Ring! Ring! Ring!
Mint wearily opened his eyes, and sleepily patted around for his alarm clock. The ringing stopped with a loud thud, and he grunted. He threw off the covers and got up shakily, looking around for his now likely-broken alarm clock. He found it on the floor- rather, the front end of it. He sighed, and trudged downstairs, wearily following his morning routine- turning on the coffee pot, brushing his teeth, changing clothes, and grabbing a cup of joe before heading out the door and heading across the street to a large building.
"Morning, Mint," the secretary, Selena, shouted to him. He turned to her as she said, a little more seriously, "Hey, just so you know, Matt wanted you. I mean, he wanted you. Way more than he should." Mint's eyes rolled, as he grumbled, "What is it this time? I swear, if he's wanting to lecture me again on taxes…" Selena sighed, "Yeah, I remember that. No one got out of that meeting alive, if you know what I mean." He snorted, "Yeah. Only Jeoffrey got any sort of interesting topic out of that meeting. But, yet again, he's the guy who could find enjoyment in watching paint dry…" Selena chuckled, "Yeah. Jeoffrey was still hired by your father, though. Remember, what he says goes." Mint nodded in agreement. "Well, it's best I go see what shenanigans Matt's up to now," he said, before walking out the door in the back of the room.
It was very obvious the building was an old church. The lobby was the old gymnasium, and the window into a kitchen was covered by a billboard. The ceiling was very tall, exposing old pipes running above their heads. The basketball hoops had long been removed, yet the dark spots where it had been nailed to the wall stood out against the white walls. One of the lights was tinted a pinkish hue for no known reason, and an old piano sat, gathering dust, near the entrance. It had been Mint's father who decided it to stay there- he always had a thing for vintage pianos.
Mint trudged past the old nursery, out a door, and down a hallway, to be greeted by a young woman, Sakura. "H-h-hi, S-S-Sakura," He stuttered. She laughed, "Hey, Mint. I was just dropping by to give something to Selena. Don't mind me." His cheeks were red as fire as he stammered, "O-o-o-okay." She said, "Well, it seems like Matt was wanting you. Any idea what he wants?" He shook his head, and he sputtered, "I-I-I d-d-don't know. H-h-he didn't s-s-say." She nodded, and left. Mint muttered under his breath, "Why do girls act so awkward around me…" He made his way to Matt's office, and nonchalantly entered.
"W-W- ahem, what do you want now, Matt," Mint said, trying to hide his embarrassment. The large, well-built Matt stood up from his desk, looming over a chair in front of the desk. "Sit down, Mint," he said, sounding akin to a helicopter dad. Mint plopped down, and Matt sat in his own chair. "Do you know why you're called here?" He said intensely. Mint shook his head and grumbled, "No. Why on earth would you want me?" Matt sighed, "The boss has spoken. You're going to a training camp."
"What?! A training camp?!" Mint stood up. "I can't be going to one of those! It's a place little kids go, not an admin's son!" Matt huffed, "You're not going for the training! You're going for the camp!" Mint hissed, "That doesn't make any sense! Why would someone trained to work for the boss since birth have to train like a little kid?! Only the losers and the newbies go there!" Matt regained his calm and repeated, "The boss has spoken. No one here is stupid enough to go against his judgement." Mint relaxed his shoulders slightly. "Yet why would he send me? I mean, I'm going to be an admin in three years. I don't need to go to some stupid training." Matt closed his eyes and replied, "I'd think it has to do with that, maybe." Mint sighed, "Yeah, I'm probably going as a counselor or something." Matt looked up, and chuckled, "Nope. You're going as one of the students, not as a counselor, and for three years."
"This is going to be a long time, isn't it?"
Mint sat on his couch, staring at the wall. Why am I the one going? He thought. I'm the next admin. I have no reason to go to some stupid camp, especially a beginner's camp. The most business I have there is to teach others. Yet I can't really do that well as a student. Why make me relearn things I learned before I was in elementary school? I could recite the ten main rules in a matter of seconds, and I follow all the procedures to the letter. Maybe they want me to show the others it's possible? Yet I'm still 13, older than the preschoolers at those camps. I'd be useless. Absolutely, positively useless.
"Hey, Mint." Mint looked up wearily to see Selena standing in the doorway, holding a package in her hands. She sat down next to him, and placed the box on his lap. "What's this?" Mint asked, sitting up straight. She took a deep breath and said, "See, before your father passed, he gave me this, and told me to give it to you when you became an admin. However, it seems now is a much better time. Go ahead- open it." Mint delicately untied the red silk ribbon, and carefully removed the cover.
Inside the box was a paperback book.