"Understandable" he replied. "Its just, I don't know, I hate to see you like this."
"I'm fine" I rebutted
"You'd be better with someone."
I shrugged, sighing.
"Sometimes... there are just people who don't..." I paused, feeling my throat going tense. I tried to hide it by coughing.
"there are just people who don't have someone out there for them. Like their soulmate disappeared somewhere along the lines, leaving the other side without anyone, you know?" I managed to spit out.
"I mean..." Siegfried stuttered, trying to find some way to rebuke what I had just said.
"Sometimes, God has to use some of us to teach others lessons" I whispered, kicking the grass beneath me.
It was quiet for awhile. Siegfried gave me that look like he didn't approve of what I said, but didn't know how to reply without making the situation worse.
Sooner or later, I started walking back to the group as I watched the glider start to circle in for another landing.
"Everyone has someone." Siegfried said firmly. "Just because it doesn't feel like it right now doesn't mean it isn't true" he tried to reassure me.
"Eh..." I replied immediately. "I'll be fine, trust me"
I smiled at him, trying to assure him it'd be alright. I didn't want a scene now.
We went through the same launch process at least two dozen times, letting people get off the glider, new pilots get on, and then launch them into the air. It was mid-afternoon by the time most of the guys were done. I hadn't gone yet, but as the day progressed I started to not feel up to it; I found myself thinking over what Siegfried had said too much, and could feel myself sinking into that type of thinking.
Besides, the guys I'd rather fly with had already gone, and lord knows I wasn't confident enough to go up there alone.
"Alright Gentlemen, there are only a few left whom haven't gone. Whose next!?" the Major bellowed.
A hand pushed my shoulder, trying to shove me forward. I looked back to find Siegfried smirking.
"Come on, you're up" He said
"I'm alright" I remarked, my hands sliding into my pockets.
"Dude... everyone gets a chance."
"I'm fine, really. I'm just... not up to it right now."
He gave me a concerned luck, but before I could say anything someone had grabbed my wrist and yanked me through the group, pulling me to the front. The Major looked at me and smiled.
"Friedrich, perfect!" he said as he tossed me one of the leather pilots caps. I caught it reluctantly, sighing as I walked forward. Didn't really have a choice, after all...
"Who else!?" The major bellowed. I looked around as I hesitantly took the pilots seat on the glider, belting myself in and adjusting the leather cap I had on.
He bellowed out, searching for a co-pilot, once more.
"Who Else!?"
"I'll go!" a voice in the crowd hollered. I turned, looking as the group of guys not towing ropes started to part ways. Out stepped Albrecht.
My heart fucking skipped a beat.
I watched as he quickly jogged towards me, catching the leather cap the Major tossed to him as he ran up besides me, pulling it on over his undercut styled haircut. He looked at me and smiled, strapping the helmet on and greeting me as he got into the seat behind me.
"So, you ever fly one of these before?" He questioned
"Uh" I hesitated "I did this last year, but besides that, not really..."
"Well, I'm confident you won't get us killed, if that helps" he joked. His hand gripped my shoulder and shook it in a sign of confidence.
"Hold up a second, Commander." the Major said, walking towards the glider. He looked at Albrecht and gave him a strange look, then questioned him;
"Haven't you already been up today?"
"Not with this unit, I haven't" he returned, a slick smile on his face. I tried to keep my nose out of the situation, but couldn't really help it.
"I didn't ask that" the Major continued to interrogate; "Did you go up yet today?"
I could see out of the corner of my eye that Albrecht had a big grin on his face.
"Well, I mean, technically?"
"And you know you're only supposed to go up once, correct?"
"In all fairness Sir, I went up with another group, not this one."
"I-"
"And no one else volunteered, so I don't really see the problem."
"Thats not-"
"Besides, you don't want only one person going up, do you? Wouldn't that destabalize the glider?"
"Well Yes, bu-"
"Perfect Major. I really appreciate your decision making"
Albrecht ran circles around him. It was actually pretty funny to listen to, and I couldn't help but smile; he already sounded like a politician.
The Major glared at him, but sighed, waving him off. I watched as he stood back, examining the glider, and began to yell orders to me to test everything out before we took off.
"Right Aileron!" He hollered. There were three sticks, one to my left, one between my legs, and one to my right. I pulled the right one.
"Good." he replied. "Left Aileron!"
I pulled the left stick. He yelled 'Good' again.
"Elevate up!" He yelled. I pulled the middle stick forward, and listened for his yell. He confirmed with yet another 'good'. We spent the next few minutes going through safety inspections; it seemed strange at first that he was so worried about everything being right. He hadn't done this with the previous groups.
Then it dawned on me; my co-pilot was Albrecht, the Crown Prince. If something happened, the Major would be to blame.
He went through everything, including checking to make sure our safety harnesses were properly buckled in. Once he seemed confident enough, he waved us forward. I watched as a group of guys pulled the blocks out that held the sled under the glider in place, and the guys hauling the ropes started to run forward towards the edge of the hill.
It took them a bit to get the glider to move faster than a snails pace, but once they got it moving it really went. I held onto the elevation stick between my legs in a desperate attempt to keep myself from thinking I'd fall the hell off the damn thing, and listened to Albrecht complain right behind me.
"This thing fuckin bounces more than the damn robotic bull at the fuckin beerhouse we always go to" he hollered. I had no idea what he was talking about.
I held the elevation controller as tightly as I could as the glider raced faster and faster across the hillside, rushing closer and closer to the edge. It wasn't until the guys towing the ropes all came to a halt, piling all over each other, that my heart started racing. It was too late for me to try and get off now, and as Albrecht and I steamrolled towards the cliff, I could feel myself getting a little woozy.
Soon enough, we rocketed past the piles of guys whom had been towing us. As we reached the edge of the cliff, I closed my eyes, my heart beating faster than it did during the most tense boxing matches. I was waiting for the sound of the wings clipping trees, something breaking off the glider, or whatever sign of catastrophe there would be.
There was nothing but the sound of the wind.
"Aright, now slowly pull us up" Albrecht instructed. I opened my eyes slowly, looking around.
We were actually flying.
My heart was still beating like I had just gone through a prize fight, but we were actually flying. I couldn't help but find myself distracted by the scenery around us. From this high, I could see the countryside for what seemed like tens of miles. The rolling hills, dense trees, and even birds and other animals were all on display.
The air even smelled different up here.
"Hey!" Albrecht's voice yelled, followed by a light punch to my side "You've gotta get us up or we won't last long! Nose up!"
I slowly pulled the elevator control towards myself, and the glider started to climb slowly, though I could feel it slowing down.
"Alright, now level us off..." he paused "Now!"
I pushed the control forward, and the glider leveled out.
"There you go" he remarked, another pat to my side following suit. I smiled, watching the scenery around us fly by. We cruised for a long while in silence, before he broke the silence.
"So, you said you were from the Golderfeld?"
"Yeah" I responded. For whatever reason, I could feel my heart beating again.
"What'd you guys grow?"
"Wheat, though sometimes my dad grew other things along side it like corn and stuff, but usually wheat."
"That's awesome" he responded.
His sudden interest in my life confused me. I mean, I knew he was just trying to make small talk, but it still made me sort of nervous.
"So how'd you get into boxing?" He questioned further.
I was quiet for awhile, thinking about how I'd gotten to this point. Boxing had carried me through a lot of hard times when I was younger, and I considered it the one thing that I could actually take a real level of pride in.
I had taken it up early on, mostly for self defense. The Youth often prided themselves on the way they 'built character' though promoting fighting and... I guess you could say violence, in the boys that participated in it. I learned really quickly that you had to defend yourself; no one else was going to fight for you when they had to fight for themselves already, and boxing provided that level of training that I needed.
I guess it sort of helped that being talented at something made my parents proud, at least for awhile. Coming home a winner from the fights against other local troops when I was young made my father beam with pride, and it often enough got me things that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to have. We were by no means a well off family; at times, you could even say we struggled to be stable in our finances, but when I won a game my dad made me feel like we were the richest family in the world.
"Hey, you hear me? How'd you get into boxing?"
"Shit, sorry, I was just thinking" I responded. I paused for a moment, thinking of what to say.
"I just enjoyed it, I guess. A lot of fighting in The Youth made it really important to be able to defend myself."
"What do you mean, fighting in The Youth?"
"You guys didn't fight when you were in The Youth?"
"I mean, we messed around and wrestled and stuff, but we didn't really fight"
"You didn't do, like, war games and stuff?"
"No..."
What? I thought every Youth troop did that...
"Well, we did a lot of war games where the winning team was decided by how many kids weren't lying on the ground in pain..."
"Jesus dude. Our troop went on trips throughout the country and even the rest of Europe..."
"Really?"
"Yeah, we even went to America around their independence day to see what it was like compared to V-Day here..."
"Sounds like a lot more fun than beating up other 12 year olds" I laughed.
He laughed as well, though I could tell it was hesitantly.
We flew through the air quietly for awhile, passing close by another glider that was also mid-flight. I didn't wave to them, but Albrecht did.
After a little while, I tried to make small talk again.
"So... i'm sure you get this a lot, but... whats it like?"
"Whats what like?"
"Being the Crown Prince"
"Oh, that question" he seemed a bit disappointed. "Its... its interesting."
I sort of regretted asking him that question the second it left my mouth. I'm sure he got it all the time, and me asking him didn't help.
"Its a lot of work, especially when we're on holiday from the Academy. Lots of meetings I have to sit in with my Dad, riding though parades, meeting dignitaries, that sort of stuff."
He was being groomed for the throne and didn't have a choice, I guess he was saying.
"You ever wish you weren't?"
He laughed.
"All the time" He responded shortly.
It was quiet for awhile.
"But I guess it has its perks. I mean, I'm here, aren't I?"
"Yeah" I returned.
"So, whens boxing season start-"
Suddenly there was a huge crosswind that rocked our glider, and I struggled to maintain control of it. I could hear Albrecht cursing behind me as I yanked on the left and right ailerons, trying to maintain stability and even out the glider that was rocking back and forth. Just as I thought I had it under control again, another strong gust of wind rocked us back and forth.
Suddenly, there was something pulling me close to the seat. I pulled as hard as I could on the controls to try and right the glider, and though it took some time, it evened out. It was then that I looked down at my waist to realize that Albrecht had wrapped his arms firmly around my waist.
My heart fucking skipped a beat, and it was like everything suddenly started moving in slow motion. I could hear his breath close behind my head, and could practically feel his biceps despite being separated by our thick, woolen uniforms. He was holding firmly onto my sides in what I guess was a desperate attempt to hold onto something that was firmly in place.
I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it, but my brain was going haywire. It was one of those scenarios that you have when you've got a desperately deep crush on someone and literally anything they do is misconstrued as being a possible hint at romantic interest, and it took me a moment for me to calm my head down from asking the guy to fucking marry me then and there.
"Sorry dude, I wasn't about to die though" he exclaimed, letting go of me. It was then that things started returning to a normal pace.
"Just don't tell my girlfriend, alright?" he joked, laughing for awhile.
My heart skipped a beat again. It took a lot of thinking about very unattractive lunch ladies for me to calm everything down.
"Alright, your secret is my secret" I responded jokingly.
You know that feeling you get when you just know that someone is looking at you? That's what I felt there. It didn't feel bad, in fact the opposite, but it was definitely there.
"So, whens your next boxing match?" he questioned a few minutes later.
"Uh, I think a few weeks from now?"
"Awesome. Against whom?"
"Uh, not really sure yet. Usually this early on its another nearby academy."
"Well you'll have to let me know when it is so I can watch you" He remarked.
I froze. Him? Watching me box someone? That was the last thing I needed; it was already stressful enough, but having the fucking Crown Prince watching me would be a lot. Especially considering the beginning of the season was super important for placement purposes later down the line on the brackets.
Then again, I couldn't really say no to the fuckin' Crown Prince.
"I always loved watching your matches. You're scary fucking good, and that's on top of all of your good qualities"
Did he just...
I stammered for a minute, trying to remember his question. It was about watching me, right?
I couldn't remember, so I just winged it, hoping my response would be accurate.
"Alright, I'll let you know then" I remarked.
He patted me on the side.
Jesus fuck dude, if you knew how fast my heart was beating right now...
We remained quiet for the rest of the flight, and eventually I started circling the glider and dropping its elevation. As we came in for the final landing, I could feel a hand grip that part between my shoulder blade and my neck, and Albrecht spoke up again.
"Thanks for the ride, it was a lot of fun"
I nodded, not really able to respond. This whole situation had been surreal. He had said maybe thirty words total and he'd left me fucking speechless, and I didn't know why.
Well, I knew why. I just didn't want to admit it.
We came in for a landing, and I held onto the controls tightly as the glider bounced up and down across the grass, sliding across the hill before slowing to a stop and tipping over onto its side. I slowly unbuckled myself, pulling the leather cap off of my head and jumping off of the seat.
Albrecht was already gone and back with the guys.
I tossed the cap to the Major, and shoved my hands in my pockets. After a few moments, I resigned myself to returning back to the group, though my head was in a completely different place.
I think I felt his hands on my sides for another two days.
This schoolboy crush is really getting out of hand...