Elliott is a 16 year old boy, in love with marine life, he had the opportunity to visit Aronnax and obviously the famous Nektons, along with some schoolmates, Jade, Zahara and Noah.
Of the group of friends, he was always the most shy and calm, especially with strangers and surprisingly this caught the attention of Fontaine, one of the richest teenagers in the world and very intelligent.
Will Elliott let Fontaine get closer, or will Fontaine's curiosity be temporary?
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Finally, after so much time studying and waiting for a place, Elliott managed to pass a test with his friends to have the opportunity to know how marine life works in the ocean and how a submarine is inside, just that already looks wonderful! And the best part is that the submarine is nothing more, nothing less than the huge Aronnax!
He couldn't lie, he wouldn't be able to sleep until the date arrives, when he found out that he passed the test, he couldn't shut up all day and this is very rare to happen, we can say that Elliott is very shy and introverted, he never speaks beyond what is necessary.
He had 3 weeks to get organized, pack his bags, documents and even the questions that would be asked for the Nektons. Jade, the most lively in the class, also had the brilliant idea of walking around the school writing what each person thinks and wants to ask the Nektons and at the end of the tour, she would suggest a game that all the Nektons could read what the students said about they. In addition to questions and praise, some students posed challenges that they think the Nektons have difficulty doing, the day of the tour would be very dynamic and fun, but despite everything, Elliott and Zahara are always reminding Jade that the trip is for academic purposes and 90% focused on reports and studies. Noah has the participation of filming what he can on Aronnax, since based on what they see on the submarine, they will have to make reports and a documentary explaining in detail each part described.
3 weeks passed so slowly, the hours felt like days and the quartet's anxiety only increased. In the meantime, they reviewed more than 10 times what they would tell the Nektons and how to behave in front of such important figures.
~
It was 3 days before the trip and bad thoughts kept going through Elliot's mind, from the most shameful reason to a plausible reason. Noah and Zahara kept talking about it or planning what it would be like, they were literally daydreaming. Jade after researching what the Nektons like, she spent the day in stores looking for every item, and even things for Jeffrey.
Elliott, even with insecurities, would know that he will have to do his best, be very polite and without disrespectful questions, because intimate questions, Jade always asks unintentionally and everyone is grateful that the guests find Jade very cute and never get angry with inconvenient questions.
And so another day passed, with 2 days until the big day, Elliott that day decided to spend the day with his family, taking advantage of the time he rarely spends with his family, either helping his mother in the kitchen, taking care of his younger sister and helping his 7-year-old brother in the performance of his school activities and being present in all family activities.
-Don't get me wrong, but I'm surprised to see you so present and active in family activities.
Mrs. Cristine Gray, Elliott's mother, says with a smile on her face, seeing her oldest son having a healthy relationship with everyone left her relieved.
-Ugh mom, you talk in a way that it feels like I'm never at home...
With irritation in his voice, he says quietly and waits for his mother's answer.
-Son, look at me. I know I speak in an exaggerated way, but believe me, I am very proud of your achievements in studies, I also know that you will be a great marine biologist! But I miss you so much, your siblings miss you here at home and moments like this warm my heart.
Elliott's gaze softens and he without much to say gets up from the sofa and walks over to his mother, who is surprised at the rapid change in movement but relaxes when her eldest son embraces her, showing a very valuable affection.
-I know that things here at home are difficult and even more so with me out of the house so long but I'm doing this for our family, mom. I am studying because I want a better future for us and that we will never need to go through everything we went through in our life.
All of Elliott's friends know how difficult his life was, his mother takes care of them alone and still works to support the house, Eilliott whenever she gets a small job, ensures that part of the money is destined to help her family. Zahara repeatedly tries to give Elliott money to take care of himself but he always refuses, so she always helps by buying basic things to help and Elliott will never be grateful enough for everything she does. And he never judges his mother for being too distant in childhood, he couldn't judge her! With age, he realized that all she did was think about his future, the future of Amelia and Alex. All he can do is plan to help his family even more and give his mother, sister and brother a better life.
Going on a submarine is a dream he had as a child, that dream that never leaves his mind no matter how far away it is. Seeing that all his effort was worth it certainly makes him happy.
And that night he slept relieved knowing that his family supported him and believed in his plans, which made him have a certain confidence that he never had before.
Elliott woke up very early, with calls from the school and his friends, stretching and then answering Noah's call.
-Hey dude, how are you? cheered up?? tomorrow is the big day bro!
-Hey man, I'm fine, still a little sleepy but talking about tomorrow makes me wake up, I'm nervous about all this..
-Come on bro, don't be so rude to yourself, you'll be fine! You've been preparing for this for years, there's no reason to hesitate now.
-Unprecedented and out of the script things can happen and I don't know how I'll be calm if something happens.
-Relax, anything Kaiko will help us!
-Don't make fun of me! You know how much I am a fan of Kaiko and her work.
-Exactly and that is why it will be one of the first things I will say to Kaiko when we get there.
-Don't you dare talk shit, do you understand me, Noah Smith?
-Your voice is breaking, man! the signal is terribly bad, I'll call you later, see ya tomorrow dude!
This boy will still pay me, I will have my revenge-Elliott thinks as he gets out of bed and does his morning routine.
In an hour and a half Elliott ends everything and stays in the tedium, which soon ends when he remembers the missed messages and calls. First he answered Jade, who was just showing a video that Ant posted about Jeffrey. Soon after he replied to Zahara, that fortunately the matter was something more serious, it was about some final adjustments in what they plan to do to surprise and interview the Nektons. Zahara will always be his faithful companion of studies and reports after all. When he saw the missing calls from school, immediately a confused and worried expression came over his face and that miraculously he had the courage to face it so quickly.
-Hello good morning. This is Elliott Gray, I saw missed calls and I'm returning to find out what the calls were about.
-Oh hello Gray! Good morning how are you? I just wanted to tell you that because of a storm, you are very likely to have to stay at Aronnax for longer. The Nektons sent us this morning about it, we asked them if they wanted to postpone the tour but they refused and just suggested for you and your colleagues to take extra clothes. Jade Paulson, Zahara Marley and Noah Smith have already been informed about this.
-Oh fine, I'll make sure of that. Thanks for letting me know.
-And don't forget Elliott, tomorrow at 4 am you will come to school so you can take the helicopter and arrive at Aronnax on time. You go on the same helicopter as Jade.
-I must prepare for this then, bye.
-Goodbye Gray, see you later.
Disconnecting the call, he already opens his suitcase and puts on a few more pairs of clothes, leaving everything ready for tomorrow.
The clock said 10 o'clock in the morning, Elliott left his room and saw his mother having breakfast with Amelia, Alex seemed to have finished first so he was watching cartoons.
-Good morning fam! How are you?
Attention is focused on him and he is swallowed up in a very tight hug by his younger brother.
-Elli! I'm fine! you woke up late today, mommy let you sleep late?
Alex questions curiously and is already prepared to point out the injustice that was done to him.
-No, I woke up a long time ago but I had things to do in the room like fixing the room and I realize that you messed up the whole house already!
Elliott exclaims as he grumbles for stepping on a toy on the floor.
-Do not worry son. He will fix everything before going to school. You will fix it, right, Alex?
-Yes I will, mama.
-Great!
Elliott laughs at the interaction and approaches his little sister.
-Hey my mermaid, how are you this morning?
-Hey! I'm fine but Mom doesn't want to let me eat candy, only after lunch..
Amelia pout while Cristine just rolls her eyes.
-Meila, mom is right, if you eat a lot of sweets, you will get sick and will not be able to play with me on the weekends.
-Okay Elli but can we play a lot after you get back from the trip? You can be the prince and I the mermaid!
Elliott laughs at his sister's excitement and shakes his head, indicating that he will play all afternoon with her and Alex.
- By the way, speaking about traveling, how are you feeling, son? You will finally be able to see the things that you drew and showed me as a child.
Cristine starts to get excited by the achievement of Elliott, she is very proud to be the mother of such a smart boy.
-That's really cool! Can you show this drawing to Ant? it's him and Jeffrey!
Alex gives a paper with a very nice drawing (for his age) of Ant and Jeffrey.
-I'm sure Ant will love this, Alex. Is perfect!
Alex thanked him and ran back to the living room, where he was watching some random cartoon.
-Mom, I'm going out to the beach a little bit, I'm going back before lunch.
-Make sure you come back sooner, Elliott!
-Okay, bye mom, bye kids!
Elliott takes out his cell phone and earphone, leaves the house and walks to the beach walking quietly. Arriving at the beach, he takes off his shoes and sits on the sand, more specifically in the furthest part of the crowd. He observes the sea and begins an outline of an abstract drawing based on what he is feeling. When he is finishing the sketch, he decides to look for a few minutes at the waves and sees Jade surfing together with her older brother, Josh, a smile appears on his face before returning to focus on his sketch. Half an hour passed, he looked at the hour on his cell phone and decided to go home, but not before waving to Jade and Josh, who noticed his presence and waved back.
And he returned to his home, where he spent the rest of the day. At night, before going to sleep, he started to think that tomorrow would really be the big day, tomorrow he would show everything he had learned in all these years and he would try to use a confidence he never had.
It will be extremely different days than he is used to.
Elliott woke up very early, 2:40 am to be exact, he had to arrive at school at 4 am. Besides making sure he had everything he needed in his suitcase, he still had breakfast and Cristine would take him to school. Sleeping was the least important thing at the time.
After taking a shower, drinking coffee, he was finally ready to start the big day.
-Good morning mom!
-Good morning son, you woke up early today. Are you ready to go to school?
-Yes, despite being very nervous too.
-Trust your potential! You know that you are capable and that you will do well on this tour.
-Maybe but what if unexpected things happen?
- Calm down, Elli. Nektons are not famous for just having a perfect submarine. I'm sure they will be prepared for anything.
Before leaving the house, Cristine leaves a note on the kitchen counter before locking the doors, just in case Alex wakes up before she returns. Elliott loads his suitcase and places it in the trunk of his mother's car.
Elliott's mother gets in the car, he was already seated in the passenger seat with the protection belt. And then she goes toward the school.
At 3:40 they arrived at the school, Jade already seemed to be inside the school, waiting for him.
-Elliott, I love you. Remember to be careful please. We'll miss you and call me every day you're there, okay?
-Okay mom, I love you too. Now I need to go, I'll be home soon.
The two hug and Cristine kisses her son's cheek lightly before he gets out of the car, picks up his bag and enters school.
-I hope he enjoys the trip a lot.
Cristine speaks to herself and returns to her home.
Entering the school, he already sees Jade anxiously awaiting his arrival with the suitcase close to her.
-Ayo Jade!
Jade looks at him and runs towards him.
-Elliott! I'm glad you're here, I'm very excited!
Jade had a smile on her face, she even jumped with such excitement.
-Hey, be careful not to get hurt. I confess that I am very nervous.
-Whatever Elli, we will have fun man!
-You're right!
-That's the spirit
Jade starts to laugh when she is interrupted by the school principal, who makes a brief speech about how proud he is of them and how important this is for school and academic purposes. He asks the two of them to accompany him to the place where the helicopter is. The helicopter was at rest in the highest part of the school building, there was a brief conversation and in a few minutes, Jade and Elliott were inside the helicopter. It would take a long time to arrive at Aronnax, Zahara and Noah should already be at Aronnax, probably starting with filming. Elliott leans his head on Jade's shoulder and falls asleep slowly.
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