Jim and Tristan were sitting in the principal's office receiving their punishment. "Honestly. I thought that two talented young cadets like you wouldn't stoop to such levels and on the first day too. As punishment you will clean the main hall at the end of the week." said the principal (no physical description use your imagination) in disappointment. "You're dismissed."
Jim and Tristan avoided each others gaze as the exited, holding their detention slips. Just outside the office, Sarah was leaning against the wall, obviously waiting to here the news from Jim.
"Jim! How did it go?" Sarah asked.
"Let's just say it could have been a lot worse." Jim responded.
"I'm sorry I wasn't any help in the situation." Sarah said remorsefully.
"It wasn't your fault. Are you okay? Tristan did almost throw you off your long boat." Jim said wanting to hear she was okay.
"Thanks for asking, Jim. I'm okay; I was able to steady myself before capsizing. By the way, thank you for teaching me to pilot the long boat or I would have stayed feet above the ground all class." Sarah said joyously.
"I couldn't just let you sit there. Plus, I think you have lots of talent as a flyer."
Jim was thinking about when he saw Sarah walking towards the solar surfer then walk away. "Sarah, are you sure that was your first time flying?" Jim said wanting to know more about this girl who seemed so out of place. Sarah seemed to be caught of guard and tried to think of something to say. "Yes. I had only been flying once before then, but it wasn't altogether enjoyable" She said truthfully. Jim decided to accept her answer for now, and ask her more later.
Sarah checked her watch. "Oh, Jim it's time for our next class!" Sarah said in slight alarm. "Really? Have we been here that long? Well, at least my tech class is next. What do you have next, Sarah?" Jim asked as they walked to class. "Navigation. It's the only thing I have any talent for since I can't build things , or fight, and I can't do politics because I'm no good at talking to people." Sarah explained slightly embarrassed. "I have to disagree with that. You're great to talk to." Jim commented with his usual crooked smile.
Sarah shook her hair again to cover up her blush that was getting hard to control. "Oh, well, I have to go! I-I'll see you later, Jim" Sarah ran into a nearby class room and then came back out and waved at Jim only to quickly disappear again. Jim chuckled and continued walking to his class.
Jim walked in to tech class, where a small remote control solar boat almost hit him. Joshua was sitting on the other side of the classroom and he saw Jim walk into class and dodge the solar boat. "Jim, over here!" Joshua said, waving him over. Jim walked over to his friend while dodging flying objects. "Josh, what's with everyone asking so casual? Everyone seemed so up-tight in our last class." "That's because this is more of a creative class. Here you get to make and repair whatever you want. You're graded on what you build or repair, how well it works, and how efficient it is."
"Anyway, instead of talking about class, let's talk about what happened with Sarah after she followed you to the principal's office." Joshua said teasingly nudging Jim. "What! Nothing happened! She just waited outside the office, and then we talked on the way to class." Jim said, a blush coming across his face. "That's all? Well, you still got pretty lucky. As soon as you and Tristan were dragged off she parked her long boat and ran after you. It was like she didn't even hear the rest of us calling her to come back."
The teacher for tech class rolled in on solar skates hovering, only a couple inches above the ground. Everyone became a little quieter when the teacher came to the front and banged her cyber hand down on the desk. The hand reminded Jim of Silver but that was pushed aside when the teacher said "Okay class, for today's lesson we'll be going to the workshop and fix a couple long boats that were pretty banged up by some pirates. Change into the work suits, bring your tools, and let's go!" The teacher skated out of the door to the side of the classroom leading to a room with about 15 damaged long boats.
"Pair up in groups of two and get to work on a long boat!" To no surprise, Jim and Joshua teamed up and started to work immediately. "Hey, Josh, hand me a wrench. The fuel tube came loose on the engine." Jim said from the end of the boat. Joshua tossed Jim the wrench and he caught, both of them not looking up from their work. The teacher saw their skill and made a note of it as she skated around.
By the end of the lesson most of the students were covered in grease, Joshua and Jim being in the worst state but having broad smiles on their faces. "Great job today, everyone! Jim, Joshua, you did exceptional work! Now hit the showers and go to where ever you need to be! I'll see you tomorrow." The teacher skated away and everyone went to clean off the grease.
After Jim cleaned up it was about noon and the lunch hall was open for the students. Joshua had already gone to get lunch after saying he'd meet Jim there. The lunch hall was crowded and Jim could tell he would have a hard time finding Joshua or Sarah. He got in line and ordered what he usually had back home. Jim was surprised to see the menu covered foods from galaxies he didn't even know.
At a table where there were empty seats at the end, Sarah was sitting rather alone. She took a bite out of whatever she was eating (don't want to go into specifics) and looked around. Finally, her eyes settled on Jim who was still wandering the lunch hall in search of his friends. Sarah stood up excitedly and yelled loud enough for Jim to hear, "Jim! Jim, over here!"
Jim heard Sarah calling and walked over to take a seat next to her. "Hey, Sarah, how was navigation class?" Jim asked, a happy tone still left over from tech class. "Good, but its navigation so it can only get so exciting. It sound's like tech class went well." Sarah responded back. "What makes you say that?" Jim asked a little confused. "Let's just say that rumors travel at light speed and right now you're the center of attention." Joshua said approaching the table. "Hey, Josh. Sarah, this is Joshua." Jim said introducing his friend as he sat down. "It's nice to meet you, Joshua." Sarah said shaking his webbed hand.
"Like wise. Jim says a lot about you, says you're in navigations, not bad. Anyway, it seems that someone is spreading the news about Jim's skills in his classes so far, and everyone's saying that he's the prodigy student." Joshua said. "Well, Mr. Prodigy, I am honored to be in your presence." Sarah said jokingly. The three of them were laughing and enjoying the moment; then there was a flash of light.
"So, Jim, how does it feel to be the top spacer in the academy?" said a student with a camera. Jim was blinded for a moment and only responded in a grunt of surprise. "Nothing to say, huh? Well that's fine; we'll take care of everything when we're ready to publish the paper. Here a copy for all of you!" said the student handing the three of them a copy of the photo he had just taken.
The photo was of the three of them sitting side-by-side and smiling broadly. The three of them looked at the photograph and Joshua said,
"As annoying as that was, the photo turned out great."
"Yeah, this isn't something I'll be getting rid of anytime soon." Jim said storing the precious photo in his pocket.