• Chapter 2: School and Friendship

    Cyrus had been at school a few weeks, and although he was doing well, he wasn’t very happy. Him being pre-selected as a star Traveler made him a bit of an outcast. He still hadn’t made one friend, even though he was doing well in all of his classes, even the advanced ones. He figured that might be the reason why, since it didn’t seem like his fellow classmates appreciated him being both smart, and having such a ‘great future’ ahead of him. That wasn’t HIS fault, though, and he wasn’t going to dumb himself down to make themselves feel better. He never got perfect scores on the test they took, and only got the highest once or twice, but because of choices he hadn’t made, they had picked him out to be the one they disliked. ‘Well’ he thought, ‘I’m not going to cry about it!’ There wasn’t any use crying over it, after all, so he had to be above them, and just get through school. Though he did hope they got over themselves eventually, he was getting a little lonely.

    For now though, he decided that he’d just try his best. It was lunch time now, and he, once again, sat by himself at a table. After a few minutes, though, two shadows fell over his table. He looked up, a bit confused, to see two unfamiliar students. A red-haired girl, with stormy gray eyes, that studied him curiously stood there, and next to her a slightly shorter boy, with shocking white hair, light blue eyes, and a friendly, open, smile. The girl spoke first, in a slightly demanding voice, “Hey. You’re Cyrus Locke, right? The one who was selected to be a pilot, right?” she asked. Instead of using the term Star Traveler, she used the more widely accepted term, a ‘Pilot’. It was slightly misleading though, since they did more than pilot ships. Much more.

    He nodded, though. Although the girl seemed a bit demanding, and not very polite, she wasn’t really all that unfriendly, after all, she was talking to him. “Yes, I suppose I am…and you are…?”

    “..oh! My name is Celena Reedings…” she said, and then glanced over to the white-haired child beside her, “And this is Rigel Glenn…neither of us were chosen, but we’re planning to become pilots anyways!” she said, with a smile.

    Although the government made recommendations, they couldn’t control the children’s choices, so even if someone was unsuited for a job, in their eyes, but they wanted to do it, there wasn’t much they could do to stop them. It would be harder, though, for someone without the Planet Board’s, to walk the path of a Star Traveler, though. Cyrus was a bit impressed, since it was usually frowned upon to go against the Board’s suggestions. Some of the greatest Star Traveler’s were made that way, though, overcoming the extra trials thrown their way. Cyrus studied the two of them quietly for a moment. The girl seemed adamant enough, but he wondered about the boy. He still hadn’t said anything, and was still smiling.

    “That’s pretty impressive,” he finally said, and then added a small smile, the first smile in a few weeks, “You better work hard…”

    The other two looked at each other, and then the other boy, Rigel, finally spoke up, “See? I told you he wasn’t anything like they said! You gotta trust my gut feeling more, Celena, especially if we’re going to be working together in the future!”

    The girl looked a little embarrassed, “well, okay, you were right about him, I guess…but still…”

    Cyrus looked at the two of them, confused. He didn’t quite get what was going on, so Rigel turned his way, and explained, “See, for a while, other kids in your class have been saying weird things about you, like that you…” Rigel hesitated a moment, looking a bit unsure, “Well, they said you deserved to be all alone, since you were, like, all high and mighty, since you were chosen to be a Star Traveler and all. I saw you around school a few times, and kind of doubted that…”

    Celena blushed slightly, “I, uh… kind of believed the rumors, sorry…” she said, looking a bit ashamed, “But I can see now that you’re not so bad…so…can we sit with you?”

    “Uhm…thanks, I guess,” he replied, frowning slightly. He hadn’t expected anything like rumors, at least, not bad ones. They were only seven after all! The other two children look honest enough, so Cyrus shrugged, “I don’t care, but what will your friends say?”

    Rigel laughed, “Oh, they aren’t our friends…well, mine at least. They’re just jealous, I think,” he said, and then sat down, across from Cyrus, smiling still.

    “Nah, people like them don’t deserve to be my friends…besides, they aren’t planning on being pilots…er, Star Travelers, like us…so how could they understand?” she sat down beside Rigel, and frowned instead of smiled.

    Cyrus smiled again, and then laughed, “I guess not…still, you guys aren’t probably going to be well liked by talking to be…” he added. Sure, he was happy that he finally got to talk to someone else, but he didn’t want to have these two end up outcasts like him.

    The two looked at each other again, and Celena laughed, “We’re not wimps! We can take a little heat…besides, we’re gonna face a lot more dislike in the future, by choosing our paths. Might as well get used to it.”

    Rigel nodded in agreement, “Yep, we’ve decided to take our own way…” he paused for a moment, and then flashed a mischievous smile at Cyrus, “and, well, we’re kinda hoping we can stick together…you too, you know? I actually just thought of it…but if we’re all going to be star Travelers, why not try it together?”

    Cyrus was a bit surprised. Becoming a Star Traveler wasn’t exactly easy, and only a few made it every year. He had heard that they didn’t usually make friends, since the testing was so competitive. These two seemed a bit different, though, as if they wouldn’t mind the competition. It would be nice to have help too, so he nodded, “Sure..it sounds like a plan…”

    Celena grinned at the two of them, and then took their hands, “Well! Now that we’re all friends…I hope you guys don’t complain too much when I kick your butts!” she said, grinning.

    “Fat chance of that happening!” Rigel said, laughing.

    Cyrus shook his head and laughed. The day had turned out better than he thought it would. His solitude was over, and he’d finally made some friends. He somehow knew that the friendship would last a while, though he didn’t know how he knew. It was a strong feeling, though, and as lunch ended, and they parted ways, the feeling lasted as he made his way back to his room.