Alkalians (10 page)

“
Oh, and what would that
be, Sean?” Rose asks with a malicious smile on her face.

Understanding she already had the
idea, he sighs before explaining to Matt, “See, when I was here
last year, I took one look at her down the hall and nearly flipped
head-over-heels, or more correctly, dropped my books and those of
every student crowded around me when I bumped into them on my way
to the floor. I had been smitten by her dazzling, red-hot beauty.
It was love at first sight, a common epidemic around these
parts.

“
But anyway, it took me a
long time, over the rest of the school year, to gather up the
nerve. I had even practiced on other girls, with a good number of
them going quite well, before I came up to her and asked her out.
She took one look at me, and laughed wickedly, saying there was no
way she’d go out with me. I swear, I was laughed right out of the
cafeteria by everyone around me. And later that day, after classes,
as if adding salt to the wound, the girls of her gang and some rich
guys who would want to ask her out surrounded and pounded me into
the ground in our morphs. If it hadn’t been clear before, the
message had been beaten into my skull. Never ask Cynthia Volvaron
out if you’re not good enough for her.”

Once excited to hear of his failure to
ask her out, Rose then feels sorry for him as she says, “Aw, Sean,
that’s, that was so wrong of them to do to you. I mean, wasn’t it
enough that your heart had been broken?”

“
Pff, nah, for them it
wasn’t. See, they didn’t want any other silly, backwater, freshman
nobody getting the idea of flirting with a girl like her,
especially since she’s also a boss student. So, Matt, take this
advice seriously. When you see her, don’t even
think
of talking to her. She is well
beyond mine or your reach. Got it?”

“
Uh, yeah, I’ve got
it.”

“
Good, good. Um, who else
is there? Ah, yes, speaking of female boss students, there is Lyn
Arcterus. If you asked me, or the most of the other students in the
community, we’ll tell you that she’s the nicest of the boss
students. Rather than picking on the most of us, she and her troop
are the ones who usually cause friction with the other boss
students and their gangs. Also, she’s impossible to go by
unrecognized. She and her girl friends go around in their own,
striped uniform suits, but she’s the one in a white suit, with blue
hair, and, uh, eerie white eyes. The reason students try to stay
out of her way is not just because how unsettling those eyes are,
but, since she’s not afraid to cause trouble with the other boss
students, they don’t want to get caught in the crossfire, you know
what I mean?”

“
Um, yeah, we know what
you mean,” agrees Matt while glancing to a nodding Rose. “But wait,
did you say her last name is Arcterus? Would she happen to be
related to a guy named Fenrir Arcterus, from Tirez?”

“
Hmm. Maybe. Why do you
ask?”

“
Well, my father knows
this guy, Fenrir, as they are both state rangers who will often
pass by each other while scouting the border between Minari and
Tirez. So, I can’t help but wonder if me and her already know a
little about each other if she happens to be Fenrir’s
daughter.”

“
Heh, that would be
interesting to know. But, we’ll worry about that later. Another
thing Lyn Arcterus is known for is her hot temper, a temper that
could match Cain’s, and her distaste of men ever since she got
dumped by James, so, I don’t think you’ll want to, oh, walk across
that thin ice just yet, you know?”

“…
Right.”

“
Right. And, the last, but
not the least, of the boss students is known as Buster Harmada. The
reason he’s got such a high standing in the community is not only
because of his relation to the Harmada family of Riaquen. It’s also
because he can kick just about any student’s butt in battle. Not
only does he already have a powerful battle morph to begin with, I
believe it’s called a MechWarrior, but he’s also so skilled and
versatile with it that very few students here at the college have
managed to even match him in combat. Although, he’s also not that
bad of a guy to be around. He’s actually a rather jolly fellow,
loves to party and goof off, so as long as you don’t give him a
reason to fight you, you should be okay with him.”

“
I see,” Rose says. “But
he’s a Harmada from Riaquen, right? That would mean he’s related to
General Draco Harmada, right?”

“
Ah, yes, that I do know!
Yep, the general is his uncle. They’re kinda close back home, or at
least that’s what Buster will tell anyone who asks about them. So
yeah, the most of the students who are from Riaquen as well are
unified under Buster’s command. Seeing as he’s related to one of
the strongest Alkalians in Riaquen, maybe even the whole nation,
they’re pretty much inclined to obey and respect him.”

“
Hah, yeah, I wouldn’t
blame them on that. We are raised that way in Riaquen, after all.
Perhaps some time I’ll go meet him and have a nice chat with him,
since we’re both from famous families in Riaquen.”

“
Eh, I suppose you could
get away with that.” Yawning and stretching his arms as he sits up
from his chair, Sean says, “Well, that’s all the sage advice I’ll
give you two for now. We can talk more about how the student
community works later. If we have the time between all the homework
we’ll have, that is. So, I say we clean up and tuck ourselves in
early for the night. Tomorrow’s gonna be the
real
first day of school, where our
studies will get serious and the professors will not play nice with
us! Therefore, if there is nothing more to say, then I bid you good
day!” As he turns and heads for his bedroom, he stops and turns
back to correct himself, “Er, night, good night, I mean!” before
opening the door and closing it behind him.

Once Sean is in his room, Matt and
Rose look at each other, and he asks, “So, what do you think of all
this boss student stuff?”

“
Hah, honestly, I really
don’t care whatever role they play in this ‘community’ on campus.”
Rose gets up and goes over to the kitchen sink, fetching a glass
and filling it with water. “Although, the fact that a Harmada is a
student here is interesting. I do mean to go meet him myself, and
see just how much Sean was exaggerating about him.”

As she gulps down the water, Matt
chuckles before saying, “Yeah, and I can’t help but want to meet
Cynthia and Lyn. Sure, maybe Sean’s got something against them, but
I may already have, oh, how do you put it? Connections, with
them.”

“
Yeah, you just might.
However, let’s just hope you won’t react around some ‘pretty girls’
like Sean must have!” After they both laugh at the thought, and
hear a thump from behind Sean’s bedroom door and him shouting,
“Hey, that’s not funny!” she then says, “Well, I’ll go use the
bathroom first. I’ve gotten so sweaty and stinky in my clothes
after Prof. Serpanz’s workout, I’ll want to use the shower
tonight.”

“
Alright, then. I’ll just
wait in my room until you’re done.” He gets up, nods good-night to
her, and heads upstairs to his room while she crosses the living
room and enters the bathroom.

***

The next day, school is in
full-swing as the morning classes fly by, and Matt soon finds
himself in the cafeteria, getting his meal at the buffet in line
behind Sean. As he gets himself a bowl of soup, Matt asks Sean,
“So, explain this to me again. How is it a
good
thing that we got detention
with Prof. Kaloss?”

“
Hah, it is quite
simple,
mi pico amigo
! You see, we shall have a whole two hours in the professor’s
company, alone, working on or studying runes. And he
absolutely
despises
our, well,
my
company! Therefore, rather than us suffering through the
detention, it will be
him
suffering through the detention! Isn’t that
great?”

“
Uh, I guess. And what
does ‘mi pico amigo’ mean?”

“
It means, ‘my little
friend’! Yeesh, are you sure you were raised in Minari? That’s one
of our native languages!”

“
Oh, well, as I’ve said, I
live in a remote area, so I guess I didn’t get to learn our ‘native
languages’. Anyway, I don’t know if I’m going to enjoy detention as
much as you will.”

“
Eh, yeah, I will admit,
it’s unfortunate you got dragged into my mess. I probably shouldn’t
have left that smoke rune on your desk, just as Kaloss was walking
by, and
then
it
went off right under his face. But hey, just be still and quiet,
and he’ll probably let you go early. As for me, I can’t wait for
what runes he’ll ‘discipline’ me with!”

“
Wait, hold on, you’re
actually going to enjoy his punishment?”

“
Oh yeah, you bet I will!
I think it’s all hilarious! Sure, for a while last year I did take
it as punishment. But then, as I would get it constantly, I just
decided to laugh at myself through it. And then, I started laughing
at the whole thing! I’ve thought it’s a fun time ever
since!”

As they depart from the buffet and
walk through the rest of the cafeteria, Matt only shakes his head
and says, “You know, Sean, I’m starting to wonder if you really are
crazy.”

“
Hah, are you kidding?
Crazy is my middle name!” After Sean laughs at his own remark, he
points and says, “Oh hey, there’s Rose, already over at the table
from yesterday. I’ve got a good feeling that’s going to be our
lunch spot for the whole year! C’mon, Matt, let’s join
her.”

Instead of following Sean in the
direction towards their table, Matt has his eyes set on an area to
the far corner of the cafeteria, where a group of women in very
similar uniforms are sitting, eating and chatting. “Hey, Sean.
Would those women over there be part of Lyn Arcterus’
group?”

“
Huh? Oh, yeah, that’s
them. Why do you…” Then figuring out why Matt is curious about
them, he changes tone. “Ah, heh heh, trust me, Matt, let’s not
worry about them, and just join Rose for…”

“
No, it’s okay, Sean. I
just want to meet Lyn herself. That can’t be bad,
right?”

As Matt heads through the
cafeteria, straight for the women, Sean tries grabbing after him,
saying, “No, Matt, don’t do it!” but misses him. He sighs before
telling himself, “And
I’m
the crazy one,” and making his way to
Rose.

A moment later, Matt, silent compared
to the noises of students eating and conversing loudly around him,
is almost to the table of women. While they have varying hair
lengths and colors, they all wear the same kind of uniform,
gentlemen-like black suits consisting of a top, short-sleeved vest
with colored stripes on their sides and matching black pants.
Whatever discussion they were having pauses when they notice him
warily approach. After an awkward moment of the women eyeing him
curiously, and him trying to find words, he gulps and asks, “Um,
sorry to interrupt, but, which one of you is Lyn
Arcterus?”

While his nerves tell him they are
going to act snobbish and shoo him off, they instead giggle a
little as they softly smile at him or each other, and one of them,
tall with long brown hair and green stripes along her vest’s sides,
stands up from her chair to face him and informs him sweetly, “I’m
sorry, but Lyn isn’t here yet. Her last class is on the far side of
the building, so it takes a while for her to get here. However,
whatever you may be asking for, I can pass it on to her for you.”
Extending her hand, she says, “I am Amelia Rotin, Lyn’s
second-in-command.”

Not only surprised by how sincere the
women are greeting him, but also startled to realize, as he
directly faces Amelia’s chest before him, that they all do not have
any undershirts beneath their vests and he can clearly see her
cleavage, he has difficulty responding as he sets his tray aside
and takes her hand to shake it. “Uh, I’m, I’m Matt. Matt
Calamos.”

“
Oh, so you’re one of the
freshmen! Please, you need not be frightened of us. We and Lyn want
all students to…”

“
What’s the matter, kid,
never seen a pair of hooters before?” The rude interruption by a
male voice nearby causes Matt and Amelia’s heads to whip around to
its source, where they see a man in a blue suit, wearing dark
sunglasses and rough side-burns on his face, strolling up to them,
getting in close to Matt to leer down at him. “Sorry, kid, but if
ya can’t keep your cool when a good-looking piece of meat’s in
front of ya, you’re nowhere near ready enough to be around
it.”

While Matt is speechless, even
shaking, from the man’s creepy attitude towards him, Amelia shoves
the man back and snaps at him, “Hey, back off, Ryan! We don’t need
the likes of you scaring a freshman!”

“
Hey, take it easy, sweet
thing! I’m only doing what you lovely lasses do. I’m just trying to
show the kid the ropes around here in school. And one of them is…”
Turning to Matt, he gets back in his face with a cruel sneer to
conclude, “How little boys shouldn’t be caught hanging around with
women clearly out of their league.”

As Matt shrinks away from Ryan’s
glare, a hand suddenly grabs Ryan’s shoulder and spins him around
for another hand, a fist, to collide with his face, sending him to
the table the women are sitting at and causing them and other
students observing nearby to jump out of their seats in
gasps.