Jessicamastriani: Glad you got it! I guess I should have made it more obvious.
Mahine: Thanks as always. I just needed some new problem…
Chapter 12 Too Much To Ask (Avril Lavigne, ok, so I'm obsessed. I mean, how many songs of hers have I done now? Four?)
"Artemis, are you sure this time?"
Artemis sighed. "Yes, it is not like Minerva or Maya or any of them. I sent you video feed so you can see what they are like. Two of them at any rate."
"All right, Artemis, I'll go take a look at them." They disconnected. Butler opened up the file he'd just received.
"Butler! Fancy a game of chess?" There was Minerva. Butler thought for a minute. He was very tired, but he could always watch Artemis' first day later. "Come on, Butler. Theron and Kyler are getting boring."
"Okay, I'm coming!" Those twins may be too young to play chess with Minerva, but Butler was too old. He got up out of the door, leaving it slightly ajar, perfect for Theron to slip in, and press the 'play' button on the computer. He became uninterested and left it playing.
"This is our new student this year from Ireland. Where would you like to sit, Artemis?"
"Anywhere is adequate. I'd like that seat in the back next to the window if you don't mind." Artemis smiled. Then he remembered he was suppose to pass as a typical teenager.
"I-very well," Mrs. Nelson stuttered. Now he was making her nervous, as well as, no doubt, the rest of the class. He walked over to his new seat, lugging his heavy bag on his back. He didn't know how the rest of them could carry them around like a sack of potatoes.
"Artemis?" a hooligan sniggered. "Isn't that a girl's name?"
He turned behind him and fixed the pimpled thug with his icy blue stare. "It means, the hunter after the goddess Artemis of the moon. And it is a girl's name but can go for both genders."
The kid frowned. It was probably too advanced for him to process. "Whatever, loser."
"Don't mind him," said the girl from that morning. She was diagonally in front of him and sat next to the redhead. He would have to know their names.
"Yeah," Cowlick added. "He's a pain. Don't let him bother you."
Artemis smiled his least effective smile. "I won't." The 9th grade was completely foolish and boring, but otherwise, it was exciting.
Different cliques feed off one another. In a way, school was an ecological unit designed for the beautiful to reign and the rest to be trampled. One would think an environment like this can hardly survive, but somehow, the students fight for their free will. Artemis took this all in with mild interest.
He lived through his first few classes encountering a math teacher unable to explain the principles of algebra (as people were constantly asking when they would need it in their lives), a history teacher obsessed with the American Revolution (there are other countries besides the mighty America), and a Spanish teacher who clearly needed lessons of her own. Lunch was almost a relief. At least, it was until he'd had what they called the food. It seemed rather like rotting asparagas sitting in a rat-infested dumpster for two weeks.
A few girls tittered. It was them again. As always, his eyes lingered on the blonde. She grinned. "Sorry. Do you want to sit with us?" Artemis pretended to survey his surroundings.
"Well, I am alone. Sure, why not." He disposed of his disastrous lunch and moved to sat on their table. There was no one else there except from a boy he saw before in one of the videos.
"You have to be careful about the cafeteria food," the brunette who had laughed the loudest said. "Most of it's horrible."
"And totally undercooked," a black one added. "Oh, and I'm Taranee." The others hasten to be polite and introduce themselves as well. The brunette was Irma, an Asian one was called Hay Lin. The one with the cowlicks, the leader, was Will, which was a rather fitting name, and the blonde was Cornelia. He liked that name.
"My name is Artemis. Artemis Aurum." He didn't want to risk acknowledging his full name. What if one of them had headr of him? You can't be too careful. They all nodded. "Now, what was that about the cafeteria food?" They all began to talk at once.
"I swear you could get food poisoning!"
"That meatball sub is nothing but fat cocooned in stale bread."
"The sushi is alive."
"Do you have good health insurance?"
"And do not get me started on the hot dogs."
"The hot dogs!"
"They're, like, from the freezer."
"They were probably plucked right out of a pig's…wherever it comes from and tucked into the crummy bun." Artemis leaned back to listen to them all. If this was what it was like to feel normal, he should have given it a try a long time ago.
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Cornelia wanted to visit Caleb. She asked Lillian to cover for her incase her parents came home early. Caleb had to get back to Meridian, but Cornelia didn't mind anymore. He had his duties, just like she had hers. She saw him talking to the rebels. She concentrated to hear, and almost immediately wished she didn't.
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Caleb was in a rather good mood. Everything was going well. Elyon harbored no hard feelings with him, Nerissa was nowhere in sight, Cornelia had been on recovery for weeks, and the other rebels were great. Technically, they weren't rebels anymore, but he let the name stick. They had been fighting Phobos for so long, the name would have never worn off anyway.
"Hey, Aldarn," he said by means of greeting.
"Oh, hi Caleb. Could we talk to you for a sec?"
"Uh, sure," Caleb answered uncertainly.
"Good, because I've been hearing some things the others are saying about you." Aldarn looked uncomfortable.
"Yes?" Caleb prompted.
Drake took over from there. "We think you've been spending too much time with the Earth Guardian. You're barely around and that doesn't make a good example for our newcomers. You aren't shirking your responsibilities for a girl, are you?"
Caleb was stunned. "But..."
"We aren't trying to insult you," Aldarn said quickly, "but you've never done this before. It was always about the rebellion."
Caleb nodded. He understood. "You guys really feel this way?" All of them nodded as well. "What can I do to help ease that worry?"
Tynar answered. "Tell us that this Earth girl means nothing to you compared to the rebellion. Say that you would always put Meridian first, then the girl."
Caleb's features softened. "I never thought about it like that, but I have been absent a lot, haven't I? Okay, but for the people's sake. Cornelia means nothing to me, I will always put the rebellion first. She's just a girl. There are a lot of girls in this world, but there is only one rebellion."
They all cheered with a sly glint in their eyes. Cornelia slipped away quietly, brushing angry tears from her cheeks. She should have known, of course. She should have known that having Caleb so far away and still be with her, still love her, was too much to ask for.