Meliora - Extricate - 05

[lady_mab]

Zoné Altair

This isn't the first time that I've received detention during summer school for not turning in my homework. It's just the first time that Mr. Stavros has given it to me, which is a bit of a bummer because I always considered him one of the cool teachers.

I suppose even cool teachers have their limits.

Since skipping the meeting for the Meliora event, I've felt a lot better. I didn't let it hang over my head, and I simply carried on with my week as normal. And with that, my appetite has returned in full force.

So I burst into Mr. Stavros' classroom with a sandwich half-crammed into my mouth, two more stacked precariously on top of one of Jun's lacquered boxes, and a bag of chips pinched between the tips of my fingers.

Mr. Stavros is standing in front of the class, arms folded over his chest. "Detention started at three-fifteen."

"Sorry I'm late!" I try to say, letting the door ease shut. "I had to get something to eat."

"Uh-huh," he says, eyeing the food as I pick a desk at random and pile my spoils onto it. At least he doesn’t make me sit front and center to keep an eye on me. "Normally, I'd remind you that there's no eating in class, but this is detention and those crisps are making me hungry."

I hold up the bag without waiting for him to finish his thought. "Say no more."

"I'm your teacher, I'm sort of required to say a lot." At least he grins and takes a handful. "You understand why you're here, right?"

"Yes, sir."

He shakes his head. "Please I'm not that old. Just 'Lysander' is fine."

I know that a lot of the other students use his name. I'm not the only one that considers him the 'cool teacher' after all. He is one of the youngest, and makes the subject he's teaching a lot more interesting than previous teachers have.

Mr. Stavros carries on, leaning against his table in the front of the room. There's still a map of continental Europe hovering on the wall behind him. "And I know it sucks that you have to get detention during summer school, but I want to make sure that this won't be a habit that you carry into the school year, understand?" He opens his mouth, but instead of saying anything, he sighs and rubs the back of his neck. "You're doing okay outside of school?"

"Right as rain," I respond, slipping into the seat and pulling out my school issued laptop. While most of my classmates can afford their own fancier computer, I am one of the lucky few that can't. So the school gives me one to use. It holds up well enough, all things considered.

He frowns at something, though I'm not too sure what. Unless some of my other teachers have told him something, or one of my friends mentioned my brief stint of having no appetite.

But I think the pile of food on my table is answer enough for that, and I'm back to what I consider my normal level of enthusiasm. So nothing to worry about!

Mr. Stavros eats his crisps instead, chewing each one of them slowly. I wonder if he was one of those kids that chewed everything an exact number of times before swallowing it.

"Altair," he says suddenly, and I jump in surprise. My knee knocks into the top of the desk and one of the sandwiches flops to the floor. "Before you start drooling over your laptop and I pretend not to notice, can I ask you to look at something for me?"

I lean over to scoop up the fallen food, thankful for the plastic wrap that negates the five-second rule, and watch him fetch his tablet. "Is this about the recent test? Because I thought I did quite well, all things considered--"

"Yes, you did manage to pull off a B. And while you might want to work on your in-class essays, that's not what this is about." He passes it over to me and I take the thin device from his hand. The opaque, brushed-glass surface hides the circuitry inside. I'm leaving smudges all across the screen, but know that if I try to handle it any more carefully, I'd be likely to drop it.

I frown at his home screen, wondering if he wanted my opinion on his taste of default wallpapers, when he leans over and opens up one of the files.

It's a list of names and occupations. At least, I figure what's what it must be, because I spot my name near the top under Altair, Zoné - busboy.

"Um.... What is this?" I ask, glancing up. "I'm not in trouble for having a job, am? I cleared it with the headmaster before, and I know other students do--"

"No, of course not. I'm more curious as to what you know about Meloira.

I drop the tablet. It clatters to my desk, thankfully not a far distance to fall, and thankfully made of sterner stuff despite its fragile appearance. "Uh--"

"You're not in trouble--"

"It's just. I don't know anything. I think at this rate you might no more than I do." I glance down at the list, but don't reach for it. I'm almost afraid that it’ll burn me if I pick it up. "I'm not participating, if that's what you're worried about."

Perhaps the Program Manager sent a list of all students they invited out to all teachers and headmasters. There's only the public school and a private school plus the university. I can't imagine they would invite anyone much younger than me. Maybe it's a thing for students, and it's some sort of weird social experiment on teenagers.

Mr. Stavros places his hand on my desk, not reaching out to take back the tablet. He leaves the list glaring up at me. "You're in detention because you forgot to turn in your homework. Not because of this list. So don't worry."

It's kind of hard not to worry because I had dismissed this entire thing and thought I could finally move on. Only it seems like other people don't want me to.

"Did you receive an email for this too?" I force myself to meet his gaze instead of the tablet. I cover it with Jun's lunch box, though Mr. Stavros allows the twitch of a frown when I set it down on the screen. "Are you participating?"

"I haven't decided yet," he finally admits, drawing back -- though he takes my crisps with him. I don't protest, because my mouth is suddenly dry and the salty snack doesn't sound as appealing as it did fifteen minutes ago. "I wasn't invited. A friend of mine received the email though, and he asked me to be his Informant."

I start to shovel food into my mouth in an attempt to distract myself. "What's an Informant."

His brow ticks upward, and he considers me carefully. "Didn't they explain it at the meeting?"

"I didn't go."

"You don't want to find out what they're offering?"

I choke on a laugh and a few pieces of rice. The laughter quickly turns to a cough as I clear my throat. "Not really, no. I mean, it doesn't make any sense. There aren't police lining the city or whatever to stop us from leaving."

"No, but the nearest city is an hour away by train."

"I made it here once before on foot, I'm pretty sure I can do it again," I respond with a bit more force than I really mean to, if the way Mr. Stavros draws back is any indication. "It's not that bad if you've got a lot energy and a stomach full of food."

Of course, my stomach had been very full of ice cream when I first set out from New Oxford, so my energy might have been sugar induced. But the road was very quiet and very lonely, so I tried to walk as quickly as possible. It took all day, but I made it to Eminence without any trouble.

I could make it out again if I wanted to.

"You live on your own, don't you?" Mr. Stavros says suddenly.

I narrow my eyes as I watch him. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Why would you want to stay here? It's got to be rough for a student."

My shoulders shrug as I scoop the last of the box's contents into my mouth. "At times, sure. But so? I could go home and just carry on with schooling and proceed with the exact same purpose I do now, just under my parents' roof."

"And what about your future? What do you plan on doing after school?"

I shrug again.

"University? A job? A family?"

I laugh at that. "Are you trying to guilt trip me into joining, Mr. Stavros? A concern for my future by getting me to sign up for this shady game?"

"No, not really. I'm just very curious about you, Altair."

I don't know how to reply beyond another shrug. "I'm not that difficult to figure out."

He crumbles up the crisp bag and drops it in the wastebin by his desk. "I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit."

"You're giving me too much."

Mr. Stavros points at the tablet on my desk. "That's a list of people who were invited. I personally would like to learn more, and don't have the option unless I am recruited as an Informant."

Reluctantly, I move my food onto the desk next to mine and pull up the list again. "I thought you said your friend invited you."

"Well, our other friend overheard and demanded to be a part of it. So I decided that I would try and find out if I knew anyone else on the list. You were one of the first names."

I scroll through the names, not recognizing a lot of them as I go. "And you didn't think anyone else would have worked better?"

"I thought you would work the best."

When I look back up at him, I try to force as much confusion into my expression as I can. "Why me?"

"Again, I am very curious about you, Altair."

"So you keep saying."

A strange expression flits over his face. It takes a long moment before he finally shuts down and leans back against his desk with a sigh. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't force you if you don't want to do this."

I consider his words carefully, my fingers moving the names up and down and up and down without any sort of recognition. "I mean... I guess I'm not completely against participating. I don't think I'd really want anything they are offering, but I'll do it if you want to learn."

His eyebrows shoot up. My words surprise me just as much as they surprise him. "You would?"

"Well, yeah, if it doesn't cost me anything except for some free time. Oh, which means you would have to be a bit more lenient on me for homework if you're my teacher next year."

Lysander lets out a snort of laughter and shakes his head. "We'll see how well that pans out when you receive your schedule."

I hold up the tablet before offering it back to him. "Why did you give me this list?"

He declines to take it back. "You need a team to participate. Two people, and then an Informant. At least, according to Rhys."

"And who is this Rhys participating with?"

"His brother and sister. You might know them. They're in your year. Lionel and Liala Darcy?"

Ah, yes, the twins who hate everyone. It's hard to not know them, just about as hard it is to actually know them past that label.

"I thought you said it could only be two people and an Informant."

Mr. Stavros shrugs and shakes his head. "I don't know how it all works. They seem to have it figured out, and as they're not my team, they wouldn't be my concern."

"So I would have to find someone else on this list to ask to be on my team...?" I don't know a lot of people in Eminence beyond my classmates. This list looks to be about five hundred people long, which is a lot of names and a lot of people I don't know. "Boy, that's just setting me up for failure already."

"There's a few students, so I'm sure you could find someone. You're a charming boy, Altair, I think it wouldn't be hard at all." When he reaches out a hand, I pass the tablet back over to him. Mr. Stavros fiddles around with it for a second, and then I see a notification pop up on the corner of my laptop screen. "I've sent you a copy. There's going to be a second meeting for you to register your teams, according to Rhys. I think it's this weekend."

I would have choked on more food had I been eating anything. "Oh boy."

"Think it over, and if you can't, don't worry about it." Mr. Stavros places the tablet on his desk. "I wouldn't ask you in the first place if I didn't think that you could handle this, and if you can't, I don't want it to cause any stress."

An almost laugh works its way to my mouth, but not much further. "A little too late for that."

"I might be a teacher, but I also hope that you will think to use me as a resource if things get to be too much for you, alright?" He surprises me by crouching down next to my desk, forcing me to look at him. "I'm sure any of your other teachers or the headmaster will agree. Only if this Meliora is going to be a thing, I want us to be able to work together."

I don't know how to respond, because I still don't know what my answer is going to be one way or another. "Why are you so eager to join? I mean, I'm grateful that you would volunteer and help 'set me up for success'."

He chuckles a bit at my wording. Just when I think that he won't answer, Mr. Stavros, pulls out one of the neighboring desk chairs and slides into it. "I'm the kind of person who can't stay settled in one place for very long. Just a few months here and there. I never thought about why I've been in Eminence for so long."

"Because apparently you can't leave?"

Mr. Stavros nods. "There is something going on that has prevented me from feeling the need to leave. I've been in lots of places over the years, and a lot of them have their own merits that Eminence doesn't. So what would make me want to stay here?"

I drum my fingers over the edge of my laptop before letting my head bob forward. The bob continues, until it is a nod of understanding. "Alright. Yeah. I'll look this over."

He pats my shoulder as he rises back to his feet. "And if we're going to be a team, I'm really going to have to insist that you stop calling me Mr. Stavros."

"I can't make any promises, sir."

An annoyed sound leaks out of his mouth as he heads back towards the front of the classroom, but there's no malice in it. "Get started on your homework, Altair."

My gaze drops back to my laptop, where my half-finished assignment sits unopened on the screen. I can't decide if I'm excited or already regretting this choice.

But again, no harm no foul, right? I can participate without having to accept any prizes, and if I don't find out what I want to, then I can just figure out my own way.

Previous | Masterpost | Next