth of knowledge in relation to physics concerning the universe and how they differ in different parts of the galaxy.  He has told me that he is open to any questions that some of you may have and is more than willing to help any of you who may need it.  Let's give a warm welcome to Dean today."  Dr. Alexis stepped back and presented Dean by outstretching his hand and turning widely to face him.  Nobody clapped, but rather each student sat quietly waiting for Dean to speak.  Dean worked his way to the front of the room and to begin his lecture on 'Galaxy Physical Dynamics' as Dr. Alexis took a seat in the front row with a pad of paper and a pen. The class went on for what could've been a long hour, but I somehow enjoyed it.  Most of the material went over my head, but I found some of it quite interesting.  Sam played with a pen she found wedged within the connected row of seats and Hayden couldn't have been distracted by an intergalactic attack on UNJ.  After Dean was finished, Dr. Alexis started talking about the different constellations. 

     "And this one is the lovely shaped creature."  By this time, Dr. Alexis had completely turned off the lights and was using the planetarium equipment to show us the sky with brighty lit constellations.  "Well, boys and girls, I'm gonna tell you the story behind this one because it's one of my favorites. He turned his stout body to face the constellation the darkened ceiling on which it appeared.  He stretched out his arms to present it and then dropped them to his side.  It is said that, back in the old days of the ancient civilizations of the Preodontians, that Celestiana, the exquisite wife of the sun god, Perswanias, captured the affections of the other sun god, Tromania.  Perswanias loved his wife very, very much and was very protective of her.  But, Perswanias was very cruel to his wife. He locked her up in chains and then threw her into a dark cellar to prevent any of the other gods from capturing her."  Dr. Alexis brought his hands in front of him and interlocked his fingers as he leaned against the classic, wooden desk behind him.  "Kinda makes you girls feel lucky now a days, huh.” The class laughed as Dr. Alexis went on as he used his waved his arms in dramatic expression. “Celestiana had a knack for catching the eye of every male around her.  She used to get herself in a lot of trouble that way."  The class laughed again and he went on with the legend.  "Tromonia wanted her more than any of the other gods and, being the god of the other sun, decided to wage war agains Perswanias.  He came in with his troops,"  Dr. Alexis said as he made a fist and swung his arm across his chest, "and defeated Perswanias flat.  He then found his heart's true love curled up in a cellar in chains. Not much of a making for a romantic evening, if you ask me."  Again, the class laughed.  A couple of guys in the back row couldn't stop and kept chuckling while geering each other, and only stopped when Dr. Alexis caught them with his eye.  Interestingly, Celestiana's daughter is the one held responsible for the changing colour or the suns in the fall.” Dr. Alexis was leaning back on his desk, with a serene expression on his blue face. He sighed gently and made one final comment. “And hence another wisdom of time.

I was completely absorbed by the story while Hayden was keeping his eyes half peeled for an escape when the class let out. Sam sat in her seat grinning trying not to laugh. With one flip of the switch the lights turned on and we followed the rest of the students out of the room. I thought I saw a strange look from Dr. Alexis, but was relieved when he went on to gaze at other students in the same way. I slipped out behind a couple of big fraternity guys and made my way to join Hayden and Sam down the hall. We bustled down the hall blending in with the rest of the students along with another class that just released. We were almost out the door when something caught Hayden's eye and we wound up in yet another room in the old science building.

Author's Note

If you read this, please leave a review and tell me your experience. Constructive cristicism is always welcome. Thank you to anyone who reads my work and those who leave feedback. Please give as honest feedback as possible so that I may grow as a writer.

Reviews

[TL Boehm]

Well done. I really liked the inclusion of the teachers mythology lesson. that was a nice touch.

[Hatchling]

I like it