The journey to St Greg's was just as long and boring as it always was, standing squished between sweaty business men in two-piece suits & briefcases clutched between their thighs as the subway car rocketed around the bend on precarious wheels. Nestled in close to Milton and a wayward pole, the two boys shared a pair of earphones so that they could watch the latest episode of Young Justice on Theodore's phone. And then before they knew it, they were disembarking from the car that stank of an unidentifiable stench only ever found in the underground like a low-hanging fog and followed the crowd back up to the street.
The short walk from the subway station to the academy was spent hunching into upturned collars in an attempt to keep themselves warm as they bickered over which superhero/villain was best. Milton was of the opinion that there should a Green Lantern on the team of little Leaguers, whilst Theodore had argued that having another one of the witchier characters would be pretty cool; like Raven or Constantine. Mercifully, it didn't take long before the school's hedge-lined field and paint-peeling fence came into view. Passing under the outstretched awning of the bus stop's shelter, the two boys trudged down the path that ran alongside the field, barley sparing a glance towards the girls' rugby team as they meandered, caked in mud, back towards the changing rooms in time for first bell.
Saint Gregory's Royal Academy was a traditionally elegant institute that boasted several famous alumni and a musical programme that had produced some incredible musicians (Theodore's vera being one of those). Named for the patron saint of music and education, the school prided itself on both its aesthetic and educational ranking amongst the others within the same circuits. With its brightly coloured classroom doors and detailed roofing that dripped from the old buildings, the campus just screamed 'old money'. Of course, there were newer buildings too, ones designed to fit seamlessly in with the rest of the school (Not that it mattered much. Whenever someone so much as walked a little too heavily down the hallways of one of the older buildings, the whole upper floors rocked as if struck by an earthquake. It was both terrifying & thrilling).
"—Hey, Theo!" Milton's voice pulled Theodore from his stupor as the pair slipped into the locker-lined hallway that bordered their seventh grade homeroom.
"Yeah?" Theodore hummed in reply, trying to quickly remember just what the hell the two had been talking about before he had zoned out.
"I said, how was the funeral? You hadn't said" Milton repeated as they exchanged homework for first period textbooks & writing utensils."Any good stories?"
"Oh, y'know, gotta just love family reunions" Theodore replied as he popped upon the grey metallic block holding all of his school things. "Who doesn't love finding out that their extended family are a bunch of snobby bastards?"
"Well, that's not that hard to figure out" The blonde shrugged, "Considering who their father is and everything"
"I know right? You shoulda seen this place, dude. It's like a freakin' palace—all glittering in gold and marble! I swear that it makes Thompson's place look like an outhouse!"
"Seriously?" His brows jumped up towards his hairline in surprise, "And you didn't pinch anything?"
"Nah, my d-uncle had that covered" Theodore replied, thankful that he had been halfway inside his locker when he'd nearly slipped on the title so that Milton couldn't see him wince. "He swept through the entire house before we'd even turned up!"
"Ah, that sucks"
"Eh" Theodore shrugged as he extracted himself from the metallic box and moved to claim one of the few seats still available.
Since it was getting closer and closer to the first bell, everyone who had been mingling with other classes or just dropping off younger siblings to their classrooms, had returned to their assigned rooms. Their homeroom wasn't much, in fact it was just that: a communal space for their class to gather during mornings for roll call and other such messages. With the back of the room occupied by open-ended cubby holes and bag hooks; the front half of the room was taken over by a mismatch of desks & chairs lined up in neat rows. A single whiteboard against the front of the room, next to the teacher's desk and a loud analog clock counted the minutes high above them.
"Hey Milton?" Theodore queried, his gaze glued to the mysteriously sporty blonde who wandered up & down the aisles of desks in search for a place to sit.
"Hmm?" Milton hummed absently, far more focused on whatever was blaring across his phone.
"Who's the new girl?" Theodore nodded towards the blonde.
"Who?"
"The blonde one"
"You'll need to be more specific"
"Arnold Schwarzenegger" He sassed, "Who do you think?"
"Oh? Her?" Milton finally pulled his head out of his phone long enough to follow Theodore's line of sight to the girl in question. "That's Helga Brown"
"She just rock up today or something?"
"Nah, she turned up yesterday, from some little town in Arizona, apparently" He shrugged, "Rumour has it, she's one of those LANE escapees that have been causing all that havoc. Like the one at Griddy's the other night"
"Oh, really? Where'd you hear that?"
"Well, I heard it from Rowan, who heard it from Williams, who heard it from Burrows, who told Snelling, who eavesdropped on Gillies, who swears up & down that she saw the mark when they were changing"
"Gillies? Really? This is the same girl who said she'd played professional netball all the way from first grade up, remember?"
"Yeah…like I said, it was just a rumour"
"So, don't put so much thought into it"
"Still, wouldn't it be cool if there was, like, a secret LANE living amongst us and no one knew?"
"I—I guess…" If only you knew.
Turning to study the new face—Helga—Theodore tried not to hunch in on himself as he was wont to do. Helga, as it turned out, was the new Asian-American transfer student who wore the academy's dark grey pinafore overtop of her school shirt and the tie which was tightened up so far that he was sure it was choking her, though she seemed to have no trouble. Blonde locks were swept back into a sleek ponytail and although her shoes were badly scuffed around the edges, she looked every bit the child of some self-important family name; another legacy child amongst the throngs in St Greg's.
Theodore would admit to being a rather paranoid person (a trait ingrained in him at a young age, over the years of hiding in the woods and making sure that no one knew he was one of the highly sought-after LANEs) as he watched her gracefully dance amongst the desks, pausing here & there to chat with a few others. If she had been any other girl who had arrived on any other day, he might not have batted an eye. But following the intensive LANE Keepers search of their apartment block and the surrounding area the night before, Theodore found himself worrying that he had been caught out. He was almost sure that everyone could hear how loudly his heart was racing, almost jumping out of his chest as he tried not to let his panic show.
On the one hand, she could possibly be just what everyone said she was: an escapee LANE who had been one of the lucky few to flee from the horrid facilities (Theodore had never been in close contact with a LANE for longer than a few minutes—most were dragged off before he could even get a name—and he was curious about what kind of Legacies she might wield). But on the other hand, some of the (lesser known) LANE 'rehab' facilities were known to send some of the younger undercover operatives into schools and the like, in search of illegally hidden LANEs. These children were universally known as 'Echoes' or 'Augments', the mogadorian-human equivalent of a Human Garde.
This was because it was a well-known fact that children were typically more open to each other than they were to adults. By this point, the initiative was an open secret; no matter how they refuted it otherwise. It was as if they were saying "If I didn't see it, it's not real" Of course, that added another layer of mystery to girl and that meant that the circular mark that Gillies thought she saw was in fact that of the LANE Keeper: Echo Initiative. Of course, there was always the possibility that she was just a new transfer and that none of those rumours were true; knowing Gillies' track record, it could very well be the case.
Milton, of course, the eagle-eyed boy (but only when he wanted to be) could tell right away. "Why're you such a paranoid bastard?" He quirked a brow at his friend, as Theodore eventually tore his gaze away from the blonde.
"Says the guy who has a spy cam in his locker!" Theodore retorted without much heat.
"I know it's Cunnings stealing my stuff and I'm gonna prove it!" Milton pointed directly at Theodore, emphasising his point.
"Whatever you say, dude"
"Don't patronise me!"
"Dude, you're the one who's one conspiracy theory away from a tinfoil hat!"
"Says the guy who's building a bomb shelter in his locker!"
"Well then, we'll be happy together, won't we?"
"Playing CoD 'till we die"
"Ahem~!" A feminine voice sounded overheard, making said boys jolt in surprise. Turning as one, both boys soon found themselves face-to-face with the new girl in question (although Theodore could've done without the persistent kicks under the table from his friend). "Uh…hi"
"…Hi" Milton swallowed, cheeks burning bright red at being caught out by the subject of their conversation. Theodore's open mouth slammed shut with a click, but he gave her a jaunty wave in greeting, pointedly looking anywhere else but the new girl. It might've been rude (and the sniggers from across the room were uncalled for), but neither boy had interacted with many girls outside of their families and those didn't count.
"You guys play CoD?" Helga asked, sitting herself down in the spare seat in front of them. Both boys were shocked into gobsmacked silence at the instigation of conversation. She clearly had all the hallmarks of being a popular girl, so why was she talking to them? They weren't exactly high up the food chain.
"Er…" Milton spared a glance towards the suddenly shy & quiet Theodore, "Yeah, sometimes"
"Cool, me too" Helga smiled prettily, "I'm Helga, by the way"
"M-Milton" The blonde replied, stumbling over his own name in the rush to get the word out.
"…" Theodore refused to look from where his fingers fiddled with the zipper of his pencil case, even though he could feel the burning gaze of the girl before him.
Tongue darting out to lick wet lips, Milton continued, helping his friend out. "This is Theo—he's shy"
"Hi Theo" Helga waved.
"…" Theodore blushed a fierce red and gave her another small wave in return.
"Y'know, you remind me of someone I knew once; he was pretty shy too. Wouldn't say 'boo' to a goose"
"Yeah, that sounds like Theo!" Milton chuckled, easily falling under her charm. "Least 'til you get to know him. Then you can't shut up him up!"
"Milton!" Theodore hissed in embarrassment.
"There he is!" Milton waved his hands as if presenting his friend to the world.
"Screw you!" Theodore playfully shoved him, barely rocking him in his chair.
"Hehe~!" Helga giggled as she watched the two boys dissolve into playful shoves that didn't really mean any harm. "Hey, did you guys hear about the LANE sightings last night?"
"What?" Theodore blinked as the two boys paused in their actions and slowly turned back to face the girl as if they had been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
"I heard that Griddy's was destroyed!" Milton agreed, brightening at his most favourite topic. The blonde was all about the sci-fi and the fantastical (and even then, Theodore knew that he couldn't tell his best friend what he was).
"Y-yeah?" Theodore inwardly cursed his stammer, particularly at the way Helga's eyes seemed to lock onto him. He only hope that he could brush it off as his usual introverted nervousness, "Do—do they know who did it?" Just asking for a friend.
"That's just it!" Helga grinned, "They're saying it's some vagabond LANE whose on the loose!"
"Really?" Milton responded in kind, sitting up slightly.
"What d'you think, Theo?"
I think I wanna run with my tail between my legs before you put a shock collar on me & turn me into Swiss cheese! Theodore's tongue darted out to wet his lips as he swallowed the words he wanted to say. "…D'you think they're gonna let us still do the work studies, then?"
"…Oh" Milton deflated, "I didn't think of that"
The work studies programme was set to be a week long escapade of Education Outside the Classroom (more commonly known as the coveted EOTC) which allowed the seventh-graders to experience/shadow someone of industry as part of their Social Studies project (there was supposed to be a big essay they had to write up afterwards). A lot of the legacy kids and heirs/heiress to some big corporation were just going to spend that week goofing about like they were on vacation; mostly because they had been brought up knowing the ins and outs of said corporation.
Which was why Kelly Thompson was currently bragging about spending the week basking in the golden sands of some nondescript tropical island in her family's name. It was also why Milton was going to be working at his family's florist business whilst Theodore was being sent over to Meritech Industries. Since he wasn't a legacy kid (Vera's alumni & violinist tutor status weren't considered good enough to make her a 'person of industry'), he—along with the others—had had to draw names out of a hat. He was just lucky that he'd gotten a place that he was quite familiar with, even if he hadn't returned to it in a while.
BRRRIING! BRRRIING! BRRRIING!
Saved by the bell! Theodore sighed happily as he slouched back in his chair, more than ready for the day to begin; more than ready to disappear from the hawk-eyed gaze of the mysterious Helga Brown. Soon enough, their homeroom teacher, Mr Harris, strode into the room with the lined roll book clasped in his hands. A few minutes were spent quieting down the rowdier students before he began.
"All right, settle down, settle down" Mr Harris shushed them, flipping through the pages of the open book to begin the roll call. "Abrams?"
"Here"
"Anderson?"
"Here"
"Andrews?"
"Here"
"Barnes?"
"Here"
"Hey—" Helga whispered, catching the attention of the two boys behind her. "—You two looking forward to the work studies?"
"Yeah" Milton replied just as soft so as to not catch the attention of their homeroom teacher. "Sounds like it'll be pretty good—and we get outta PE, which is a plus"
"Where're you guys going?"
"I'm helping out my old man with the family business—"
"—Oh? What's that?"
"Greene's Garden"
"Sounds familiar"
"Family business; it's been 'round a while"
"What about you, Theo?"
"Uh…" Theodore's eyes flittered between the eagle-eyed Mr Harris and the expectant blonde before him.
"Brown?" Mr Harris cut in.
"Here!" She called before turning back to their conversation, "Theo?"
"Theo's going to Meritech Industries" Milton supplied, "What about you?"
"Oh, I'm going to Split & Scream"
"That's just around the corner from us, I think"
"Hey! We should totally meet up for lunch somewhere!"
"Are we even allowed to do that?"
"Oh, c'me on! Live a little!"
"U-uh…" Theodore stammered, his wide eyes flitting back and forth between the two on either side of him. He desperately wanted to glare at his devilish best friend, but social norms dictated that that would be a rather rude thing to do (both in front of someone else and in class). Milton could be a devilish bastard when he wanted to be (being the youngest of the family, often meant that he got away with most things like that) and this was starting to sound more & more like one of his schemes. "S-sure"
"Cool" Helga brightened. "Lemme give you guys my number and then we can figure something out!"
"Sounds good"
"Greene! Brown! Hargreeves! Eyes front!" Mr Harris called, his voice cutting through their conversation like a bucketful of cold ice had been dumped over them. "Pay attention!"
"Yessir, sorry sir!" Helga beamed as if nothing was wrong with the world.
What. The. Hell.