บท 3: Axel
The kids in my group weren't only messed up but spoke like villains in a children's book. They were all taller than me, all had visible scars, and all spoke about how they would eliminate all dreamers. I would have spoken up, but I'd rather not go to the nurse's office.
So, my dreams were abnormal; just as I had suspected… they gave us a small number of categories anyway; it's like they already knew what we dreamt of.
"Everyone, please take your seats with your group. You are not allowed to speak to them until I instruct you otherwise." Ms. Lind said, looking back to her computer and typing quickly.
"Hey, Rock." Someone across the room whispered, to which Ms. Lind responded by looking up. It was then silent.
In the rest of the class, we learned what our dreams meant, all the while I sat there, not learning anything about my true dreams.
Someone approached me after class, wearing a thick black sweatshirt with black pants, they said. "School Courtyard at lunch. Be there."
When I turned around, they were already gone. Were they talking to me? Maybe they were chatting with another student? Or a family member perhaps? Therefore, it didn't matter to me as much.
I found myself going anyway, out of curiosity and such. A person in a thick black sweatshirt was waiting on a bench, it was lightly raining now and they held an umbrella, despite having their hood up.
"So, you came?" The person, who I could tell was a Male, said.
"Yeah. What do you need?" I asked, looking away as I lifted my hood as well.
"Let's take this place down. Let's end this whole idea of dreamers being the bad guys." He proposed.
I sat silently, my mind swirling.
"Why would we do that?" I asked, wondering why I wasn't taking this new offer.
"Why not? If we graduate, we'll just-"
"Rocco! Axel! Get in here!" A hall monitor yelled to us from the doorway of the courtyard. I began stepping away instantly. I don't know why I didn't take the offer. Did I enjoy it here? Or was I afraid of the consequences?
I decided it was just a sick joke to get me in trouble somehow.
Lunch was… ultimately boring. I sat down, and Mae was at the table I was at. She scooted away, as she would for anyone since we were all different from her. Her scooting down the table caused other kids to scoot down, which caused a chain reaction, started by me sitting down to eat alone.
I heard a tray clank onto the spot next to me, and when I turned, I could see Chel, she smiled brightly and stuffed some food into her mouth. Of course, she sat by me. I was tempted to scoot away, as one part of me wanted to, but another part of me… longed to speak to her again, yearned to hear her voice and delicate way of speaking again. What was this feeling? Why have I never felt this for anyone before?
"Rocco. Eat! The food is really good today, I promise!" She said excitedly, continuing to eat her food.
"Ah… right," I said, picking up my spoon and digging into the apple sauce. I took my time eating the smaller foods before finally eating the burger, the main meal.
"I guess you weren't too wrong," I stated, wiping my mouth with my sleeve.
She tugged on my sleeve and stared me in the eyes.
"You shouldn't use your sleeve to wipe your mouth. Has your mother not taught you anything?" She asked.
Of course… they'd find out eventually… why not just tell them now.
"My parents completely ignore me, of course, she didn't teach me anything," I said, staring at the table.
"Huh? Why?" She asked. "Do they dislike you because you dream?"
"No, no. It's because once I started dreaming, they put my parents to work, so I rarely have time to talk to them." I told her the truth. Her face looked sad, so I quickly changed the subject. "Do you know Axel by any chance?"
"Axel…" She placed her fingers on her chin, seemingly thinking. "Wait! Yeah! He's one of the creepy world domination kids from my class. He tried talking to me about escaping the academy." She stated.
"Yeah, me too," I told her truthfully. "It was a little creepy. He looked so strong as well." I said, remembering the six-foot-tall man again.
"Yeah, he's a really big guy, he's scary as well. He doesn't talk too much, and he is in your year. He is also sixteen I believe." She stated. This guy somewhat reminded me of Mae with how much people feared them both.
"So, by the time he graduates, he'll be…"
"Nineteen," I said.
"You answered that… surprisingly quick," Chel mentioned.
"I've always been good at math, and logic… and reading… literature… languages… dream study…" I stated, looking away, not knowing exactly what to say after that.
"So, your grades are really good then?" She asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.
"I suppose so. All I have time for is to study anyway, my parents don't speak to me after all." I said, lifting my hand to my head with a quick sigh.
Talking to Chel was… somehow making me feels something I've never felt before… I felt…
My pocket vibrated. I took out my phone and could see a new notification.
"New Emotion Achieved: Happy."
That's all the message stated. Happy? I'd heard of it before, but I never felt it… like a lot of things. So, I was finally… happy?
"Huh? You alright?" Chel asked, pointing at me accusingly.
"Y-yeah… I'm just… checking what the school sent out." I said, putting my phone back into my pocket. I had never seen one of those notifications before, so this was entirely new to me; showing her would accomplish nothing. "Well, I have to go find Axel. See you later Chel."
"Hey!" she snatched my phone from my pocket and tapped hers to mine, quickly adding herself into my contacts. "Make sure to call me tonight or something, I need some help in dream study class as well as history." She said, smirking and walking away smugly.
Of course, she needed my help with homework… she slept all day anyway.
***
"Axel?" I asked, approaching a boy in a black sweatshirt. He didn't turn around, but spoke, his voice deep for his age, and his height was almost as extreme.
"Yeah?" He asked, turning around to face me.
Axel had short black hair, as well as some stubble on his chin. He was holding a book and looked quite serious. My eyes met his and I determined his eyes were a darker shade of blue. He was Caucasian and was seemingly a well-built teenager. He towered over me, his legs taking up most of his entire body. He took his hood down and looked me over, up and down, and then up again, locking his eyes with mine. "You're pretty short." He said, turning away again.
"Well, you're abnormally tall," I replied, feeling a little attacked.
"I get that often."
"So, what's your whole deal with escaping this place? We go home every day."
"Yeah, but are we really free? Do you feel free?" He questioned quietly.
"I… suppose so. At least I'm not dead yet, right?"
"You will be." He replied coldly. "Looks like you aren't the right one for the job, so keep your mouth shut about all of that." He walked slowly past the Academy's fountain and vanished among the vast number of students rushing toward their classes.
I went to follow him, but the crowd moved like violent waters, going in there would only result in me being trampled and drowning in a sea of angsty teenagers. I turned around and went back into the Academy, for some strange reason, that guy's words wouldn't leave my head. How was I not right for the job? Who was if not me? None of it made sense. I just wanted to graduate and move on with my life. Chel seems to be excited to graduate and get out of here.
***
The rest of the day remained uneventful, to say the least. I went to my classes and was escorted home by the same woman who picked me up. Her constant reminders were getting annoying, so I reached into my bag and pulled out my headphones. I plugged them into my phone and a steady stream of drums and piano began filling my ears.
"Why choose that type of music?" You may ask, and to put it simply, it's all we have for music. Just instruments gently being played, nothing else. They banned so many old songs, and if you ever considered writing a song with words, you'd be arrested on the spot. Who would want to talk over music anyway? Isn't music supposed to be calming? Why would you want someone talking about their day?
I was finally home. I took out my headphones and the woman turned to look at me for the fiftieth time. "Don't forget to take your medicine tonight. The Check-Up is on Friday, and you are required to show-"
"I know," I said, stepping out of the van and slamming the door shut behind me.
I entered my house and could see my parents idly on the couch, their tablets in their hands, their faces filled with bright lights. I didn't even greet them as I already knew they wouldn't respond. I returned to my room and jumped on my bed silently. The bed sagged low to the ground, which only reminded me that my bed frame would be arriving sooner or later… if mom even ordered it.
"Rocky!" My mother called up to me. It was an annoying nickname I hated very much, but despite telling her that, she continues calling me it.
I went downstairs and could see mom and dad sitting around the table, their tablets in one hand, and forks in another. Tonight's dinner was spaghetti, and of course, that stupid machine made it instead of mom or dad again.
I sat down and began eating my food quickly, when mom spoke, not even looking at me.
"How was your day today Rocky?"
"Don't call me Rocky… I told you I don't like it." I replied sourly.
"Alright." She said, returning to her tablet, which was now displaying a message from the government as the daily news. "How was your day today Rocco?" Dad asked, seemingly ignoring mom's question, or not even paying attention to it.
"Normal," I said, not even looking up at him. I still felt disgusted, betrayed, and untrusting of my parents now.
"Cool," Dad said, not even registering my answer. He always assumes I say good or something like that and it's annoying.
"Mom, Dad, can I tell you something that's bothering me?" I asked, not knowing why I even tried.
Silence.
I got up and returned to my room silently, that stupid machine reached its claw down and grabbed my plate away as I left the dining room. That disgusting robot. It's always charging their stupid tablets, allowing them more screen time, and it seems to have a grudge against me as well. It'll purposely leave something on my floor so I'll trip, or will bump into me on purpose. When it wasn't walking around in a human-like suit, it's transferring its being into the house, being able to control doors and locks. Not only that, but it tried to help me with homework after "accidentally" locking me out of the house for a couple of hours.
As I crept into bed, I could hear a faint dinging noise coming from downstairs. The stupid machine called my name multiple times in an annoying tone. I slipped out of bed with a groan and headed downstairs. Once there, I looked to the front door, there, was a tall man, waiting outside.
I opened the door.
"Hey, what do you need?" I asked, my hair all messy and in my face.
"Take this." He said, passing something small and round to me. I held it tightly and looked back up at the guy.
"Axel?" I asked, recognizing his facial features easily. He took no time to quiet me with a finger to his lips and pointed to the thing in my hand.
"Listen to them. Music. With words." He said, moving his hands to his side. I sat, silently. Music? I've heard enough Piano… but with words?
"Why would I want to listen to people talking over a song?" I asked, looking a little confused, I'm sure.
"They're not talking, they're singing." He replied, turning and running off into the shadow of the trees nearby. I wanted to reach out and grab him, but I assumed he had told me what he needed to and was just simply running away now.
***
I climbed back into bed, but this time, I would get no sleep for some time. I was curious. What exactly was singing? Why have I never heard of it? Is it like…? I couldn't think of anything it could mean, so I placed the new headphones into my ears.
They looked like small flowers, a stem with a bigger round head, it fits perfectly into my ears and I looked at my phone. They somehow connected to my phone and began playing a song I'd never heard before. There was no piano. No drums. No instruments that I knew. Just… sounds of clashing, a hum, a voice… and then there were words, but not just words; it was singing.
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